ã€ŠFrom Londoner To Lordã€‹


 1. Prologue

    Map of Southern Reslinor:"Wake up, my lord."

    "We have to leave soon, my lord. Please wake up!"

    Darkness pressed against Steven''s eyelids. A creaking sound filled his ears, punctuated by the distant whinny of a horse. Disoriented, he cracked open an eye. Instead of the familiar white ceiling of his London apartment, he saw rough-hewn wood and a dimly lit interior.

    He sat up, drowsily looking around while his head throbbed with pain. He realized that he wasn''t in his home. He was inside a wooden carriage with some small bags and a few empty glass bottles lying around him. He looked around and from the partially open flap of the carriage, he could see that it was nearly dark outside. There was a middle-aged man standing right outside the carriage, and he was the person who had been calling him to wake up. The person was wearing a tunic of some kind, and unless Steven was still drunk, he did not seem to be speaking in English. Despite that, Steven could understand him perfectly, even though he didn''t even know which language it was! The tunic did seem to be out of a medieval period drama though. He finally thought that he was still dreaming and began to lie down again.

    "No, no, my lord, you can''t go to sleep again! We need to leave soon," the man urgently reminded him again. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Alright, alright. I''m up. Just give me a minute," grumbled Steven.

    The last thing that he remembered was going to sleep after a night spent binge drinking with his friends in London, to celebrate his long-awaited promotion. He did expect to have a mighty hangover in the morning, but not this, whatever this situation was. For a moment, he thought his friends might have somehow placed him inside a medieval movie set as a prank. But in that case, how did he even understand what this man was saying? Steven didn''t know any language other than English, apart from a semester in college which was mostly wasted trying to learn how to pronounce unpronounceable French words. But it was neither of those languages. And apart from the last night, his memories were very cluttered, and he couldn''t remember much else.

    Taking a moment to steady his mind, he sat up again on the mat with his back resting on one of the side benches and noticed that he was wearing a similar-looking tunic himself as well. However, it seemed to be of a much better quality than the one that the other man was wearing. Perhaps it was related to how the man kept referring to him as ''my lord''. His hands also didn''t have any of the calluses he had gathered all over his hands while working in his job as an engineer. It felt as though he inhabited someone else''s body entirely! He shook his head in disbelief, attempting to dispel the weird thoughts, and scolded himself for overindulging, attributing these bizarre notions to his excessive drinking last night. The idea of body-switching seemed utterly ludicrous!

    Noticing that the man was starting to speak again, he said, "It''s okay, I''m awake now. I just need a moment to gather my thoughts. Would you mind waiting outside the carriage for me?"

    The other man looked surprised for some reason. "Are you feeling better now, my lord? You appear... improved. More composed, perhaps."

    "Really? I''ve got this pounding headache that won''t stop, and I have no idea where I am. Somehow, I''m talking in a language I''ve never heard before, and to top it off, someone keeps addressing me as a lord! So, no, I''m far from okay. Could you please leave me alone for a while? I need some time to clear my head," Steven grumbled, his head still throbbing as he spoke.

    Surprise was etched on the other man''s face. "As you wish, my lord. I will be nearby, so please call for me if you need anything." He bowed to Steven and gently closed the carriage''s flap. Soon, Steven could hear the man''s footsteps as he walked away.

    Steven was still trying to get a grasp of the situation he had found himself in when a throbbing pain seized his head. He instinctively reached up, pressing both hands to his temples in a futile attempt to ward off the ache. Cursing his forgetfulness, he patted the pockets of his tunic, searching for the familiar relief of ibuprofen. But a search of his tunic pockets yielded only a handful of yellowish coins mocking his misery.

    A fresh wave of agony, worse than anything he''d experienced before, tore through Steven''s skull. His vision blurred as a pounding throb threatened to burst his skull. Instinctively, he reached for the carriage bench, but his legs buckled, sending him crashing to the floor. A wave of memories slammed into his mind, forcing a groan from his lips.

    He remembered growing up as Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, unending childhood torment from his two older brothers, the solace from his sister, and the ever-present ache of his mother''s absence. His once intimidating father, the Duke, had retreated into a shell of grief after his mother''s death, leaving the Duchy at the mercy of Kivamus''s manipulative and power-hungry brothers.

    Eventually, on his twenty-first birthday, Kivamus was exiled in all but name, and given the meager title of Baron of a backwater village called Tiranat. Although the proclamation to grant the title of Baron of Tiranat to him was signed by his father, he was quite sure that the actual idea of sending him away from Ulriga was from one of his brothers. They must have wanted to send the third son of the duke away from the capital so he couldn''t become a thorn in their side to become the rulers of the duchy. It was a bitter birthday gift, which he had celebrated, or rather, drowned, with alcohol.

    The next day, he and Gorsazo, his long-time mentor and teacher, had to leave on a horse-drawn carriage along with some money that Gorsazo had managed to save for him in the past. From then onwards, he couldn''t live again in the palace he had called home all his life. Long ago, when he had become old enough to know that he would never inherit the duchy, being the third son, it had all seemed irrelevant, and something which was far away in the future. But finally leaving the palace the day after his birthday had been too much and he had barely managed to hold back his tears while leaving. That his father hadn''t even come to see him off, had been mostly expected, but it still stung a lot.

    As the cart rumbled through the markets of Ulriga, he had used his meager savings to buy the strongest alcohol he could find. The vendors had watched him with a mix of sadness and disgust, probably familiar with his drinking problem. The next two days were a blur of travel and Kivamus'' relentless drinking. Gorsazo''s attempts to intervene were only met with anger and rebuke, and after three days of trying to stop him from drinking, even Gorsazo gave up eventually.

    As they stopped near Fort Aragosa on the evening of the third day, Kivamus stepped out of the wagon. However, upon seeing the imposing fort, he was once again struck by the reminder that one of his brothers would inherit that as well. The wounds of the past few days reopened, the weight of it all crushing him completely. Tears streamed down his face as he slumped outside the carriage. His future, a bleak existence as a minor baron in some obscure corner of the kingdom, felt even more miserable when compared to the lives of his privileged brothers. He went back inside the carriage and tried to drown his sorrows in bottle after bottle, yearning for oblivion. He didn''t know how much he drank and when he passed out. That was the last thing he recalled from yesterday.

    But wait!

    No. That wasn''t the last thing that he remembered!

    A different memory flickered to life. He remembered his happy childhood with his family and the good memories he made with his friends while working as a mid-level mechanical engineer in London. And then, a flash of the previous night''s celebration, the clinking glasses, the warm glow of friendship marking his promotion.

    He held his pounding head in his hands and tried to make sense of his jumbled-up memories. Where was he? Near Fort Aragosa or in London? More importantly, who was he? Was he Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, or Steven, the recently promoted engineer? His head was aching so much that he couldn''t think clearly.

    A guttural groan escaped his lips as he clutched his head in pain. He stayed like that for a while, simply existing, hoping the pounding in his skull would recede.

    He lost track of time while sitting in that state, the throbbing in his head slowly giving way to a dull ache, allowing him to regain some clarity of thought. The first thought in his mind was to get out of the confines of the carriage.

    He stepped out and saw the sun starting to come up behind the mountains far off to his right. He looked around and while it was still a little dark, he was able to see the silhouette of the walls of the mighty Fort Aragosa standing tall in what had to be the east direction, towards the mountains. The wagon he just came out of, was unhooked from a pair of horses, which were grazing nearby.

    He saw Gorsazo standing a little distance away talking to another man next to him. That must be the carriage driver. Or was he called a wagoner? He wasn''t sure. The carriage itself had been stopped close to a dirt road, which seemed to be going in a north-to-south direction. It might be too much to call it a road, though, since it was just a narrow track of packed dirt, likely flattened by horses and the wheels of passing wagons. It was following a river running parallel to the road in the west. As the sun rose further, he saw that there was some patchy grass around the area, although the grass didn''t grow much where they had parked the carriage. It seemed like it was a regular stopping area for wagons and carriages going on that route. He decided to walk around a little to stretch his legs and think about what had happened to him.

    He walked aimlessly without choosing any particular direction, and soon he came to a small cliff that overlooked Fort Aragosa in the east. He sat down near the edge with his legs dangling over the cliffside. It wasn''t a particularly tall cliff but it still seemed like a nice place to watch the rising sun over the mountains, with the Fort visible in the distance. He saw a few people who might be soldiers, or maybe knights in this seemingly medieval era, walking near the fort, which was perhaps a kilometer away from him.

    He tried to think and find a reason for what had happened to him. He was an engineer, so he had a habit of tackling problems step by step. But no matter how much he tried to think about how he had somehow vanished from the Earth and had seemingly reached another planet, he couldn''t find any way to explain how it could have happened. No scientific theory in his mind supported or could have made all this possible. He wasn''t ready to believe in the possibility of a supernatural entity or aliens having done this to him. And yet, despite it being contrary to everything he knew about the world and its laws, here he was.

    There was also the matter of having the memories of another person in his mind. Indeed, this wasn''t his own body at all which he knew from all his life on Earth. It seemed as if his mind was snatched from his body on Earth, and was somehow amalgamated with the mind of the previous owner of this body. Steven was brought up in a decently well-off family, and he had a good career before somehow waking up here, but it was still a far cry from being a noble like the son of a duke, or even a baron. But somehow, Kivamus was dead now, or at least his mind was, and Steven was in the body of a newly minted baron.

    He watched the sun rise higher in the east. The clean, fresh alien air scraped his lungs with every breath he took, a harsh contrast to the familiar tang of city pollution he craved. He had no real idea about life in this world, but he could easily guess that life here, in what seemed like the medieval era, was likely much, much harder than it was in modern London. Even surviving here would be a daily battle. Panic gnawed at the edges of his newfound mind. He was adrift in a foreign world, a castaway in a life that wasn''t his. How did he end up here, in this ramshackle carriage on a backward planet? He didn''t know at all. He had no idea how to get back to Earth, the world that now felt like a distant dream.

    He had to get back. Back to the familiar ache of his own body, the comforting hum of his city, the people he¡­

    Regret, a fresh wound, bloomed in his chest. There was so much left unsaid, unfinished.

    A choked sob escaped him, a sound that felt alien in this unfamiliar world. He forced a breath in, willing the panic to recede. Maybe it was denial, a desperate attempt to shield himself from the terrifying reality. He was a man of logic, a creature of routine, and this¡­ this was anything but.

    Still, somewhere beneath the cold dread, a spark flickered. Hope. A stubborn, defiant ember refusing to be extinguished. He wouldn''t accept this twisted fate. He had to find a way home. And until he could, he had to survive.

    But for now, a single tear traced a warm path down his cheek, a testament to the life he''d lost and the desperate hope for the one he clung to.

 2. Acceptance

    Soon enough, Gorsazo noticed that Steven was outside the carriage now.Seeing Gorsazo coming towards him, Kivamus wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his tunic, hoping Gorsazo didn''t notice. He took another look at his long-time advisor and mentor in the early morning light. Gorsazo looked to be in his early to mid-forties, perhaps, with a full head of graying hair. He had the build of a scholar and looked to be of a similar height as him.

    "You are awake now, my lord."

    "I am. But can you please stop calling me ''my lord''?"

    "Of course not, my lord! It would be shameful not just for me, but for all my family, who have faithfully served your family for generations now! I can''t do that." He paused for a while, then said, "But may I ask why? You have never asked me not to call you ''my lord'' in the past."

    "I am not sure I could explain it even if I tried." Steven sighed. "Let''s just say that last night was a¡­ revelation, of a sort, for me."

    "I know that the past few days must have been very difficult for you, my lord. And, when you kept drinking so much, even though I tried to stop you many times¡­"

    "Wait, wait, I need to¡­" Steven couldn''t stop himself from throwing up everything he had in his stomach, as if hearing about drinking had reminded his body about the excessive drinking that Kivamus had done in this body.

    After a while, when he felt like there wasn''t anything more to throw up, he slowly walked a few steps away from that place and sat down on the grass nearby, nearly falling on the ground in the process.

    "Here, my lord." Gorsazo offered him a water skin that he was carrying.

    Steven washed up his face and felt a little better. Damn that drunkard Kivamus! Couldn''t the guy have stopped drinking sooner? He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. "Thank you for the water, Gorsazo."

    "My lord is thanking me? That is new," muttered Gorsazo. "While you do seem better, my lord, you also seem¡­ different."

    Steven decided that saying anything about Earth would not only be met with disbelief but could also lead to him being labeled insane. And life on a whole new planet, particularly in the medieval era, was going to be hard enough as it is, without him needing to add something like being considered crazy.

    "I am indeed feeling much better, Gorsazo. The past week has been very difficult for me to accept and adjust to, and the drinking that I did last night certainly didn''t help it. But I also came to a revelation that being miserable about it wouldn''t change the situation I''m in. You already know that going to live my whole life in a remote village in a corner of the kingdom was not what I wanted for my life, but if I don''t accept it, my life is only going to be even harder. So, I''ve decided to accept everything that has happened recently, including all my past life as Steven, and from now on, I will try to live my life peacefully in¡­ uh, what''s the name of the place we are going to, again?" Steven asked embarrassedly, having forgotten the name of the place after the recent drinking by Kivamus.

    "It''s Tiranat, my lord. And it''s very good to see that you are not going to be repeating last night''s drinking. Am I right, my lord?" Gorsazo said with a small smile on his face. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Steven felt as if he might need to empty his stomach''s contents again if he kept hearing about alcohol. "Ugh¡­ don''t even remind me about it. And no, I''m not going to be repeating that anytime soon. I just regret that you needed to be uprooted from your life in Ulriga too, along with me."

    "It''s... okay, my lord. My children have grown up now and don''t need me as much these days. It would have been a different matter if we had to leave a few years in the past, right after my wife had died." Gorsazo had a faraway look in his eyes. "It is not that I won''t miss my home and my children, but it is my duty and also my desire to see to your well-being. Maybe in the future, I will consider going back to Ulriga, but that''s after you have adjusted to a new life in Tiranat. It would be shameful for me if I just left you alone now, right after you were uprooted from your home and would need help in adjusting to a completely new place."

    "And you don''t even know how true the last part is," Steven muttered under his breath.

    Steven vaguely remembered from Kivamus''s memories that Gorsazo''s wife had died soon after her fever didn''t go down for many days. It was so unfortunate that if they had some simple antibiotics or even common medicines like ibuprofen or paracetamol, it might have saved her life. But he realized that life on Earth in the medieval ages was likely just as difficult, and they didn''t have modern medicines in that era either. "Thank you Gorsazo, for coming along with me and also for taking care of me all my life," he said earnestly. He knew how valuable the help of someone like Gorsazo would be in adjusting to a new life in such a vastly different place, and era.

    Gorsazo waited for a moment, and said, "My lord, seeing you drowning yourself in alcohol day after day broke my heart. I tried so hard to help, to say something that would make you stop, but nothing worked. I confess, the thought of returning home to my family, after accompanying you to Tiranat, did cross my mind. I thought that if listening to my advice won''t help you, then maybe the absence of it would make you reconsider." He looked at Kivamus carefully for a moment. "However, now it seems like my concern wasn''t really needed since today you seem better than you''ve been in ages, my lord. I think I haven''t seen you this relaxed and calm since the day you found out that you wouldn''t inherit the title of duke. So I have to apologize for thinking about leaving you alone, my lord."

    Steven realized how difficult it must have been for Gorsazo to see someone he cared for like his own child, trying to drink so much like he wanted to die. From the few memories of Kivamus that Steven had seemingly inherited, he knew that Gorsazo was the person who had put in the most effort in trying to raise him since Kivamus was a child. Although Kivamus himself was not grateful for it, Steven knew how important Gorsazo was in his life. Even if the patchy memories he had now about this world were of Kivamus, not of Steven himself, he decided to thank Gorsazo anyway.

    "Don''t worry about it Gorsazo, you don''t need to apologize for it. I know I didn''t make it easy for you either. I apologize as well, for causing you to worry so much. Trust me, I''m going to live very differently from the past," Steven said with a smile, not intending to repeat the drinking habits of Kivamus anytime soon.

    "Thank you, my lord, but you don''t need to apologize to me. It is my duty and an honor to serve you," Gorsazo said while bowing to him. "By the way, my lord, earlier when you said you would accept your past life as¡­ Steevenn, you meant Kivamus, not this¡­ Steevenn, right?" Gorsazo asked with a completely normal voice and a calm face.

    "Uh, yeah, of course. Haha, I meant my past life as Kivamus. Of course. Hahaha¡­" Steven tried to laugh it off, only now realizing his earlier mistake. But it seemed to him that somehow, Gorsazo understood more than he was letting on, even if there was no way he could have known about the existence of Earth or London. Having taken care of Kivamus since he was a child, meant that Gorsazo knew the duke''s son better than anyone else, and would catch on to such slip-ups easily. He didn''t know what the norms were in this country about dealing with people who were seemingly possessed, but it couldn''t be pleasant. He had to try not to make such a mistake again.

    And it did remind him that he needed to start thinking of himself as Kivamus, not Steven. And until he could find a way to return to Earth, he was going to be living as the newly made baron, Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga. Not that it was going to make living in this world any easier, he thought, while he tried to bite some rock-like hardtack biscuits that Gorsazo had offered him.

    *******

    Soon they went and sat inside the carriage after Gorsazo told the carriage driver that they''d be moving now. This time Gorsazo accompanied Kivamus to the inside of the carriage, instead of sitting in front with the carriage driver like in the past few days.

    Although his headache had receded a lot compared to when he had woken up, Kivamus still wasn''t feeling completely normal. But he was still glad to be feeling better now. He had kept the flap of the carriage open so he could watch the scenery outside.

    The river in the west which the road was following was named Kal River, as he remembered from previous memories of the original Kivamus. It started from the Arakin mountain range further in the south and flowed towards the northwest direction to end in the Dujtaar Ocean, right where Ulriga was located. There were some sparse grasses and shrubs all around them.

    The road they were traveling on was essentially a well-trodden dirt path only. It was probably wrong to even call it an actual road, but in this medieval-like era, this was probably the quality of road that the people of this world had access to. The weather was pleasant enough, but there seemed to be a chill in the air, at least right now in the morning. He could still see the stone walls of Fort Aragosa becoming distant in the north. Although he had vague memories of the country, or rather the kingdom, from the original Kivamus, he wanted to gain more information about the world he would be living in from now on.

    "Gorsazo, you know how I''ve not been in the right state of mind for the past few weeks. And the drinking I''ve been doing certainly didn''t help. But now that I''ve decided to accept my past, and try to live better, I want to know more about the kingdom."

    "I know, my lord. And I''m glad that you have made this decision." Gorsazo continued with a twinkle in his eyes, "And that means you weren''t paying attention when I was teaching you about the politics of the kingdom and other topics."

    "Haha, yeah, I know," Kivamus said embarrassedly. "At that time, you know I didn''t believe that I would really have to leave Ulriga."

    "That''s¡­ true, my lord. But like you said, let''s leave the past behind." He paused for a moment, and asked, "What do you want to know about, my lord? I don''t think I can teach you everything that you may have missed in a single conversation."

    "No, no, that''s not what I meant. I only want to know about some basic things for now. Actually, which season is it right now?" Kivamus asked while rubbing his arms when a gust of cold air suddenly gave him a chill. Being from London, he was accustomed to cold weather, but he hadn''t ever liked the winter season on Earth.

    "You don''t even remember that, my lord? Hmm¡­ your drinking might have taken a bigger toll on your mind than I thought. It''s late autumn right now, my lord. Although the northern towns and the capital city would already have seen some snow by now."

    "The capital, that''s Dorastiz, right?"

    "Yeah, it is Dorastiz¡­" Gorsazo said with an expression that he couldn''t believe that Kivamus didn''t even clearly remember the name of the kingdom''s capital.

    "What? You know that my memories are a little jumbled up after the recent drinking¡­"

    "I know, my lord. I''m sorry about it," Gorsazo said with a slight bow of his head.

    "By the way, when will we reach Tiranat?" Steven knew the medieval standards of traveling speed would be quite slow, but he didn''t know exactly how far they had to travel or how fast they would be traveling.

    "Hmm¡­ we will have to stop tonight on the road again, and then by tomorrow evening we should reach Cinran, which we will be passing through on the way to Tiranat. As you might remember, my lord, Tiranat is a barony that falls under the domain of the Count of Cinran. And now, you will be a new baron under the Count. From Cinran, it should be a three-day road journey to Tiranat, based on what I know about this region."

    "That''s a long time though. Couldn''t we have traveled using a boat on the Kal River?" Steven had seen a few boats and even small ships with sails moving on the Kal River earlier. He wasn''t sure about which kind of ships they were, though.

    "That''s actually difficult to say. His Highness, the Duke of Ulriga ordered you to leave for Tiranat, but it was likely one of your brothers who would have organized your travel to Tiranat. I shouldn''t speak ill of my betters, but perhaps¡­ they wanted you to endure the journey in a carriage which would be much more uncomfortable and slower than a journey through a boat."

    "They are hardly anybody''s betters if they still resort to such petty tricks even though they are older than me," Kivamus muttered.

    "Perhaps, my lord."

    "Well, where will we stay in Cinran? We didn''t rent a room in an inn even in the previous village we passed."

    "I should apologize for that, my lord. That was actually my own decision, made after seeing that you were not going to stop drinking. You were not in a sober condition by the evening and I decided that the public shouldn''t see you in that condition. I thought one more night''s discomfort by sleeping in the carriage was better than a lifetime of jokes about a son of the duke who couldn''t control his drinking."

    "Yeah¡­ perhaps it was for the better." Steven couldn''t help but blame the original Kivamus once more inside his mind, for losing himself inside a bottle.

    "As for Cinran, my lord, we can rent a room in a good inn for you there, but it will cost more coins, and your finances are not good enough now for you to keep splurging, my lord. Normally, the Count of Cinran should give you a room in his manor for you to stay, but I doubt he will. Perhaps he still would give a room if you ask for it, but I believe it won''t be a room fit for nobles so that he can indirectly insult the duke in front of his court members."

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus and continued, "I advise you not to do that, my lord. I think it''s not a good idea to show weakness to others in the court of the count, since from now on, even while living in Tiranat, you will have dealings with them instead of the court of the Duke, in Ulriga, and them taking you lightly isn''t going to help you in the future, my lord."

    "But why does the count seem to be against me already? I don''t think I''ve ever met him before at all." Steven wasn''t completely sure about this, since Kivamus''s memories and his own memories were still muddled together, but knowing that Kivamus seemingly wasn''t very interested in politics, it was a reasonable guess for him to make.

 3. Approaching Cinran

    Gorsazo explained, "The thing is, my lord, that he has never been a big fan of the ruling family of Ulriga. Being the most powerful count in the duchy of Ulriga means he is the main rival to the duke''s power. At some point, the news got out that your brothers would inherit the duchy and the fort both, and you would be made a baron in a far-off village, instead of being kept as a spare heir in Ulriga, as is the norm. Since then, the other nobles would probably have started thinking that there was no point in currying favor with you anymore since the duke himself had seemingly abandoned and even exiled you." Gorsazo looked at the scenery outside the carriage for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.He continued after a while, "And as for the Count of Cinran himself, I believe he would prefer to ignore or even scorn you, to humiliate the duke''s family in front of the other nobles in his court, knowing that he will get away with it since you seem to have lost the favor of the duke now."

    "Hmm¡­ my brothers must have had something to do with all of this as well. Perhaps they thought their positions would be more secure if I was far away from Ulriga." Kivamus breathed a sigh of relief. "It could be much worse though." At least they didn''t just murder him to secure their titles. Kivamus shuddered thinking about the literal cut-throat politics of the medieval era. Still, he would have to learn to survive in this, even as a baron of a remote village.

    "Perhaps, my lord. Maybe it''s better this way since you will have far more freedom to live your life as you want in Tiranat than you would have had in Ulriga. I know you have never been interested in politics, and living in Ulriga would have meant being a part of the court and the duchy''s politics, whether you wanted to or not. At least in Tiranat, you won''t have your brothers watching your every step to check if you are going to become a thorn in their paths in the future."

    "That''s true enough," said Kivamus. "Earlier you mentioned that I''m short on money. How much do I have?"

    "As you know, my lord, for the past few years, you had told me to manage your money, so even though your recent drinking took a big share of it, I managed to save something regularly from the small monthly allowance you got from the duke. Right now, you have around twenty-three hundred Reslinor crowns, which are the gold coins, in case you don''t recall, my lord," Gorsazo said with a slight smirk, which was quickly hidden. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He continued, "That is a small fortune for any common person, including me. Still, it''s a very small amount if you are going to live in Tiranat for the rest of your life at anything resembling the luxury of the Duke''s Palace in Ulriga. You or your brothers would easily squander a similar amount in a few months in Ulriga." He hesitated for a moment. "I also don''t think you are going to get any more of an allowance from now on, my lord."

    "Hmm¡­ that''s quite likely. It''s also certainly true that I never thought of saving money for the future, since I never had to think about managing my day-to-day expenses before," at least not on this planet, thought Kivamus. "You know I never believed that I''d really be living in Tiranat in the future. But I simply can''t afford to live in luxury, like I did in the past, if I''m going to make the money last longer." After thinking about it for a minute, he continued, "I will let you hold my money as earlier until I learn more about life in Tiranat. I don''t even know the regular prices of anything in the markets and would likely be overcharged without even realizing it. But I do want to know about what the money is being spent on, from now on."

    It wasn''t as if Kivamus thought that Gorsazo might be pilfering from his money since he was the only person who had really seemed to care about Kivamus in the past. But he had to know more about this world if he was going to survive in it.

    "Of course, my lord. That would be wise."

    There was a comfortable silence in the carriage afterward as they watched the scenery rolling by them while the carriage was pulled by the horses. They continued their journey towards Cinran with thoughts of all kinds rolling through the mind of Kivamus, the former engineer from Earth.

    *******

    It was their second day on the road since Steven had inexplicably found himself in the body of Kivamus, the recently exiled third son of the Duke of Ulriga. After a stop yesterday night on the banks of the Kal River, where they ate some meat jerky and hardtack biscuits once more, they were again on the move since the morning. They passed a branching of the road, going towards the east soon after starting. Gorsazo told him that it went towards the southeastern border of the Reslinor kingdom and the contested region of Tolasi Hills.

    They kept moving most of the day with only a few breaks to relieve themselves or stretch their legs. Kivamus could readily attest that relieving himself in the open with only some bushes to hide behind and no piped water supply was one thing that he already disliked about this world. It was a stark contrast to the modern conveniences he took for granted for all his life and a constant reminder of how much he missed his old life. But it wasn''t something that he could do anything about for now.

    It was evening now on the second day. After another full day on the road, while sitting on a constantly jumping carriage bench with no suspensions and barely any cushioning to speak of, Kivamus knew what a luxury even his decade-old car was, back on Earth. At this rate, it seemed like he would keel over once again if they had to continue traveling like this on such bumpy dirt roads. It certainly reinforced the idea that the original Kivamus had lived a life of luxury till now without any thought towards remaining healthy or keeping fit, Kivamus thought while moving his hand over the slightly protruding belly of his newfound body. He realized that it would take a lot of work to get this new body in shape, but it was something that he promised himself to prioritize once he was settled in Tiranat. He just couldn''t afford to stay as he was right now if his new life consisted of traveling for days in such poor conditions.

    Throughout the day as they moved southwards, the Arakin mountain range became visible further in the south. There was some sparse snow visible near the top of the mountains, but not much. Gorsazo had told him earlier that it would have snowed already in the northern towns of the Reslinor kingdom. However Tiranat was near the southern border of the kingdom, so Kivamus didn''t know about the climate there.

    "Gorsazo, how cold is it in Tiranat? I know Ulriga gets some snow nearly every year, but what about places further south, like Cinran or Tiranat? You know I don''t like the cold very much." Kivamus said the last part before realizing that his own preferences and those of the original Kivamus might not be the same at all. Still, he couldn''t do anything about it now, other than to hope that Gorsazo didn''t notice the last sentence much.

    "As you know my lord, it''s late autumn right now. I have visited Cinran a few times to meet a friend who lives there, and I heard from her that the climate of Cinran is quite similar to Ulriga. It was starting to get chilly in Ulriga in the nights when we left, so it should be like that in Cinran too, I think. Although it shouldn''t snow until the middle of the winter, since it is located southwards from Ulriga." He paused to think about something for a moment and continued, "However, I haven''t ever been to Tiranat before, so I can''t say for sure about it. It is located further south than Cinran, so it might actually be warmer there, at least in the summers, considering that the cold winds in Cilaria Island, in which the kingdom of Reslinor is located, come from the northeast. However, the coal mines around which Tiranat village exists, are located close to the Arakin mountain range, so it might still get much colder there in the winter as well. I can''t say for sure, my lord."

    "I guess we will find out when we get there," Kivamus said while being thankful that Gorsazo didn''t notice his slip earlier. Or maybe the preferences of the original Kivamus and him were similar, at least regarding the cold. He didn''t know how to feel about that.

    Their carriage continued moving and soon enough the driver told them that they were getting close to Cinran now.

    *******

    As they approached the town of Cinran, which was situated on the other side of the Kal River, they saw more wagons, carriages, and some carts on the road coming from and going towards the Cinran town. Some were empty, while others were covered with oilcloth to protect their goods from dirt and rain. Occasionally, a rider on a horse would pass close to their carriage while kicking up a plume of dust on the road. The Kal River itself had much more traffic this close to Cinran, as various canoes and boats slowly oared towards the docks which were now becoming visible on the other shore of the river. There were a few small ships with sails on them as well, and those looked much bigger than the row boats. They were either loading or unloading their goods or waiting for their turn on the small riverside docks.

    Slowly their carriage approached the narrow wooden bridge on the Kal River and they joined the haphazardly formed line while waiting for their turn to enter the town. It seemed like a fairly long line to Kivamus. There were maybe around a dozen wagons and carts in front of them as well as some of their owners who had also stepped out to look around. There were also quite a few other people who were carrying goods on their backs or heads. Most of the people seemed to be wearing patched and heavily repaired tunics, although some of them were dressed in newer clothes and looked like merchants of some kind. However, the haphazard line of wagons and people going into the town seemed to be moving quite slowly.

    To learn more about the situation, he and Gorsazo stepped out of their carriage. It was evening time and the sun had dipped below the stone walls of Cinran on the other shore of the river. The rickety wooden bridge on which they were now standing didn''t seem very wide or sturdy to Kivamus. He just hoped that it wouldn''t give way suddenly, even though the other people didn''t seem bothered about it. A few small water mills were also visible on some buildings on the other shore of the Kal River. There was a drawbridge on the other side of the wooden bridge, just before the gates of the Cinran town. It reminded Kivamus that now he was indeed in a medieval world, where armies attacked and laid siege to towns and drawbridges were ready to be raised at a moment''s notice.

    "Is it always this crowded here? That''s a lot of people going into Cinran at the same time," Kivamus said.

    "They seem like farmers and laborers from nearby areas, my lord. Usually, there would only be a wagon or two at a time, especially this close to the night. However, the harvest season has ended recently and the farmers are coming in droves now to sell their produce and grains. And soon it will be dark anyway, my lord, and nobody wants to be caught outside the town walls in the night. Bandits are quite rampant in the forests, especially this far south in Reslinor."

    "Bandits?" Kivamus exclaimed. "But we stopped next to the road for each of our stops at night! You mean we could have been ambushed anytime and you didn''t even mention it?" He had realized that this world would be more dangerous than Earth in many ways, but knowing that bandits were so prevalent that it was dangerous to stay out in the dark or you might easily be kidnapped or murdered was quite different from his modern London sensibilities of safety and security.

    "No, no, my lord, if the danger was that high on our journey, I would have told you. Bandits are indeed quite common in the forests and in the areas away from any major cities or towns. But we traveled from Ulriga to Cinran right next to the well-traveled Kal River and passed Fort Aragosa on our way, you remember?" Gorsazo replied. "This particular road is quite safe, my lord, at least till Cinran. The duke maintains regular patrols from Ulriga to the fort and there are some patrols further to Cinran as well, although the bandits won''t dare to attack people near the fort anyway. Forgive me for mentioning this, my lord, but you were in such a drunken haze at the beginning of the journey that you might not have noticed the patrols by Duke''s horsemen on the road. Even in the past two days since you stopped drinking, my lord, you have slept so soundly that you must have missed the horse-mounted knights patrolling the road."

    "That''s true enough." Kivamus was indeed so tired yesterday that once he went to sleep he had only woken up in the morning without any disruption to his sleep. This journey on a carriage was so uncomfortable to someone like him who was unused to traveling on wooden carriages on a bumpy dirt road, that he had taken a nap many times, even during the day. Although he did recall seeing a pair of mounted horsemen in plate armor rushing past them once or twice, he had thought that they were just knights going alone to fulfill a task given to them. "But what about after Cinran? We still have a few days'' journey ahead of us, don''t we?"

    "That''s the difficult part, my lord. You see, the road from Cinran going further south to Tiranat goes right through the middle of the forests. And that is indeed a dangerous journey, especially for those traveling alone. That''s why merchants and travelers usually join a caravan going south, instead of traveling alone. So far we haven''t needed any guards, but it might be better to hire a few trusted men for our journey further south. Even though I''m not sure how much we can trust mercenary guards anyway." He seemed to hesitate for a second, but made up his mind and continued in a somber tone in a low voice, "You would have found this out sooner or later anyway my lord, so I''m telling you about this now before we start our journey through the forests. Do you remember why you were sent to the barony of Tiranat and not to some other place?"

    "Uh¡­ I''m not sure, Gorsazo. I thought that''s what the Duke, I mean, my father wanted?"

    "Well yes, my lord. But still, your destination was the barony of Tiranat, because the barony had conveniently been without a baron for the past few months. So, instead of removing a baron from his lands and giving them to you, which would have caused resentment among the nobles if the Duke started taking away their titles on his whims, he sent you to Tiranat, which doesn''t have a baron right now. It''s a different matter that coincidentally, it was probably the most dangerous barony in the duchy of Ulriga which happened to be without a baron. To add to it, it was not a natural event that made Tiranat leaderless. The previous baron and his family were killed a few months ago in a bandit attack while traveling on the road from Tiranat to Cinran."

    "I didn''t know that."

    Kivamus had thought that at least the nobles would be safe from the bandits in this world. One way after another, this world continued to seem more and more dangerous to him. He missed his previous life on Earth every new day, not that there was anything he could do about it, other than trying to survive in this world for now.

    Then a thought came to his mind, but it was not something he wanted to discuss out in the open. He saw that their carriage driver had also stepped off his seat in the front of the carriage and was now standing a little distance away from it, probably trying to see what the delay was. Although there was nobody else near them, he gestured to Gorsazo to climb inside the carriage and then followed him inside as well. He closed the flaps of the carriage after taking a look around that nobody nearby was trying to listen to them.

 4. Discourse

    "Why did you say that Tiranat is one of the most dangerous baronies?""Mainly because of its location, my lord. It is surrounded by forests on all sides, and forests in southern Reslinor are known to be full of bandits and even armed mercenaries. It is also situated far away from any major town or city so the rule of law doesn''t mean much there. So far, I know of only a single barony, whose baron died of something other than natural causes in recent times, outside of war, of course. Also, after Cinran, it is one of the closest places in the kingdom to the Tolasi hills, where all three major kingdoms of Cilaria have claims and where skirmishes happen frequently between them for control of the hills. And while the southern forests will make it difficult if the Kingdom of Girnalica ever decides to invade Reslinor from the south, Tiranat would be the first place they''ll encounter in our kingdom."

    "I see, there are multiple factors at play. It really doesn''t seem like a place I''d like to live, not that I have any say in the matter." This world seemed more and more intent on killing him soon. He decided to ask about the thought that had given him a pause earlier. "Tell me, does it not seem suspicious that the previous Baron was killed by bandits so soon before I was sent here?" Kivamus asked in a low voice.

    "My lord, it is not my place to cast suspicions on the Duke or his family, even though I have my doubts about it. In fact, even talking to you this much is not something I''m used to, my lord, outside of the lessons I used to give to you in the past."

    Kivamus had realized by now how difficult it must have been for Gorsazo to deal with the ever-drunk Kivamus in the past. While it was true that Kivamus''s drinking got out of control only a few weeks ago, the original Kivamus had indeed liked drinking a lot in the past. However, he knew that to survive in this harsh world he would need all the help Gorsazo could provide him, and that wouldn''t happen if he was not comfortable talking to his¡­ uh¡­ liege. It was still difficult for him to think of himself as a noble, whom others called a "lord".

    "I realize that now. But like I said yesterday, consider this a new beginning to my life. I am not going to repeat the mistakes I made in the past and I need you to be as open and frank with me as you can. We are both going to Tiranat now and we have to be able to talk to each other freely if we are going to survive this."

    "I''m very glad to hear that, my lord," Gorsazo said with a small smile on his face. He continued, "About what you asked earlier, my lord, although the official announcement was that the previous Baron of Tiranat was killed by bandits who were after money, there are whispers amongst people that he was actually ambushed by people to kill him. As a baron, he would always have at least a few guards with him, and even if the bandits decided to attack someone who had guards, I don''t think they would have killed a noble and even his family after realizing that it was a baron."

    Gorsazo paused for a moment, thinking. "My lord, although bandits are known to occasionally hold members of a noble''s family for ransom near small towns and villages, it is rare and only done by a big gang. And even then they don''t actually harm a noble or his family physically. That''s an unwritten rule that seems to be followed everywhere. Also, the guards would have tried their best to defend the baron and usually, the bandits would run off when they think it''s too tough a fight for them. They usually only try to go after less well-defended targets anyway. But in this case, nobody of the Baron''s retinue survived the attack. If you ask my opinion, my lord, I think the bandits knew who they were attacking and their actual target was to kill the baron, and not just to rob him."

    "After hearing about all this, that''s what I think as well. And not to leave even a single person of his retinue alive¡­ I''d say they didn''t want to leave any witnesses." Kivamus continued after a moment, "And since nobody survived to tell the tale, who''s to say that it was even bandits and not actual mercenaries hired to kill him?"

    "It''s certainly possible my lord. Their bodies were found by another merchant traveling on the road later that day. If¡­" Gorsazo hesitated before speaking, "If I may suggest this, my lord, it might have been arranged by one of your brothers, or even both of them. Since they might have wanted you to be sent only to Tiranat."

    "I told you Gorsazo, you can speak freely with me. And while it''s still possible that it might be a powerful gang who did it just for money, I don''t think it''s very likely from what you told me. Still, the baron was killed soon before I was going to be sent here, while bandits have seemingly started to kill nobles now. And thus, Tiranat, probably the most dangerous barony in the Duchy of Ulriga, was without a baron right when I was going to be sent away as another newly made baron¡­ All of this taken together seems too much to be just a coincidence, doesn''t it? It makes me think that my brothers are not satisfied enough by sending me far away from Ulriga. They might actually prefer a permanent solution to me."

    "So it seems, my lord. They may even have arranged for another such ambush on your journey." He thought for a minute and said, "In fact, it did seem unusual for a member of the Duke''s family to be sent to Cinran on a solo carriage without even a guard, instead of in a boat which would be faster as well as safer. Now that I think about it, the road till here might not have been as safe as I thought earlier... I apologize, my lord." sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What''s done is done. And you know as well as I do that it''s unlikely they''ll leave a witness this time around either. That means neither of us is safe. We are in the same boat, so to speak. And indeed, unless we hire enough guards for our journey to Tiranat, which we probably don''t have the funds for anyway, we can''t deal with a bandit attack if it comes."

    "True, my lord. And hiring people we don''t already know, when there might be an imminent threat on you is too risky as well, since we can''t be sure where their real loyalties lie. But we should still stay in Cinran for tonight and see if we can find a merchant going south to Tiranat in the morning. We might not have to hire guards if he already has them."

    "But would he even want others to travel with them? Especially people he doesn''t know?"

    "Not always, my lord. Although it''s better to not let anyone know that you are the new baron before you reach Tiranat, just in case someone is waiting to get words to bandits about you, we might still have to tell the merchant about it. Since turning a profit is any merchant''s top priority, building a good relationship with a new baron would be considered advantageous by him in the long run. So, if we mention your title to him, he might be more likely to agree to our proposal."

    Gorsazo continued, "However, it is also possible that people might not want to take the risk of traveling with you if they know your title, because, after all, the previous baron was ambushed and killed as well. We''ll have to see in the morning, my lord. Thankfully, the clothes you''ve been wearing since we left Ulriga don''t immediately identify you as a noble, even though people can tell that you might be a rich landowner or a big merchant. So any watchers waiting for you won''t recognize you that easily by your clothes unless they remember your face."

    "That''s good, I guess," Kivamus said, having not given much thought to that until now. "But how will you even convince the people in Tiranat that I''m the new baron and not an imposter?"

    "I do have the Duke''s proclamation with me, my lord," Gorsazo said while patting a pocket on the side of his tunic.

    "But, anyone could claim that with a written document, right?"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus as if he was being daft again. "That''s not possible, my lord, rest assured. No one will dare to try and impersonate a noble, or he''ll be hanged when caught."

    "Oh¡­" Kivamus realized that this was indeed very different from modern London, where copying a document just required a good photocopy machine. But in this era, most people wouldn''t even own any paper and likely couldn''t read or write either. So, for most people in this world, a written document with the Duke''s seal meant it was genuine without any doubt.

    "By the way, do we need to meet the count while passing through Cinran, since the barony of Tiranat comes under his territory?"

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea, my lord. Although the count is not a supporter of the Duke, he might still be allied with your brothers, because by helping your brothers to get rid of you, he still removes a possible heir of the duke, while currying favor with your brothers at the same time, one of whom will be the future duke and other the commander of Fort Aragosa. This way, he''ll have favorable relations with them in case the kingdom of Binpaaz invades Cinran again in the future. Thus he can also expect help from the Fort quickly, while it still serves his long-term goal of supplanting the duke in the future. So I think we should try not to let anyone else know about you until we reach Tiranat."

    "We''ll do as you say. You know much better about these matters than I do."

    They decided to step outside to see if they were going to move again anytime soon.

    There was another thing that Kivamus noticed only after getting out of the carriage this time. It was a small line of filthy, disheveled people who had their hands in manacles attached to an iron chain that seemed to be connected to the manacles of all the people in that line. Earlier they were hidden from his view by a wagon which had moved forward by now. He couldn''t see their faces, but their shoulders were slumped with hopelessness. They were wearing tattered clothes and their bodies were gaunt with hunger. The way their heads hung low as if weighed down by the crushing weight of despair, twisted his gut. It was another harsh reminder of the kind of world that he had found himself in.

    "Who are they? Criminals?"

    "No, my lord. They seem like new slaves meant for sale, probably in Cinran," Gorsazo replied, seemingly habitual of seeing them.

    "Slavery¡­ they must still have done some crime to be put into chains, right?"

    "Not always, my lord. Some of them might indeed have been criminals, but many of them likely couldn''t pay back their debts, so they would have been put into chains by the debt collectors, to be sold to some merchant or landed farmer who needed extra hands. Of course, many families are even forced to sell their sons or daughters to have their debt written off." Gorsazo paused, "The situation is not good for the common people, my lord. Most people barely have enough to eat anyway, and just a single bad harvest puts them into debt or even in chains."

    "But why doesn''t the Count help them? Why doesn''t the Duke do anything!" Kivamus said, agitated.

    "Because they always have some¡­ better things to do. Forgive me for saying this, my lord, but did you ever think about such people before you left Ulriga for Tiranat?"

    While Kivamus knew that he wasn''t even on this planet or in this body before a few days ago so it wasn''t his own fault, he could still recall from the original Kivamus'' memories that he or his brothers or even their father, the Duke, had never talked about the common people. While the duke had nearly no interest in running the duchy after the death of Kivamus''s mother, his older brothers spent all their time scheming to grab more power or wasted it trying to seek more pleasure. What happened to poor people was just¡­ something that happened.

    "I realize that now, Gorsazo and I will try to do better in the future. But can we do anything to help them now?"

    "Not unless you had much more money, my lord. You could indeed free them by paying their debts, but as it is right now, you don''t have nearly enough money for that. Also, judging by the livery of the men guarding them, they are a part of the retinue of the Count himself. So it is out of your power and authority as a baron serving under him to oppose the Count or his men. Again, it is also possible that the slaves might not want to be free anyway."

    "What! How''s that possible?"

    "I told you earlier my lord, most of the common people don''t always have enough to eat, and they have to sleep on empty stomachs on many nights. But as a slave, they will at least be fed, even if it won''t nearly be enough. Whether it''s the slaver or a new lord who makes them work on a farm, they will at least get something to eat, which won''t always happen if they are free, my lord."

    "I had no idea the situation was this bad," he said softly, without hearing any response from Gorsazo.

    A crushing weight settled in Kivamus'' chest as he watched them stand in chains. The sight was a physical ache, but the deeper pain was his helplessness and his inability to intervene.

    Soon enough, another wagon moved forward and hid the line of slaves from his view. But it seemed impossible for him to get that painful sight away from his mind. Being unable to do anything to help them, he made a feeble attempt to distract his mind by watching the line of other wagons moving ahead slowly.

 5. Cinran Town

    By this time the line had moved forward, but only a little.Around them, people were talking and muttering things like how long their journey was or how the guards seemed to be so slow in processing the line. At the mention of guards, he looked towards the town gates and noticed that there were indeed a few guards wearing some sort of leather armor. They were holding up the line at the gates of the town while questioning a man with a wagon who was standing next to them.

    "Do you know what''s taking them so long?"

    Gorsazo, who was well accustomed to this world, unlike Kivamus, was quick to answer, "They''re just making a fuss over that merchant''s goods for no reason, my lord. It seems that the merchant doesn''t want to hand over a few coins to smooth things over. He really should though, or guards can hold the line for hours. All they have is time."

    "Ah, corruption and bribery. I guess that''s one thing that will be the same in every era," muttered Kivamus.

    The sun had only set recently and it was getting dark on the eastern side of the town. Kivamus squinted towards the gate, where a single flickering torch cast a meager light.

    Eventually, the merchant seemed to be fed up with the guards and just shook his head in resignation while handing over something to them. Kivamus strained to see the exchange happening beneath it, but the shadows made it impossible to see the number of coins changing hands.

    Soon enough, the line started moving again and Gorsazo and Kivamus sat back inside their carriage. The rest of the wagon drivers were quick to hand over some money to the guards on their turns, who didn''t seem as thorough in checking the goods of the merchants after they had gotten their due from them.

    Then it was their own turn and after their carriage driver dropped a few coins in the hands of the gate guards, they passed through the shadowed wooden gates and emerged into the unknown town of Cinran.

    The first thing that Kivamus noticed after passing the heavy wooden gates was how dark it was already. Unlike the fading twilight outside, the town inside the walls seemed to be covered in darkness. His first thought was that it must be a blackout, before remembering that there had to be no electricity in this era. As their carriage moved further, he saw that at least there was a single burning torch lit close to the first intersection that they seemed to be moving towards.

    "It''s quite dark inside the town, isn''t it?" he asked Gorsazo.

    "It is true, my lord. Even though Cinran is not a village, most of the towns are like this at night. I know that you have lived in the Palace of Ulriga all your life, and it was considerably more well-lit there, but this is how the rest of the places are, outside of the palace," Gorsazo told him, having no idea that Kivamus'' comparison was with London and not Ulriga.

    As their carriage moved further and turned left at the first intersection, he could smell more of the unfamiliar odors of the town. It was a heady mixture of the smells of smoke, sweat, and feces. It was intoxicating, and not in a good way. While he could still hear the creaking sound made by the wheels of the carriage on the packed dirt street and the hushed sound of conversations coming from the wagon ahead of them, it still seemed very quiet.

    "Should it be this quiet?"

    "As I said, my lord, it''s a town, not a city like Ulriga. It''s quite common for people to stay indoors after dark. I don''t know what''s the norm in Cinran, but the town patrol usually has a curfew soon after dark to prevent robberies and other crimes. Even so, I do think the last time I came to Cinran, it was more lively here." Gorsazo continued, "Having lived in the palace, you probably don''t know this but the previous year''s harvest in the duchy was not good, and it doesn''t look like this year is going to be any better. Work is hard to find these days for most people. The smithies, tanneries, and the like, operate fewer hours these days, even in Ulriga. So the conditions are likely the same here too, if not worse."

    "I had no idea¡­" Kivamus breathed. "All this time, nobles have lived in blissful ignorance, while the world suffered." As their carriage moved further, thoughts about how bad the lives of common people were, kept echoing in his mind.

    Their carriage continued moving on the streets for a while, making turns here and there, and soon enough he saw that while most of the houses had no lighting, one of them had a small earthen lamp mounted outside the door on a wooden post. A few people seemed to be coming and going from the place and he could even hear the sound of many people talking from inside the place.

    As they reached in front of the place, their driver stopped the carriage and stepped off his seat. He walked towards the rear of the carriage. "We are here, my lords. This is where I was told to drop you off."

    Before Kivamus could think of what to say, Gorsazo spoke up, "Thank you for bringing us here. I assume you were paid for this trip in Ulriga itself?"

    "Indeed my lord, one of Duke''s sons himself gave me the coin for this. I couldn''t believe my luck meeting the future Duke in person!" the driver said, seemingly awed by the memory.

    "Good for you!" said Gorsazo and he beckoned Kivamus to get out of the carriage first.

    Both of them got off the carriage and since they didn''t have any luggage apart from the few pouches and satchels that Gorsazo was carrying, they bid the carriage driver farewell, who bowed toward them and turned around the carriage, returning the way they had come from. For the moment, it was only the two of them outside the wooden establishment, which seemed to be an inn. While it looked far from being dilapidated in the feeble light of the lamp, it still seemed like a place to stay away from, according to his modern sensibilities.

    "Where would the carriage driver stay?"

    "He can''t possibly afford to stay at such a pricey inn my lord, he will likely know a barn or some similar place where he could stay and park his carriage to save money."

    "This is pricey? I thought we were in a run-down part of the town!"

    "You will have to become used to this, my lord. You might not see the luxuries of a palace anytime soon."

    "You''re indeed right. Well, we might as well go inside now."

    As he turned towards the entrance, Gorsazo pulled him away from the door and gestured to follow him.

    "What are you doing?"

    "My lord, did it not strike you as odd that your brother himself gave the money to the carriage driver?" asked Gorsazo in a hushed voice after taking both of them a little farther from the lamp.

    "Well, I didn''t think about it at the time, but now that you say it, yes, it does. Do you think¡­"

    "Yes, my lord. There must be at least one person inside who would be sitting there just to recognize you. And we don''t know who they will give this information to. That''s why we need to go to a different place." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s a good idea. But do you even know this locality? How will we even find a place in this darkness?" Kivamus glanced at his surroundings, but couldn''t discern one house from another in the darkness. "It doesn''t seem like a good idea to stay outside for long."

    "Indeed, my lord. Even though it''s been a few years since my last visit to Cinran, something about the route the carriage driver had taken sparked a memory. Thankfully, I do recognize this locality, and there is another inn nearby where we can stay. I know the owner there from a previous visit. It is smaller and gets fewer visitors, so there shouldn''t be anyone there who can recognize you, I believe." He continued, "Also, try to speak as little as possible when there are others around, my lord, since it would not be difficult for a person to surmise that you are a noble by your accent."

    "As you say, Gorsazo. I am counting on you to keep us both alive in this place."

    Gorsazo looked at him for a second, seemingly thinking of something, but didn''t say anything out loud. He gestured again to follow him and started walking in a particular direction.

    Despite his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, Kivamus was completely lost in this town. He had no choice but to follow Gorsazo blindly, unsure of where they were headed. Soon, Gorsazo beckoned him to enter a smaller alley and pointed at a similar lamp lit in front of another wooden building, located not too far inside the alley. They entered the small street and walked towards the inn. While walking, his boots seemed to squelch something but preferring not to think about what it could be, he kept moving.

    They reached the building and he followed Gorsazo inside. There were only a few small earthen lamps kept inside, keeping the room in semi-darkness. A few wooden tables with empty chairs around them were kept on his right, while on the left side, a single person was standing behind a wooden bar. The perpetual stench of the town was less noticeable inside the inn, but it was still present in small amounts, making him grimace about the hygienic standards of the place. But having no other option, he could only keep enduring the smells.

    He noticed that Gorsazo had started talking with the innkeeper in hushed voices. While he wanted to listen to what they were saying, the consistent threat of someone recognizing him and reporting to his brother''s agents in the town made him stay close to the shadows.

    Soon, Gorsazo passed a few coins to the man he was talking to and gestured to Kivamus to follow him. They climbed the stairs near the bar in the light of an earthen lamp the innkeeper had given to Gorsazo and went to the upper floor. It was quiet enough that it seemed the place was empty. Or nearly empty, anyway, since they passed another man walking down the stairs, dressed in a tunic.

    Gorsazo looked around the short corridor and soon unlocked a room with a key he had and they entered inside.

    It was a simple room, with only a single bedding, perhaps made of straw and covered with a semi-dirty sheet. Kivamus thought there would at least be a bed, but perhaps it wasn''t common in this place. It didn''t look sanitary at all to him, but he didn''t have any other options. Apart from the small earthen lamp that Gorsazo had kept near an empty corner, there was no other source of light. The room did have a closed window but it was made of wood with no glass pane on it, and it didn''t offer any extra light in the night. There was also a wooden chest kept near a wall. It made him think of a medieval movie set at first before he sat down on the straw bedding and realized modern mattresses weren''t nearly as uncomfortable.

    "Can we talk here?"

    "Of course, my lord, but try to keep your voice low." Gorsazo sat down nearby with his back to a wall. "Sound carries far through these walls and we don''t know who might be listening."

    "That''s true. Is this typical of beds in these kinds of inns?"

    "I''m sorry about that, my lord. The inn that the carriage driver brought us to would have had much better rooms which would be fit for a noble, or at least a rich merchant, but this place is far safer for you. I know this is not up to the standards of a noble, but that''s the reason your brother''s people in Cinran would never expect you to stay here. It doesn''t hurt that the rooms are much cheaper as well."

    "That''s true. But where will you sleep?"

    "Don''t worry about me, my lord. I will just rest a little like this. Someone has to keep watch anyway."

    "Are you sure? Can''t we ask the innkeeper for another such bedding?"

    "I told him that I was escorting the son of a merchant, my lord and that I was your servant. And no merchant will pay to get his servant a similar bedding as him."

    "You are not my servant, Gorsazo!" Kivamus exclaimed. "And I don''t mind that at all. We are in this together and spending a few more coins won''t affect our money much."

    "Thank you, my lord, and I know that. But while you don''t mind that, it would still be very rare and the innkeeper or one of his servants will remember that. And we aren''t in a position to be noticed in this town, my lord." He continued, "I have stayed in this inn before, but I don''t know the innkeeper well enough to trust him."

    "I didn''t think of that," Kivamus said.

    After a while, someone knocked on the door. Gorsazo got up and after checking who it was, brought back two wooden bowls with him.

    "Food, my lord," he said while offering one of the bowls to Kivamus. "I told them to deliver it to our room, so you wouldn''t have to sit in the open, where someone might still recognize you."

    "Thank you." Kivamus took the bowl and saw in the little light available that it was a soup of some kind with small lumps of meat and vegetables floating in it. It didn''t look very appetizing to him, but after eating dried rations for the past few days, it was at least a warm meal for a change. He tried it and decided that, while a little bland, it wasn''t too bad. It didn''t take long for them to finish it.

    "You should sleep now, my lord. We have a long journey tomorrow."

    "You mean longer than usual?" Kivamus asked. "Why?"

    "Earlier I had thought that the journey to Tiranat would be three days long by carriage, my lord. But our previous carriage driver told me we could make it in two days if we left early tomorrow and didn''t let up the pace. That way, we could make it to Helga''s inn before it gets too dark. The inn is around the halfway point to Tiranat, my lord, and it''s the only inn on the route. So it would be much better to stay there overnight instead of sleeping next to the forests on the road. Then it''s another day''s hard journey to Tiranat."

    "It would certainly feel much safer inside the inn, compared to sleeping in the open on the road," Kivamus said. "As you told me earlier, there are no patrols by knights on the road to Tiranat, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord. So, we would need to leave early enough tomorrow. If we can''t reach Helga''s inn by nightfall tomorrow, then getting there around noon the next day would be a wasted stop, since there would be no point in stopping there during the daytime. It would add an extra day to our journey as well, and we''d have to sleep in the open on both of the nights."

    "That''s true. Well, have a good night, Gorsazo."

    "You too, my lord."

    Kivamus lay down on the bedding, which felt just as uncomfortable as before. He kept thinking about those slaves he had seen earlier and thought it could easily have been him if he had woken up in this world as one of them instead of finding himself as the third son of the duke. It still anguished him to be unable to do anything to help them.

    Weariness from the long journey finally caught up to Kivamus, and it didn''t take long for him to drift off to sleep.

 6. Road to Tiranat

    The next morning Gorsazo woke up Kivamus while it was still dark outside."This is way too early, Gorsazo," Kivamus grumbled while sitting up. The bone-jarring jolts while riding in a wooden carriage on dirt roads for the past few days had taken their toll. His body ached in every muscle as if he''d run a marathon, though one entirely spent sitting. And the straw bedding he slept on the previous night hadn''t allowed him to get a good sleep. Adding to his misery, he had no idea where to get a cup of coffee to jolt him awake, or if coffee even existed in this world. "Do we really need to leave right now?" He hedged.

    "We do, my lord. We need to find a merchant willing to take us to Tiranat, my lord. And if a merchant is already leaving Cinran for Tiranat today, we need to be on that road before they depart so we can try to convince them to take us with them."

    "Alright, I''m awake now. Just give me a moment."

    Finishing up with their daily necessities, and visiting the privy of the inn, which consisted of a hole in a wooden bench, only made Kivamus miss his old apartment in London even more. Their meager breakfast of reheated soup and stale bread in their room, salvaged by Gorsazo from the inn''s kitchen before dawn, fueled their bodies for the journey ahead. With a final exchange of coins with the innkeeper, they stepped out of the inn and set off again.

    It was still mostly dark outside so Kivamus followed Gorsazo through the dirt streets which were still full of stench and decaying matter of unknown origins. Trying not to think about it, he kept following him until they reached the gate, and this time, the guards didn''t need to be paid their ''toll'' since they were neither in a carriage nor carrying any goods on a wagon to sell.

    Gorsazo had a quick discussion with the gate guards and this time they didn''t cross the wooden bridge they had passed yesterday. Instead, they took a dusty path that ran alongside the town''s wooden walls, heading south. Soon, they found a relatively clear place to sit on the grass next to the dirt road. It was starting to get brighter in the East by now, but there still weren''t any other travelers outside at this time of the day.

    Kivamus rubbed his hands together, wishing he had something warmer to wear against the chill of the morning air. The meager protection of his tunic was a stark contrast to the memories of his old life. He longed for the forgotten comfort of a warm coat, a silent yearning that bit at him as much as the chill.

    Before too long, they saw a wagon emerge from the gates but instead of turning south towards them, it crossed the wooden bridge to go to its destination somewhere on the other side of the Kal River.

    "The road to Tiranat would have much fewer travelers compared to the road going north, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord. We will be lucky if we can find a wagon going south soon."

    "There''s something I have been thinking about." After making sure that no one else was nearby for now, Kivamus said, "If my brothers really wanted to kill me, then why would they wait until we had left Cinran for Tiranat? They could have tried something before we reached here, couldn''t they?"

    Gorsazo thought for a while, and said, "My lord, were you to be harmed before reaching Cinran, it would reflect poorly on the Duke''s control of the Duchy. The other nobles would seize upon your death as proof of his ineptitude, claiming he couldn''t even safeguard his own son on a well-traveled road. However, if an unfortunate bandit attack were to occur after we left the safety of Cinran, particularly on the notoriously dangerous forest road to Tiranat, the narrative would completely change. While tragic, your demise would be viewed as an unavoidable consequence of the region''s lawlessness, garnering sympathy for the Duke, rather than condemnation. In fact, since most nobles are already aware of his seclusion from public life, their condolences would likely be directed towards your brothers, not knowing that they were the ones behind the attack."

    "How fortunate for my brothers," Kivamus grimaced. "And if bandits do attack us, it can only mean that my brothers have clearly planned this out well in advance," he murmured, a tremor in his voice betraying the unease he tried to mask. "Will we even be safe if we reach Tiranat? You did mention earlier that it was considered the most dangerous barony in the duchy."

    "I can''t be sure, of course, but I believe that for us the danger is mainly in reaching there. Your brothers, if they really have planned for a bandit attack to kill you before we reach Tiranat, then they wouldn''t expect us to reach Tiranat in the first place. So I don''t think they would have made any preparations to ambush us there as well. For now, our target is to reach Tiranat safely, if we can manage it at all. After that though, we should be safe for some time." Gorsazo chuckled nervously. "As for later in the future, only they will know more."

    "It seems all of this anticipation and dread will kill me before the bandits even get a chance," Kivamus muttered, a shiver crawling down his spine. "Will we ever be safe though, Gorsazo?"

    "I don''t know, my lord. But I too would like to see my children again." Gorsazo sighed.

    "Would it not have been better to have hired guards then?"

    "They would be mercenaries for hire, my lord. One can never be sure of the loyalties of those who fight only for coin. I still believe that traveling anonymously without a visible group of guards is our best bet for safety at this time, even if we might have to tell a passing merchant more, for him to give us a ride."

    The air felt thick and suffocating, mirroring the oppressive weight of the conversation and the ever-present dread that coiled in his gut. Kivamus massaged his temples, willing the beginnings of a new headache to subside. But there was no other choice for them than to keep going. In this brutal new world, the only sanctuary for him was Tiranat.

    They sat for a while and watched the rising sun in the east while waiting for a merchant or a caravan to come towards them.

    Soon, they saw another wagon exiting the gates, and thankfully this time it turned south and started moving towards them. It was a small caravan of just three wagons, each being pulled by a pair of horses. All the wagons seemed to be made for carrying goods and didn''t have a closed compartment, unlike the carriage they''d arrived in yesterday. The wagons were covered with an oilcloth to keep their contents safe from the elements and each of the wagons had a lone driver sitting on a bench in the front. As they came closer, Kivamus noticed that the driver of the leading wagon was the same merchant who was arguing with the gate guards yesterday.

    When the wagons reached close to them, both of them stood up and Gorsazo hailed the wagon driver to stop the wagon for a moment. The merchant in the first wagon slowly stopped his wagon and gestured for the wagons following him to stop as well. He looked at Gorsazo for only a moment, while his gaze stayed longer on Kivamus, perhaps noticing his better-quality clothing. The merchant himself was wearing a tunic as well, while the other wagon drivers had leather armor of some kind above their own well-patched tunics.

    "Greetings, friend! Are you all going to Tiranat, by any chance?" Gorsazo asked the merchant.

    "What is it to you? Are you also with those money-grubbing bastards at the gate looking for another toll? I already paid them their share, damn them!" he grumbled. He was a balding man of a mediocre height and with a short beard, looking to be in his late forties.

    "Not at all, my friend. We too had to pay an entry tax to those corrupt guards yesterday. In fact, we saw your argument with them yesterday. We despise such corruption too, not that the guards are going to change their habits anytime soon," Gorsazo lamented to the merchant.

    "Hmm¡­ that''s true enough. Well, why did you both stop me then? I doubt that you are bandits looking to raid my caravan, this close to Cinran," the merchant replied with a small laugh.

    "Well, you do know that Tiranat does not have a baron right now, don''t you? And about what happened to the previous one?"

    "Indeed. It was a sad affair. They didn''t even leave his family alive!" The merchant muttered, "If you ask me, I''d say the bandits knew exactly what they were doing."

    "And did you hear that Tiranat was going to get another baron soon in the future?" Gorsazo asked, carefully watching the merchant.

    "Now that you mention it, I did think that it had been a few months already, so the duke should have allotted the lands to a new baron by now. Those poor people in Tiranat surely need a leader there. But I can''t say that I heard it was going to happen anytime soon. Why do you ask?"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus for a moment, seemingly thinking about what to say. However, to Kivamus it seemed that in this corrupt place, a merchant who at least complained about corruption was probably a little more ethical than someone who would just accept it as a part of life. And they couldn''t keep waiting for the next merchant going to Tiranat, who may or may not even come here all day. So he looked at Gorsazo and gave him a small nod.

    Gorsazo nodded back, seemingly having come to the same conclusion, and said to the merchant, "I am Gorsazo, and as it happens, the new baron is right here," while gesturing towards Kivamus. "Meet Kivamus Ralokaar, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, and the new Baron of Tiranat. If you want, I can show you the Duke''s proclamation," he added while patting the side of his tunic.

    For a moment, it seemed the merchant was either not going to believe them, or he was so surprised that he didn''t know what to say. However, he shook his head and called out to his companions, "You two, come here right now!"

    He leaped out of his wagon seat and immediately bowed towards Kivamus. "Forgive this man''s forgetfulness, my lord, and please don''t trouble yourself with the proclamation. I believe you. When I saw you, I thought that I had seen your face in the past, my lord. Now I recall it was on a visit to the Ulriga Palace some time ago. It is an honor to meet you in person, my lord."

    His companions, uncertain of what was happening, looked at the merchant. One of them was quite a tall and well-built man and looked to be in his thirties. The other man was much younger and looked to be barely out of his teens in the light of the newly risen sun.

    "Bow, you idiots!" The merchant admonished his companions, who followed him and bowed in front of Kivamus as well.

    For Kivamus, it was such a unique experience of people calling him a lord and bowing to him, that he had no idea what to say for a moment and looked to Gorsazo for help. However, Gorsazo had no way of knowing that this Kivamus was not the same person inside as the one who had lived surrounded by servants all his life as the third son of the duke. So he just stood looking at them.

    Kivamus took a deep breath, willing down a trace of hesitation. "Get up, you all. There''s no need for all that," he said, his voice steady despite the knot of tension in his stomach. "I don''t want us to be noticed."

    The merchant and the men with him stood up but they still had their heads bowed slightly. "As you say, my lord."

    Gorsazo finally came to Kivamus''s help, and said, "Well, tell us who you are. And we don''t need to make a spectacle here for any passersby, so just stand normally." S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The merchant nodded hesitatingly, and said, "Forgive this one''s lack of manners, my lord. I am Pydas, a traveling merchant and these two are drivers I''ve hired for the other wagons, who also help out with keeping things safe."

    "Alright. Well, we are going to Tiranat, as you may have guessed. Can you take the two of us there? We will pay a fee, of course," Kivamus said.

    "It would be an honor, my lord! And how can I take money from you? I am going to Tiranat anyway, my lord, and I''ll be glad to take you both with us."

    Gorsazo spoke up before Kivamus could object, "I thank you for that, Pydas. Also, we don''t want to let anyone else know who we are until we reach Tiranat. So you three cannot mention a word about us to anyone else until we reach there."

    Pydas said, "Of course my lords. However, we should leave soon, if we are to reach Helga''s inn by nightfall." He hesitated, "Uh¡­ I''m sorry to say this, my lord, but I don''t have any place suitable enough for a noble in my wagon."

    "Don''t worry about that. We just need a place to sit," Kivamus said.

    "In that case, just give me a moment, my lord," the merchant replied hastily, scurrying back to his wagon. A flurry of hushed conversation and gesturing ensued between him and his companions. With practiced efficiency, they shifted a few hefty sacks and wooden barrels, redistributing the load between the wagons. Pydas beckoned them over and gestured towards two empty spaces on his own wagon, adorned with a scrap of rough cloth fabric, offering a marginal improvement over the bare wooden planks. "I''m sorry my lord, but this is the best I can do for now."

    "It''ll have to do, Pydas," replied Gorsazo. "Come on, my lord," he said to Kivamus, "it''s getting late so we should leave now."

    With ungraceful bumps, they clambered into the back of the wagon and settled onto the seats, a generous term for the thin scrap of cloth draped over the wooden planks. Kivamus winced as the rough fabric did little to soften the unforgiving wooden planks beneath him.

    And yet, complaints died on his tongue. The discomfort was a small price to pay for a place on this ramshackle wagon, their only hope for reaching the safety of Tiranat.

    Pydas and the other drivers settled into their seats, the reins growing taut in their calloused hands. With a flick of the reins and a chorus of creaking axles, the caravan lurched into motion. The journey to the south began, a balancing act between hope for safety and the ever-present threat that lurked on the untamed roads.

 7. Helgas Inn

    It was around noon when the vast forest ahead finally came into view. Despite the clear sky, the dense trees cast a heavy shadow, making the area feel dark and foreboding. They stopped for a short rest before entering the forest, stretching their legs and grabbing a bite of their dried rations. Pydas, the merchant, even surprised them with a loaf of bread they all shared. Still, they couldn''t afford to wait too long, so they continued their journey soon after their rest.It was autumn, and trees had begun shedding leaves, creating a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground. As the three-wagon caravan approached the treeline, the creaking of the axles was joined by the crunching of the wheels over a carpet of dried leaves. Once they entered the forest, the dense canopy blocked most of the sunlight, creating a constant twilight beneath the trees.

    The colorful leaves, a mix of yellows, oranges, and maroons, blanketed the forest floor, almost obscuring the faint wagon tracks ahead. Pydas easily followed the tracks, navigating them with a practiced ease.

    It was nearing the evening, when Gorsazo muttered under his breath, "Damn it," his voice barely a whisper.

    Kivamus was nearly dozing off by this time, despite the discomfort of sitting on a wagon all day, so it took a moment for him to register that Gorsazo had said something. "Did you say something Gorsazo?"

    "Don''t be alarmed, my lord, but I think there are people following us."

    "What? Where? How can you tell?" Kivamus looked around the wagon for a moment, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart. "I don''t see anyone."

    "I''m not certain, my lord, but I believe I heard some crunching of leaves on our right some time ago. It might just be animals though, I can''t say for sure."

    Unable to hear anything but the sound of wagons moving over dried leaves, Kivamus sat up and strained to see into the dense foliage.

    After a while, when he had started to relax thinking it was a false alarm, Gorsazo suddenly spoke, "There! Did you hear it this time?" S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus still hadn''t been able to hear what he was talking about, but it was unlikely that Gorsazo had misheard it twice. "What should we do?" he asked, trying to calm his nerves.

    "Nothing, for now, my lord. They may only be scouting right now to see if this caravan can be a good target for them. I don''t think they would know about you specifically, my lord, since we don''t have a visible detail of guards with us."

    "Do we need to tell Pydas?"

    "He would have noticed it before even I did since he is used to traveling on such treacherous roads. And since he hasn''t stopped, we have to trust that he knows what he is doing." Gorsazo added, "Unless there is an imminent attack, I think getting to Helga''s inn quickly is the best way forward."

    "Then, shouldn''t we at least tell him to speed up?" Kivamus asked, at the same time he heard Pydas whipping the horses to make the wagon move faster.

    "Like I said, my lord, he knows what to do."

    The other wagons had also sped up to follow the lead wagon closely. As they continued to move, the sun gradually began to set, casting long shadows through the trees and cloaking the forest in a deepening twilight. Kivamus couldn''t help but feel a sense of unease as they trudged along the winding path, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding foliage for any signs of danger or movement. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of movement in the distance. Squinting through the dense underbrush, he thought that he caught a glimpse of what looked like a horse with a rider moving swiftly through the woods. Though he couldn''t be sure, the sight made his heart race with uncertainty and apprehension. It continued like this for a while, and they kept moving while the sun started to set, making it darker in the forest.

    By the time it had gotten dark enough that Kivamus thought it would be difficult to keep moving, he saw a glimpse of light a little way ahead on the path. "Is that¡­?"

    "Yes, my lord, I believe it must be Helga''s inn," Gorsazo said with a smile, "It seems we will be safe, after all."

    Slowly the wagon approached the two-storey wooden building in the middle of the forest. The flickering light of a lamp, perched on a wooden pole outside the building, served as a beacon in the encroaching darkness. Trees had been cleared around the inn to provide a clear view of the area, and a partially open structure to the left of the inn housed a single horse and some carts. A small, painted sign hung from a wooden pole. It displayed the symbol of a tankard and the words "Helga''s Inn" written in the strange script of the local language. The inscription would likely be unreadable to the majority of the people in his world if literacy was anything like that in the medieval era on Earth. However, thanks to the memories he''d inherited with the body, Kivamus could read it with ease.

    "We are here, my lord," Pydas announced with relief while turning around in his seat to speak. "We managed to reach Helga''s Inn safely after all. After that scare of riders following us, I thought we might be attacked right in the middle of the forests. But thankfully, we are safe."

    "Indeed, Pydas, and I thank you for taking us here," said Kivamus. "And remember, not a word about us."

    Pydas nodded respectfully. "Of course, my lord."

    Gorsazo admonished him in a low voice, "Don''t keep saying ''my lord'' from now on, it will defeat the purpose. If you have to say anything, just talk to me."

    "As you wish, Mr Gorsazo."

    Kivamus disembarked from the wagon with the help of Gorsazo, taking in the surroundings with tired eyes. The leaves made a crunching sound with each step and added to the whinnying of the tired horses. The other wagons had stopped nearby as well, with their drivers stepping out of their seats after sitting there all day.

    Hearing all this sound, the door to the inn opened and a teenage boy came out of the door to the inn. He looked around quickly and ran back inside, shouting, "Ma, we have visitors! Mr Hudan, please come outside!"

    Soon, a tall and burly man, who was perhaps in his early thirties, came outside. He had the build of a professional bodybuilder, with a few scars added all over. He was wearing a well-used leather armor with a chainmail above it. The huge sword he was carrying behind his shoulder only added to his intimidating appearance.

    "How many of you are here?" he asked.

    Gorsazo answered for all of them. "There are five of us, Mr¡­?"

    "I''m called Hudan," the huge man answered in a stern voice.

    "Well, the two of us are just catching a ride to Tiranat with Pydas, the merchant here," Gorsazo explained while pointing to Kivamus and Pydas respectively. "If you have free rooms, we would like to stay in your inn for the night."

    "I''m not the owner here, I''m here to help guard the inn against¡­ let''s say, unsavory characters," Hudan said with a frown. He took a moment to gaze over all of them. "I already know Mr Pydas, and both of you seem okay to me." He called out in the direction of the inn, "Feroy, Lucem, come here and help them inside."

    "Thank you," Pydas saidwith a nod.

    "You''re a pal, Mr Pydas. Of course, you''re welcome here."

    Soon another man came outside along with the boy they had seen earlier. He was dressed similarly to Hudan, but he looked to be a few years older than him and had an average build, quite unlike the hulking body of Hudan. The boy, who looked to be in his early teens, was wearing a well-patched tunic.

    "This is Feroy," Hudan said while pointing to the man. "He helps guard the place along with me." He gestured to the boy, "And this is Lucem, the son of the owner, Madam Helga."

    Before the conversation could continue, they heard the sound of leaves crunching nearby in the forest, and suddenly an arrow whizzed close to the face of Kivamus.

    "Down, my lord!" Gorsazo shouted while harshly pushing Kivamus to the ground, seemingly forgetting his own instructions to not call Kivamus a lord.

    Soon, they heard the sound of more men coming from the same direction and five figures emerged from the trees, shadows given form by the dying embers of the setting sun. One of them, a hulking brute with a longsword, bellowed, "There he is! Get him!" while pointing at Kivamus, who was still on the ground. Two others, wiry and mean-looking, hefted their bows, their arrows aimed with deadly precision. The remaining two, clad in mismatched leather armor, brandished shortswords, their expressions feral.

    While Kivamus was like a deer caught in headlights, having no idea what to do, it only took a moment for Hudan to assess the situation. "Lucem, take them inside and block the door. Feroy, with me." He looked at the other two wagon drivers who had taken out their own short blades by now, and said, "You two, circle around and try to get the archers." He had taken out his longsword from his back and was holding it with both hands while crouching a little. Feroy took out his own shortsword and stood next to Hudan while trying to block the path of the bandits from going toward the unarmed people.

    Panic flickered briefly in the eyes of the wagon drivers, but they did as told, and started to move around the wagons to get behind the bandits.

    Gorsazo managed to get Kivamus up and in a crouch and ran with him towards the door of the inn. He kept his own body in the way of any more incoming arrows to protect Kivamus. They were joined by Pydas and Lucem shortly, who pointed towards the door of the inn and shouted for someone to get it open.

    Hudan reacted fast. He roared a challenge and moved forward with his own blade drawn out. Feroy, though older, followed suit with his own shortsword.

    The bandit archers let loose more arrows, only one of which even came close to Kivamus and his companions in the darkness. Thankfully, no one seemed injured. They ran faster towards the door, while still crouching, to present a smaller target to the archers.

    Hudan, a veteran of such fights, bellowed as he cleaved through the air, his weapon connecting with the sword of the brute. At the same time, Feroy let loose a flurry of strikes against the two other bandits with shortswords, managing to hold both of them back for now.

    The archers shot more arrows close to the running men and suddenly Lucem cried out in pain while holding his left arm. "Don''t stop running!" shouted Pydas as they neared the door to the inn. There was a young woman standing inside the entrance with a fearful face while holding the door open for them.

    The fight devolved into a chaotic dance of steel and frantic movement. One of Feroy''s strikes managed to hit a bandit''s shoulders with a sickening thud. The man screamed and fell back, clutching his wound. Hudan and the largest bandit kept exchanging strikes with no clear victor.

    As Kivamus and others reached the door another volley of arrows passed close to them, with no one else hurt this time. Hurrying inside the inn, they slammed the door shut. The young woman, working with others, secured it with a heavy wooden bar.

    By this time the wagon drivers had reached the archers who had drawn their own short blades and began to exchange strikes against them. The taller wagon driver managed to disarm one of the archers with a swift maneuver, the man collapsing with a yelp. And it became a fight of two against one for now, making the other archer lose ground.

    The largest bandit who was fighting against Hudan managed to hit him on his side, drawing blood, and making Hudan fall back a little while holding his side. Feroy, whose strikes were faster, killed the injured bandit with a quick jab against his chest and pulled back his sword to engage with his remaining opponent.

    The wagon drivers, with a two-to-one advantage now, had the upper hand, but the archer was quicker and managed to stab one of them in his thigh. But the other driver took this opportunity and got to his side and killed him with a quick strike to his neck. At the same time, the fallen bandit got up again after picking up his own dagger.

    Feroy, who had circled around his remaining opponent by now, kept engaging against him, while Hudan roared back against the largest bandit. Despite being hit, he kept exchanging strikes equally until the bandit stumbled against a rock on the ground, in the barely visible light of dusk. Not missing this opportunity, Hudan jabbed into the chest of the bandit, who crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide with shock.

    Hudan looked around and saw Feroy still engaged with his opponent and moved to help him. With the two of them, it didn''t take long until they managed to kill the remaining bandit as well.

    At this point, only the second archer was alive amongst the bandits, who looked around to see all his companions on the ground. "I yield!" he shouted and held up his hands, dropping his blade.

    Looking around and making sure that no other bandits were coming, Hudan sat down on the ground while clutching his bleeding side. Feroy took charge of the bandit who had surrendered and told the uninjured wagon driver to bring a rope to tie him.

 8. Aftermath

    Inside the Inn, Kivamus'' heart was still hammering after the recent scare of having arrows shot at him, along with swordsmen coming to kill him. He didn''t know how he had managed to stay alive through this, but he thanked the heavens and whoever else was listening, that he was still breathing!He and Gorsazo had found empty chairs to sit inside the hall. The young woman they had seen earlier was still scolding Lucem while applying a scrap of cloth on his bleeding arm. An older portly woman, with many white hairs on her head, had come there and taken charge of everything and organized seats for everyone inside.

    Pydas spoke up soon, "There are no more sounds coming now, it seems the fight is over."

    A gruff voice echoed from outside the door, followed by a knock. Pydas, with a nod from the older woman, unbarred the door and opened it. Hudan came inside while still clutching his side, and was followed by the younger wagon driver who was injured in his thigh.

    "Don''t worry, it''s not serious," Hudan said to the worried older woman, finding another empty chair to sit on.

    "Are Feroy and others okay?" the older woman asked.

    "We all are fine, Madam Helga. All but one of them are dead." He said while grunting as Pydas helped him to apply another scrap of cloth as a bandage around his chest.

    The older woman said to the young woman, "Syryne, bring this man a bandage too," while pointing to the younger wagon driver, who had been injured.

    "Yes, ma," she said and brought another scrap of cloth and gave it to him to tie around his injured thigh. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus felt his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the events unfolding around him. He had been caught in the middle of his first battle in this strange new world, and the rush of adrenaline was almost too much to bear even now. It was only through the timely intervention of the inn''s guards that he had managed to survive. As he struggled to catch his breath and calm his nerves, he couldn''t help but think of his old life back in London. The memories flooded back, and he longed for the familiarity and safety of the world he had left behind.

    Watching the way the people here used any cloth scrap as bandages, he felt a surge of relief for his own lack of injury. At the same time, a pang of sympathy struck him for the others who had to make do with whatever scraps they had. Without any modern medicine and a hospital, recovery from wounds here was going to be more dependent on luck than anything else.

    As he struggled to steady his pounding heart, he took a moment to survey his surroundings. After spending a restless night in a shabby inn in Cinran last night, he had already anticipated that the comforts of his home on Earth would be far out of reach in this unfamiliar world. But as he glanced further, this inn looked even more decrepit than the previous one. The large hall he was seated in had wooden walls and a scattering of tables and chairs on the right. However, even in the dim light of the two lamps, he could see that only a few of them were in usable condition. The rest were damaged or broken and were pushed aside to create more space in the middle of the hall. The wooden walls were patched with scraps of wood or just old clothes in many places. On the left side of the hall was a rickety wooden bar, with a kitchen that looked like it had seen much better days. Stairs close to the opposite wall led to the upper floor. It was unmistakable that the people living here were struggling.

    Soon enough, everyone injured had gotten bandaged and the older woman, now known as Helga, the owner of the inn, asked Hudan, "Where''s Feroy?" She glanced at the visitors to her inn for a moment. "I saw the attackers through a window earlier. It''s rare for them to attack immediately instead of asking for money or food as they always do. Were they just bandits?"

    "Feroy is with the remaining bandit, he''ll get all the information out of him soon enough," Hudan grimaced. He looked at Kivamus and Gorsazo for a moment. "Anything you both want to tell us? One of you called someone else a lord earlier¡­"

    Kivamus barely knew these people, but whether it was because of the fading adrenaline or because they had just saved his life, he decided to trust them for now. "I didn''t plan on mentioning it, but I think¡­"

    Before he could finish speaking, Gorsazo said to him, "Are you sure¡­?"

    "Gorsazo, they just saved our lives. If they were with those people who want me dead, I doubt we''d be having this conversation in the first place." He looked at all the people around him, and spoke up, "I am Kivamus Ralokaar, and I have been granted the Barony of Tiranat by the Duke of Ulriga. That''s where Gorsazo and I are going, along with Pydas who''s giving us a ride on his wagons till Tiranat." It still felt odd to him to call himself a noble, along with the title he had been given.

    Pydas and the wagon driver already knew about this, but the inhabitants of the inn seemed struck by this revelation.

    The owner of the inn, Helga, recovered first. "What are you all doing? Bow to Lord Kivamus, right now!"

    Immediately, Helga, along with her son and daughter bowed in reverence to Kivamus. At the same time, Hudan grunted as he tried to get up from his chair while still holding the side of his chest.

    While Kivamus had mostly expected this reaction by now, he still found himself stopping them. "No, no, you all don''t need to do this!" Kivamus had stood up himself and tried to make Hudan sit back on his chair. "You are injured, just sit down and get some rest!"

    "But¡­" Syryne and her brother Lucem tried to speak at the same time, while Hudan was looking at him with a sharp gaze.

    "It''s okay. It is fine." Kivamus took a deep breath. "Just take a seat, everyone."

    As others sat down where they were sitting earlier, Helga pleaded, "My lord, forgive all of us for not knowing about you and any disrespect we may have caused. My kids couldn''t have known, my lord, it was my fault. Please don''t punish them."

    "What? Why would I punish them?" Kivamus was again surprised by this strange new world and the even more strange mannerisms of its inhabitants.

    "Because¡­" Helga took a deep breath and said, "Forgive me, my lord, for being presumptuous. The previous baron was¡­ not good towards other people, especially if they weren''t of a noble birth. It is very unusual for us to be talking to a noble like this."

    "Don''t worry about it. I''m just a human being, like all of you," Kivamus commented.

    "Excuse me, my lord," Lucem said, "You said your surname was Ralokaar. Does that mean¡­?" he trailed off.

    "Yes, my father is indeed the Duke of Ulriga. But please don''t make a big deal of it."

    "Uh.. big deal, my lord? What does that mean?" Lucem asked.

    Kivamus sighed. "Just forget what I said. It''s not important."

    "But you are a son of the duke, my lord! Why are you even going to Tiranat?" Syryne asked.

    "The only reason I''m going to Tiranat is because I''m a son of the duke!" Kivamus exhaled heavily. "I was sent there basically as an exile. And to the best of my guess, my brothers are the ones who sent those people after me."

    "I wondered why the bigger bandit had pointed out to you earlier, telling others to kill you," Hudan mused. "Now it''s more clear."

    "Also, thank you all for helping me. You and your companion saved my life without even knowing anything about me," Kivamus said gratefully to Hudan.

    "It''s no problem, my lord," Hudan said. "You must know about how the previous baron and his guards were killed by such people. My cousin was amongst those guards killed by the bandits."

    "I''m really sorry to hear that, Hudan. I think that those attackers and the ones whom you killed today might be a part of the same group, likely with my brothers behind them."

    "If you say so, my lord. I just hope my cousin''s spirit rests easy after today. May the Goddess save his soul," Hudan whispered. He continued, "Feroy will have gotten out everything that the remaining attacker knew soon enough, so we''ll hopefully find out more then."

    Shortly, the door opened again and Feroy along with the taller wagon driver, who looked pale now and kept giving nervous glances towards Feroy, entered inside. "You won''t believe what gibberish he was spouting!" Feroy spoke up loudly, while the two of them took an empty chair each.

    Meanwhile, Syryne, along with Lucem who seemed fine by now, brought a few mugs of ale for everyone on Helga''s order. Kivamus took a welcome sip after the recent ordeal, even if he wasn''t sure he liked the taste of it.

    "Tell us Feroy," Hudan said.

    "Yeah. So get it, the guy was saying that" he took a big gulp himself from his wooden tankard, "they were after a son of the duke himself!"

    "It''s true, Feroy," Hudan smirked. He gestured towards Kivamus, "Meet Lord Kivamus Ralokaar, son of our esteemed Duke. He has recently been granted the Barony of Tiranat, where he is traveling to take over as the new Baron."

    "You are surely jesting!" Feroy glanced at Kivamus for a second, then said, "Really?"

    When everyone else just looked at him, without saying anything, he suddenly stood up and bowed to Kivamus, "Shit! Uh¡­ I''m sorry, my lord! Please forgive this one''s moment of insanity," while unknowingly splashing his ale a little in the process.

    "It''s okay, Feroy. Just take a seat and tell us what you found," Kivamus sighed.

    "Uh.. yeah, thank you, my lord. So, where was I," he sat down on his chair and spoke seriously now, with all traces of fun gone from his face. It was the face of a seasoned veteran now. "He said that one of them was following your wagons from the morning. They didn''t know you by sight, so they were told to kill any young person with good clothing amongst the passengers, at all costs, and not to leave anyone else alive if possible."

    "Did he tell you how he got this information?" Gorsazo asked. "And, uh¡­ where is he?"

    "Don''t worry, he won''t be killing anyone else in the future," Feroy stated, making others around him grimace at the implication. "And no, he didn''t know the name of the person who gave him this information. He just said that it was a contact in Cinran he met a few days ago who always gave them tips about vulnerable targets traveling on the road. That person always met them in a dark alley with their cloak''s hood up, so the bandit didn''t know his contact''s identity." He took another sip from his mug, "However, this time these bandits were caught unprepared because they weren''t expecting you to leave Cinran for at least another day, my lord."

    "It seems it was a good idea to travel as much as we could in the past few days, Gorsazo," Kivamus interrupted. "Even if my body hates me for it," he muttered under his breath.

    Gorsazo nodded, "Indeed, my lord. We could have stopped at inns every night on our journey from Ulriga to Cinran, but I decided not to, so we could leave early and travel farther each day. I had no idea what could be waiting for us on the road, and it always pays to be more cautious."

    "That''s certainly true." Feroy continued, "Their original plan, according to the schedule their contact had given them, was for their whole party of more than a dozen men to assemble by tomorrow and leave around the same time as you, whenever you left Cinran, and then ambush you later that day. But they were expecting you to rest for a day or two in an inn there, my lord, as most nobles do if they''ve traveled as far as from Ulriga to Cinran. They had a scout watching a particular inn as well, where they were expecting you to stay. Though he didn''t know why specifically that inn, my lord."

    "That was Gorsazo''s doing," Kivamus told him. "It was an excellent idea, Gorsazo, that you didn''t let us stay in the inn where the wagon driver dropped us in Cinran. Or they would have known about us since yesterday and would have been much more prepared."

    "Thank you, my lord," said Gorsazo, accepting the rare praise. "Well, carry on then, Feroy."

    "Yeah, so their scout was passing near the gates in Cinran by chance this morning, and recognized you leaving my lord, and so the bandits, or rather, the mercenaries, had to gather whoever they could, and attack you today itself. They immediately sent word to those members of their group who were living in or around Cinran but only a few of them had reported by around noon. So their leader, the big guy, decided to leave Cinran with just three other mercenaries around noon, not counting the rider they had dispatched earlier in the morning to follow you on the forest road. Since their scout had told him that you only had a single escort, their leader was confident enough to finish his task but because they had left late, their group only caught up with you by the evening when you had reached close to this inn. That''s why there were only five of them who attacked us. If they had their full strength, we would have stood no chance, my lord."

    "That seems very true. Now I know why my brother didn''t send any guards with me since they had planned all this in advance. I was so distraught about leaving Ulriga that I didn''t question it then," Kivamus mentioned. "And thank you both again, for saving our lives. It''s the first time I''m going to Tiranat, and as you all can guess, I have no power in Ulriga anymore. But still, if any of you need my help in the future, and it''s in my power, I will do whatever I can to help you."

    "We were only doing our duty of protecting the inn and its visitors, my lord," Hudan said. "And I can already say it was a good decision. You are nothing like that bastard¡­ uh, the previous baron, my lord. Forgive me for saying that, but it''s true."

    "He''s right," Helga said. "In the time you''ve been here, my lord, the previous baron would have muttered enough obscenities to shame a sailor while berating others and trying to lay his grubby paws on Syryne. You are nothing like him, my lord."

    "After hearing about the kind of person he was, I''m very glad." Kivamus glanced at the others in the hall. "Now would you please serve us all a warm meal, Madam Helga? And as many pitchers of ale as they can handle!" he boomed, his voice ringing through the rafters of the inn, "I''ll pay for everything tonight!" and the small inn was filled with the sound of cheers and praises for Lord Kivamus.

 9. Allies

    The next hour was lively as Helga made herself busy getting a few tables cleared with the help of Lucem, while Syrene helped by making a meal for everyone.Before long, they were all served a warm bowl of soup with a few small parts of meat and vegetables floating in it, along with some freshly baked bread. Everyone got another tankard of ale as well.

    It didn''t take long for them to finish their simple meal. Helga approached the table where Kivamus was sitting along with Gorsazo and Pydas. "Forgive me for the poor meal, my lord, but this is the best we can do. The past few years haven''t been good for us."

    "Not at all, Madam Helga. A warm meal was all we needed," Kivamus replied. "However, if you don''t mind, I would like to know more about this place."

    Helga hesitated for a moment, then took an empty seat at the table. "I am grateful that you are the new baron, my lord. And I''m not saying this to earn your favor." She took a deep breath, "We used to live in Cinran in the past, my lord, where my husband was an innkeeper and I was a cook. That''s where Syryne and Lucem were born. We tried to make do with what little we had, but soon we couldn''t afford to stay inside Cinran anymore with the increasing food prices and rising taxes. We were traveling south, uncertain of where to go, when we met the previous owner of this inn during our stay here. Despite his advanced age, the man understood our hardship. When he learned my husband used to be an innkeeper too, he took our family in." She had a faraway look in her eyes now. "We had some good times here, my lord, with our children running around and the previous owner as a grandfather figure for them. Business was good too in those days. That was nearly a decade ago..."

    Pydas reminisced, "I crossed paths with them once while traveling through here. Good folks, they were."

    "Please go on, Madam Helga," Kivamus said gently.

    "It wasn''t to last, of course. It was around three years ago that everything changed. One day I was out in the forests with my children to gather wood for making food." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "When I returned in the evening, they were dead, my lord. My husband, and the owner, both of them. Bandits had come here and taken everything we had saved, after killing my husband and the owner, brutally. I am only glad that I was outside then, and our children were spared. Even imagining my children like that¡­"

    "I am really sorry that you had to go through that, Madam Helga." Kivamus tried to say more but found himself short of words. He hadn''t realized the depth of hardship in this world. Living in London, concerns about food and basic survival had never crossed his mind. Yet, Helga''s story revealed a reality so harsh it shook him to the core, igniting a determination to act. He vowed to do whatever he could to help them.

    It took some time for her to continue after she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It wasn''t your fault, my lord. You don''t need to be sorry for it." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Since then, the three of us have been making this place our home. At separate times, Feroy and Hudan joined us here too and I couldn''t be more grateful to them, but their stories aren''t mine to tell." She exhaled deeply. "In the past few years, food prices have kept rising due to many successive bad harvests, my lord. We had been scraping by with the limited income from what little traffic we used to get on this road. But after the previous baron and his family were killed nearby a few months ago, hardly anyone is traveling on this road anymore."

    Pydas added, "It is true, my lord. Even I rarely travel on this road now. I am only going to Tiranat after many months to try and sell what I can before winter hits and snow makes travel too difficult."

    Helga continued after a minute, "My lord, this year we don''t even have enough grain stocked up to last the winter. We''ve exhausted nearly all our savings buying food from Cinran these past few months. With barely any income these days, we simply can''t afford to buy more food." She spoke softly, "I don''t know what I am supposed to do anymore to make sure my kids don''t go to sleep on empty stomachs, my lord. And after today''s attack, we probably need to leave this place too, in case the bandits come again to take revenge for those we killed. Feroy and Hudan barely managed to hold them back today with the help of the wagon drivers. Next time it might be beyond them." Helga shook her head, perhaps trying to clear her mind, and said, "Forgive me, my lord, I got carried away there. It is my burden to bear and I will find some way." S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus could only think of the miserable conditions of the slaves in chains he had seen outside Cinran. And it was not difficult to imagine that at the current rate, this family would be in a similar condition not far in the future. Being unable to help those slaves still gnawed on his heart, even if it had been out of his hands at the time. But he knew these people, and they had even saved his life. He couldn''t imagine seeing Lucem and Syryne in chains, or worse¡­

    It didn''t take long for him to make up his mind. "Why don''t you all come with us to Tiranat, then?"

    A flicker of surprise crossed Helga''s face before she responded. "What do you mean, my lord?"

    "It''s simple," he continued. "If you wish, you can accompany Gorsazo and me to Tiranat."

    "But we don''t have the money to buy or even rent a place there, my lord!" Helga insisted. "And how will we even earn a living in Tiranat?"

    "There should at least be a manor house there for the baron, right Gorsazo?" Kivamus asked.

    "I haven''t been there yet, my lord. But I think so." Gorsazo replied. "Pydas, you must know better about it. Can you tell us more?"

    Pydas thought for a moment, then replied, "The previous baron indeed had a manor in Tiranat. But I was never invited inside its walls, so I don''t know any details about it."

    "Well, there you have it, then," Kivamus said to Helga. "There should be enough living space in the manor, so you all can stay there as well. While I''m not yet sure of what awaits us there, Madam Helga, I believe we should be able to find some work for you all." Kivamus continued, "From what you''ve told me, there simply aren''t enough travelers on this road anymore for you to break even, right?"

    Helga just nodded in reply.

    "Pydas, you must have traveled many times through here. Can you tell me about the travel conditions on this road in the winter?" Kivamus asked the merchant. "Will the road be passable in the winter?"

    "My lord, there''s a good chance it''ll start to snow in most places near the Arakin Range in a few weeks. That includes this inn and Tiranat, along with the road joining them. While wagons might still get through for a few weeks, the snow will get too deep soon after that. Give it around a month, and most of the road from Cinran to Tiranat, and beyond that to Kirnos will be completely blocked for wagons," Pydas explained. "The coal which Tiranat is known for is exported only before the winter hits and the snow makes travel impossible, my lord. And their trade with Cinran starts again only after the snow melts in the spring. I know this, my lord since I''m one of the merchants making that trade every year. So, I''d say there wouldn''t be any more traders passing through this road after a month."

    "It''s true enough, my lord. And even in summer, this road rarely sees lone travelers. Most of our income is from passing merchants and traders who stay here overnight. Although after the baron''s murder, hardly any traders have passed through here to buy coal from Tiranat." Helga hesitated, "But I''m not sure about this, my lord."

    "Like I said, Madam Helga, I can''t guarantee anything, but I will certainly try. And from what I can see, the alternative for you all isn''t any better. It is up to you, Madam Helga." Kivamus added, "I think you should sleep on the decision. We don''t leave until the morning, so you have all night to make your decision. Please let Hudan and Feroy know that they are welcome too. I know I will need trusted guards in the future if my brothers'' methods are any indication, and those two have already saved my life once."

    Helga nodded. "I will let them know, my lord. But what they decide is up to them. I can only speak for my family."

    "That''s okay, Madam Helga." Kivamus stood up from his chair, with the others following him. "And thank you again for the meal. Now would you please send someone to guide us to our rooms?"

    Helga stammered, bowing apologetically. "My lord, I''m terribly sorry, but a severe thunderstorm heavily damaged the roof and windows of the inn around a month ago, and it''s not safe for anyone to occupy the upper floor now. We haven''t been able to scrounge up the money to fix it just yet. It pains me to say it, my lord, but we really are quite strapped for coin. However, if you''ll give me a few minutes, I''ll prepare bedding for everyone here in the hall."

    Working together, Lucem, and Syrene, with the help of others, managed to create makeshift beds for everyone on the inn floor after shifting the tables aside. Straw bedding, covered with threadbare sheets, provided a semblance of comfort. Feroy, Hudan, and the wagon drivers then established a watch schedule to ensure someone was always on guard near the door, throughout the night. Although all the bandits had been dealt with, there was still a risk of another group trying to take advantage of the darkness to try again.

    Once again, Gorsazo woke up Kivamus before daybreak. The world outside was still cloaked in darkness, with the inside of the hall illuminated only by the faint orange glow of a few earthen lamps. Around him, others were already up and packing their belongings. He could hear the sound of people arguing near the kitchen of the inn and looked there.

    "I don''t want to go there, ma!" Lucem whined.

    "You don''t understand our situation, Lucem. We can''t stay here anymore, you know that much!" scolded Helga.

    "But I don''t want to leave¡­ No, I won''t go!" Lucem crossed his arms and petulantly yelled back.

    "You will do as I say, and that is it. Now go and finish what you have to pack or you''ll be leaving without it." Helga finally used the voice of a mother and sent him away to pack. She noticed Kivamus was awake and hurried over, eyes bright with relief. "My lord, I''m glad to see you''re awake now. My kids and I have discussed your offer, and we''ve decided to join you on your journey to Tiranat. I still can''t thank you enough for offering us a place there."

    Taking a moment to compose himself, Kivamus rose to his feet. "It is simply the right thing to do, Madam Helga. And I''m pleased you''ve chosen to come. What was that argument about?"

    Helga sighed. "Nothing important, really. Syryne, at twenty, knows why we must leave, my lord. But as for Lucem... this inn, it''s the only home he''s ever known. He was barely a toddler when we left Cinran a decade ago. It''s hard for him to imagine leaving everything familiar behind."

    "That is never easy, I can certainly attest to that. I do hope he''ll come around soon." Kivamus looked around the inn in the light of the small earthen lamps. "And what about Hudan and Feroy?"

    "I''ll let them answer for themselves, my lord. Hudan! Can you come here for a moment?" Helga called out to the huge man.

    Hudan stopped his work and walked towards them.

    "Where''s Feroy?" Helga asked. "And Lord Kivamus wants to know your decisions."

    "He''s outside, Madam Helga, readying our wagon and the horses." Hudan looked towards Kivamus. "My lord, I thank you for offering us a place in Tiranat. Feroy and I have decided to join as well. It wasn''t hard to see that it was very difficult for Madam Helga to provide for us as well, despite her generosity." Hudan bowed towards Kivamus. "I do not know what awaits us there, my lord. But you have a kind heart, that much I can tell, even if I haven''t known you for long. I have faith that you''ll do your best for all of us. Thank you for offering us a place, my lord."

    Despite his newly found noble status, Kivamus still felt a discomfort he couldn''t quite place. He looked at Hudan bowing to him, unsure if this newfound respect was truly something he deserved. "I''m glad to hear that you''ll be coming with us as well, Hudan. I give my word that I will do everything I can to help you all."

    After letting Hudan go to continue his work, Gorsazo offered him a wooden bowl, "You should eat my lord. Others have nearly finished their preparations, and we will be leaving soon."

    Lucem and Syrene were still bustling around trying to pack their meager belongings, with the help of Hudan. Kivamus sat down on an empty chair. Taking a sip of reheated lukewarm soup from yesterday, along with the now-stale bread, he braced himself for another grueling day on the wagon.

    As dawn''s first light painted the sky outside, Helga announced they were ready to depart. Kivamus stepped out from the inn, emerging into the crisp morning air. Feroy, already fussing around the lone wagon of Helga, reiterated his desire to join them. That wagon seemed to hold all of the worldly possessions of Helga''s family and the former inn guards. However, it was hitched to four horses, unlike the two horses pulling Pydas''s wagons. There were also a couple of more horses nearby, loaded with saddlebags.

    "Where did the horses come from, Gorsazo? I only saw a single horse here yesterday," Kivamus asked.

    Hudan, who was nearby, answered in place of Gorsazo. "They are the horses of the bandits, my lord. We found them tied a little distance away. We only had one horse earlier, and we simply couldn''t afford any more of them, but getting possession of five new horses helped make our decision to join you. All of the mercenaries had a horse it seems, so we took them as well as the swords and other supplies from them, my lord, unless¡­ you need them for yourself, my lord?"

    "No, no, you should keep them," Kivamus shook his head slowly. "Consider it part of your reward for saving my life. And at least the mercenaries were helpful in something," he quipped, which got a chuckle from the others.

    As they moved towards the wagons, Lucem climbed onto the driver''s seat of the only wagon owned by the inn, now being pulled by two pairs of horses. Helga and Syrene settled in the back of their wagon after locking the inn with a large iron key they had, a reflective silence settling over them. Hudan and Feroy perched aboard the two other horses, while yesterday''s spots on Pydas''s wagon were reclaimed by Kivamus and Gorsazo. Hudan took his horse in the front of the caravan, while Feroy took his own towards the back end.

    With a flick of the reins by Pydas, their small caravan of four wagons accompanied by two riders lumbered southwards toward Tiranat. As the familiar landscape gave way to the forest road, Helga and her family couldn''t help but look back with a mixture of sadness and hope. A decade of memories flickered in their eyes, the laughter shared within the inn''s walls, the comfort of routine, and the lives they had built in this place. They were trading it all for the unknown, a weight of unspoken emotions pressing down on them. Yet, beneath the bittersweet ache, a flicker of hope was ignited. Tiranat, a new horizon, promised an unknown future, but a future nonetheless.

 10. Interlude: Dwellers of Tiranat Village

    ~ Kigeir ~Kigeir sighed, the sound heavy and defeated in the dusty confines of his small shop. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He stood inside his shop, his bony hand resting on the rough-hewn wood. He ran a weary hand over his thinning gray hair, the dust inside the shop clinging to his calloused fingers. Unlike the plump, overflowing sacks that used to lean against the wall, only a few meager bags of grain lined his shelves, their coarse texture a pitiful representation of what his store usually held. They were a stark reminder of the slow decline that had gripped their isolated little village since the murder of the baron a few months ago.

    His normally bustling shop, filled with the murmur of bartering and the clatter of coins was silent now. The villagers, once lively and eager customers, had become gaunt with hunger and worry, their pockets as empty as their stomachs.

    A few months ago, news had slowly traveled to Tiranat about the baron''s demise. Although he was a greedy wretch with little interest in his people, preferring to spend more time in Count Cinran''s court than here in his own village, his presence had at least ensured a trickle of merchants coming to the village seeking its coal. But ever since the brutal murder of the baron at the hands of bandits, the village had sunk into a suffocating fear. If even a baron was not safe in these parts, what would become of his family or the villagers?

    He sighed, the heavy silence in the village broken only by the occasional cough or the mournful cry of a hungry child. Traders and merchants, once a regular sight on the muddy path in front of his shop, were rarely seen now. The roads lay silent, while the coal kept piling up in the barns. But without traders coming to buy it from the village, it was a worthless treasure. And with all the coal stored in the barns of the manor being the baron''s property, the villagers had to buy it from him if they wanted to use it. With people in the village barely having enough coin to buy food, they couldn''t afford to pay for the coal as well, and had to go to the surrounding wild forests, filled with dangerous beasts, to gather firewood. Damn the miserly bastard! He cursed the previous baron again.

    Tiranat wasn''t a farming community. Unlike other villages nestled amidst sprawling farms, Tiranat, being surrounded by vast forests, offered no bounty of crops. The livelihood of most of the villagers relied entirely on the coal mines that burrowed deep under the eastern hills, and the hunting of deer and moose by brave souls venturing into the bandit-infested forests.

    News traveled slowly in these remote parts. But it had been months since the baron''s demise, and still, they hadn''t heard about the village lands being handed over to another noble, even if he was not likely to be any better than the previous baron. Bandits, emboldened by the lack of authority, had raided the village a week ago, leaving behind a trail of fear and dwindling food supplies along with many burnt houses. The few remaining guards in the baron''s manor had watched with fear, not daring to oppose the bandits as long as they left the manor alone. Thankfully no blood was shed, but the robbed supplies had left a gaping wound in their meager reserves. Kigeir knew it wouldn''t be long before the bandits returned, emboldened by their easy victory.

    With each passing day, villagers stopped bartering for his wares, their pockets as empty as their stomachs. No one had much coin left anymore. They were all clinging desperately to what meager savings they had. Kigeir himself had enough grain tucked away to feed his wife and three kids through the approaching harsh winter. But that was meager comfort in these times. Had the Count, a man rumored to be more interested in lavish court entertainments than the welfare of his people, even noticed the baron''s absence in Tiranat? Kigeir wasn''t even sure that the count remembered this forgotten corner of his domain. He feared the village had become a mere speck on a dusty map, forgotten and fading with each passing day in an uncaring world.

    This barely known village, once a minor exporter of coal, now felt like a ghost town, shrouded in fear and an uncertain future. He worried the coming winter wouldn''t just be a test of survival, it would be a fight for their very existence.

    He was gazing at the empty road when he heard a commotion about wagons coming from the north. Even though it wasn''t likely to change anything, he chose to take a look at the coming caravan. With hardly any goods to sell and without any customers, he really had nothing better to do, after all.

    A sigh escaped his cracked lips, as he told his oldest son to watch the shop and began to walk towards the north end of the small village.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Tesyb, a man of just twenty-two with a face that told a different story, looked weathered by life''s hardships. The lines that creased his brow and framed his eyes spoke volumes of the anxieties that gnawed at him. He was sitting outside what remained of his house, unlike the other villagers who chose to stay inside in the chilly wind. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the deserted street before him, mirroring the hollowness in his own stomach.

    Tesyb had spent most of his life in the belly of the earth, hacking away at coal seams in the hills east of Tiranat. The work was backbreaking, the air perpetually thick with coal dust and the musky smell of sweat in the suffocating darkness. His muscles, forged in the depths of the earth, spoke volumes of his grueling labor. The meager wages he got with each swing of his pickaxe, each shovelful of coal, barely yielded enough to feed his aging parents. Saving was a luxury and yet he''d always scrimped, a small voice whispering caution in his ear. Hard times lurked around every corner for people like them.

    The news of the baron''s murder by bandits a few months ago, had arrived slowly in the village. At first, Tesyb hadn''t thought much of it. After all, what did the death of a greedy noble change for the likes of him? Life had continued, albeit under a growing unease. The mines continued to churn out coal, a growing black mountain piled high in the barns.

    But that normality had proved to be a fleeting comfort. Only a few traders had come to Tiranat through the dangerous roads since the baron''s murder, and what little coal they purchased barely made a dent in the stockpiles. The coal they mined kept piling up, like an unwanted monument to their labor.

    Then came the violent thunderstorm that ripped through the village a month ago. Roofs were damaged, crude shelters demolished, and worst of all, the mines flooded. Usually, a few days of backbreaking work with buckets would clear the water. But this time, Tesyb witnessed Mr Duvas, the baron''s harried old majordomo who oversaw the mine as well, visit the site. His face pinched with worry, the majordomo had a long discussion with the foremen and delivered the gut-wrenching news. With the coal stockpile overflowing and no buyers, there was no money to pay miners to empty the flooded mine corridors.

    Tesyb had felt the world tilt on its axis. All the miners, the lifeblood of the village, were suddenly without work. He and his fellow miners had dug into their meager savings, built on sweat and sacrifice. But every day, with each meager meal, that lifeline dwindled until a single meal a day became the norm.

    And then, to add to their misery, a group of bandits raided the village a week ago and what little the villagers had saved, they had to give up or lose their lives. With the baron dead and his guards, who provided a semblance of security from the bandits, dead along with him on that journey, they had no way to deal with those bandits anymore. He had tried to plead with them to leave at least some food for the villagers, before giving up most of his remaining savings and the stored grains under threat of death, just like others. But that hadn''t been enough for them. Those bastards! Riding on horses with burning torches, they had put on fire many of the houses when leaving the village, including his own. He and other villagers had tried to put out the fires, but the wooden walls hadn''t taken long to burn to ashes, leaving him homeless, along with many others.

    He looked at his parents sitting inside what little remained of the burnt house, their once-proud figures now hunched with age and hunger. How would he manage to feed his frail parents, even with a single meal a day? A single, tear-filled sob escaped his lips, swallowed by the oppressive silence outside. He was thankful to the Goddess that at least his sister had found work as a seamstress''s helper in Cinran. The last few copper coins that he had clutched in his palm, the last of his reserves he had managed to hide from the bandits by burying them under the mud, felt like a cruel joke. How many more meals would it buy? Fear gnawed continuously at his insides. Winter, a monstrous season that demanded even more food, was on its way. How in the world would they survive?

    He breathed deeply, sitting with hunched shoulders. He didn''t know how yet, but he had to find a way. His parents, his only family here in Tiranat, depended on him. He just had to. He simply didn''t know how¡­

    When it was nearing sunset, he heard a commotion from people about wagons coming from the north road. He sighed deeply. What would it change? Still, Tesyb slowly got up and ambled toward the north end of the village, joining others in watching the oncoming wagons.

    ~ Maisy ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy clutched her little brother, Timmy, closer. A caravan was coming from the north and it had many wagons. They looked to be full of stuff and they probably had food too. Two scary-looking guards were riding horses on the sides. She was here since it was rare to see wagons coming to Tiranat now, and sometimes they threw scraps to stray kids like her.

    Many villagers may be hopeful but for Maisy, that spark didn''t last very long. She clutched Timmy closer, her threadbare clothes barely concealing the bony frame beneath. Years of patching and mending had turned them into a patchwork quilt of faded colors. Her once bright eyes, usually filled with a spark of defiance, were now clouded with worry. Hunger had etched itself onto her face, her cheeks sunken and her lips chapped. Timmy, smaller than most eight-year-olds, clutched a tattered cloth for warmth, that may have been a blanket far in the past. His face was pale and streaked with dirt.

    They were standing close to the garbage heap which was stinking a lot, with flies buzzing near her. A few dogs who looked very hungry with their ribs showing, were digging in the garbage behind her.

    Maisy stared at the caravan approaching slowly. Her stomach was making sounds now. She squeezed Timmy''s hand, his thin fingers cold and clammy in hers. He hadn''t stopped asking about the caravan since spotting it.

    "Maybe they''ll have leftovers," he whispered, his big eyes shining with a hope Maisy couldn''t share. Leftovers were a luxury they couldn''t afford to dream about. Their usual dinner came from the garbage thrown out from other huts around their makeshift shelter. Maisy bit back the familiar despair. No point in crushing his spirit before reality did. She''d seen that hopeful look too many times, only to watch it fade with each empty stomach, each cold night huddled together.

    Winter was coming soon and it scared her a lot. A month or two and snow would start falling. They had been living in their aunt''s hut since their parents had died from fever a year ago, even if the hut didn''t really stop the wind or rain. Their aunt, who was their last living relative, had died too at the end of last winter. Since then they had been eating the food that other villagers used to throw away, but for the last few months, even that had become rare. Then, a month ago, a fierce storm had reduced the hut to splinters, leaving them exposed on the cold, muddy ground between the other huts. They''d been living out in the open since then, staying in the small gaps between other huts, and sleeping on the cold and wet ground. But it had started to get really cold at night since the other huts didn''t stop the chilly winds at all.

    The fat baron who used to live in the big manor hadn''t come back since he''d left with his family and his guards a few months ago. She hadn''t seen many wagons coming or leaving the village since then. The villagers themselves had started to look bony, with smoke rising only once from most chimneys. Most of them were now scared of going too far in the forests to gather wood for fire. Looking at their gaunt faces, Maisy saw her own fear reflected back. Fear for the coming winter, fear for Timmy, fear for herself.

    When the bandits had attacked, she had hidden between the garbage heap and the shack next to it, clutching Timmy hard, hoping they didn''t notice them under the garbage that she had thrown over themselves. Thankfully, they hadn''t, or they would have joined other children who had been taken by bandits in the past.

    Every new day was a battle to stay alive now. Scraps and spoiled food thrown away by villagers had reduced to nearly nothing now. She hadn''t eaten for two days. Scavenged from behind a crumbling hut, a sliver of moldy bread had been her only find yesterday. Seeing Timmy''s once-chubby cheeks now hollowed with hunger, she had given it to him. The urge to keep the bread for herself, a selfish whisper in the face of starvation, was quickly silenced by the sight of him. He had never looked so frail before.

    Maisy didn''t know how she and Timmy would survive the coming winter. Their bodies, already weak from hunger, wouldn''t withstand the relentless cold. Her body ached with a constant hunger, but it was Timmy''s wide, hopeful eyes that truly terrified her. How could she shield him from the coming cold and the growing hunger that threatened to consume them both?

    A chilling fear colder than any winter wind ate at her heart. A fear that this winter might just be their last. The weight of responsibility pressed down on her small frame, a burden far too heavy for a ten-year-old girl. But she was all Timmy had. And for Timmy, for his innocent hope that still flickered, she would fight. She had to.

 11. Arrival in Tiranat

    Their small caravan had been traveling southwards since the morning on the road to Tiranat. They had remained unscathed from any bandits or mercenaries so far, despite their fears of being attacked. The road to Tiranat had taken them closer to the Arakin mountain range, with dense forests surrounding the road as they traveled. The late autumn months meant most of the trees were bare now, revealing their towering forms against the fading light of the setting sun, their colorful leaves now carpeting the forest floor. In a few places where the forest had thinned, they could glimpse the towering mountains to the left, their peaks dusted with snow.Around noon, soon after they had started their journey again after a short rest for a meal, Kivamus shuddered as a low, guttural growl echoed through the dense forest, silencing the birdsong. His eyes darted to the side of the dirt road, his heart pounding with a sudden fear. Through the thick curtain of trees, he could see them not too far away from their forest route - hulking beasts the size of small bears, yet possessing the unmistakable grace and pack mentality of wolves. Their fur, a mixture of brown and gray, rippled over powerful muscles as they loped through the forest. For a heart-stopping moment, the travelers held their breath, fearful of the beasts noticing them. Minutes stretched into an eternity, and then finally, as abruptly as they had appeared, the great beasts veered off into the tangled depths of the forest.

    The travelers sagged in relief, a shared sigh whispering through them. They were harrowed, yes, but for now, they were safe. Gorsazo told him later that they were called adzees. Similar in their habits to the wolves found more commonly through the forests of Reslinor, adzees were a rare sight. They were the apex predators of the forests, and usually, it took a small group of knights dispatched from a nearby town to kill even a single adzee, if it was seen near a farm or a village.

    At some point in the afternoon, Kivamus saw the vast silhouette of a flying creature soaring towards the Arakin mountains. It looked enormous even from a distance, making him worry before he realized that it probably couldn''t see the wagons moving in the forest from such a great height. He was told that it was a Bakkore, a huge bird-like beast, that lived and hunted near mountains or tall hills. They seldom came close to human habitations, but farmers in remote farms had often reported them stealing their goats or sheep and flying away with their catch.

    Kivamus forced in a deep breath, trying to quell the unease that gnawed at him. This world was nothing like the Earth he left behind. Here, danger lurked not just in the shadows of men, but in the very creatures that roamed the wilds. Monstrous beasts roamed freely, creatures that would send shivers down the spine of even the bravest soul back on Earth. Survival in this harsh medieval world was already a challenge, but the presence of these monstrous predators added a terrifying new layer of difficulty. He swallowed hard, the weight of his new reality pressing down on him. It would be far harder to stay alive here, but that wouldn''t deter him. He would have to learn to adapt, to understand the dangers that stalked these lands if he was going to survive here. And he will survive.

    Although the weather had been mild during the daytime, a noticeable chill had settled as evening approached. Kivamus tightened the cloak Feroy had generously offered him, grateful for the extra warmth. The air grew colder with each passing mile, its chill seeping through his clothes. Tiranat, nestled closer to the Arakin mountains, promised a winter far harsher than what he was accustomed to in his life on Earth.

    As they crossed the treeline and exited the forest, the pitiful village called Tiranat came into view, giving Kivamus the first glance of what was going to be his new home from now on. The huge trees of the forest surrounded the village, wrapping it from all four sides. The Arakin Mountains, their peaks still ablaze with the fading sunlight, dominated the eastern horizon. Their snowy crowns, usually stark white, were now awash in a golden light. Smaller hills, some gentle and verdant, others steeper and more rugged, stretched from the east of the village towards the majestic range.

    He looked at the Tiranat village itself. It was a heartbreaking sight, with no wall to protect it from the dangers of the surrounding forests. The few wispy rays of the setting sun that still managed to break through the dense forests illuminated a scene of profound poverty. Most of the dwellings were little more than one-room huts built with a desperate mix of mud and whatever scraps of wood the villagers could scrounge in the hopes of keeping out the biting wind. Their thatched roofs, uneven and patchy with missing straw, offered little protection from the elements. Smoke, thin and wispy, curled from a few misshapen chimneys fashioned out of crooked sticks. The air itself held a faint tang of woodsmoke and manure, a rustic fragrance that spoke of a life lived close to the earth, scraping by on its meager bounty.

    Dotted amongst the mud huts were a few sturdier structures - a small number of wooden houses offering a touch of relative comfort in the desperate poverty of the village. Even these structures, however, were warped and weathered, their windows patched with ragged pieces of cloth and the wood chipped in places. A communal well, its mossy rim worn smooth by generations of hands, stood next to the road as the village''s lifeline amidst the gloom.

    As the line of wagons came closer to the huts, a few of the villagers who had started to gather nearby, gazed at the caravan with eyes mixed with hope and desperation.

    All of a sudden, Hudan stood up on his saddle and declared in a booming voice, "Hear ye, hear ye! Your new liege, the Baron of Tiranat has arrived! Make way for Lord Kivamus Ralokaar!"

    Soon, Feroy, Pydas, and the other wagon drivers joined him in yelling as well, and more and more villagers started to come out of their houses to look at the passing caravan. A few of the villagers had a hopeful look on their faces on hearing about Kivamus and started to clap hesitantly.

    It was an otherworldly experience for Kivamus, being praised and cheered for, just because he had somehow found himself as the son of a Duke. Being entitled and getting privileges just because of noble birth went against everything Kivamus stood for in his life on Earth. Yet, for now, this was his life and he had to adjust to it, whether he liked it or not.

    Nevertheless, it was impossible not to notice that the majority of villagers still had a subdued silence, punctuated by a few scattered claps or nervous cheers. Some of them did seem to have a curiosity about their new baron, yet it was full of apprehension.

    The wagons kept moving and slowly passed the small crowd of villagers through the muddy road, their clothes patched and faded, mirroring the dullness in their eyes. In front of a stinking pile of garbage, a girl who looked to be barely ten years old was clutching a smaller boy to her side, her eyes full of weariness which had no place on any child''s face.

    As they moved further through the alleys, charred remains of some houses came into view, standing between other undamaged huts and wooden houses. Homeless families huddled in doorways of what remained of their homes, their faces etched with hopelessness.

    "What happened here?" Kivamus breathed.

    Gorsazo, who was sitting on the other side of the wagon, was also looking at the burnt houses. "I can''t say, my lord. But Tiranat is not an easy place to live for anyone, that is certain."

    On the muddy paths that wound between the dwellings, villagers moved with weary steps to look at the passing caravan, their faces etched with worry lines deeper than any a simple life should carve. Children, their clothes hanging loose on their thin frames, played sluggishly with sticks and stones, their laughter dull and infrequent.

    Kivamus saw the exhaustion in their eyes, the way their shoulders slumped under the burden of their lives. He swallowed hard, as the full weight of Tiranat''s despair settled upon him. He''d seen hardship before, but the sheer depth of despair in their eyes was a new kind of pain. It wasn''t just fear in the villagers'' eyes, but a resigned acceptance of a life lived perpetually on the brink. The air itself seemed to carry the weight of their despair, a thick fog of hopelessness that permeated every corner of Tiranat.

    As it became darker, the tall trees of the forest surrounding Tiranat loomed like a silent threat in the fading light of dusk. Tiranat was a village on the precipice, a testament to the harsh realities of a life lived on the fringes of civilization, where every sunrise brought a renewed battle for survival. But amidst all the despair, Kivamus saw something else in the eyes of a few villagers - a spark of hope, faint and fragile, but present nonetheless. As their eyes met, a silent plea passed between them. A plea for change, for a leader who wouldn''t simply squeeze them dry but offer a lifeline.

    Kivamus took a deep breath to calm his mind. The truth remained that he hadn''t chosen to be here, on this planet, or in this village. Yet, he was here now and that was not going to change anytime soon. He could crumble and give up on everything after being uprooted from his happy life in London through no fault of his own. Or, he could use his knowledge to do something good for these people.

    A surge of resolve ran through Kivamus. He wouldn''t be just another medieval lord, another burden on their backs. These people, broken but not defeated, deserved better. He would be their shield, their champion, a beacon of hope in this suffocating darkness. He would fight for them and this dying village. He squared his shoulders, a newfound determination etching itself onto his face. Tiranat was his home now, and he wouldn''t let it crumble. He would help them rebuild, not just their homes, but their lives.

    These villagers were his subjects, his people now, and they depended on him. The weight of responsibility pressed down on him, but it wasn''t a burden. It was a purpose, a chance to make a real difference in the lives of these desperate people. The journey ahead would be difficult and full of challenges, but that yearning look in the eyes of those villagers had fueled a fire of determination within him. He wouldn''t let them down. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 12. The Barons Manor

    The caravan of wagons was slowly guided by Pydas towards the manor of the previous Baron on the east end of the village. As they reached closer, the wooden palisade walls of the manor finally came into view. Two guards were standing in front of the gate, clad in weathered leather vests above well-patched tunics, each having a sword behind their shoulder. They straightened their postures as they noticed the approaching caravan. Surprise was visible on their faces, but it was quickly replaced by a practiced alertness as they awaited the newcomers. There was a single burning torch mounted on a wooden pole near the gate for light, while a few people who seemed to have followed the caravan through the village, stood nearby watching the wagons approach the gate.When they reached closer to the gates, the guard on the left bellowed toward them, "Halt! Who goes there? What business do you have here?"

    "I know you." The other guard said, looking carefully at Pydas in the front wagon. "You''re that trader who comes here sometimes. Who said you could come towards the Baron''s manor?"

    "It is not for me that I come here. I bring with me your new lord, the Baron of Tiranat," Pydas replied while getting off the seat of his wagon.

    Hudan and Feroy also got down from their horses and held their reins. Kivamus climbed down from Pydas''s wagon, followed by Gorsazo, and walked towards the gate guards, while Hudan stayed close to them. The loose gravel crunched under his boots as he walked, but at least it wasn''t muddy like the rest of the village.

    Gorsazo gestured towards Kivamus and spoke to the guards, "This is the third son of the Duke of Ulriga and the new Baron of Tiranat, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar." He took out a scroll from a pocket of his tunic and offered it to the guards. "Here is the duke''s proclamation giving the ownership of this barony and all the surrounding lands to Lord Kivamus."

    The guards, who looked completely out of their element dealing with a new lord, didn''t seem to know what to do for a moment. However, the guard on the left, who was older, gained his wits first and bowed towards Kivamus, with the other, younger guard joining him. He took the offered scroll reverently but didn''t open it yet. "Please wait here for a moment, my lord. I can''t read so I will have to fetch the majordomo for this. Only Mister Duvas has the authority to admit anyone inside the manor." He looked to the younger guard, "You, run along now and tell Mister Duvas to come here. Go now, fast!"

    The other guard opened the wooden gates a little and ran inside, while the first guard bowed apologetically to Kivamus again, "Please forgive me for the delay, my lord."

    "No, it''s okay. It is a good thing that you don''t believe anyone with a tall claim," Kivamus replied. "We''ll wait for the majordomo."

    While they were waiting, Kivamus couldn''t shake the image of the destitute villagers, many of them homeless, facing the harsh evening chill without a roof over their heads. Gorsazo''s confirmation that it was still late autumn only intensified his worry. Seeing how close the village of Tiranat was to the Arakin Mountains where it was already snowing, had made it obvious that winter was not far away. And the villagers, in their current state, might not survive the harsh winter months. He didn''t know what to do about the situation yet, but the thought of leaving them to face that fate was unbearable. These people depended on him now. He had to help them, somehow.

    He looked around the area in the dusk. The walls of the manor were made of wooden logs taller than the people standing there. It extended for a small distance on both sides of the gates, but it was hard to see too much in the approaching darkness. The road that they had followed to come here through the middle of the village, ended at the gates of the manor. It may be too much to call it a road though, since it was just an empty path full of mud, that meandered between the huts and wooden houses of the village. At least the area near the gates was covered with gravel though.

    Soon, the younger guard reappeared, ushering through the gate a harried man who appeared to be around sixty years old. Thinning white hair, along with a small beard framed his face which was etched with lines that spoke of years under the unforgiving sun. He wore a simple tunic, the fabric well-worn and carrying the faint stain of what could have been ink. His gaze swept across the group gathered outside the gate, his squint deepening with concentration until it landed squarely on Kivamus. A flicker of recognition crossed his features when he saw him.

    "Oh, it is you, Lord Kivamus!" He exclaimed and bowed to him. "What are you doing here? I didn''t expect to ever see you here, my lord."

    Kivamus was surprised. "You recognize me?"

    "Of course, I do, Lord Kivamus. Forgive me, my lord, for not introducing myself sooner. I am Duvas, the majordomo of this manor. I have been to Ulriga a few times in the past to give a tally of our taxes paid to the Duke. You might not remember me, my lord, but I have seen you and your brothers there in the Ulriga palace." He frowned for a moment. "Are you the new Baron of Tiranat, my lord?"

    "I am indeed. We can talk more later." Kivamus gestured to the guard who was still holding the scroll Gorsazo had given to him. "Would you take a look at the Duke''s proclamation first? The guards refused to let me enter before you had verified it. All of us are tired and would like to rest soon."

    "Excuse my forgetfulness, my lord." He took the scroll from the guard, who looked shaky now and tried to look at it in the flickering light of the torch. "It does have the Duke''s seal, my lord, and I do recognize you already. But my eyes aren''t what they used to be, so I''ll take another look at it inside the manor in better lighting. But please come inside first, my lord." He gestured towards the gates, then turned to the guards. "And you two! You should have at least brought Lord Kivamus inside! He is the son of the Duke, for Goddess''s sake!"

    The younger guard, barely a man himself, gulped and stumbled back a step, his face draining of color. The shock was mirrored on the older guard''s face, his weathered features paling beneath his grizzled beard. With shaking legs, both guards dropped to their knees before Kivamus.

    "Forgive us, my lord!" the younger guard blurted, his voice cracking with fear. "We... we did not recognize you. And the seal... we cannot read, my lord, and with the recent troubles¡­ We beg your forgiveness, my lord! Please, have mercy!"

    The older guard, his voice gruff but steady, took over. "We meant no disrespect, my lord. It is our duty to protect the manor, and these are uncertain times since the previous baron was ambushed. We could not, in good conscience, allow anyone inside the gates without proper identification, and neither of us recognized you, my lord."

    Kivamus raised a hand, silencing their pleas. His gaze, though calm, held an undeniable weight of authority. He surveyed the scene for a moment, taking in their obvious fear and the sincerity in their apology. The guards were only doing their jobs properly, and even if it still chafed at his modern sensibilities to see others kneeling before him, he was now a baron in a medieval world and had to act like it.

    "There''s no need for apologies, guardsmen," he said, his voice calm and reassuring. "It''s an admirable display of caution and vigilance." Relief washed over the guards'' faces, replacing the fear with a mixture of gratitude and curiosity.

    "We won''t be punished then, my lord?" The younger guard asked with a hopeful face, while the older one still looked uncertain.

    "What is wrong with the nobles in this world?" Kivamus muttered under his breath. He replied to the still-kneeling guards, "Get up, both of you! Of course you won''t be punished for doing your duty as guards! Now lead us inside."

    The older guard, emboldened by Kivamus''s forgiving nature, rose to his feet, a sheepish grin breaking out on his face. "Aye, my lord. We wouldn''t want to keep our new Baron waiting outside the gates, now would we?" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The younger guard scrambled to his feet as well, his previous fear replaced by a newfound respect and admiration for his new liege.

    As the guards began ushering Kivamus and others inside the manor gates, Pydas, the portly merchant, cleared his throat and spoke up. "My lord," he began, "it seems this is where our paths separate. It was a pleasure to have met you, and a most fortunate coincidence that brought us together."

    Kivamus turned to Pydas, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Parting ways so soon, Pydas?" he asked. "Why not join us inside? I''m sure there''s room for you and the other wagon drivers. Where would you even stay at this late hour?"

    Pydas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, my lord, I need to get down to business, you see. I need to find out if any of the local merchants are interested in buying my goods before they close shops for the day. And there used to be a small alehouse in the village. The wagon drivers and I can find a room there for the night."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "That''s sensible. I appreciate the lift you provided to us. Speaking of which, are you certain about not accepting any fee for bringing us here?"

    Pydas chuckled a warm sound that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Quite certain, my lord. Consider it a¡­ gesture of goodwill."

    A smile tugged at the corner of Kivamus'' lips. "Well, I can''t let you go hungry after such a journey. At least join us for a meal tonight. It''s the least I can do for you and your men."

    Pydas hesitated for a moment, considering the offer. "Very well, my Lord," he finally conceded. "We wouldn''t want to refuse your hospitality."

    "Excellent!" Kivamus said. "As for your wagons, why not bring them inside the manor walls for safekeeping? No need to risk them sitting unattended in the village. Is that fine with you, Duvas?"

    "What?" Duvas looked surprised to be asked the question. "Of course it is, my lord. It is your manor, after all!"

    Relief washed over Pydas'' face. "That would be fantastic, my lord. Much appreciated." He looked back at the two wagon drivers, then continued, "In that case, I''ll take one of them along with me to talk to the merchants. Hopefully, some merchants will still be open. I will leave Levalo, the younger one, here to take care of the wagons and horses. We will return in around an hour for the meal you offered so generously," Pydas said with a bow.

    "Great! I''ll await your return."

    With a final nod, Kivamus turned back to follow the guards, leaving Pydas to make arrangements with his men and his goods. The others, including Helga''s family, the former inn guards, and Gorsazo followed Kivamus inside into the safety of the manor walls.

 13. Meeting The Residents

    As they passed through the manor gates, Kivamus took a moment to gaze at the view in front of him. To their left, a sizable shed offered shelter for weary beasts of burden. Further ahead on the left, there was a larger barn with a sloped roof, its sturdy wooden frame promising ample storage space for hay and grain.To their right, a small well stood near the gates, its bucket creaking rhythmically as a young maid drew water from it. Just beyond, near the corner of the manor, a small two-story wooden building identified itself as the servants'' hall, a place for them and the guards to gather and rest. A plume of smoke was rising from its chimney promising a warm kitchen with a fireplace within. Further along the palisade walls on the right, another wooden building stood, which was perhaps a second barn.

    In the center of this bustling courtyard stood the heart of the manor, the Baron''s manor house itself. Constructed entirely of wood, the two-story manor boasted a multitude of rooms, with its sloping roof forming a picturesque silhouette against the twilight sky. Torches mounted on wooden poles around the courtyard cast a warm, flickering glow, chasing away the encroaching darkness. And unlike the muddy road outside the manor, the interior had a gravel path connecting the various structures.

    As they entered the courtyard, a flurry of activity surrounded them. Servants, maids, and a few guards, alerted by the approaching figures, abandoned their tasks, gathering around the newcomers with curious gazes. Their clothes were well patched, and the guards'' leather armor looked like it had seen much better days.

    Duvas stepped forward and cleared his throat. "People of the manor," he boomed, his voice carrying across the courtyard despite his age, "lend me your ears! I present to you, the new Baron of Tiranat, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar!"

    A beat of surprised silence followed, then a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Immediately, a wave of bows and curtseys rippled through the onlookers. Kivamus, unused to such a display of deference, raised a hand awkwardly, unsure how to respond to this sudden surge of attention. He had never considered himself a man of power, and being the focus of attention was slightly overwhelming to him.

    "Welcome, my lord," the oldest maid, her face etched with wrinkles that spoke of years of service, said in a respectful voice. A chorus of similar greetings echoed around him.

    Regaining his composure quickly, Kivamus raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Please, everyone, rise. There''s no need for such formality," he said, his tone warm and friendly. "I am grateful for your welcome."

    A hesitant smile spread across the faces of the manor residents. The arrival of a new Baron was a significant event, one that could bring either prosperity or hardship. Kivamus'' genuine humility seemed to put them at ease.

    Kivamus let them return to their tasks, while he took a moment to look around the manor he was going to be living in from now on.

    As the servants and guards returned to their previous tasks, a flurry of activity commenced. Strong arms unhitched the tired horses from the wagons, leading them towards the welcoming shade of the animal shed, a place of fodder and a well-deserved rest for them. The clatter of wooden buckets and the excited whinnies of the horses filled the air as the grooms went about their work. Pydas, along with the older wagon driver walked back towards the gates, while the younger driver stayed inside to help with the horses.

    Hudan and Feroy handed over the horses pulling the wagon of Helga''s family as well as their own rides to the grooms, while Helga and Syryne climbed out of the wagon as well, joining Lucem.

    With a final nod to the gathered crowd, Kivamus turned towards the doors of the manor house, following Duvas. Gorsazo fell into step beside him.

    Helga, looking unsure for a moment, called out to Kivamus. "My lord! What about us?"

    Kivamus turned to Duvas, a question already forming on his lips. "Duvas," he began, "these are my companions, and therefore, our guests. Do you have any available living quarters for them?"

    Duvas stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The manor house itself has been essentially empty since the previous Baron and his family left on that ill-fated journey, my lord," he explained. "We''ve kept it clean and maintained, of course. And currently, I''m the only one occupying a room in it." He gestured towards the two-story building on the right. "There''s also the servants'' hall. It has a large hall on both floors, which offers enough space to house all the manor''s servants and the off-duty guards. Traditionally, the women take the upper floor, and the men reside on the ground floor. It is your decision, my lord."

    Kivamus considered both options for a moment before a smile played on his lips. "In that case," he declared, "they can all stay in the manor house with us. The rooms are empty after all, and it wouldn''t do for our guests to feel relegated to the servants'' quarters."

    Helga hesitated. "My lord," she interjected, "are you sure about that? Staying in the actual manor house might be... well, a bit much for us. It is not necessary for you to house us there, my lord."

    Kivamus smiled reassuringly. "Think nothing of it, madam Helga. The rooms are empty, as Duvas said, and there''s no reason for them to stay unused."

    Helga exchanged a glance with Syryne and Lucem, who both seemed to perk up at the idea. A small smile tugged at the corner of her own lips. "Very well, my lord," she conceded. "We will gratefully accept your hospitality, but only until we get back on our feet and find a place in the village itself."

    "Of course," Kivamus replied, nodding. "It''s entirely up to you, and I respect your wishes. In the meantime, please consider yourselves welcome in the manor house for as long as you need to stay."

    He turned his gaze towards Hudan and Feroy, who were still standing nearby. Before he could speak, Feroy spoke up with a determined tone.

    "Thank you for your generosity, my Lord," he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "But we''ll find a place with the other guards. No need to worry about us." He and Hudan bowed in unison, expressing their gratitude. "We will also talk with the guard captain here, to tell him to add us to the watch schedule for the manor. We do need to earn our keep, after all."

    "That will be helpful. You both can certainly hold your own against any enemies." Kivamus looked to Duvas, "Can you let the guard captain know about them?"

    Duvas hesitated for a moment. "I''m sorry to say, my lord, but there is no guard captain in the manor anymore. The previous baron had taken the former guard captain with him, along with a majority of the other guards on that journey. As you know, my lord, no one survived that trip, and since then we are already short on trained men. We have barely been able to manage a full watch schedule for the manor with the remaining guards with a few servants helping as well, and we couldn''t even help the villagers when bandits attacked the village around a week ago. Although thankfully, there were no killings in that raid, they still looted away a lot of the stored food and money of the villagers. When leaving on their horses, they also set a few houses on fire, so the villagers would be busy putting out the fires instead of pursuing them."

    "That explains the burnt houses," Hudan said regretfully. "And the way they looted so much from the village without any opposition from the guards, makes me think that they might get bold enough and raid again, perhaps soon."

    The sight of those villagers, their gaunt faces etched with fear, huddling in what remained of their homes was burned in Kivamus'' mind. Poverty, he knew, was a cruel reality for most in this world, and it was already a constant struggle to survive each new day. But the looming winter here in Tiranat, so close to the already snowing Arakin Mountains, meant those homeless people wouldn''t survive the bitterly cold winter months without help. A pang of guilt pierced him. In his comfortable life in London, thoughts about people living in such hardship had rarely crossed his mind. Now, the contrast twisted his gut. He, an outsider thrust into this medieval world, would be well-provided for as a Baron, even as the villagers faced starvation and freezing temperatures.

    Others in his position might choose to accept this disparity, maybe even reveling in their newfound noble status, but Kivamus refused to turn a blind eye. He knew little about this world, but one thing was certain, he wouldn''t turn a blind eye to suffering. He wouldn''t just sit idly by in his warm manor house while others lived in misery. A gust of wind rattled the manor, making Kivamus pull his cloak tighter, a physical echo of the resolve hardening within him.

    "We have to discuss this again later on," Kivamus said with a resolute voice. "Hudan, remind me about this tomorrow, and we''ll decide on what protective measures we can take to defend the village. They are my people now and we won''t abandon them."

    Hearing that, Helga, as well as others, couldn''t stop their faces from getting a smile.

    "Of course not, my lord." Duvas added, "However, only the baron has the authority to promote someone to a guard captain, so I have been managing the watch schedule by myself since then. It would be very helpful if you chose to promote a guard, my lord." Duvas gave a tired smile. "I have been taking care of too many things by myself, and it hasn''t been easy for me."

    "Of course, tomorrow we will see what can be done about that as well." Kivamus looked towards Hudan and Feroy. "For tonight though, you both should take a good rest."

    "Thank you, my lord," Hudan said and joined Feroy in giving another bow to Kivamus.

    The oldest maid, a woman around Helga''s age, approached Kivamus. "My lord," she said, her voice carrying a hint of concern, "the previous Baron had taken his cook with him on that tragic journey," she continued apologetically, "so there''s no one suitable for preparing a proper noble feast right now. But give us an hour, and we''ll have the kitchen in the manor house up and running, and something cooked for you soon."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. He glanced towards the servants'' hall, where a plume of smoke rose from the chimney. "But I see smoke coming from the servant''s hall," he pointed out. "I thought you had started preparing food for everyone already." S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The woman offered a sheepish smile. "We had, my lord," she admitted. "But it''s just simple porridge and some soup, for all of us common folk."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment with a thoughtful expression on his face. "That''s perfectly fine," he declared. "There''s no need to prepare an entire new meal just for me. I''ll gladly share what everyone else is having."

    The old maid, along with the other curious servants and maids who had gathered nearby, stood speechless. Eventually, the old maid recovered her voice. "But¡­ but my lord," she stammered, "it''s just plain porridge! It wouldn''t be proper for a noble like you!"

    Kivamus waved a dismissive hand. "Nonsense! It''s food, and I''m hungry. It''s a waste to prepare a meal again just for me anyway. When it''s ready, just bring me what everyone else is having."

    His words had a profound effect. That simple act of humility caused a wave of relief and a hint of joy to wash over the old maid and the other servants who were standing nearby. Here was a lord who wasn''t a tyrant or an oppressor.

    The old maid, her initial shock replaced by a hint of warmth, nodded in acceptance. "Very well, my Lord," she said and turned to head back towards the servants'' hall to continue cooking.

    The other servants, their curiosity satisfied for now, got back to their duties as well, a newfound respect and perhaps even a hint of fondness evident in their smiles.

    Lucem and Syryne, who had been watching the exchange with keen interest, couldn''t help but smile as well. Even Helga, her initial reservations fading, shared in their sense of relief and hope. Perhaps, just perhaps, their new life in Tiranat wouldn''t be so bad after all.

 14. A New Home

    The doors of the manor house stood in front of them, promising some respite from the chilly evening air. Kivamus and Gorsazo fell into step behind Duvas, their boots crunching softly on the packed dirt path. Helga and her family followed close behind, a mix of apprehension and curiosity swirling in their eyes.The heavy doors creaked open with a sigh, and a scene of rustic warmth greeted them. The floor, constructed from broad, uneven planks, creaked softly beneath their footsteps as they entered. The large hall doubled as a living and dining area, its thick wooden beams stretching overhead. A massive stone fireplace dominated the wall on the right, its flickering flames casting long, dancing shadows across the rough-hewn wooden walls. The air hung heavy with the scent of smoke, a familiar and comforting aroma in this weather. A young man in a tunic, probably a servant of the manor, was putting more coal in the fire. A thick chimney loomed above it, its blackened stone testament to countless fires in the past.

    A long wooden table, its surface worn smooth by countless meals, was kept on the left side of the room. Animal pelts, mostly of wolves and bears from the surrounding forests, adorned the floors and walls, adding a touch of warmth and texture to the otherwise spartan space. A much bigger pelt, likely of an adzee that Kivamus had seen for the first time today, was spread on the floor as well. The windows, devoid of any glass pane within them, were closed at this time to preserve the heat. Closer to the fireplace, a group of sturdy wooden chairs awaited them.

    Duvas gestured towards the chairs closest to the crackling fire. "My lord," he said with a bow, "please, make yourselves comfortable."

    Kivamus nodded his thanks and settled into one of the chairs, Gorsazo taking the seat beside him. The warmth from the fire seeping into their chilled bones was a pleasing experience for everyone. Helga and her family hesitated for a moment, unsure of their place in the manor''s hierarchy. Seeing their discomfort, Kivamus gestured toward the remaining chairs with a smile. "Please, everyone," he invited, "take a seat. There''s room for all of us." Nodding obligingly, Helga and Syryne took the remaining chairs, while young Lucem sat on the edge of a pelt on the floor, his wide eyes taking in everything with a mixture of apprehension and wonder.

    Kivamus eased himself into his chair, the weight of his new title settling upon him with a mix of excitement and trepidation. This was his new home now, a far cry from the life he once knew, but a challenge he was determined to embrace.

    "Thank you so much, my lord, for allowing us a place here," Helga said gratefully. "When we left the inn, I wasn''t sure what awaited us, but you have been more kind than I could ever have imagined. We are forever in your debt, my lord."

    "Of course not. I''m just trying to do my part to help," Kivamus replied. "After we have eaten, Duvas will show you your rooms."

    Duvas nodded to that. "There are many rooms here, my lord. Your own bedchamber is upstairs, along with a few more empty rooms on the upper floor. I stay in one of the guest rooms on the ground floor, and Madam Helga and her family can stay in another guest room there. Mister Gorsazo can take a room anywhere he wishes, as well."

    "I''d prefer to stay on the upper floor, in case Lord Kivamus needs any help."

    "Of course, Gorsazo," Duvas added.

    They all sat there near the welcoming warmth of the fireplace, waiting for the simple dinner to be ready.

    "Duvas, why don''t you take a look again at the Duke''s proclamation in the light of the fire? It will be better to get it over with," Kivamus said.

    "Oh, forgive me, my lord, I nearly forgot! Like I said earlier, my lord, it is only a formality at this point, but I should confirm it anyway," Duvas said. He walked to the bigger table where he had kept the mentioned scroll earlier and brought it near the light of the fireplace. He sat down again on his chair, reading the scroll carefully.

    Kivamus stared at the rolled-up parchment in Duvas'' hand, the rough, leathery texture a stark contrast to the smooth, cold feel of the touchscreen he was accustomed to. Back in London, promotions or new positions came with an impersonal email, a sterile notification that did little to stir emotions. Here, in this world bathed in the flickering firelight, such pronouncements took on a tangible form - a weathered scroll, perhaps of bark or cured animal hide, imbued with the weight of tradition. The official announcement outside the manor house, delivered with such reverence by Duvas, seemed like a relic from a bygone era to Kivamus. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A pang of longing shot through him. He missed his phone, a pocket-sized portal to the world at his fingertips. He missed the comforting hum of his computer, with the familiar glow of its screen. Here, such technology would be seen as the work of witchcraft, as foreign and unbelievable as little green men landing from an alien ship in Trafalgar Square. Would he ever see such gadgets again? A wave of homesickness washed over him with a yearning for the familiar comforts of his old life.

    Duvas carefully rolled the scroll back up, his weathered face etched with seriousness. "Everything appears in order, my Lord," he declared, his voice a steady rumble in the firelit hall. "No cause for concern with this record. Welcome to Tiranat, my lord, once again," Duvas added, a hint of warmth in his voice.

    Duvas'' words, meant to be reassuring, only emphasized the vast gulf between his two lives. Welcome. The word felt hollow in this unfamiliar world. The comfort of his past life was a distant memory, replaced by the harsh realities of this new one. This new life, so different from anything he''d ever known, presented a formidable challenge.

    Yet, as he looked around the room at the concerned faces of Helga, Gorsazo, and the others, he realized that he wasn''t alone in this. He might be a stranger in a strange land and his past a distant dream, but he wouldn''t let nostalgia cripple him. And perhaps, just perhaps, he could forge a new and meaningful path in this strange land. After all, a welcome, no matter how different, was still a beginning. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders, ready to embrace whatever challenge this strange new world had in store for him.

    Despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling within him, he managed a grateful smile for Duvas'' welcome. "Thank you, Duvas," he said, his voice sincere. "I may be new to this, but I assure you, I''ll do everything in my power to make life better for everyone here in Tiranat."

    A glimmer of hope sparked in the eyes of Helga, Duvas, and the others around the fire. A genuine smile touched Helga''s lips, a stark contrast to the worry lines etched on her face just moments ago. Kivamus recognized the weary fatigue in their expressions.

    "It''s been a long journey," Kivamus continued. "Everyone must be exhausted. After we''ve eaten, let''s get a good night''s sleep. But from tomorrow," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the room, "we begin the hard work of rebuilding Tiranat. There''s much to be done." His voice held a quiet determination, a stark contrast to the previous Baron''s perceived apathy.

    Gorsazo added, "Indeed, my Lord. Looking at the faces of the villagers today, I couldn''t help but think the previous baron had been mismanaging the barony. Even if the coal mines are the only major source of income for the barony, surely there could have been something more done to ensure the villagers weren''t on the brink of starvation." Gorsazo cleared his throat and continued with a touch of remorse in his voice. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but I believe most in the village would be relieved that he''s gone."

    Duvas nodded. "Indeed, my lord. I tried on numerous occasions to bring the villagers'' plight to the previous Baron''s attention. However, his mind was always set on the next grand trip to Cinran. As you might have heard, my lord, Count Cinran is well known for his extravagant celebrations, and his court is a beehive of nobles vying for his favor. The previous Baron, unfortunately, preferred that company to the needs of his own people."

    Kivamus nodded, gesturing for them to continue.

    Helga leaned forward, her brow furrowed in concern. "My lord," she interjected, "perhaps the most pressing matter is taking stock of what resources we have remaining. We need to assess the grain stores here in the manor. Even if we have to purchase additional supplies from Cinran, we need enough grain reserves to sustain the village through the winter. Once the snow falls, as Pydas mentioned yesterday, all the roads near the Arakin mountains become treacherous, and the route from Tiranat to Cinran usually gets impassable for wagons."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but feel a surge of gratitude for the people around him. These were the advisors he needed around him, honest, capable, and deeply invested in the well-being of Tiranat. People who understood the land and its challenges, and were already offering solutions to the problems he could only begin to grasp. "Excellent point, Helga," he acknowledged, his gaze flickering between them all. "We''ll talk in detail about these matters tomorrow morning. Additionally, Duvas, I need a complete picture of our financial situation. Knowing the exact amount of gold crowns at our disposal will be crucial in determining our next steps."

    Duvas''s nod held a hint of resignation as he spoke. "Certainly, my lord," he said. "However, Tiranat is a small barony, one of the poorest in the Duchy, I dare say. We have no grand treasury to speak of. All we have is a simple iron strongbox which I used to keep the Baron''s funds. And on that ill-fated journey to Cinran¡­" he paused, his voice trailing off for a moment.

    "The Baron took most of it, didn''t he?" Kivamus finished the sentence for him, a grim understanding settling on his features.

    Duvas sighed. "Indeed, my Lord. He needed it to pay the annual taxes to the Count. Normally, I would have accompanied him for such matters, but on that occasion, a sudden illness kept me bedridden." A hint of relief flickered in his eyes. "In hindsight, perhaps it was a blessing from the Goddess. If I had gone with the Baron on that journey, I wouldn''t be sitting here now."

    "Duvas, I''m grateful you''re alive and well. But those damned bandits! Without a decent starting sum, doing anything to help the village is much more difficult."

    "There''s more, my lord," Duvas added. "Unfortunately, on that journey, the Baron took most of what we had, to pay the annual taxes to Count Cinran. And while the Count hasn''t sent any riders so far to demand the taxes that were due to him for this year, it might not be long before he does."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly, a wave of frustration washing over him. "We can only hope that the approaching winter prevents him from doing that. He has to know that the village was barely standing in the absence of the Baron! We can''t afford to pay any taxes right now!"

    Gorsazo spoke up. "It may be fine, my lord. By now, the news must have gotten to Count Cinran that this barony was given to you, a son of the Duke. And even if any apparent goodwill to you doesn''t last for long, we can hopefully still ask him to waive off the taxes for at least this year, if that rider does come with the demand."

    "I hope so, Gorsazo, I really hope so." He looked at Duvas. "But even then, we would have to pay the taxes the next year, won''t we?"

    Duvas replied, "Indeed, my lord. Usually, the taxes are paid in spring, but if we ask for an extension, the Count may allow us more time to pay, as long as we don''t skip paying for another year."

    Kivamus turned his gaze to Gorsazo. "You have kept my personal savings securely with you, right Gorsazo?"

    "Of course, my Lord," Gorsazo replied, his hand instinctively going to the hidden pouch at his waist.

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, the weight of the situation settling upon him. "At least that''s a start," he muttered.

    Syryne, unable to contain her surprise, blurted out, "My lord, you''d use your own savings to help the village?"

    Kivamus met her gaze with unwavering determination. "Without a doubt, Syryne. We have no other choice at the moment. Tiranat is my village now and these are my people. I won''t leave the survival of villagers in the hands of fate this winter."

    A warm smile spread across Helga''s face, mirroring the expressions of others around the fire. A sense of hope, fragile yet persistent, bloomed in the room. They had a leader, a strange one perhaps, but a leader who, unlike the last, seemed to genuinely care for the welfare of his people. He was a man willing to put his own well-being on the line for the betterment of Tiranat. Tonight, with a meager starting point and a whole lot of determination, the future of Tiranat began to look a little less bleak.

    As the fire crackled and the last embers of the day died down, they waited for the simple dinner to be served to them with all kinds of thoughts passing through their minds. The discussion had also served as a stark reminder of the challenges that lay ahead of them. And yet, the air also held the warmth of a new beginning, of shared purpose, and perhaps, just perhaps, the spark of hope that a better future was within reach.

    Soon, a young maid, a girl in her early teens, entered the sitting hall of the manor house while carrying a big wooden tray with a single bowl. She came near the people sitting close to the fireplace, and after performing a quick curtsy to Kivamus, held the tray in front of him. She looked waif thin and took a moment to speak, seemingly shy before her new liege. "This is for you, my lord. Madam Nerida, the head maid, said to bring it to you first, my lord, since you might be hungry a lot." She took a deep breath, as if willing herself to continue speaking. "The food for others will be brought soon too, my lord."

    Kivamus took the bowl from her with a gentle smile and kept it on a small table next to him. "Thank you, uh¡­ what''s your name?"

    "I''m Clarisa, my lord," she squeaked.

    "Well, thank you, Clarisa." Kivamus added, "And would you please thank Madam Nerida as well for me, Clarisa?"

    "I will, my lord," she said and with another quick curtsy turned away to go back.

    "You should start eating, my lord, we will wait for our food," Syryne said to Kivamus.

    "No, no, it''s fine. I''ll just wait until we can all eat together," Kivamus added.

    All of a sudden, Helga, who was watching the maid going back, spoke loudly, "Hey! Are you okay, Clarisa?"

    Kivamus also looked towards the door, when Clarisa, the young maid, who was holding the wall near the door for support, lost her balance completely and fell on the floor, the tray in her hand clattering on the wooden planks nearby.

    Helga, who was the first to reach her, took a single look at her foaming mouth and convulsing body, and weakly said to others, "Poison..."

 15. Revelations

    The world seemed to slow down as others rushed to her aid, their faces etched with a mixture of fear and determination. Helga forced the girl''s mouth open and immediately made her vomit to remove any more poison from her frail body.Kivamus, being unable to think about how to help, watched helplessly as minutes stretched into an eternity. At some point, the convulsions subsided, leaving the girl pale and trembling, but she was still alive. Helga''s quick thinking, forcing the girl to vomit, brought a hint of relief to Kivamus'' heart, as she might have just saved the poor girl''s life.

    Relief flooded the room, punctuated by Helga''s questions to the girl. Clarisa managed to speak a little through gasps and tears. "Please forgive me, my lord."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide the surprise from showing on his face. "Why are you apologizing, Clarisa?"

    Sobs prevented her from speaking for a moment, before Helga managed to calm her, telling her to continue. "It must be the Goddess punishing me, my lord!" She hiccuped. "But I was so hungry¡­ Madam Nerida says there isn''t enough grain anymore for us to eat twice, but I hadn''t eaten anything since morning, my lord!" She couldn''t stop her tears. "I only took a single sip from your soup, my lord! It was just one sip only!"

    "What did you just say¡­?" Kivamus said to the still sobbing girl, surprised again.

    It only took a moment for a chilling realization to dawn on him. He looked back towards the fireplace where he had kept that unassuming bowl of soup on the table. The soup, which was meant for him. The warm, inviting meal that promised respite after a long journey, had poison mixed in it. Poison. Here, in his own manor house, on his first night as Baron.

    He shuddered, thinking about the implications. This wasn''t a world of fairytales and noble deeds. This was real, and a stark reminder of the treacherous nature of medieval politics. Here, power was a deadly game, where even his own brothers sent bandits to kill him. And just to be sure that he died, they had a backup option to poison him if he managed to reach Tiranat somehow. At least he thought that his brothers were behind this. But what if there was someone else who wanted him dead too? What if it was someone already living in this manor?

    Fear, cold and primal, coiled in his gut. Somehow, he was still alive even after two attempts to kill him, but he didn''t know if this was the end of it or if there was another nasty surprise waiting for him in the future. How could he navigate this treacherous landscape when he didn''t even know the players? He took a deep breath, trying to slow down his racing heart. He hadn''t anticipated this. He''d arrived here wide-eyed, filled with a naive hope of helping his people. The memory of the desperate villagers flashed in his mind, with their gaunt faces and threadbare clothes. He was their only hope, and now, someone already wanted him dead before he even tried to do something to help them.

    The poor girl looked scared by now. "Please don''t beat me, my lord, I won''t do it again! I promise!"

    Kivamus'' mind was brought to a sudden halt after hearing that. "What¡­? I''m not going to hit you, Clarisa! Why did you even think that?" he couldn''t help but ask her.

    "You won''t my lord?" She asked with hopeful eyes. "But I drank from your bowl of soup¡­"

    Kivamus took a deep breath to calm himself. "No one is going to hit you, Clarisa, I promise you," he spoke with a gentle voice. "Now can you tell me why you thought that I was going to beat you? Do others in the manor hit you? You can tell me, Clarisa, I won''t be angry at you, I promise." The fearful look in the poor girl''s eyes anguished his heart.

    Clarisa looked at Helga for support, who was still holding the girl in her lap. Helga smiled at her while running a hand soothingly over her head, and nodded to her. Clarisa looked like she was trying to gather her courage before she spoke. "It was the previous baron, my lord. He always used to beat others when he wanted to punish them or even if he was angry. But it was only him, my lord, who beat the servants and maids." Her tear-streaked face had a mixture of fear and hope. "I thought you would be like that too, my lord. Would I really not be punished for drinking from your soup?"

    The poor girl who was so hungry that she couldn''t stop herself from taking a sip from his soup bowl had unintentionally saved his life, nearly dying herself in the process. If she had drunk any more of it, she truly might have died. And she was still scared that he would punish or beat her for that¡­ What the hell is wrong with the people of this world, he thought with anger. Helga, who was still holding Clarisa, had a similar pain in her eyes after hearing about the young maid''s past.

    Kivamus knew this world was a harsh place to live, especially for the poor people. The memory of the villagers huddling in the burnt doorways, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hope was fresh in his mind. And the previous baron who should have been taking care of them, used to beat twelve-year-old girls. A wave of anger washed over him. He had never been a violent person in his life, but every new day here brought a revelation that made him want to strangle those who enjoyed the suffering of others. He had to force himself to take a few deep breaths once more, to calm his mind.

    Kivamus was still fearful of those who kept trying to kill him, no matter who they were. He was a novice in this world of medieval treachery and its cut-throat politics. But he also had a strong will to survive. He might not have chosen to come to this world, but now that he was here anyway, he wouldn''t let those people succeed in their tasks.

    Slowly, his fear gave way to a steely resolve. He wouldn''t just survive these power struggles, he would thrive. He would be a baron worthy of his people''s trust. He would become a beacon of hope for those who depended on him in this harsh world. He would make this place better, where children didn''t have to fear that they would be beaten if they tried to eat to prevent themselves from starving.

    It took a minute for Kivamus to gather his thoughts. His gaze swept over the room, taking in the worried faces of Helga and Gorsazo, and the confused anxiety of Lucem and Syryne. They were all looking to him for direction, for a sign of strength. He wouldn''t let them down.

    Clarisa, who was still waiting with anticipation to hear the decision of her new liege, was looking at him with eyes full of hope.

    "Lucem, run outside and get Hudan and Feroy here, fast. Tell them it''s an emergency and to come prepared," Kivamus said to Lucem, who nodded but looked a little confused. "Just say that to them, and come back. Now go, quickly."

    Kivamus then bent down and sat on his knees to get to Clarissa''s height, who was still lying in Helga''s lap. He spoke to her in a soft voice. "Clarisa I''m really sorry that you were so hungry that you had to steal food. In the future, I''ll make sure that you''ll never be hungry again. And no one will ever beat you." He smiled at her to ease her mind. "Never again, I promise. Now would you please let Madam Helga take you to a place where you can sleep?"

    Clarisa simply nodded at him.

    Kivamus stood up again and looked to Duvas. "Is there an empty room nearby where Madam Helga can take her?"

    Duvas was surprised. "Here in the manor house, my lord? But she is a maid!"

    Kivamus looked at him with an unflinching gaze. "Yes, here in the house itself. Or do you have a problem with it, Duvas?"

    "What? No, my lord, of course not. I was just surprised." Duvas pointed to another door inside the hall. "There are a few rooms there, my lord. All but the first one, where I live, are empty as well."

    "Good. Madam Helga, can you and Syryne take her there to rest? Please make sure she has everything she needs."

    Helga, who had a smile on her face now, managed to get Clarisa to walk slowly, with Syryne and her supporting the young maid from both sides and left the hall through that door.

    Soon, Helga returned and told Kivamus that Syryne had stayed back with Clarisa to watch over her. Hudan and Feroy entered the hall from outside, their faces grim and alert. Lucem came inside as well, and on Gorsazo''s gesture, locked the hall''s door from the inside.

    "Hudan, Feroy. Come inside." Kivamus said, his voice surprisingly calm considering the turmoil within. Briefly, Kivamus explained the situation, his gaze sweeping across everyone present.

    Kivamus addressed the room. "Everyone here," he declared, his voice cutting through the tension, "except for Duvas, I trust you with my life."

    Duvas, his face pale with a mixture of fear and confusion, stammered out a denial. "My lord," he croaked, "I assure you, I had nothing to do with¡­"

    "I believe you," Kivamus interrupted, his gaze unwavering. "Duvas," he continued, his tone softening slightly, "I understand your fear. You are an elder, and at your age, I don''t think you''d be doing something like this. Still, until we find the culprit, you will remain inside with us, just to be sure. Hudan, you will keep watch over him."

    Duvas'' face crumpled with relief. "Thank you, my lord," he stammered, his voice thick with emotion. "I assure you, I had no part in this."

    Kivamus just nodded to him. "Hudan, stay close to the door to this hall and don''t let anyone else enter, at any cost. We don''t know who we can trust here, and it''s better to be safe than sorry." S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The tension in the room remained palpable. Hudan, with a curt nod, positioned himself near the door, his hand resting discreetly on the hilt of his sword, which he had kept right next to him now, so he could draw the sword at a moment''s notice.

    "Feroy, you go outside and gather information. Start with the servant''s hall. That''s where the soup was being prepared. And stop anyone else from drinking it, we don''t know if it was just my bowl of soup that was poisoned or the whole pot."

    Feroy, who had the look of a seasoned veteran now, nodded. "Trust me, Lord Kivamus, it won''t take too long." He gave a quick bow and left the hall.

 16. In Times Past

    ~ Kigeir ~Kigeir had seen the caravan winding its way through the muddy road in the village earlier, going towards the baron''s manor. But what had truly surprised him was the figure sitting in the first wagon of the small caravan. Tall and broad-shouldered, a young man with an air of quiet authority about him had been announced by his guards as the new baron of the village.

    The surname of the new Baron spoken throughout the village, Ralokaar, the same as the Duke of Ulriga''s family, had sent a tremor of apprehension through Kigeir. Was he a nephew? A distant cousin? Or could he be a son of the Duke himself? Kigeir couldn''t fathom why a Duke''s kin would ever leave the opulent halls of the Ulriga Palace and come to this desolate corner of the Duchy, to govern a poverty-stricken backwater like Tiranat. The only explanation that made any sense was punishment. Exile.

    A shiver ran down Kigeir''s spine. Tiranat was a village barely clinging to survival by its fingernails. If the Duke, or even the power-hungry Count of Cinran, decided to punish them further by raising taxes¡­ Well, Kigeir didn''t dare voice the horrifying thought that flickered through his mind.

    Kigeir had recognized the weathered face of Pydas, the traveling merchant, perched on the seat of the lead wagon. He had clearly seen an opportunity in the changing guard of Tiranat. Kigeir had come back to his shop after the rare spectacle of a new caravan coming to Tiranat was over. He sighed, a sound heavy with worry. Just then, Pydas emerged on the muddy road walking towards his shop alongside another man, presumably a guard.

    "Greetings, Pydas," Kigeir called out to the merchant as he entered his shop, his voice strained but welcoming. "It''s been a while since you''ve graced Tiranat with your presence."

    Pydas, a man bronzed by years spent on the road, chuckled. "Indeed it has, my friend. But with the previous Baron¡­ Well, let''s just say I wasn''t eager to risk these treacherous roads until things settled down."

    Kigeir nodded in understanding. "A wise decision," he agreed. "Though it seems you braved the journey after all."

    Pydas''s smile faltered slightly. "Necessity more than bravery, I''m afraid. Winter approaches, so I decided to make a trip to Tiranat once again, for a last trade before the snow blocks the roads."

    Kigeir nodded grimly. "These are perilous times though, particularly for Tiranat."

    Pydas sighed, his weathered face etched with concern. "The times are tough everywhere these days, my friend."

    Kigeir couldn''t help but shift his gaze toward the east, in the direction of the baron''s manor. Curiosity gnawed at him. "Speaking of which, tell me about the new Baron. How did you come to be giving him a ride? Shouldn''t he have arrived with a grand retinue, a caravan befitting his station?"

    Pydas sighed again, laden with unspoken knowledge. "It''s not a very good situation for Lord Kivamus, I''m afraid."

    Kigeir leaned in, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean? Surely, a Baron wouldn''t arrive alone?"

    Pydas shook his head. "I found him just outside Cinran, with only one companion, likely an advisor or a guard. They were¡­ hitching a ride, to put it mildly."

    Kigeir''s eyebrows shot up. "So the rumors are true then?" he blurted, his voice barely above a whisper. "He truly is an exiled son of the Duke?"

    Pydas shrugged, his expression guarded. "I don''t know the full details, but that''s certainly what it seems like to me." They exchanged a few more words, the weight of the revelation hanging heavy in the air.

    "Now, about the reason for my visit, Kigeir," Pydas began. "I have thirty sacks of grain with me and some mining tools, as usual, mainly shovels and picks. Although the prices are higher because of the bad harvests, at four gold crowns and six silver coins per sack of grain, I imagine you''ll still be needing all of it, right?"

    Kigeir''s heart sank. As much as the village desperately needed these supplies, his meager earnings barely kept him afloat. "Pydas, my friend, as much as I''d love to take it all," he admitted, his voice laced with helplessness, "I simply don''t have the coin. Nor does anyone else here, from what I know. The situation in Tiranat is worse than you might imagine, especially after that bandit raid a week ago." He paused after seeing a grimace on Pydas'' face, but reluctantly added, "The mines have also been shut down since the storm flooded them, so, there''s no demand for tools these days. As for the grain¡­ I could buy perhaps three or four sacks if you can keep the price low¡­" He trailed off, unable to voice the harsh reality anymore. Even at a discount, Pydas''s prices were likely out of reach for most villagers, including Kigeir himself.

    The weight of their conversation hung heavy in the air as Pydas'' expression grew weary. He had clearly anticipated a brisk sale, assuming the village would need all the supplies it could get. "I¡­ I wasn''t aware things were this bad, Kigeir. The grain wasn''t cheap in Cinran, and I can''t offer much of a discount." He flopped down on an empty chair with his head in his hands, a hint of desperation on his face. "You are the only big merchant in Tiranat¡­ If even you don''t have the coin to buy it, how am I going to sell anything here¡­"

    After Feroy had left the hall, Kivamus exhaled hard and sat on a free chair, gesturing to others to sit as well. He looked to Helga. "How is she, Madam Helga? Will she be okay?"

    Helga, who looked exhausted, wiped the sweat from her brow despite the cold weather and sat on an empty chair near the others. "She''ll be alright by tomorrow, my lord," she replied with a hint of relief in her voice. "She just has a slight fever now. She had only taken a small sip from the bowl, and I managed to get most of it out quickly. By tomorrow, I believe she''ll be back on her feet."

    "I can''t tell how grateful I am for your quick thinking, Madam Helga. You saved her life. I''m not sure what I would have done if something had happened to her through no fault of her own, other than being hungry." He shook his head slowly, "To think someone didn''t even wait for a day before trying to poison me¡­"

    Duvas spoke to him, "For what it''s worth, my lord, I''m really sorry that it happened." He looked at the ground as if lost in his thoughts. "Even if I''ve been swamped with one task after another trying to keep the manor and the village up and running, even if barely, I still can''t believe someone here would try to do something like this. No one here had any reason to do this at all."

    Kivamus sighed, "But it still happened, Duvas. If Clarisa hadn''t drunk from the bowl, I might be dead right now." He took a look at the offending bowl of soup, still sitting on the table near the fireplace. "That reminds me, what should we do with that soup?"

    Hudan, who was listening to them, spoke from his place near the door. "I think we should bury it, my lord. Somewhere outside the manor, I''d say."

    "Hmm¡­ You''re right. Once this is over, I want you to do it tonight itself. We can''t leave the soup here, just in case some other hungry person thinks of drinking it." S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "As you say, my lord," Hudan nodded.

    Kivamus looked to Helga. "How did you act so quickly, Madam Helga? I was so startled that I couldn''t think of what to do at that moment, but you acted immediately, saving the girl''s life."

    Helga reminisced, "I have some experience with poisons my lord." Noticing Kivamus'' surprised face, she quickly added, "It''s not what you''re thinking, my lord. When my family came to live in that inn, Lucem was only a toddler. He had a habit of walking all around the inn and the nearby grounds whenever he found a chance, and he ate any leaf or other plants that looked tasty to his three-year-old mind." She shook her head, "Not all of those plants were edible, of course. Thankfully, there was nothing too poisonous around the area, but many times, I had to make him vomit to get rid of what he had eaten. That''s why I immediately recognized the signs of eating something bad in Clarisa and made her throw up as well."

    Kivamus nodded. He looked at Lucem with a smile, "I''m guessing you don''t do that anymore, do you Lucem?"

    Lucem, who had taken a seat near them as well, blushed immediately and quickly shook his head. "No, no, Lord Kivamus, I don''t!" He looked to Helga with a glare that only young teenagers can manage at their parents, and muttered, "Ma speaks too much sometimes..."

    Helga just gave a warm laugh along with others in the room on hearing that, marking a welcome change in the mood inside the hall.

    However, the incident had already cast a dark shadow over the evening, and the change in atmosphere didn''t last long. The warmth that had initially enveloped Kivamus had vanished, replaced by a cold awareness of the dangers that lurked beneath the surface of his new life.

    After a while, Syryne returned to the hall. Noticing others'' questioning gazes, she said "She''s sleeping now, my lord. She should be okay, I think."

    Kivamus sighed with relief. "I''m glad. Take a seat Syryne."

    Kivamus cast a glance towards the hulking form of Hudan, who sat by the door like a sentinel. The flickering firelight danced across his broad shoulders and the hilt of his ever-present sword. "Hudan," he began, his voice low, "do you think Feroy might require assistance?"

    Hudan snorted, a sound devoid of amusement. "No, my lord," he rumbled. "Feroy''s a master at extracting information. Doubt anyone could keep a secret from him once he''s determined to pry it loose." He paused, noticing the curious faces of Kivamus and the others in the hall.

    "You might not be aware of this, my lord," Hudan continued, "but my family hails from Ulriga too. Of course, we only had a place outside the city walls. Throughout my childhood, I saw Knights in their shiny armor coming and going on a major road near our house. And just like every other boy my age, I dreamt of becoming a knight. All the glory, the respect, hearing the tales of their chivalry - it seemed like a life worth living."

    A wry smile played on Hudan''s lips for a fleeting moment before fading. "However the best I could manage was a position as a squire for a knight in Cinran." A hint of bitterness tinged his voice. "But when the time came for promoting me to a Knight, I was passed over in favor of¡­ others. Even after years of service, I never got chosen to be a knight myself. Eventually, the position as a squire wasn''t an option anymore, and I had to leave and seek new pastures."

    He shot a quick glance at Helga, a flicker of warmth softening his gruff features. "After a while, I ended up at Madam Helga''s inn. What I mean to say, my lord, is that since my childhood, I''ve been looking up to knights and the tales of their honor and kindness, like most young boys in the Kingdom. But Feroy, he''s a different breed altogether, my lord. He¡­" Hudan hesitated, searching for the right words.

    "He¡­ well, he used to be a mercenary," he finally said, the word hanging heavy in the air. "He''s seen the world, my lord, and fought for all sorts of folks in all sorts of places. As you may have heard, my lord, mercenaries are well known to be very brutal towards the defeated sides. But from what he has told me, he grew disillusioned with the way mercenaries treated civilians after a victory. He tried to change the ways of the group he was with, but¡­" Hudan shrugged. "Let''s just say it didn''t work out."

    "So, he left them," Kivamus finished the thought. "And ended up at the inn?"

    Hudan nodded. "Aye. Drifted from place to place until he stumbled upon Madam Helga''s inn one day. Seems it felt like home, and he never left." A wry smile touched Hudan''s lips. "So you see, my lord, Feroy knows how people work. He can read them like a book, making them tell their deepest, darkest secrets before they even realize they''re spilling their secrets. Years of experience, I''d say."

    Kivamus considered this, nodding slowly. Gorsazo''s earlier warnings about mercenaries echoed in his mind. "From what I''ve gathered," he said cautiously, "mercenaries are a fickle bunch, their loyalty bought by the highest bidder. Can we truly trust him?"

    Hudan met Kivamus'' gaze with an unwavering expression. "I''d stake my life on him, my lord," he declared with full conviction. "We''ve known each other for many years now, through thick and thin. He may not be a knight in shining armor, but he has a code, a sense of honor that some knights I''ve known could only dream of possessing."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment, the firelight reflecting in his eyes. "Very well," he finally conceded. "We will place our trust in Feroy and his abilities. Let''s hope he finds some answers soon."

    After a while, there was a knock on the door. On hearing Feroy''s voice outside, Hudan stepped up and opened the door, letting him inside.

    Feroy looked at the worried faces of the people sitting in the hall for a moment, and said to Kivamus with a grimace, "I found the person, my lord, the one who poisoned your soup."

 17. Unraveling Schemes

    "Who was it?" Kivamus demanded, a cold edge creeping into his voice."You won''t believe it, my lord," Feroy replied, his voice devoid of its usual gruff humor. "It''s Levalo, the young lad Pydas left here to watch over the horses and wagons."

    Kivamus'' brow furrowed in disbelief as Feroy ushered the young man inside. Levalo, a man barely in his twenties, stumbled through the doorway, a whimpering cry escaping his lips. His hands, bound with a rough rope, scraped against the floor as he fell to his knees, his entire body wracked with sobs.

    Disbelief morphed into a cold fury in Kivamus'' gut. Pydas, the seemingly harmless trader who''d offered him safe passage, couldn''t be behind this, could he? The man had been nothing but helpful since meeting him. Yet, here they were, with Pydas'' hired hand as the culprit.

    Gorsazo mirrored Kivamus'' outrage. "Pydas? But¡­ but why?" His voice was mired in confusion. "He had countless opportunities if he wanted to harm you, my lord. Yet, he seemed genuine in his support all along!"

    Levalo''s choked sobs intensified at the mention of Pydas'' name. "No, my lord! Mister Pydas had nothing to do with this! Please, you have to believe me, my lord! He doesn''t even know! I¡­ I did it alone! Please forgive me, my lord!" he begged with his head on the ground, as he broke into another fit of sobs and tears.

    Feroy interjected. "I tend to agree, my lord. This reeks of desperation, not a calculated plot. I think he acted alone." He punctuated his statement with a swift kick to Levalo''s back, sending the young man sprawling before Kivamus in a new wave of tears.

    The action, though harsh, served to focus everyone''s attention. This sniveling mess, barely a man, was the one who had poisoned him? The image of Clarisa, the young maid, trembling in pain flashed in his memory. This wasn''t what he''d expected. He''d braced himself for a hardened criminal, not this quivering mess of fear and regret. This was no cunning assassin, no seasoned conspirator. This was a frightened boy, barely a man, whose bravado was shattered. Kivamus felt a surge of unexpected frustration. This was not the answer he''d anticipated. Levalo''s pathetic display left him feeling more bewildered than threatened.

    Levalo, his voice thick with tears and hiccups, began to plead. "Forgive me, my lord! Forgive me! I had no choice, truly I didn''t! I¡­" His voice trailed off, dissolving into another torrent of choked sobs.

    Gorsazo, a man who rarely lost his composure, seemed on the verge of exploding. "Choice? How dare you say that! You nearly ended Lord Kivamus'' life, and of a child''s too for good measure! What could justify such a heinous act?"

    Levalo''s cries escalated into a pathetic wail. "Forgive me! I swear I had no choice!"

    Just as Gorsazo was about to yell at Levalo again, Feroy stepped in with a firm voice. "Please let him speak, Mister Gorsazo. We need to understand what drove him to do this. It may be vital in preventing something like this from happening again."

    Kivamus, his initial anger giving way to a cold curiosity, found himself nodding in agreement. This sniveling mess of a man might hold the key to a much larger conspiracy, a conspiracy far more intricate than a simple poisoning attempt by a disgruntled guard of a traveling merchant. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy growled at Levalo, "Speak now, you sniveling little cretin!"

    Levalo hung his head, his voice trembling as he spoke. "My lord," he began, his words punctuated by choked sobs, "I saw you go to the manor house to wait for your meal. When that young maid arrived with the bowl of soup, I¡­ I confirmed from her that it was for you."

    Under the harsh scrutiny of the others gathered in the room, Levalo crumbled. Tears welled in his eyes as he stammered, "Please¡­ forgive me, my lord."

    Feroy added curtly. "Keep talking, Levalo. Leave nothing out."

    Drawing a shaky breath, Levalo continued his confession. "I needed a moment alone, so I told the maid it wouldn''t be proper to deliver food to the Lord without even a tray to hold the bowl. When she hurried back to fetch one," he choked back a sob, "I¡­ I offered to hold the soup for her, claiming I didn''t want her to spill it and anger the Baron."

    He squeezed his eyes shut, his voice barely a whisper as he recounted his actions. "She left for the tray, and while she was gone, in a dark corner away from the torches¡­ I added a few crushed Jocinaq leaves to the soup, my lord."

    A collective gasp rippled through the room as Feroy cut in, his voice hard. "That is a very poisonous plant. Where did you find it, Levalo? It only grows within deep forests."

    Levalo sniffled, wiping his tears with a grimy sleeve. "I¡­ I spotted it growing close to the road when we stopped to rest on our way to Tiranat, my lord."

    Kivamus, his voice heavy, pressed on. "Continue, Levalo."

    "That''s all, my lord," Levalo finished, his voice barely audible. "When the maid returned, I handed the bowl back to her."

    Feroy asked coldly, "Was this the first time you tried to kill Lord Kivamus? What about when the bandits had attacked, or when we were on the road?"

    Levalo looked at Kivamus with eyes full of tears. "I never found you alone earlier, my lord, even on the road. And during that attack, you had already gone inside the inn."

    Kivamus, his initial shock giving way to a wave of cold anger, leaned forward. "Why, Levalo? Why would you do something like this?"

    The young man collapsed to his knees, his entire body wracked with sobs. "Forgive me, my lord! I¡­ I had no choice! My family are serfs, bound to the land of Baron Zoricus in the west of Cinran. We barely have enough to scrape by, and our debt keeps growing. We were on the verge of starvation!"

    He looked at Kivamus with pleading eyes, his voice thick with despair. "A few weeks ago, the noble¡­ he offered a deal through another person. If I did this¡­ if I came to Tiranat and managed to kill you, he said he would consider our debt paid in full. That''s why I was in Cinran, my lord, searching for a caravan heading south since a week ago. When Mister Pydas hired me for the trip to Tiranat, I couldn''t believe my luck. You were in the same caravan! Please, my lord, forgive me!" He had bent and put his head on the floor in front of Kivamus, begging for forgiveness in between the wracking sobs and tears he couldn''t stop from flowing.

    Kivamus sank back in his chair, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The weight of the situation settled on him like a suffocating cloak. This wasn''t a villain with grand ambitions or personal vendettas. This was desperation, raw and primal. This world was nothing like the place he''d grown up in, a world of opportunity and progress. Here, in this harsh kingdom, a young man''s life could be reduced to a single, desperate act for the sake of his family''s survival. He looked at Levalo, his youthful face etched with fear and regret. Levalo''s story painted a bleak picture of this world.

    In another world, another era, Kivamus thought, Levalo could have been studying at a university, preparing for a future filled with possibilities. But here, in this brutal new world that he''d found himself in, his family was bound to the land as serfs to a ruthless noble in Cinran, their fate tied to his whims. It had chained him to a life of backbreaking labor and crushing debt, forcing him to contemplate murder for their survival.

    Kivamus sighed, the sound heavy with a newfound understanding of the harsh realities he now faced as the Baron of Tiranat. He stared at the trembling figure lying on the floor before him as a war raged within him. The anger at the attempted murder was undeniable, but it was overshadowed by a wave of unexpected empathy. This wasn''t a villain, he was just a product of a broken world, a world where basic necessities like food were a luxury for many.

    Kivamus spoke in a voice laced with exhaustion. "Take him away and lock him up somewhere. I need time to think."

    Duvas shook his head apologetically. Clearing his throat, he said, "My lord, unfortunately, we lack a proper prison here in Tiranat. There''s never been a need for one, given the size of the village."

    Feroy stepped forward with a glint in his eye and said, "Not a problem, my lord. We can tie him to a pillar in the barn. Won''t go anywhere there."

    Gorsazo said, "One last question before you take him." He looked at Levalo. "Do you know who that person was? Can you tell me his name?"

    Levalo shook his head, and answered between sobs, "As I told you, my lord, my family works the lands of Baron Zoricus. His land holdings are very big to the west of Cinran, and he has a lot of people working for him. But the man who gave me that offer was someone I had never seen before, who said he was acting on Baron Zoricus'' behalf. But at this point, I don''t know if he was speaking the truth. I had never seen him before, my lord, and I don''t know who that was."

    After a quick nod from Kivamus, Feroy marched towards the sobbing and babbling Levalo, who continued to plead for forgiveness. He practically dragged the young man out of the hall, the echoes of Levalo''s apologies fading into the distance.

    A tense silence had descended upon the room, broken only by the crackling fire.

    A few minutes later, the door creaked open and Feroy re-entered, his brow furrowed but a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "Levalo is secured in the barn, my lord," he reported. "I''ve also instructed one of the guards to keep an eye on him."

    Kivamus was sitting in a chair near the fire, his fingers steepled together and his brow furrowed in contemplation. His features etched with a mixture of anger and something akin to pity, he finally addressed Feroy after his return. "How did you manage to apprehend him so quickly, Feroy?" he inquired.

    Feroy, wiping his hands on his roughspun trousers, launched into a detailed account. "As you instructed, my lord, I went straight to the kitchens in the servants'' hall. The first thing I did was spread the news about the attempted poisoning."

    "And how did they take it?" Gorsazo inquired.

    "Shock, mostly," Feroy replied. "There was a fair bit of fear mixed in too, understandably." He continued, "One of the maids who was helping in the kitchen mentioned that when Clarisa, that''s the young maid who delivered the soup, returned for the tray, she was berating herself for forgetting it in the first place. This particular detail piqued my curiosity."

    Kivamus leaned forward, intrigued. "Interesting. Go on."

    Feroy continued, "So, after giving Clarisa the tray, the maid in the kitchen decided to keep an eye on her. From a nearby window, she observed Clarisa speaking with the wagon driver who had arrived with you, my lord."

    "The driver, of course," Kivamus interjected, piecing together the puzzle, "had to be Levalo, since Pydas still hasn''t returned with the other driver."

    "Precisely, my lord," Feroy confirmed. "The maid saw Levalo holding the very bowl of soup and talking with Clarisa."

    Syryne interjected, a hint of frustration in her tone. "Why didn''t this maid report this suspicious behavior?"

    "Asked her the same thing, Syryne. Apparently, the poor girl never thought to doubt someone who had traveled all the way from Cinran with you, my lord. She did apologize profusely, though, along with the others in the kitchen. They all wanted to come and apologize to you in person for letting it happen, but I figured it best to keep them inside until the culprit was caught."

    Kivamus nodded, his gaze flicking toward the empty space where Levalo had been moments ago. "So, you located Levalo after that?"

    "Well, my lord," Feroy chuckled, "after questioning the servants and piecing things together, I easily found Levalo tending to the horses. He denied everything at first, of course. But when I mentioned that several people had witnessed him speaking with Clarissa and handling the soup bowl, his resolve crumbled. He confessed to the entire scheme."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide his surprise. "He gave up that easily after doing all this?"

    Feroy chuckled humorlessly. "Of course not, my lord. But I think it''s best if we skip some details¡­"

    Kivamus grimaced, understanding the hidden implications. He let out a heavy sigh, the weight of the situation pressing down on him.

    He considered the reasons behind Levalo''s actions, the desperation that had driven him to such a deed. "And the rest of the soup?" he finally asked with a concerned voice. "Is there a chance Levalo did something to poison the whole pot?"

    "No worries there, my lord," Feroy reassured him. "The other maid confirmed she never left the pot unattended near the fire, and the others, including Madam Nerida, confirmed it as well. Levalo, according to them, never even entered the kitchen in the servants'' hall."

    He continued, "Just to be doubly sure, though, I made him down a bowl of soup from the same pot before bringing him here. He gulped it down without a second thought, and as you saw, he''s no worse for wear."

    The hall was quiet for some time, as they thought about the incident and its implications.

    After some time, Helga asked, "Why did they even send Clarisa, such a young maid, to bring the soup in the first place? An older maid would have easily become suspicious of a wagon driver asking to hold a noble''s soup. And this wouldn''t have happened at all."

    "That is precisely because she was young, Madam Helga. I asked about it too. They said Clarisa was so excited to meet the new baron that they couldn''t say no to her when she eagerly said ''I will take the soup to Lord Kivamus, and it is final!'' "

    Helga nodded, "I can understand that. It''s hard to deny children''s wishes sometimes¡­"

 18. Decisions

    Duvas posed the question that hung heavy in the air. "What should we do with him, my lord?"Hudan spoke first. "Typically, my lord," he rumbled, "the punishment for poisoning a noble would be the gallows. But in this case," he conceded, "Levalo wasn''t successful. It was an attempt, nothing more." He scratched his beard. "So, execution wouldn''t sit right with me. I think it may be a good opportunity to show the people that you can be merciful, my lord."

    The weight of the judgment settled heavily on Kivamus'' shoulders. He turned to Gorsazo, seeking his counsel. "What are your thoughts on this, Gorsazo?" he inquired.

    Gorsazo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Both options have merit, my lord," he began. "On one hand, executing Levalo would send a clear message that trying to harm the new Baron will not be tolerated. It would establish your authority with an iron fist."

    A trace of unease crossed Kivamus''s features. That approach felt barbaric, a far cry from the justice system he was accustomed to on Earth.

    "On the other hand," Gorsazo continued, "Levalo did fail in his task. He showed remorse, and it seems clear he was acting out of desperation, not malice. If you show him mercy, it would demonstrate your compassion to your new subjects. It would establish you as a fair and just leader." He concluded, "Ultimately, the decision is yours, my lord."

    Kivamus found himself wrestling with a dilemma unlike any he''d ever faced. He didn''t have the benefit of legal training, nor the comfort of established procedures to make the right decision. Back on Earth, such a crime would be handled by a proper legal system, a process with checks and balances. Here, in this remote corner of this harsh new world, the law seemed to be a matter of the ruler''s will. There were no police, no courts, and no juries here. In this world ruled by "might is right," powerful nobles could order murders or executions with impunity, their power a shield against any form of justice while the innocent suffered in silence.

    The weight of this responsibility gnawed at him. Levalo, a young man burdened with the responsibility of his family''s survival, had been forced into a terrible choice. The act itself was deplorable, but the root cause - the crushing weight of serfdom and the cruelty of a distant noble, twisted Kivamus'' guts with a strange mix of anger and empathy.

    He took a deep breath to calm his mind. He was no judge, no legal scholar, but for now, the mantle of leadership rested on his shoulders. Finally, after a minute of thinking, Kivamus addressed the room, his voice firm. "I''ve made my decision. Levalo did attempt to poison me, that much is true. However, he failed, and thankfully, Clarisa will be fine as well." He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the faces of others, gauging their reactions.

    He continued, "It''s clear he acted out of desperation, forced into this situation to save his starving family. And from what I''ve seen, he seemed genuinely remorseful for his actions, and so I will not put him to death."

    Hudan inclined his head in respect. "A wise decision, my lord," he rumbled. Helga, her eyes filled with understanding, gave a subtle nod of agreement.

    Feroy, who was silent till now, remarked, "My lord, I don''t mean to overstep my boundaries, but I think you are being too lenient. If even someone who tried to murder you isn''t put to death, what''s to stop others from trying this again?"

    Kivamus had never been a violent person in his whole life, and despite everything that happened, could he truly order the death of someone who, in a desperate act, tried to keep his family from starving? He did realize there was a chance that Levalo could try it again if he remained alive, but after seeing his regret, he didn''t think it was likely. And how could he, someone who worked in a normal office job all his life, suddenly start ordering people to be executed¡­ He sighed. It hadn''t even been a week since he arrived in this world and he already had to make a life-and-death decision.

    He looked at the faces of others in the hall for a moment. "I realize that the usual decision would be to put him to death. Another good solution might be to put him in prison for a long time. But there are no jails in Tiranat, and it is already difficult to feed the people in the manor without adding someone we have to feed for years without him doing anything to earn his meals." After thinking for a minute, he concluded, "And I don''t want to be a ruler who executes people who are only trying to feed their family."

    This last sentence resonated with others, with probably most people in this world having done something against the rules, no matter how small, to ensure their children went to sleep on a full stomach.

    Feroy suggested, "Then perhaps we could put him to work in the coal mines, my lord. For trying to kill a noble, he could work there for, let''s say¡­ five years. And assuming his behavior is good enough during that time, he can be let go after that."

    Kivamus did not want to have a system of forced labor under his rule, but it still seemed like a more acceptable solution compared to executing Levalo. Thinking about it for a moment, he nodded. "That''s a good idea. We''ll do that." He added, his voice stern, "Keep him locked in the barn for now, until we can find a way to put him to work in the mines."

    Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he looked at the others. He had made a difficult decision, one that balanced justice with mercy, and it seemed to have found acceptance with most of his new companions. Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Now that we know who was behind the poisoning, you don''t have to worry, Duvas. And I hope you don''t mind what I said to you earlier."

    Duvas nodded, "Thank you, my lord, but it doesn''t matter anymore. I understand why you had to say that. I agree that it is always a good idea to be cautious." He continued, "Might I suggest you address everyone outside, my lord? By now the news would have spread to others in the manor and they would be worried and fearful." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a good idea." Standing up, he walked towards the door, others accompanying him.

    Hudan and Feroy soon had most of the residents gathered in the courtyard. Nervous faces, a mixture of servants, maids, stablehands, and a few off-duty guards stared back at Kivamus. Taking a deep breath, he addressed them, his voice calm yet firm.

    "I''ve called you all here to explain a recent event," he began, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. He kept his explanation brief, outlining the attempted poisoning, Levalo''s capture, and ultimately, his decision.

    Relief washed over their faces as they learned of Kivamus'' and Clarisa''s well-being. Many servants, their faces etched with genuine concern, expressed their joy at his safety. Others, their voices trembling slightly, offered hesitant praise for his decision to show mercy. Here, in this harsh world, a leader who valued life, even that of a would-be assassin, was quite rare.

    With the announcement concluded, Kivamus dismissed the gathering and the servants and maids returned to their duties, while whispers of "thank the Goddess" and "a terrible near miss" filled the air.

    Madam Nerida, the head maid, approached him, her face etched with worry and a deep sense of responsibility. She bowed deeply and spoke to him, her voice thick with emotion, "I humbly apologize for letting it happen, my lord. Please forgive us all. It won''t happen again."

    Kivamus offered her a reassuring smile. "It was not your fault, Madam Nerida. Thankfully, no real harm was done."

    His stomach rumbled in a reminder of the ordeal. "Now," he began, his voice tinged with exhaustion, "I believe we''re all quite famished. Perhaps it''s time we all finally had some food and retired for the night. A good night''s sleep is exactly what we all need right now."

    Madam Nerida nodded in agreement. "Of course, my lord," she said, her voice regaining its usual efficiency. "I shall personally see to it that your supper is delivered immediately." With a determined glint in her eye, she turned and marched back towards the servants'' hall.

    ??

    Kivamus watched her and other lingering servants going back to their duties, a weary smile gracing his lips. Despite the harrowing events of the evening, a strange sense of normality, however fragile, seemed to be returning to the manor. The servants scurried about their duties, the tension slowly dissipating. Perhaps, just perhaps, they could put this episode behind them and focus on rebuilding their lives in this place.

    As they waited for their meal in the manor hall, Kivamus, unable to stop thinking about the attempted poisoning, muttered under his breath, "Why can''t they just leave me alone? My brothers managed to get me banished to this remote corner of the kingdom, isn''t that enough for them? What more do they want?"

    He pinched the bridge of his nose, a deep sigh escaping his lips. "And we still have no idea who that man could be. Was it really Baron Zoricus who ordered this? I don''t know why he could be trying to murder me when I don''t even know the man!" He added with exhaustion in his voice, "And we can''t even say for sure the intermediary was working for Baron Zoricus."

    "There are many possibilities, my lord. It could easily be one of your brothers behind this as well," Gorsazo suggested. "Or maybe it''s the Count himself, wary of a new, strong baron in Tiranat. You are, after all, a son of the duke, unlike the other barons who can''t rival his influence. And Count Cinran is well known to be hostile against the Duke''s family. So he may have tried to get rid of you before you were properly established in Tiranat."

    Duvas spoke with a cautious note. "We can''t rule out the possibility that Baron Zoricus has his own reasons, independent of your brothers or the Count. Without more information, it''s difficult to say for certain."

    Their conversation was interrupted by a discreet knock on the door. A guard entered, his face stoic. "My lord," he announced, "Pydas has returned."

    Kivamus sighed. There was no point in speculating about it without more information. "Let him in," he instructed.

    The door creaked open further, and Pydas shuffled into the hall, his brow furrowed with worry. "My lord," he stammered, "I¡­ I come to beg forgiveness for the actions of my wagon driver, Levalo. I had no knowledge of his intentions, and I assure you¡­"

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "It''s alright, Pydas, I know everything now. You couldn''t have known about Levalo''s plan. Thankfully, no real harm was done."

    Relief washed over Pydas''s face. "I heard you didn''t execute him, my lord. You¡­ you''ve forgiven him?"

    "For now," Kivamus confirmed, gesturing towards a chair at the long wooden table. "Please, have a seat. Join us for a meal."

    Pydas stammered his thanks, collapsing gratefully into the offered chair. "I¡­ I am truly grateful for your mercy, my lord." He cast a quick, curious glance around the room, likely taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of the manor hall.

    The sound of footsteps announced the arrival of Madam Nerida. She was accompanied by another maid, both carrying steaming bowls and wooden plates. A simple yet hearty meal of porridge and soup awaited them.

    Kivamus turned to her. "Madam Nerida," he inquired, "is there enough food for everyone tonight?"

    Hesitation was visible on her face, but she nodded nonetheless. "Yes, my lord," she confirmed. "I¡­ I increased the amount I was preparing after your caravan arrived. However, I''m afraid it won''t last long if we continue feeding this many people."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "We''ll address the food situation tomorrow," he assured her. "For tonight, let everyone eat their fill. No one should go to bed hungry."

    The warm expression on Madam Nerida''s face conveyed the gratitude she felt. "Thank you, my lord," she breathed, before bowing and leaving the room along with the other maid.

    As they scraped the last remnants of porridge from their bowls, Pydas rose from his chair, a mixture of gratitude and worry etched on his face. He bowed deeply. "Thank you once again for your hospitality, my lord."

    Kivamus offered him a reassuring smile. "Think nothing of it, Pydas. Now, tell me, do you have a place to stay for the night?"

    Pydas nodded. "I have a room arranged above the alehouse, my lord."

    "Excellent," Kivamus replied, though his keen eyes detected a hint of unease on Pydas''s face. "Tell me, Pydas, is there something else troubling you?"

    Pydas shuffled his feet awkwardly, his gaze darting around the room before settling back on Kivamus. With a deep breath, he finally spoke. "Well, my lord," he began hesitantly, "to be honest, I''m quite worried about selling my goods. Since I had heard that traders were rarely coming to Tiranat for the past few months, I brought a considerable amount of grain with me, hoping to sell it here."

    Disappointment clouded Pydas''s face as he continued, "Unfortunately, Kigeir, the only big merchant in Tiranat who usually buys it from me, told me he couldn''t afford to buy more than a few sacks of grain. And without selling my stock of grain, I simply can''t afford to buy any coal to take back with me."

    Kivamus exchanged a knowing glance with Gorsazo, who offered a silent nod of confirmation.

    "Tell you what, Pydas," Kivamus said, a hint of a plan forming in his mind. "Why don''t you return here tomorrow, around mid-morning? We might just have a solution to your problem."

    A spark of hope ignited in Pydas'' eyes. "A solution, my lord?" he echoed, his voice tinged with a newfound optimism. "You mean you might be interested in buying some grain yourself?"

    "Something like that," Kivamus replied with a hint of a smile. "Come back tomorrow, and we''ll discuss what can be done."

    Pydas didn''t need to be told twice. A trace of relief was easily visible on his stressed face. "I¡­ I would be most grateful for the opportunity to trade directly with you, my lord. Thank you again for the meal and your kindness. I''ll be sure to return tomorrow morning."

    With a final bow of gratitude, Pydas exited the hall, his steps lighter than they had been all evening. Kivamus watched him go, a thoughtful expression on his face.

    Finally, after a day filled with tension and revelations, Kivamus stood up from his chair and stretched, his muscles protesting. "Well," he announced, his voice tired but firm, "this has been a very long day. I think we can all agree that sleep is a necessity right now. Let''s get some rest. We''ll need all our strength for whatever tomorrow brings."

    One by one, they rose from their chairs, their faces etched with a mixture of exhaustion and anticipation. The attempted poisoning had cast a dark shadow on their arrival to Tiranat, but Kivamus'' decision to show mercy, coupled with a potential solution to their grain shortage, offered a fragile sense of hope for a more peaceful future, and a hope for a new beginning, a new dawn for Tiranat.

 19. A New Beginning

    "Wake up, my lord.""It''s getting late, my lord. Please wake up."

    Kivamus blearily opened his eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar ceiling. This is getting old¡­ he thought as he saw that it was Gorsazo who was waking him up, again.

    Seeing that Gorsazo was going to speak again, he added, "Alright, alright! I''m awake now. Give me a minute." For a moment, he felt a sense of deja vu, before he remembered the near-poisoning of the last night and getting to his bed on the upper floor, after a quick meal of porridge and¡­ soup.

    Slowly, he sat up on the bed, looking around the room. It was a simple enough room but had an actual bed, unlike the inns he had stayed in until now. The wooden window, without any glass in it, had been opened in the morning to let in some light, and it was around¡­ he looked around at the walls by habit, searching for a clock, before remembering where he was. Right¡­ no accurate clocks in this era.

    The room was decorated by many pelts on the floor as well as the walls, along with a few fur coats hanging on a hook on one side of the room. There was a small wooden table, along with two chairs, kept close to the window. A few decorative items including a vase, perhaps made of silver, were placed on it. There were also a few wooden chests on one side of the room.

    "You should have some breakfast, my lord," Gorsazo said. "Madam Nerida has told me that she''ll bake some bread today."

    Nodding in reply, Kivamus left the bed finally, starting the first day of his new life as the Baron of Tiranat.

    Kivamus pushed open the heavy oak doors leading into the manor''s sitting hall, the resulting creak a jarring contrast to the silent efficiency of his modern London apartment. He winced, the memory of the ramshackle privy''s rough wooden bench still fresh in his mind. Indoor plumbing was a necessity, not a luxury, and he made a mental note to address the issue as soon as possible.

    Inside the hall, a warm fire crackled in the hearth, casting a glow on the faces of those already gathered. Gorsazo and Duvas were already seated at the long table, talking in a low murmur. Madam Helga was sitting nearby, along with Syryne and Lucem.

    "Good morning, my lord," Duvas greeted, a hint of concern in his voice. "I hope you slept well."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but chuckle wryly. Compared to the comfort of his modern apartment in London, everything here was practically a medieval nightmare. But considering the alternative of sleeping in wagons and on straw beds, he replied, "It wasn''t so bad."

    Madam Nerida entered the hall at that moment, flanked by another maid. They were carrying a basket overflowing with freshly baked bread and trays laden with steaming bowls of porridge mixed with some meat and vegetables, and a surprising sight - several boiled eggs. The aroma of food filled the air, a welcome change from the trail rations he''d been surviving with, on his journey. Kivamus'' face broke into a smile after looking at the food. And he also didn''t have to worry about his teeth breaking since he didn''t have to eat hard-tack biscuits anymore!

    "Good morning, Lord Kivamus," Madam Nerida said, her voice a touch hesitant. "I prepared breakfast. I hope it meets with your approval."

    "It looks delicious, Madam Nerida. Thank you." He gestured towards an empty chair at the table. "Please, join us for breakfast." Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Madam Nerida blinked in surprise. No lord in Tiranat had ever invited a maid to share a meal. Yet, something in Kivamus'' sincere demeanor put her at ease. With a hesitant nod, she took a seat at the edge of a chair, her posture stiff with unaccustomed formality.

    Around the table, murmurs of gratitude filled the air, their faces creased with a genuine appreciation for the shared meal. Lucem, wide-eyed with wonder, alternated looking at Kivamus and his breakfast with a mixture of curiosity and hesitation.

    Turning to Helga, Kivamus inquired, "And how is Clarissa this morning?"

    With a gentle smile gracing her lips, Helga replied, "Much better, my lord. The fever has gone down, and I gave her some soup before putting her to sleep again."

    As they ate, the clattering of bowls and spoons filled the room. The freshly made food was a welcome change from the dried rations and meat jerky they had on their journey.

    The door of the hall swung open suddenly, shattering the calm that had settled over the group. A guard, his face flushed and chest heaving, stumbled into the room.

    "My lord!" he gasped, bowing clumsily. "Levalo, the wagon driver¡­ he''s escaped!"

    Kivamus, startled by the abrupt announcement, shot upright in his armchair. "What!" he boomed, disbelief laced in his voice. The news sent a jolt of tension through the room.

    Feroy burst through the doorway moments later, his face contorted in fury. "Did I hear that right?" he thundered, his voice low and dangerous. "Levalo escaped? How in the blazes did you let that happen?"

    The guard, now thoroughly flustered, stammered out an apology, bowing low before Kivamus. "Forgive me, my lord," he stammered, a tremor in his voice, "I¡­ I went inside the barn when I thought to give him some water, but he was gone!"

    Feroy let out a frustrated growl. "That''s impossible!" he interjected, his anger simmering back to the surface. "Those knots I tied him with, they wouldn''t have budged!"

    Kivamus held up a hand to silence Feroy''s tirade. "Calm yourself, Feroy," he commanded, his tone firm yet pacifying. "Let the guard explain."

    He turned back to the trembling guard. "Tell me what happened," he ordered gently. "Don''t be afraid, just tell us the truth."

    The guard shrunk back under Feroy''s glare, his nervousness intensifying. "It¡­ it might be my fault, my lord," he gulped, his eyes darting around the room. "Levalo woke me up in the middle of the night, begging to go outside to relieve himself. I didn''t make him do his business right there, you see, because of the grains we store in the barn. Didn''t want him messing it all up."

    He continued, his voice barely a whisper, "So I took him to a corner outside the barn, with his hands still tied. After he was done, I locked him back in the barn after tying him to a wooden post again. I¡­ I fear I didn''t tie the ropes as securely to the post as I should have in the darkness."

    Feroy''s anger flared anew. "This wouldn''t have happened if you hadn''t untied him in the first place!" he bellowed. "My knots wouldn''t have budged! Why didn''t you call for the guard captain?"

    The guard flinched at Feroy''s outburst, his eyes darting between him and Kivamus. "There''s¡­ there''s no guard captain right now, sir," he stammered. "Usually we go to Mister Duvas to ask what to do, but I didn''t want to disturb Lord Kivamus''s sleep by waking up Mister Duvas who stays in the manor house too."

    A tense silence descended upon the room. Kivamus, his brow furrowed in thought, weighed the situation. Levalo''s escape was a complication they could ill afford, but assigning blame wouldn''t solve anything. "We''ll address the lack of a guard captain later today," he assured the guard. "But even if Levalo managed to untie the ropes somehow, he was still confined within the barn. How did he escape from there?"

    Feroy spun on the nervous guard, his anger barely contained. "Did you abandon your post at any point during the night?" he barked.

    The guard, his face reddening, shook his head vehemently. "No, sir! I remained by the door the entire night," he defended himself.

    Just then, another guard who was older than the first one, entered the hall. He bowed respectfully to Kivamus before speaking. "My lord," he reported, "we found a loose plank in the back wall of the barn. It appears Levalo used that to escape."

    The guard continued, his voice grim. "We also couldn''t locate the ropes we used to bind him inside the barn. It seems he used them to climb over the palisade fence behind the barn and then disappeared into the forest under the cover of night."

    Kivamus rubbed his temples in frustration. "Can we organize a search party to track him down?"

    The older guard shook his head regretfully. "I already dispatched a few men upon learning about the escape, my lord. They found tracks leading north into the forest, but the fallen leaves made it difficult to follow it for long. By now, it''s been several hours and he''d likely have covered a significant distance already. And a thorough search would require venturing deep into the woods. Unfortunately, we simply lack the manpower to effectively search such a vast area."

    Feroy added, his voice low but firm. "He''s right, my lord. These forests are sprawling and treacherous. As much as I loathe to say it, spending any more time searching for him would be futile now. Instead, we should focus on tightening the manor''s security."

    Kivamus, after a moment of consideration, gave a firm nod. "Agreed, Feroy. See to it that the security measures around the manor are bolstered immediately. We need to ensure such a thing doesn''t happen again."

    After bowing to him, Feroy along with the two guards exited the hall, leaving them to their now cold meal.

    Breakfast passed in companionable silence, broken only by the clinking of spoons and the murmur of conversation from Helga''s kids. As the breakfast dishes were cleared, Kivamus rose from the table, his gaze sweeping across the room. Madam Nerida, her earlier nervousness replaced by a newfound respect on her slightly wrinkled face, stood up as well.

    Kivamus stretched, his muscles protesting silently after a night spent on an unfamiliar mattress. He moved towards the plush armchairs nestled near the fireplace, the warmth inviting him.

    "Duvas, Gorsazo, Helga," he invited, "join me by the fire. Syryne," he added, turning to the young woman, "perhaps you could keep an eye on Clarisa for a while?"

    Syryne, with a small smile, nodded and left towards Clarisa''s room. Lucem, being curious, followed Kivamus like a shadow, eager to soak up everything he could about this new place and his new liege.

    Kivamus turned to the head maid. "Madam Nerida," he began, gesturing towards a chair near the smoldering fireplace. "Please, do not leave just yet. I would like to discuss a few matters with you."

    Madam Nerida hesitated for a moment, the ingrained hierarchy of lord and servant battling with the genuine warmth in Kivamus''s eyes. Finally, with a small nod, she settled into the offered chair, her gaze unwavering.

    Concern flickered across Kivamus''s face as he spoke. "How are our grain stores?" he inquired.

    Nerida''s smile faltered slightly. "Until recently, my lord," she began, "we still had enough to ensure everyone had two meals a day, even if we couldn''t afford to eat three meals like in plentiful times. But our reserves have dwindled considerably. To conserve what little we have left, we had to cut back to one meal a day not long ago."

    Kivamus winced. One meager meal a day was hardly enough to sustain a population, especially with the physical demands of manual work in this era. He needed to get a handle on the exact situation.

    "How much grain do we have remaining in the barns?" he inquired, his voice firm. "And how long will it realistically last us?"

    Nerida fidgeted with her hands. "Last I checked, my lord, we only have about three sacks of grain remaining." She continued hesitantly, "To feed everyone in the manor now, even with only one meal a day, that might stretch for at most two months. If we go back to two meals a day, it would last half of that."

    Kivamus grimaced. The situation was far worse than he had anticipated. Three sacks wouldn''t even make a dent in feeding the entire manor for an extended period. He had to find a solution, and fast. He had to. The lives of his people depended on it.

    Kivamus asked Duvas, "What is the situation in the village? Do they have enough to eat in the winter?"

    Duvas sighed with a deep rumble that spoke volumes. "They do not, my lord, but the village''s problems are even worse than just low grain stores," he admitted, his voice heavy with worry.

    Kivamus''s brow furrowed. "Even worse? Explain yourself, Duvas."

    The majordomo cleared his throat and launched into a detailed explanation. "Around a month ago, my lord," he began, "a fierce thunderstorm wreaked havoc on Tiranat. The rains were relentless, and unfortunately, they flooded the mineshafts. We were lucky to get everyone out safely, but¡­" he trailed off, his face etched with a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

    "But?" Kivamus prompted, a knot of dread forming in his stomach.

    "Since then, the mines have been unusable," Duvas finished grimly. "And with hardly any traders willing to brave the bandit-infested roads to buy our coal in the past few months, both of our coal barns are nearly filled to capacity. That''s why I had to make a difficult decision¡­" The implication hung heavy in the air.

    "You stopped mining altogether¡­" Kivamus breathed.

    Duvas nodded with a trace of sadness in his eyes. "There was no choice, my lord. We couldn''t afford to continue mining and pay the miners if we were unable to sell what we''d already extracted."

    "And the miners?" he asked, his voice grim. "What about the men who rely on the mines for their livelihood?"

    Duvas shook his head, his expression filled with sympathy. "They''re out of work, my lord. Most of Tiranat''s workforce relies on the income from working in the coal mines. With the mining halted, they have no other source of income, and that is what has led to the current dire situation in the village."

    A heavy silence descended upon the room. Coal mining was the lifeblood of Tiranat''s economy. Without it, the already precarious situation had become a full-blown crisis. The lack of trade wasn''t just affecting their food stores, it was crippling the entire economy of Tiranat. The image of families struggling to survive, their hearths growing cold as winter approached, painted a bleak picture in his mind.

    Duvas leaned forward, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "The meager funds we have left would barely be enough to pay the miners'' wages for a full month, my lord. We simply can''t afford to reopen the mines until we manage to obtain more money by selling the coal we already have. We won''t be able to pay the miners otherwise¡­ We simply don''t have the funds for it, my lord."

    He looked at Kivamus with a worried gaze and continued, "I could have let the mines run for a few weeks longer, my lord, but I had to hold on to some of the money, in case we got an opportunity to purchase some grain. We couldn''t risk being completely depleted if a trader did come here."

    Dwindling food supplies, unemployed workers, and a crippled economy - the situation was far more grave than he had initially imagined. The village was teetering on the brink of collapse. Kivamus, a man from a world of plenty, now faced a battle for survival in a land where every resource, every decision, held the potential for life or death. He gripped the arms of the chair, knuckles turning white. Winter was approaching, and without a drastic change in fortunes, many in Tiranat wouldn''t survive the harsh season.

 20. A Surprised Owner ofâ€¦

    Kivamus forced himself to take a deep breath."Duvas," he began, his voice firm but laced with concern, "did you get a chance to find out what remains in our treasury?"

    Duvas nodded grimly. "I have, my lord. Although we have a lot of coal stockpiled in the barns, which we could sell for more money if an opportunity arose to trade it, we have less than two hundred gold crowns remaining in actual currency."

    Kivamus sighed, the meager sum doing little to ease his growing anxiety. "That''s¡­ not much at all," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "However," he continued, a hint of determination in his voice, "at least with my personal savings, we should have something to work with."

    He looked at Madam Nerida once more. "How much grain do we need to feed the entire manor two meals a day, for the winter?" he asked. He thought for a moment, and continued, "Let''s say for four months. That should be long enough for the snow to melt and for us to trade again. Isn''t that right, Duvas?"

    Duvas nodded. "It will be more than enough, my lord. I think it should be around a month until the snow starts falling, and after the snowfall gets heavy, the road to Cinran would be blocked for roughly another month after that. And then it''ll take a few weeks for the snow to melt enough that traders can start coming again. So if we have enough grain stocks to last us three months, it might be enough to tide us over through the winter. But if we can afford it, it is always a good idea to have enough stored grain to be sure that we won''t starve even if the winter lasts longer, or if the traders don''t start coming right after the winter ends. Although, I think by the time winter ends, enough time would have passed since the previous Baron''s murder for traders to visit regularly again."

    "That will certainly be helpful." Kivamus declared, "And four months it is then. So how much do we need Madam Nerida? To feed the manor for four months."

    Taking a minute to think it over, Madam Nerida replied, "Twenty sacks, my lord. That will easily feed the uh¡­ around forty people now living in the manor, for four months. If we can add some meat to the meals from hunting, we can make it last even longer." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded solemnly. "Alright, so twenty sacks to feed the manor." However, that was just a starting point, since he had to think about the whole village as well. "Duvas," he began, his voice firm despite the knot of worry twisting in his gut, "how many people live in the village?"

    Duvas blinked, surprised by the seemingly simple question. "We''ve never done an exact count of the villagers, my lord," he admitted after a moment''s hesitation. "But at my best guess, I''d say around three hundred people live in the village itself. Then, of course, there are the forty or so who reside here at the manor now, and that brings the total to around three hundred and forty."

    Gorsazo added with a thoughtful frown. "However, my lord," he interjected, "if we''re planning to feed the entire village, it might be wise to err on the side of caution. Grain can spoil or be eaten by rats during storage, and there''s always the chance our initial estimate for the population is a bit low. It wouldn''t hurt to factor in a buffer."

    Kivamus appreciated his caution. With a nod, he acknowledged the point. "Indeed," he agreed. "Let''s plan for three hundred and fifty people, and four months, to be on the safe side. That ought to be enough for the village to survive this winter."

    He took a deep breath, the enormity of the task settling in. Feeding hundreds of people through the harsh winter was a daunting challenge, a far cry from the small teams he had managed back in his London life. Yet, there was no room for self-pity. These people, his people, were depending on him.

    "Right," he continued, his voice unwavering. "Based on that number, we''d need approximately¡­ one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain in total to last us for four months, based on what Madam Nerida told us." His gaze moved towards Duvas. "How much would that cost?"

    Duvas grimaced. "Last season, my lord," he replied, "the price for a single sack of grain hovered around three gold crowns and eight silvers, after accounting for the cost of transporting it here. However, if we were to purchase such a large quantity in bulk, there''s a chance the seller might be willing to offer a slight discount."

    He paused, scribbling some figures on a piece of parchment kept on the table next to him. "That still means we would require¡­" He trailed off, his brow furrowed in concentration.

    Before he could voice the figure, Kivamus cut in, the answer already forming in his mind. "Around six hundred and fifty gold crowns," he said, his voice steady. "Perhaps a little less if we can negotiate a better price for purchasing in bulk."

    Duvas sighed, a sound of weary agreement. "Your estimate seems right, my lord." He cast a sympathetic glance at Kivamus. "Unfortunately, as you know, our current treasury holds a meager two hundred gold crowns."

    Kivamus offered a tight smile. While the cost of feeding the village over the winter would significantly deplete his savings, which was all he had to secure a long-term solution for the village''s many problems, it would ensure no one starved over the winter. It would buy them time, time to find that solution, and time to get Tiranat back on its feet.

    "So be it," he declared, his voice firm with newfound determination, "we''ll add my savings to the treasury. Gorsazo, see to it after this. While it is not a permanent solution, buying enough grain to feed the village through winter is our first priority. We''ll deal with finding a long-term solution once we can ensure that the village will survive the winter."

    Kivamus leaned forward, his full attention on Duvas. "But why did you let the grain stocks fall so low in the first place?"

    Duvas explained, "Pydas is one of the very few traders to visit Tiranat since the previous Baron''s murder, my lord, either from Cinran or Kirnos. We simply haven''t had an opportunity to buy a good amount of grain or sell enough coal in months."

    Kivamus already knew that the road from Cinran to Tiranat was rarely traveled now, from his discussion with Madam Helga and Pydas when he stayed in her inn. But it seemed that these days traders were rarely visiting Tiranat from other places too. He nodded, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. "That explains the lack of supplies," he murmured. "But why haven''t you purchased more grain from Cinran, then? Surely you could have sent someone there if traders weren''t willing to come to Tiranat?"

    Duvas''s expression turned grim. "We did try, my lord," he explained. "I dispatched a guard on horseback on three separate occasions. The first time, soon after the previous baron''s demise, the guard returned from Cinran with unsettling news. That was before the harvest, so prices of grain were sky-high, and no merchant was willing to risk the journey on this dangerous road to transport it at that time."

    He continued, "That was a frightening time for us, my lord, since everyone here was terrified after the previous baron and his whole retinue were murdered, and I did not know at the time if there would be an attack here as well. So during that time, I didn''t want to take the risk of sending too many guards away from the manor to escort a grain wagon ourselves, and risk being caught without enough guards here to defend the manor in case an attack did happen. We had enough grain at that time as well, and I decided to wait until the situation had normalized." He took a deep breath. "Thankfully, there was no attack on the village after the baron''s murder, and it was only recently that we got the first bandit raid since then. However, since we couldn''t defend the village in that raid due to a shortage of guards, now there is a constant risk of another bandit raid."

    "Indeed, and later today, we''ll try to find a solution for that too. But what about Kirnos?" Kivamus inquired, hoping for a better outcome from the neighboring barony. "That was also an option to buy grain, wasn''t it?"

    "I did send a rider there as well, my lord. Unfortunately," Duvas continued, his voice heavy, "the news from Kirnos wasn''t much better. There''s a grain shortage there as well, and the prices are exorbitant. Also, Kirnos is only moderately larger than Tiranat itself, and wouldn''t have enough surplus to meet Tiranat''s needs anyway. That''s why we buy our grain from traders coming from Cinran, which is a much bigger place compared to our village."

    A cold dread settled in Kivamus''s stomach. Not only was Tiranat close to starvation, but the surrounding areas were also struggling. Things were far worse in this world than he had initially imagined.

    Duvas''s face hardened as he continued. "The last guard whom I sent to Cinran for buying even a small amount of grain to carry with him on his horse, never returned, and that was only two weeks ago. I fear that he fell victim to bandits along the way."

    Kivamus sank back in his chair, the weight of the situation settling heavily upon him. The near-empty grain stores, the dwindling coin reserves, a ruined economy, and the dangerous state of the roads all painted a bleak picture. Yet, there was some hope now.

    "Thank goodness for Pydas then," he finally said, a hint of relief in his voice. "At least with him here and with his grain, we can buy some time to find a better solution."

    Stepping out of the manor hall, he looked around the place once again in the light of the morning sun. This was his first day in Tiranat as the new Baron. The ground, damp with the dew of the previous night, squelched softly beneath his boots as he walked. Kivamus took a deep breath of the crisp morning air. It was chilly, a stark contrast to the warmth of the fire he''d just left behind. He pulled his fur coat tighter around him, the luxurious material a welcome comfort against the morning chill.

    The imposing Arakin Mountains dominated the eastern horizon, their snow-capped peaks gleaming in the morning sun. The trees in the surrounding forest had shed most of their leaves, revealing their bare frames reaching skyward.

    The sky was a clear, vibrant blue, promising a bright day ahead. A short distance away, Pydas'' wagons were parked under a weather-beaten shed close to the stables. Hudan stood in conversation with the gate guards, their voices a low murmur against the backdrop of chirping birds, while Feroy was nowhere to be found.

    Life bustled around him while he stood watching the manor, as the servants and maids went about their morning duties. The rhythmic clatter of cleaning implements and the murmur of hushed conversations drifted through the air. A feeling of normalcy, however fragile, seemed to be returning to the manor.

    A sense of quiet determination settled over Kivamus as he surveyed the scene. The challenges before him were daunting - a starving village, a crippled economy, and the constant threat of bandits¡­ and he didn''t know what other surprises might be waiting for him in the future. But the resilience of the people, the breathtaking beauty of the land, and the glimmer of hope offered by Pydas'' arrival all fueled a growing resolve within him. He wouldn''t let Tiranat crumble.

    "There is a kitchen here in the manor house as well, isn''t it, Mr Duvas?" Helga asked.

    "There is, right next to the hall we were sitting in earlier," Duvas replied. "But at the moment, it sits unused."

    Helga looked towards Kivamus. "My lord, if you allow me, I''d like to take care of your meals from now on, along with Syryne. We do have a lot of experience cooking food, and it would help us feel useful as well."

    Kivamus didn''t take long to answer her. "Of course, I was thinking about that myself. It would help you to settle in, as well. You can start from today itself, Madam Helga. We will work out the wages for you both later, after consulting with Duvas." Helga looked happy to hear that, while Syryne had a smile as well.

    "You are already providing us with lodgings and food, my lord. I couldn''t even have imagined yesterday that I''d be living in a baron''s manor house today! My family and I are very grateful for that itself, my lord," Helga said to him. "You don''t need to pay us a wage as well."

    Although Kivamus had a lot of experience working in a team as well as managing it, back in London, he wasn''t the owner there. And hiring employees was not something that he knew much about. But one thing was certain, no matter what the standards were about that in this world, he wouldn''t make people work for him without giving them a wage.

    "Nonsense, if you are going to work for me, you''ll get a wage. I''m not going to have people working for me without paying them like they were slaves!" Kivamus exclaimed.

    Duvas hesitated for a moment. "But my lord, you do have slaves here. The previous baron was their owner earlier. But now that you are here as the new baron and the owner of all the surrounding lands, the slaves are now also owned by you."

    It was such an unexpected statement, that it took a moment for Kivamus'' brain to process it. He abhorred the practice of slavery and never in his mind, he could have imagined that all of a sudden he would become a slave owner.

    "What did you say?" he boomed. "I will not tolerate slavery under me for even a moment! I was unable to help them the last time, and that still eats at me. But when I can do something, anything, about it, I will not let it happen." He ordered, "Bring them all here, right now. Bring every last person in the manor who is a slave."

 21. Freedom

    It was the first time others had heard Kivamus take such a strong stand about something and give them a direct order. But despite any hesitation they may have had, their habit of immediately following the orders of their liege kicked in. Duvas rushed away along with a few other servants who were nearby and started to give them orders to find specific people around the manor and to bring them to the courtyard in front of the manor house.While Duvas was away to fulfill his command, Kivamus found himself lost in a sea of contemplation. Here, in this world, a seemingly insurmountable chasm separated the privileged few from the desperate many. The common folk toiled endlessly, barely scraping by to fill their bellies, while nobles like himself reveled in a life of relative luxury. It was a stark imbalance, a system that reeked of injustice. By now, he knew very well that this world was a harsh and unforgiving place. Poverty gnawed at the very fabric of society, forcing people to the brink of starvation. It was a constant companion, a suffocating weight that stole the joy from life and left people barely clinging to existence. But as if that wasn''t enough, he thought bitterly, the barbaric practice of slavery was stripping people of their freedom and dignity.

    The injustice of it all burned within him. The very notion of slavery, so deeply ingrained in this society, filled him with a cold fury. These people, no different from him in their desire for a decent life, were denied basic freedoms, and treated as mere possessions. The fear he had witnessed occasionally in the eyes of some of the servants, their uncertainty about his intentions, was a stark reminder of the cruelty inherent in such a system.

    The casual acceptance of human ownership, the complete disregard for the basic rights of another human being - it all left a bitter taste in his mouth. How could an entire society function under such a system? How could these enslaved people have any hope for a better life living like this?

    Looking at the servants running around the manor now, some oblivious to what was happening, others betraying worry in their eyes, solidified his turmoil. He couldn''t help but wonder which of them were slaves, and what their lives were like, constantly at the beck and call of their masters, their freedom a mere illusion.

    He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to focus on the task at hand. He yearned for answers, for a solution to the crisis at hand, and perhaps, a way to rectify the injustices he now witnessed firsthand.

    He glanced around the courtyard, his eyes landing on the slowly gathering throng of servants and maids around him. Their expressions were a mixture of confusion and unease. Some, unaware of the recent commotion, had gathered out of curiosity, drawn by the flurry of activity. Others, who had overheard his earlier outburst, seemed to shrink back, their expressions laced with a subtle fear.

    He let out a heavy sigh, the sound lost in the murmurs of the gathering crowd. He longed for the bustle to subside, for Duvas to return with the slaves, so he could finally address this issue head-on. He had a big decision to make, a choice that would set the tone for his leadership in the future. It would lay the foundation for the kind of ruler he would become in Tiranat and would influence the lives of its people for years to come.

    Duvas returned to the courtyard soon after, with five figures trailing behind him. Three were male servants, one of whom Kivamus recognized as a stablehand from earlier. The other two were young women, their eyes downcast and their faces betraying a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. News of the gathering had spread quickly, and by now, a small crowd of servants - cooks, maids, and even a couple of guards, had gathered at the edges of the courtyard, murmuring amongst themselves, their daily tasks forgotten for the moment.

    Duvas cleared his throat, his voice carrying across the hushed crowd. "My Lord," he announced, "as requested, these are five of the six slaves currently residing within the manor. There is one other maid, but she has gone on an errand in the village. I will bring her to you once she returns later."

    Kivamus observed the group, his gaze lingering on each individual. While they were undeniably thin, their features etched with the same worry lines he''d seen on many others lately, it seemed a consequence of the recent food shortages rather than any deliberate cruelty. Unlike the gaunt, hollow-eyed slaves he''d glimpsed being transported near Cinran, these individuals, while nervous, held a spark of life in their eyes. They huddled together, seeking silent comfort from their shared circumstance.

    They were slaves, and his property, according to the law of the kingdom, yet he couldn''t reconcile himself to the concept of owning another human being for even a moment, nor would he allow it to happen under his watch. Not anymore. Taking a deep breath to steady his churning emotions, he addressed the group.

    "From this moment forward," he declared in a booming voice ringing with authority, "slavery is abolished and forbidden in all the lands falling under my domain. Defying this rule is outlawed from now on, and will have criminal consequences." He looked at the people around him and their varied expressions for a moment. He continued in a loud voice, "We are all human beings, and no one deserves to be owned by another person. Slavery is an abhorrent thing, and it should never have been allowed. But even if it is not in my power to put an end to slavery everywhere, I will never allow it where my word is the law."

    Duvas interrupted, "But¡­ but my lord, you can''t just do that!"

    Kivamus glared at the majordomo. "Why?"

    "Because¡­ That is how it is my lord! It has always been like this!"

    "Do you think human beings deserve to be owned and traded like animals, then?"

    Duvas was indignant. "It does not matter what I think, my lord! His majesty, the King of Reslinor, has allowed it. I don''t make the rules here!"

    "No, you don''t, Duvas. I do. I make the rules in Tiranat, and this is my final decision." He looked at the majordomo for a moment, trying to determine his seriousness about opposing him. "This is not negotiable, Duvas. If you can''t accept this and are unable to continue working alongside me to support me in my decisions, you are free to resign from your position. Even though I''m new here, this is far from the last thing that I will do, which may go against the customs of this place. It is entirely up to you to decide whether you are with me in this or not."

    The majordomo seemed to be considering his options and it took a minute for him to make his decision. In the end, Duvas sighed and gave a deep bow to Kivamus. "Forgive me, my Lord, if I was overstepping my boundaries. I will accept your decision and would be glad to continue serving you."

    "Good," Kivamus replied. "I do value your suggestions, and you can always offer your advice wherever you think it is necessary, but the final decision will be mine."

    Duvas nodded in reply, while Gorsazo seemed to have a thoughtful frown on his face.

    Kivamus looked at the slaves standing in front of him, who were thoroughly surprised by now. "As of this moment, you all are free from your servitude and are no longer the slaves of anyone. All of you are free to leave this manor and forge your own paths in the world."

    A stunned silence descended upon the courtyard. The former slaves stood frozen, the meaning of his words slowly sinking in. Slowly, tentative smiles began to bloom on some faces of the onlookers. Just as Kivamus expected a surge of relief and perhaps even joy, tears welled up in the eyes of some of the newly freed slaves. For a fleeting moment, Kivamus thought his words had brought tears of happiness. However, there was a deeper emotion beneath the surface, a chilling mix of fear and despair. Confusion clouded his features. Weren''t they happy?

    One of the maids, a young woman, could not contain her emotions and erupted into sobs. "No, my lord! Please!" she cried, her voice thick with desperation. "Don''t send us away! Please, I beg you, let us remain as your slaves!"

    Kivamus was taken aback by her outburst. This wasn''t the reaction he''d anticipated... Freedom, a concept he so deeply believed in, was met with this kind of fear?

    "Why?" he asked, his voice full of confusion. "Why wouldn''t you want your freedom? I thought this is what you all desired!"

    The woman wiped at her tears with her sleeve, her voice trembling. "My lord," she stammered, "what will become of us if we leave the manor? We have no coin, no land, no family to take us in¡­ We would starve on the streets... Here, at least we have food and shelter. Even a single meal a day that we get here is much better than starving outside the manor as free people. Please, my lord, I beg of you, don''t cast us out!" she pleaded, dissolving once more into tears.

    Her words hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the harsh reality these people faced. Freedom, while a noble ideal, couldn''t fill empty stomachs or provide shelter from the coming winter.

    The fear in the maid''s eyes wasn''t defiance, but raw terror of an unknown future. Kivamus recalled his earlier conversation with Gorsazo, and the chilling truth he had told about some slaves clinging to their servitude in the face of freedom. Now, witnessing their raw fear firsthand, he understood.

    Taking a deep breath, Kivamus addressed the hesitant group. "Please, understand," he began, his voice gentle, "I am not forcing you to leave the manor. This is your home, and you are welcome to stay and work here as long as you wish. However," he continued, "you all are now free people. You have a choice. You can continue with your current duties, or you can choose to leave and pursue another path. It is up to you now." He paused, letting his words sink in. The weight of this decision, the power to shape their own destinies, must have felt overwhelming after years of servitude.

    The maid, her eyes red-rimmed from tears, looked up at him. "Are you¡­ are you truly not sending us away, my lord?" she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "We can¡­ we can stay?"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but smile, a genuine, heartfelt smile that warmed the chilly courtyard. "Yes," he confirmed, "this is not a trick. You all can stay and continue your duties as before, but now as free people."

    The weight of his words seemed to settle on the group. The fear that had clouded their faces slowly began to dissipate, replaced by a hesitant curiosity.

    Kivamus felt a surge of determination after witnessing firsthand the depth of their fear and the harsh realities of their world. He would never allow this system of slavery to stand under his watch, even if it was ingrained in the people. But simply freeing them wasn''t enough. He needed to offer them a path forward, a future built on dignity and choice.

    He turned towards Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought. "Duvas," he inquired, "were these people ever paid for their work?"

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my lord. It has always been the custom everywhere that slaves only receive food and lodging in exchange for the duties they perform."

    Kivamus frowned. "And the other servants?" he continued. "Do they get wages?"

    "Indeed, my lord," Duvas responded. "Their wages are based on the duties they perform. Depending on their skills, most of them get between eight to twelve coppers a day. Of course, the cost of their food and lodging is deducted from it, which is around half of it." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He sighed. "However, as you know, my Lord, in the past few months we were unable to generate more money by selling coal. So I had to make a difficult decision to temporarily pause the payment of wages, for everyone in the manor. I had to save the money we had left to buy some grain, my Lord, in case we got an opportunity to trade."

    Kivamus grimaced. Not paying wages while making people work for him left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was still true that their current situation didn''t allow them to spend any money which was not vital for the survival of the village and its residents. He looked around at all the servants gathered near him. While there was nobody who could be called fat by any estimate, they still looked well-fed compared to the villagers living outside the manor. In this poor village, even having enough to eat was a luxury. And while nobody here would be happy that their wages had been stopped, none of them would want to switch places with any villager living outside the manor walls.

    The village''s current situation left him with no other choice than to ask them to continue working as unpaid laborers for now. It was something he hoped to remedy as soon as possible, but the least he could do right now was to offer them some hope for the future.

    Taking a minute to think about it, he declared, "From now on, just like others who work in the manor, the freed slaves will also receive a wage based on their duties." Despite not liking what he was going to say even a little bit, he continued, "However, as you all know very well, the current situation has left our coffers nearly empty. So just like the other workers in the manor, their wages will also be paused temporarily, until we can ensure that our situation has stabilized. I cannot say how long that will take, but I will do everything in my power to bring this barony back on track."

    Turning back to the former slaves, his voice carried a newfound warmth. "Speak with Duvas later," he instructed, "to discuss the specifics of your wages, and what each of you are entitled to. I promise you all that when the wages are finally paid to others, you will also get the wages for the duties that you perform. Of course, the food and lodging provided to the other servants and guards will also be provided to you, with appropriate deductions from your wages. You are no longer slaves, but valued members of this household."

    The former slaves, overwhelmed with this unexpected turn of events, could barely contain their emotions. Perhaps it was less than what they could have gotten if the situation was normal, but it was much more than what they could have ever dreamt under the previous baron. Tears of gratitude welled in their eyes, tears that were not born of fear but genuine relief and hope. "Thank you, my lord!" they all added. Through sniffles and choked sobs, they managed a deep bow together, their voices thick with emotion as they expressed their heartfelt thanks.

    A ripple of acceptance spread through the gathered crowd and soon the courtyard was booming with the sound of joyful clapping and chants of "All hail Lord Kivamus!"

    Even Duvas, his initial reservations forgotten, wore a smile of approval. Slowly, the courtyard emptied as people returned to their duties. The former slaves, now free men and women, walked with a newfound lightness in their steps and a smile gracing their lips - the first genuine smiles they''d likely felt in a very long time.

    This rare moment of joy, shared by all the residents of the manor even amidst the constant threat posed by bandits and the food shortage, spoke volumes of the immense change that had transpired within the walls of the manor.

    Kivamus watched them go, a seed of hope blossoming in his chest. A new chapter had begun for them, a chapter filled with the promise of choice, dignity, and a future free from the shackles of slavery.

 22. Grain Deal - Part I

    Pydas, who had been observing the gathering from a distance, approached Kivamus with a respectful bow."Good morning, my lord," he greeted, his voice warm and genuine. "I couldn''t help but overhear your proclamation."

    "Morning, Pydas." Kivamus asked, "What do you think about it?"

    "Initially," Pydas replied, "I admit, I shared the surprise and hesitation everyone else felt. Such a significant change is bound to raise questions. However, I firmly believe this is a noble act. I can only imagine the weight of this decision, but know this, my lord, you have my full support."

    Kivamus offered a curt nod. "Thank you, Pydas."

    Pydas'' voice dipped into a somber tone. "A long time ago," he reminisced, "when after a drought damaged the harvest badly in the village my family lives in, many of my neighbors, along with their children were sold into slavery by the debt collectors. My own family and I could have easily met the same fate on that day, my Lord, when I tried to evade them by hiding in a nearby thicket along with my scared children. Thankfully, the Goddess smiled upon us that day, and we remained free." He shook his head slowly. "Although I managed to pay back my debts later on, the scars of that experience, and the way my children, who were very young at the time clutched me with fear, have never truly faded. Slavery is an abhorrent practice, my lord, and I wholeheartedly support your decision to abolish it in Tiranat."

    Pydas leaned forward, a question lingering in his voice. "Yet, if I may be so bold, my lord, what caused you to make such a decision?"

    "Perhaps," Kivamus admitted, thinking about the time when the original Kivamus inhabited this body, "in the past, I might have simply accepted slavery as an unfortunate fact of life."

    Gorsazo, who had been a silent observer throughout the exchange, leaned in, clearly interested in the conversation. "Indeed, my lord," he chimed in. "Your actions¡­ they differ from what I expected of you. And I''m not sure if this will go down very well with other nobles when they learn about it."

    "Gorsazo," Kivamus continued with a hint of amusement in his voice, recalling the drunken days of the original Kivamus, "you, more than anyone else, should understand what I''m talking about. As you know, recent events have been¡­ transformative. Being sent to this remote village at the edge of the kingdom, after practically being exiled from Ulriga, has undoubtedly been a life-altering experience." Not to mention somehow being transported from Earth to this place, he added in his mind.

    "And just a few days ago, I saw something eye-opening. On my journey here," he added, his voice dropping to a low growl, "I witnessed a group of people being transported for sale outside Cinran like they were cattle!"

    Thinking about it, he added, "I realize that many of the servants and maids working in the Ulriga Palace must have been slaves, when I used to live there," or at least, the original Kivamus did. "But they never looked any different from the other servants. They were well fed and clothed there, and it would have been impossible to tell that they were actually slaves and not free men and women, without actually asking them about it," he recalled from the hazy memories of the original Kivamus. "For all it matters, slavery could be said to be just another form of employment, inside the Ulriga Palace."

    Taking a deep breath, he continued, "But when I saw that line of slaves outside Cinran, bound and cuffed with chains like animals, it was eye-opening to realize that that was the real situation in this kingdom, outside the walls of the Ulriga Palace. That is when I decided that it was not an acceptable thing to allow people to be reduced to an animal-like existence. I felt utterly helpless at the time seeing their miserable conditions and yet being unable to intervene and help those poor souls. But here in Tiranat, I refuse to tolerate the things I cannot abide by. This is where I draw the line."

    He continued, "Of course, most of the nobles would love to have the common people serving them as slaves, without paying them a single coin! Hah! Those bastards!"

    Kivamus added after a moment, "But I refuse to be like them, Gorsazo. Not anymore. And it''s not like I''m forcing them to accept it in their own lands."

    "I understand where you''re coming from, my Lord," Gorsazo added, "but they still aren''t going to like this decision when they hear about it, and it might cause problems for us in the future. The majority of people are usually opposed to anything which challenges the status quo, not to mention those who benefit from the current situation."

    "I have no desire to be liked by those cut-throat bastards anyway!" Kivamus snorted. "It''s not like many of them aren''t already trying to kill me¡­"

    He sighed. "We''ll deal with it when we have to, Gorsazo. But I just refuse to own people like they are animals. They are human beings and will be treated like humans, if not everywhere, then at least in my domain."

    Pydas'' face creased into a relieved smile. "I''m glad to hear it, my Lord," he said, his voice heavy with sincerity. "The people of Tiranat have been yearning for a leader who has their best interests at heart. They haven''t had that for a very long time."

    Pydas delved into the reason for his visit. "As you know, my lord, I brought with me three wagons laden with grain, hoping to sell it here in Tiranat. However, yesterday I could only manage to sell eight sacks in total, six to Kigeir and a meager two to others. I had brought thirty sacks with me, my lord." He shook his head, his brow furrowed in concern. "The situation here is far worse than I anticipated if they could only buy such a small amount."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "I understand Pydas. I saw it firsthand when we arrived here. But rest assured, I''m committed to helping the people of Tiranat in any way I can." He gestured towards the manor house. "Let''s return inside for now," he suggested. "We can discuss this further in the comfort of the hall."

    Pydas dipped his head in agreement. With a heavy silence hanging in the air, the group turned and began their walk back toward the manor house. Kivamus, deep in thought, led the way, with Pydas and Duvas trailing closely behind. Gorsazo and Helga followed, their faces etched with concern mirroring the weight of the situation. As they entered the manor house, Lucem ran off somewhere, to whatever had caught his fancy now.

    Inside, the warmth of the fire greeted them as they entered the familiar surroundings of the manor hall. They settled into the armchairs around the crackling fire, the warmth a welcome contrast to the chill that had settled over them outside.

    The fire cast dancing shadows on the walls as Kivamus surveyed the faces around him. Here, in this room, surrounded by his newfound advisors, the negotiations for securing Tiranat''s future were about to begin.

    "Alright, Pydas," Kivamus began, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Let''s turn this situation into something positive. We can start by striking a good deal, wouldn''t you agree?"

    Pydas straightened in his chair. "A good deal, my lord?" he echoed, raising an eyebrow in question.

    "Indeed," Kivamus confirmed. "Tell me, you still have¡­ twenty-two sacks of grain unsold, right?"

    Pydas leaned forward with a newfound interest. "I have, my lord," he confirmed, nodding eagerly.

    "Excellent," Kivamus declared with a decisive edge to his voice. "I propose to buy your entire stock of grain."

    Pydas''s eyebrows shot up in astonishment. "All of it, my lord?" he echoed.

    "Indeed," Kivamus affirmed with a nod. "Now, let''s discuss the price. From what I was told of last year''s prices, a single sack of grain cost around three gold crowns and eight silver coins, including the cost of transporting it here from Cinran." He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "So, for twenty-two sacks, that would come to¡­"

    Before Kivamus could finish his calculation, Pydas interjected, his voice laced with a hint of urgency. "My lord," he began, "with all due respect, the situation has changed considerably since last year. As you might be aware, this year''s harvest proved to be rather disappointing, much like the one before it. And so the grain prices have soared everywhere. In Cinran, a single sack of grain now commands a price tag of at least four gold crowns and two silver coins."

    Noticing the surprised expressions of others at the higher price, he continued, his voice taking on a pleading tone, "And that''s not all, my lord. The cost of transporting goods from Cinran to Tiranat has increased significantly after the previous Baron''s murder, due to the increased risk of bandits. So I also have to pay much higher wages for the wagon drivers and the rental fees for the wagons and horses than I did last year. To make a profit and ensure my family has enough to eat, I simply can''t sell them for less than four gold crowns, six silver coins, and five coppers per sack after taking everything into account."

    Duvas inhaled sharply, a grimace twisting his features. "That''s a very steep increase, Pydas," he remarked, clearly taken aback by the inflated price. "Far more than I anticipated."

    Pydas nodded, his expression filled with helplessness. "I understand, Mr Duvas," he replied. "But after two consecutive bad harvests, prices have risen everywhere. I have a family to feed, and I can''t afford to sell at a loss."

    Duvas wasn''t ready to give in so easily. "We understand the circumstances, Pydas. However, we are offering to purchase a significant quantity at once. Surely, there''s room for a bulk discount?" he countered.

    Pydas pondered for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he spoke, his voice measured. "Very well," he conceded. "However, the most I can offer is a discount of half a silver coin per sack. That would bring the price down to four gold crowns and six silver coins per sack."

    Duvas grimaced slightly. "That''s¡­ still much higher than I anticipated," he grumbled, clearly disappointed.

    Pydas spread his hands helplessly and looked at Kivamus. "I truly cannot go any lower, my lord," he pleaded. "As a traveling merchant, I only manage to secure one or two good trades a month, at best. I have to ensure my family has enough to survive during lean times."

    With a gentle nod, Kivamus conceded, "Very well, Pydas. We wouldn''t want to offer a price that risks your family''s well-being." He turned to Duvas, who had been diligently scribbling calculations on a parchment with a quill. "So, Duvas," Kivamus inquired, "based on Pydas'' offer, what''s the total cost for the grain?"

    Duvas, after a quick final calculation, announced, "The total comes to one hundred and one gold crowns and two silver coins, my lord."

    Kivamus tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Pydas," he proposed, "how about we round down the total to an even amount of one hundred gold crowns? What do you say?"

    Pydas''s face remained impassive. "I can''t, my lord," he countered politely but firmly. "A hundred gold crowns is simply too low. However, in the spirit of a new partnership, I would be willing to accept one hundred and one gold crowns."

    Kivamus chuckled softly, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "A shrewd negotiator, I see," he remarked. "Very well then, Pydas. We have a deal. One hundred and one gold crowns for your twenty-two sacks of grain."

    But Kivamus wasn''t finished yet. Leaning forward, he addressed the more pressing issue. "However, Pydas," he continued, "our needs extend far beyond your current stock. You mentioned selling eight sacks already, which brings Tiranat''s total grain reserves to thirty sacks. Unfortunately, that''s nowhere near enough to sustain us through the winter. We estimate we''ll require roughly a hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain in total to make it through the harsh months."

    He paused, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. "That leaves us with a hundred and forty-five sacks that I still want to buy. Given your established contacts in Cinran, you might be able to acquire such a large quantity of grain faster than we could, and at much better rates." He raised an eyebrow in question. "So, what do you think, Pydas? Can you manage to purchase that much grain from Cinran and transport it here?"

    Pydas'' brow furrowed in contemplation as he digested Kivamus'' words. "One hundred and forty-five sacks," he murmured, the sheer quantity a daunting prospect. "That''s indeed a substantial order, my lord. It would require a significant amount of effort to transport such a large amount." A moment of thoughtful silence followed as Pydas calculated the logistics in his head. "I can manage it," he finally declared with a determined glint in his eyes. "But it won''t be a simple task."

    He launched into a detailed explanation, his voice laced with the pragmatism of a seasoned merchant. "Currently, I only have three wagons at my disposal," he began, "two of my own and an additional one I managed to rent from Cinran for my current visit here. Even if I dedicate all the space to grain sacks, my lord, a single wagon can hold no more than eleven sacks at a time, even if the wagons are filled to the brim. But that would be overloading the wagons and could cause injury to the horses, since they would be pulling the overloaded wagons continuously for weeks to transfer all the grain, particularly on the uneven forest roads. Not to mention, it could lead to a breakdown of the wagon or its axle, which would leave us stranded in the middle of the forest. And being unable to shift a full wagon load of grain to the other wagons, we would have to leave the grain there as well."

    Pydas held up a hand, forestalling any interruptions. "That''s why," he continued, "I only load ten sacks of grain per wagon, leaving some space for other necessities like tools for mining, some salt for preserving food, and some dried meat and water to sustain the journey. Of course, it also keeps the load on the horses manageable, so that they can pull the wagons even on long journeys without getting injured. That leaves space for thirty sacks of grain that I can manage to transport in one trip on the three wagons I have."

    Kivamus nodded and gestured for him to continue. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Pydas leaned forward, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "The travel time is also a significant factor as it takes at least two days to reach here from Cinran. If I need to make another night''s stop to rest the horses, when we are traveling with the wagons fully loaded, it can stretch to three days. Then there''s the time spent in Cinran itself, where it will take at least a day to acquire and load the grain. And of course, the return trip takes another two to three days."

    Pydas sighed, the weight of the timeline pressing down on him. "That translates to a minimum of five days for a round trip, and that''s with clear weather without much rain, with an additional day needed to rest the horses before they''re fit for another journey. That means it''ll take around a week to transport just thirty sacks of grain along with some other necessities you might need, my lord, assuming everything goes smoothly. And that''s only until the first snowfall arrives."

    A collective grimace spread across the faces gathered in the hall. The harsh reality of the situation was sinking in.

    "Winter travel is a different beast altogether," Pydas continued. "Snow will slow the wagons considerably. I estimate a single round trip will take at least ten days after the snowfall." He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on Kivamus. "Realistically, my lord, I can manage two, and at most three trips, each taking a week before the snow arrives. After that, I''d be forced to brave the snow, extending the travel time to ten days per round trip."

 23. Grain Deal Part II

    Duvas chimed in with a worried expression. "That means it would take five trips to transport all the grain from Cinran," he calculated, his voice tight with concern. "Even if you manage three full trips before the snow, we''d only have ninety sacks after three weeks, with an additional thirty sacks delivered every ten days after that, until the snow makes travel impossible."He ran a hand through his hair, his voice laced with urgency. "That gives us a timeframe of six to seven weeks, at least, my lord, to transport all the grain we need from Cinran. With the unpredictable winter weather, there''s a chance that we might only get three to four weeks before the roads become impassable. It might stretch longer if we''re lucky, but we can''t count on that."

    A tense silence descended upon the room. The gravity of the situation was clear, the very survival of Tiranat through the harsh winter hinged on acquiring enough grain. Kivamus'' jaw clenched tight, his expression a mask of grim determination.

    "That simply won''t do!" he declared, his voice resolute. "We need all that grain, every last sack of it! The village wouldn''t survive the winter without it."

    Kivamus continued, "We have to find another way." He looked at others around him. "Is there anything else we can do? Perhaps we can buy grain from other places too?"

    Gorsazo chimed in, his voice grim. "As Duvas informed us earlier, my lord," he pointed out, "purchasing grain from Kirnos is not really an option. They simply wouldn''t have enough of a surplus to provide us with that amount of grain. And with Ulriga, the distance is simply too great, and time is of the essence for us. Cinran truly is our only hope for acquiring the grain in time."

    Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought, spoke up. "There''s a possibility, my lord," he proposed. "If we could manage to increase the number of wagons per trip, we might stand a chance to buy all the grain we need in time." He turned to Pydas. "From what you mentioned," he continued, "we need fifteen fully loaded wagons to transport all one hundred and forty-five sacks. That means we could either have your three wagons make five trips back and forth, or utilize more wagons for fewer trips."

    "True," Kivamus acknowledged, his gaze fixed on the merchant. "Based on your experience, Pydas," he began, "with the limited time remaining before the snow blocks the road, how many trips can you guarantee that you can make to and from Cinran? I know that if the snowfall starts late this year, you might be able to make more trips, but we can''t count on it. And I need to plan in a way that I can be certain that we''ll get all the grain we require, even if the snow falls too early and blocks the roads sooner than usual."

    Pydas took a minute to think it through before replying. "Even if the snow falls very early this winter, my Lord," he admitted, "I can guarantee two trips from here to Cinran and back. That would allow me to return to my home near Ulriga before the worst of winter sets in. There''s a possibility of squeezing in a third trip and an even smaller possibility of a fourth one if the snow is particularly late in arriving, but I wouldn''t suggest relying on those options."

    Kivamus, his brow furrowed in thought, tapped a finger against the armrest. "We need a guaranteed solution, Pydas" he added. "We need to be absolutely certain that we get all the grain we need." He looked at others'' faces for a moment. "So we must plan to transport all the grain we need in just two trips. That means somehow assembling a caravan of eight wagons."

    A concerned frown creased Pydas''s face. "But my lord," he interjected, his voice laced with helplessness, "I simply don''t have eight wagons at my disposal! I only have two of my own wagons and the one I rented in Cinran."

    Kivamus turned to Duvas. He addressed the majordomo, his voice carrying a hint of urgency, "Can we do something about this?"

    "My lord," Helga interjected, "why not use the wagon my family traveled in from the inn? We''ve already unloaded our belongings, and it sits empty in the shed right now. Please use that wagon and the horses we brought wherever you need, my lord."

    "That''s a good idea, Madam Helga." Kivamus dipped his head in acknowledgment. "That''s one more wagon at our disposal." He turned back to Duvas. "That brings us to four wagons. Are there any others within the manor grounds that we could use?"

    "We do have two wagons in working condition now, my Lord," Duvas reported after a moment''s consideration. "There''s also a third one, but it''s in dire need of repairs before it would be fit for carrying anything on a long journey. Generally, we use those two wagons to transport coal from the mines to the coal barns here. Until now I didn''t want to spend our limited funds to send it to Cinran for repair since we don''t have a wainwright in Tiranat." He added with a frown, "Of course, we did have an actual carriage and one more wagon earlier, but we lost those in the attack on the previous baron."

    Kivamus nodded. "Since coal mining has stopped for now," he declared, "we can use those two available wagons for grain transport. And let''s use this opportunity to send that damaged wagon for repair as well. Even if it''s not ready in time for the first return journey of Pydas, it might help us in the next one."

    He continued, "With Helga''s wagon added to the mix, that brings us to a total of six wagons for the first trip. But we still need two more to make up the eight-wagon caravan we need. Are there any other wagons readily available in the village itself?"

    Duvas shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, my Lord," he replied. "There might be a couple of small carts here and there, but those wouldn''t be suitable for such a lengthy journey. They''re more for short trips around the village and can barely hold two or three sacks of grain at most."

    Kivamus turned his attention back to Pydas. "With six wagons confirmed," he began, his voice firm yet laced with a question, "Pydas, do you think it might be possible to hire two more wagons from Cinran itself? Perhaps speak to some of your contacts there and see if they''re willing to rent them out for the journey."

    Pydas hesitated for a moment. "I will certainly try, my Lord," he finally responded. "However, renting additional wagons at such short notice would be difficult, especially considering the approaching winter. It wouldn''t be easy but I''ll ask around, my Lord, to see if some other merchant is willing to rent me his wagon for some time."

    A tense silence descended upon the room as everyone absorbed this new information. The fate of Tiranat''s survival hung in the balance, resting on the possibility of Pydas'' ability to negotiate for those two elusive wagons.

    Concern crossed Pydas'' face as he continued. "While I am truly grateful, my Lord," he expressed, his voice sincere, "that you''ve given me this opportunity, there''s a reason why traders tend to avoid Tiranat these days."

    He paused, his gaze moving towards the windows as if searching for unseen threats. "As you know, my Lord, these forests are a haven for bandits now. And a large caravan like the one we''re assembling," he continued with a grave voice, "would be a prime target for the outlaws and a tempting opportunity for plunder."

    The weight of his words settled heavily on the room. The idea of their precious grain falling into the hands of bandits was a chilling prospect.

    "And that''s not all, my Lord," Pydas added. "Even if I manage to find additional wagons in Cinran, securing enough guards or mercenaries to protect the caravan would be another challenge. Not only would it significantly increase the cost of the journey, but with the approaching winter and food shortages plaguing the lands everywhere, those hired guards themselves might be tempted to steal the grain if they think they can get away with it. One can never be sure of the loyalties of those who fight for money, after all."

    Kivamus sighed deeply. The challenges seemed to multiply at every turn. "It seems nothing comes easy in these troubled times," he muttered, the weight of his responsibility pressing down on him. But he wasn''t one to give up easily.

    He leaned forward, "What if I provided you with guards as well? Trained men who could not only drive the wagons but also ensure the caravan''s safety. Since their wages would fall on me, you wouldn''t have to worry about the additional expense of hiring more drivers or guards in Cinran."

    Pydas'' eyes widened in surprise. But before he could speak, Duvas interrupted, "But my Lord, we don''t¡­"

    Kivamus held up his hand to stop him immediately. "Later, Duvas". Looking back to Pydas, he asked, "What do you think about it?"

    "That would be a tremendous help, my Lord," Pydas admitted with relief. "The fewer people we need to hire in Cinran, the better. It would not only reduce costs but also lessen the risk of potential traitors within the group."

    "From what I heard earlier, my Lord," he continued, "Levalo ran away from the manor in the morning. Not that I would have wanted to travel with a known poisoner in the first place. So considering the wagon driver I already have, if you could provide six guards, that would give me enough men that we could drive all eight wagons, assuming I manage to secure the two additional ones in Cinran. And the presence of that many trained guards would send a clear message to any bandits who might be scouting near the road that this caravan is not to be trifled with."

    "I will make sure of it, Pydas," Kivamus assured him. "Consider it done."

    Duvas chimed in, seizing the opportunity. "However, since we''re providing the horses for our wagons, as well as three wagons themselves, along with enough drivers who will also act as guards," he pointed out, "wouldn''t that entitle us to a discount on the final grain price, Pydas? After all, you''ll be saving a considerable amount by not having to hire these yourselves."

    Pydas slowly nodded in agreement. "Your point is well made, Mr Duvas. With Tiranat shouldering such a significant portion of the risk, a discount on the grain is certainly merited."

    Kivamus boomed, "Excellent! Now, let''s finalize the price for the grain and then discuss what you''d be willing to offer for the coal you''ll be taking back with you."

    Pydas nodded. "Of course, my Lord. Taking into account the guards and wagons you are providing, how about¡­ four gold crowns, five silvers, and four coppers per sack?" S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus started to speak, but Duvas interjected with a shrewd glint in his eyes. "Hold on, my Lord," he interjected, a hint of concern lacing his voice, "the sheer volume of the order is so large, that it surely warrants a more substantial discount." He looked at Pydas. "After all, you will be able to secure a lower price per sack by buying in bulk from Cinran."

    Pydas let out a weary sigh. He cast a hesitant glance at Kivamus, silently pleading for understanding.

    However, sensing an opportunity to get an even better price, Kivamus readily acknowledged Duvas'' point. "Of course, of course." Looking at Pydas, he added, "We are clearly providing the services that you''d otherwise need to hire or rent from Cinran, thus saving you money. And considering the large amount we are ordering¡­" he trailed off.

    Pydas shook his head, a hint of resignation in his eyes. After taking a minute to think, he cleared his throat and continued. "Alright, then," he declared, his voice firm, "but consider this my absolute final offer. Since it''s a sizable order, and taking into account everything else, I''m willing to sell you each sack of grain for four gold crowns and five silver coins. It''s the very lowest I can go." He added, "Of course, this offer is separate from the agreement we made earlier for you to pay one hundred and one gold crowns for the twenty-two sacks of grain I have already brought here."

    He locked eyes with Kivamus, and added, "Honestly, my Lord, even if you choose to order from someone else, I don''t think you''ll find a better deal in these trying times."

    Duvas cast a questioning glance towards him, silently seeking Kivamus'' approval. The price, while higher than they''d hoped, was still within reason, especially considering the current conditions of a grain shortage everywhere. And if they continued to push Pydas for an even bigger discount, he was more likely to just leave Tiranat after selling his current stock. The harsh realities of the market meant traders were likely to prioritize larger, more profitable ventures, leaving Tiranat in the precarious position of struggling to find a supplier at all. Kivamus, after a moment of thinking, nodded slowly. The price, while hefty, was necessary to secure the village''s survival.

    Duvas wasted no time in documenting the agreed-upon price. He scribbled furiously on his parchment with a quill, his brow furrowed in concentration. "At a price of four gold crowns and five silver coins per sack," he muttered to himself as he calculated the total cost, "acquiring one hundred and forty-five sacks comes to¡­"

    He drew in a sharp breath as the final sum appeared on the parchment. "Six hundred and fifty-two gold crowns and five silver coins, my Lord!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with a hint of disbelief. He cast a worried look at Kivamus, leaving the unspoken concern hanging in the air.

    Kivamus understood the gravity of their situation. He had brought just twenty-three hundred gold crowns with him from Ulriga, which was everything that Gorsazo had managed to save for the original Kivamus till now. Including the two hundred gold crowns that were remaining in the treasury of the barony, they barely had around twenty-five hundred gold crowns in total. And for buying just four months of grain, they''d have to pay above seven hundred and fifty gold crowns, including the cost of the grain Pydas had already brought here.

    Once the coal mines were reopened, they''d have to pay wages to the miners, as well as the looming taxes that Count Cinran was surely going to ask for, if not immediately, then in the next spring for certain. And these were just the immediate expenses that he could think of¡­

    This purchase would leave a significant dent in their treasury, but the alternative, a village starving in the winter, was unthinkable. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the merchant. "Pydas," he began, his tone conciliatory, "given the substantial amount involved, I believe a slight rounding down wouldn''t be unreasonable, would it? Let''s settle on six hundred and fifty gold crowns."

    Pydas, after a moment of hesitation, offered a reluctant nod. "Very well, my Lord," he conceded. "We have a deal. One hundred and forty-five sacks of grain for six hundred and fifty gold crowns. However, with such a large order," he pointed out, "I would require around half of the payment in advance for each trip, to buy the grain swiftly from the suppliers in Cinran. Usually, I would buy it on credit with only a small advance payment that I''d provide myself, but winter is not far away now. So time is of the essence for me to buy and deliver the grain here before the road is blocked with snow, and the advance payment will allow me to secure the grain without any delays."

    Kivamus, understanding the logic behind the request, readily agreed. "Of course, Pydas," he confirmed with a nod. "We''ll arrange the down payment immediately. Now, with the grain situation settled," he continued, a hint of a smile gracing his lips, "let''s discuss what we can offer you in exchange."

    A sense of accomplishment, tinged with the lingering worry of the hefty price tag, filled the room. The first hurdle had been cleared. Now, they needed to secure a good deal for the coal Pydas would be transporting back to Cinran.

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 24. Two Meals A Day

    Pydas nodded in agreement. "Very well, my Lord. Including the three wagons you''ve provided, I can haul a total of six wagonloads of coal back to Cinran on this trip. Of course, while we''ll be taking the damaged wagon with us as well for repairs, it won''t be able to carry anything for now.""Indeed." Kivamus leaned forward, his voice tinged with curiosity. "And how much are you willing to offer for each wagonload of coal?"

    Pydas sighed, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "Under normal circumstances, my Lord," he began, his voice laced with a hint of regret, "I would offer twelve gold crowns per wagonload. However, with the rising food costs plaguing the land, the common people, as well as the blacksmiths and the like, are tightening their belts and have less money to spare for coal. That means a decrease in demand, I''m afraid."

    He grimaced slightly. "Considering the current market conditions, the best I can offer you this time is eleven gold crowns per wagonload."

    The offered price fell far short of Kivamus'' expectations. It barely made a dent in their financial woes. "Eleven crowns, hmm¡­?" he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "That''s a significant drop. Well, at least it''s something¡­"

    He forced a smile, masking his disappointment. While the coal sales wouldn''t significantly boost their coffers, Pydas would be returning in a week, offering them another chance to sell more coal. He did a quick mental calculation and said, "So, that means you''ll be able to transport sixty-six gold crowns worth of coal in your six wagons."

    Duvas chimed in with a sly smile. "But Pydas," he pointed out, his tone laced with a hint of challenge, "that price applies when you have to shoulder the cost of hiring guards and renting the wagons yourself. This time around, we''re providing both of those services, which translates to more savings for you."

    "Wouldn''t you agree," he continued, his gaze unwavering, "that this reduction in your costs justifies an increase in the price per wagonload?"

    A considering look crossed Pydas''s face. "You have a point," he conceded reluctantly. "At most," he finally proposed, "I can increase my offer by three silvers per wagonload of coal."

    Duvas nodded in satisfaction. "That''s certainly a step in the right direction," he acknowledged. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "But consider this, Pydas," he continued. "Usually, you''d have several traders competing for the available coal. With fewer buyers this time, you''ll be able to purchase a much larger quantity than usual, thus raising your profit."

    "Taking all that into account," Duvas concluded, "how about we settle on eleven gold crowns and five silver coins per wagonload of coal? I believe that strikes a fair balance for both parties."

    Pydas let out a chuckle. "You drive a hard bargain, Duvas," he admitted with a shake of his head. "Very well, it seems we have a deal. I''ll pay eleven gold crowns and five silver coins for each wagonload of coal I take with me."

    Duvas, a satisfied smile gracing his lips, looked towards Kivamus, who gave a small nod. "Excellent!" Duvas declared. He reached for his ever-present quill and parchment. "With that settled, let''s factor in the cost of the grain you brought with you. Since we''ll be filling your wagons with coal after unloading the grain, we''ll owe you the difference."

    He scribbled some figures on the parchment. "Subtracting the sixty-nine gold crowns you''ll be paying for the coal, from the one hundred and one gold crowns we owe you for the grain," he muttered to himself as he calculated, "leaves us with a remainder of¡­ thirty-two gold crowns to pay you, in addition to filling the six wagons with coal after we unload the grain."

    Duvas then shifted his focus to the larger grain deal. "Now, as per our agreement," he explained, "you''ll be bringing back between sixty and eighty sacks of grain on your first return trip, depending on whether you manage to secure those extra wagons in Cinran." He paused for a moment to scribble on the parchment. "The total cost for that grain, at a rate of four gold crowns and five silver coins per sack of grain, will range between¡­ two hundred seventy gold crowns and three hundred sixty gold crowns."

    "Since you asked for half of that in advance," he concluded, "we''re prepared to offer you an advance payment of one hundred and fifty gold crowns. How does that sound?"

    Pydas drummed his fingers on the table, his brow furrowed in thought. "One hundred and fifty gold crowns, is it?" he muttered to himself. After a minute of consideration, he finally spoke. "That will do," he conceded.

    Kivamus, relieved to have reached an agreement, offered a reassuring nod. "Excellent!" he declared. "Duvas will ensure you receive the full amount before you depart from the manor with the wagons."

    He leaned forward, his voice laced with a hint of curiosity. "Now, Pydas, before you head off," he inquired, "tell me, what other goods did you bring with you on this trip?"

    Pydas shrugged. "Just the usual goods, my Lord," he replied. "A good portion of it is salt, a necessity for any household. And the rest of it are tools - picks and shovels for mining, mostly. I also have a selection of smaller tools - nails, hammers, that sort of thing."

    A shadow of concern crossed his face. "However," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "I heard rumors that the recent heavy rains had caused flooding in the coal mines. With that in mind, I wasn''t sure if you''d still be interested in purchasing it."

    "Before we discuss anything else," Kivamus interjected, "tell me, when do you plan to set off for Cinran?"

    Pydas scratched his chin thoughtfully. "There are still a few tasks I need to attend to before I can leave, my lord," he explained. "Unloading the grain sacks here will take time, and I also have deliveries to make to merchants who purchased from me yesterday. Since my wagons were kept here overnight, I couldn''t make those deliveries yesterday as planned."

    He chuckled ruefully. "Then, of course, I have to load the wagons with coal. By the time I finish all that, it will likely be well into the afternoon. That would make it too late to depart today. So I plan to make an early start tomorrow morning."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "Since you''ll be here until tomorrow," he continued, "you should meet with me once this evening before you head back to the alehouse for the night. We can discuss those tools you mentioned, and if there''s anything else that I want you to bring back from Cinran, we can talk about that as well."

    Pydas readily agreed. "I''ll be sure to meet with you this evening, my lord."

    A wave of satisfaction washed over everyone. The successful negotiation with Pydas, coupled with the prospect of securing enough grain for the winter, brought a much-needed sense of optimism. With a resolute nod, Kivamus rose from his chair and extended a hand towards Pydas. Pydas returned the handshake with a respectful bow. It was a gesture of not only gratitude but also a symbol of a tentative partnership forged in a time of hardship. Together, they exited the manor hall, ready to oversee the next steps, while Helga stayed behind to check on Clarisa and to get started on the afternoon meal.

    Outside, a flurry of activity began as Duvas started barking out orders to a group of servants. They moved with practiced ease and started to unload the precious sacks of grain from the wagons, which were kept under a wooden shed near the stables on the left side. Pydas, with a final bow directed towards Kivamus, made his way towards the shed to oversee the unloading process. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Soon, the once-quiet courtyard buzzed with activity as the sacks were carefully transferred from the wagons, loaded onto smaller carts, and then hauled to the grain barn located near the servants'' hall, on the right side of the manor. The servants moved with a purposeful movement, a testament to the collective effort required to secure Tiranat''s survival through the coming harsh winter.

    Kivamus watched the scene unfold with a feeling of quiet satisfaction. As the servants and maid continued their tasks, it was easy to see the relief they were feeling, as the worry lines on their faces eased slowly. The sight of the slowly filling grain barns foretold a future where hunger wouldn''t be a constant threat to their survival. The harsh winter may be approaching, but with careful planning and resourcefulness, they might just emerge from it stronger than before.

    Gorsazo stood beside Kivamus, a hint of a smile playing on his lips as he observed the activity. Duvas, meanwhile, his voice booming with authority, directed the servants with practiced efficiency. Not far from them, on the left side of the manor grounds, one of the coal barns creaked open on its rusty hinges on Duvas'' order. Here, another group of servants prepared to load the coal into the three empty wagons they already had. Seeing the sight of the fully stocked coal barns, brought a sense of relief to Kivamus. Though not their primary concern at the moment, it would still be essential for keeping warm during the cold winter months.

    Duvas, catching his breath after issuing a final instruction, approached Kivamus. "My Lord," he began, "I have told them to start loading coal in the two wagons that were used for transporting coal earlier, as well as in the wagon that Madam Helga brought with her."

    "Good work, Duvas," Kivamus commended, his voice carrying a hint of appreciation. "The unloading seems to be progressing smoothly. Try to ensure that the servants take breaks when needed. We don''t want anyone falling ill due to exhaustion just as we''ve secured these supplies."

    Duvas replied, "Of course, my Lord. I''ve already instructed them to rotate tasks and take short breaks every hour. The process will take some time, though. Loading coal is a laborious task, and I wouldn''t expect them to finish until the afternoon."

    A brief silence descended upon them for a while, as they watched the servants working with renewed vigor, their spirits lifted by the sight of the grain???? that had been so scarce in recent months.

    "I must say, my Lord," Duvas remarked, "just a single day ago, I couldn''t have imagined that we''d have this much grain going to be stored in our barns, not to mention the grain that is still coming. Truthfully, after being unsuccessful in buying the grain even after trying many times, we had all resigned to the fact that we would have to live with a single meal a day for the winter, if that. However, even though it hasn''t even been a day since you arrived here, I can already sense that a lot of changes are coming to Tiranat. You are very different from the previous baron, my Lord, and from most of the nobles that I have known in my life."

    He paused for a moment before continuing, "I am not sure if it will be easy to accept all of those changes, like what happened with freeing the slaves, my Lord, but you have my word, that I will be with you every step of the way."

    "Thank you, Duvas. However, I have to add," Kivamus remarked, "your negotiation skills were impressive today. I am not sure if we''d have been able to get those prices without you here."

    Gorsazo added, "Indeed, my Lord. I sensed that Pydas was trying to take advantage of the situation, being the only trader available to us. But Duvas'' sharp negotiating skills made sure that we got the best possible deal under the circumstances. We simply can''t afford to be wasteful with our limited money."

    Duvas nodded with a hint of satisfaction. "Thank you, my Lord," he replied with a grateful smile. "I''ve been handling negotiations for many years now, and I''ve learned to recognize a shrewd businessman when I see one. Pydas was certainly trying to raise his profits, but I couldn''t let him exploit our situation."

    The doors of the servants'' hall creaked open and Madam Nerida, the head maid, emerged from there. Stepping out into the crisp morning air, her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the sight of the numerous grain sacks being carted to the grain barn. Her face, usually etched with worry lines, now sported a radiant smile. She hurried towards Kivamus, her steps lighter than they had been in a long time.

    "My Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice brimming with joy, "Did we truly manage to acquire that much grain?"

    Kivamus offered her a reassuring smile. "Indeed, Madam Nerida," he confirmed. "And this is just the first shipment. More will be arriving in the coming weeks. You can start preparing two meals a day for everyone in the manor, from today itself."

    A wave of relief washed over Madam Nerida''s features. The news of additional grain deliveries brought a sense of security she hadn''t felt in a long time. "This is wonderful news, my Lord," she exclaimed, her voice filled with gratitude. She paused for a moment, uncertainty clouding her eyes. "But are you certain we will have enough grain for the entire winter, my Lord?"

    "While I can''t guarantee three meals a day for the entire winter just yet," Kivamus added, "two meals are well within our means for now. If the next grain shipment arrives in a week as planned, then we can go to three meals a day."

    Madam Nerida''s smile faltered slightly, but her gratitude shone through. "Even two meals a day will make a world of difference, my Lord," she assured him. "After surviving on a meager one meal a day, everyone''s morale has been at an all-time low. A second meal will undoubtedly lift their spirits and provide them with the energy they need to carry on."

    With a deep curtsy, she expressed her heartfelt appreciation. "Thank you, Lord Kivamus. On behalf of all the residents in the manor, I express our deepest gratitude."

    Kivamus, humbled by her words, shook his head in dismissal. "There''s no need for thanks, Madam Nerida," he insisted. "It is my duty to ensure the well-being of the manor''s inhabitants. But let''s not get ahead of ourselves. While this grain allows us to survive the winter, we still need to find a long-term solution to our food shortage problem."

    Madam Nerida nodded in agreement, a thoughtful frown replacing her earlier smile. "Indeed, my Lord," she conceded. Pointing to a spot near the eastern walls of the manor, behind the manor house, she added, "While I have managed to grow a small vegetable patch here within the manor walls with the help of some maids, it only provides a limited variety to our meals. The quantity is nowhere near enough to sustain everyone."

    She cast a wistful glance towards the dense forests that stretched beyond the manor walls. "If only we could cultivate crops here in Tiranat itself¡­" she mused, a hint of longing in her voice, "then we wouldn''t be at the mercy of traders from Cinran for our survival."

 25. Guard Captain

    "But for now," Madam Nerida continued, her voice regaining its usual strength, "I will return to my duties and ensure the kitchens are well-prepared for the new meal schedule."With a quick curtsy, Madam Nerida excused herself and returned to her duties within the manor.

    Kivamus, left alone with his thoughts, pondered Madam Nerida''s words. While the immediate crisis was averted, the long-term food security of Tiranat remained a looming challenge. And the idea of self-sufficiency, of Tiranat growing its own food, was an enticing one. But with the surrounding lands covered with deep forests and overrun by bandits and wild beasts, the dream seemed far-fetched. Yet, the conversation had put a seed of an idea in his mind.

    He couldn''t help but steal a glance at the dense forests surrounding the village. The potential for growing their own crops there lingered in his mind, a tempting solution to their long-term problem of buying and transporting food on the bandit-infested roads. However, the challenges were numerous. Clearing land, acquiring seeds, and establishing proper irrigation were just a small part of the many hurdles they would need to overcome.

    Yet he knew they couldn''t afford to remain dependent on traders forever. As he gazed at the towering forest looming around the manor, he thought that perhaps, just perhaps, they could find a way to make it a reality.

    Kivamus'' gaze darted towards Hudan, who was engrossed in an animated conversation with the guards near the manor gate. A small cluster of off-duty guards, and even some servants, had gathered around him, their postures suggesting their fascination with his words.

    He summoned a nearby servant with a wave of his hand. "Bring Hudan here," he instructed.

    The servant acknowledged the order with a respectful bow and hurried towards the gate, his footsteps light and swift. Kivamus then turned to Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought.

    "Duvas," he inquired, "how much coal do we currently have in storage?"

    Duvas took a moment to think. "While I can''t give a precise figure right now," he admitted, "I can give you an estimate. As you know, my Lord, we have barely been able to sell any coal in the past few months. Although, a few of the villagers do buy a small amount from the merchants, now that winter is coming, along with the blacksmith Cedoron. And to supply them, the merchants buy the coal from us."

    "However," he added, "without any traders coming from Cinran to buy it in bulk, those small purchases barely make a dent in our stockpiles. As a result, both of our dedicated coal barns are nearly full at the moment. To give you a rough estimate, my Lord, I''d say we currently have¡­ somewhere between sixty and seventy wagonloads of coal stockpiled."

    "That''s a significant amount," Kivamus remarked. "Even with Pydas making multiple trips back and forth to Cinran, it''s highly unlikely we''ll be able to sell much of that coal before the snow blocks the roads. And with a gap of a few months before the snow melts and traders start coming again, it is not sensible to start coal mining again any time soon. I don''t see a need to buy the tools Pydas had brought with him either. Unless¡­"

    That stray comment from Madam Nerida about farming had planted a seed in Kivamus''s mind, a seed that began to sprout with an intriguing possibility.

    "Unless what, my Lord?" Gorsazo asked, mirroring the question in Duvas'' mind.

    "Duvas," he began, his gaze fixed intently on his advisor, "a question has been nagging at me. Why hasn''t farming ever been attempted here in Tiranat?"

    Duvas let out a weary sigh. "There are many reasons, my Lord," he explained.

    "Firstly," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the bustling scene of various servants unloading the grain sacks, "we simply never had the manpower for it. Most of our able-bodied villagers work in the coal mines, my Lord. There simply aren''t enough people in this village to spare for tending to farms. However," he added, "now that the coal mines are flooded and have been closed for the foreseeable future, we do have a village full of unemployed people right now."

    "Indeed," Kivamus commented. "Carry on."

    Duvas gestured towards the towering trees that bordered the manor grounds. "Secondly, as you can see, my Lord, Tiranat is enveloped by this dense, unforgiving forest. Clearing enough land for farming would be a monumental task that would require a significant number of workers that we haven''t been able to spare in the past."

    "Furthermore," Duvas continued, "Tiranat is a relatively young village. And the previous baron, the first to be awarded these lands after coal was discovered here, had little interest in its development." A flicker of disdain crossed his features as he spoke of the deceased baron. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead," he continued, "but the previous Baron, who hailed from Cinran, had his only focus on profiting from the coal mines. He viewed these lands just as a source of personal wealth, which he then squandered on a lavish lifestyle back in Cinran."

    Duvas shook his head in disapproval. "As a result, no effort was made to clear the surrounding forests. Speaking of the forests, they also pose a significant threat to any crops we might try to cultivate, not to mention, to the villagers themselves. Wild boars, wolves, bears, and even a few much more dangerous predators like adzees roam freely within these woods," he explained. "The promise of easy pickings in cultivated fields would undoubtedly draw many herbivores here, potentially destroying crops before they could even mature, while the carnivores would also come to hunt those animals themselves."

    "It''s also important to remember, my Lord," Duvas pointed out, his voice regaining its neutral tone, "that all these lands, including the surrounding forest, belong to the Baron of Tiranat - which is you now. The villagers themselves don''t even own the land their shacks and houses are built on. That means even hunting in these forests isn''t lawful without getting the baron''s permission."

    He paused for a moment, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "And even if the villagers were inclined to take up farming themselves, they would require the baron''s explicit permission to cultivate the land. And considering the previous Baron''s nature," he concluded with a wry smile, "I can assure you that getting such permission wouldn''t have been an easy thing, to say the least. Some villagers did try to do that, but the previous baron had refused to even make time to see them."

    Duvas continued, "However, a few of the more daring villagers did start small vegetable patches and such behind their houses, even without getting any permission." He looked at Kivamus carefully. "I could have told the previous baron about them, and forgive me for saying this, my Lord, but¡­ I did not do that. Most of the villagers in Tiranat barely have enough to eat anyway, and I saw no need to take even that from them. The same goes for the few brave souls who ventured into the forests to hunt, not that it would have been an easy thing to stop them without a wall surrounding the village."

    Kivamus just shook his head, thinking about the greed of the previous baron. "There is nothing to forgive, Duvas. You did the right thing."

    Hudan, his brow furrowed in concentration, marched purposefully towards Kivamus, Duvas, and Gorsazo upon hearing his name called by the servant.

    "You wished to speak with me, my Lord?" he inquired.

    Kivamus acknowledged the burly man with a nod. "Indeed, Hudan," he replied. "I''d like your honest assessment. How defensible would you say this village is? Could we defend Tiranat against a potential bandit raid?"

    Hudan, his gaze sweeping across the palisade walls that encircled the manor, pursed his lips in thought. After taking a minute to think, he spoke. "The palisade itself appears to be in good condition, my Lord," he admitted. "The wooden stakes are strong, and the construction seems solid," he conceded. "It would provide a formidable barrier against a small raiding party."

    "However," he continued, "our true weakness lies in the limited number of guards we have. While we might be able to hold the manor itself against a band of raiders, we simply don''t have enough well-trained guards to defend the entire village, let alone chase them back."

    He pointed towards the dense forest that surrounded the village. "The encroaching forest growth only amplifies the problem, my Lord," he explained. "Bandits could easily use the trees as cover, allowing them to lie in wait mere yards from the village, unseen and unheard, especially under the cloak of darkness. Such an ambush," he warned, his voice grim, "would leave us with little to no time to prepare a proper defense."

    Hudan paused for a moment, his gaze moving toward the guards scattered around the manor grounds. "Also," he continued, "we lack a designated Guard Captain, my Lord, someone with the experience and leadership qualities to effectively command the guards during a crisis."

    His voice firmed with conviction as he concluded. "My Lord, I strongly recommend promoting one of the more experienced guards to the position of Guard Captain as soon as possible. It''s a critical role that shouldn''t be left vacant any longer."

    Kivamus and Gorsazo exchanged a thoughtful glance, both recognizing the merit of Hudan''s observations. The immediate crisis of food shortage had been temporarily averted, but the ever-present threat of bandit attacks loomed large.

    "Yes, of course," he admitted. "The appointment of a Guard Captain was already on my mind."

    He observed Hudan thoughtfully, his thoughts lingering on the way the other guards had gravitated toward him earlier. "It seems the other guards hold you in high regard, Hudan," he remarked. "They were quite engrossed in your tales, weren''t they?"

    A hint of pride flickered in Hudan''s eyes as he offered a curt nod. "Indeed, my Lord," he confirmed. "They were curious about the rigorous training I had endured to hopefully become a knight. Unfortunately, none of the men stationed here have had the privilege of such formal training." He shook his head slowly. "Of course, it''s a different fact that I couldn''t eventually succeed in becoming a knight."

    Kivamus studied Hudan for a moment, a decision solidifying in his mind. "Hudan," he declared, "based on your experience and the respect you command amongst the guards, I am appointing you as the new Guard Captain."

    Hudan''s eyes widened in surprise. "Me, my Lord?" he stammered, his voice laced with disbelief. "But... but why? I haven''t led that many men before... Surely someone else here would be more qualified for this position?"

    A gentle smile played on Kivamus''s lips. "You provided the answer yourself, Hudan," he pointed out. "None of the other guards have gone through the training that you have."

    "The guards here already hold you in high esteem," Kivamus continued. "And as you know, we also need to significantly increase the number of guards we have. Only you possess the necessary skills and knowledge to properly train them." sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. "But most importantly," he continued, his voice dropping to a low, sincere tone, "you are amongst the very few people here whom I can trust with my life, Hudan. I believe you are the best person to lead our village guard."

    Hudan remained silent for a moment, his brow furrowed in contemplation. Eventually, he nodded slowly.

    "I understand your reasoning, my Lord," he conceded. "I will gladly accept this duty."

    He bowed deeply before Kivamus. "I promise to dedicate myself fully to protecting you, the village, and its inhabitants. You will not be disappointed, my Lord," he added, his voice firm with newfound resolve.

    A warm smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "I have no doubt about that, Hudan," he replied, gesturing for him to rise.

    Turning towards Duvas, he instructed, "Make an official announcement later. Inform everyone in the manor that Hudan has been appointed as the new Guard Captain."

    A frown creased Kivamus''s brow as he turned to Duvas. "How many guards do we have here at the manor, Duvas?" he inquired, a hint of concern lacing his voice.

    Duvas stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment before responding. "Currently, my Lord," he began, "we have eleven trained guards in the manor." He paused for a beat, then added, "However, if we include Hudan and Feroy, the total number increases to thirteen."

    Kivamus muttered, "Eleven trained guards, you say. Thirteen including Hudan and Feroy. That''s still a very small number to defend the entire village..."

    "The situation wasn''t always this dire, my Lord," Duvas responded. "Before the previous baron''s ill-fated trip, we did have more guards. However, as you are well aware, none of them survived that journey." A brief silence descended upon them after hearing that.

    Kivamus then shifted his focus to the present situation. "Currently, how are the remaining guards distributed?" he inquired.

    "Before that tragedy," Duvas replied, his voice tinged with a touch of nostalgia, "we maintained a more robust guard presence. We had four guards stationed at the main gate and three guarding the eastern entrance, where the coal wagons typically arrive."

    A shadow of worry creased his face. "However," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "the aftermath of that incident forced us to make difficult decisions. With fewer guards at our disposal, we could only afford to have two guards at each gate, and even then, we had to extend their watch hours, to compensate for the reduced manpower."

    "Also," he added, "when the coal mines were operational, we needed to send an additional three or four guards there to ensure security. Although, with the mines currently closed, we don''t have to send guards there."

    Kivamus took a minute to absorb this information. He then turned his gaze towards Hudan, his mind already formulating a plan.

    "Hudan," he started, "your first task as Guard Captain is to recruit new guards. We need more men who can be trained to fight effectively."

    "Understood, my Lord," Hudan replied, his voice resolute. "I will make an announcement in the village after our talk."

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "With so many people currently unemployed in the village, I believe you''ll have enough applicants to choose from. It is up to you to decide which of them possess the necessary skills and temperament to become a guard."

    Hudan, however, interjected with a thoughtful frown. "While increasing the number of guards is essential, my Lord," he began cautiously, "allowing a large number of complete strangers to stay within the manor walls during these uncertain times might not be a good idea."

 26. Planning

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "Normally, Hudan, your cautious approach would be absolutely right," he conceded.A wry smile touched his lips. "However," he continued, his voice laced with a hint of pride, "I have been living here since this village was founded. Being a small village, there''s hardly a face I don''t recognize. Most of these young miners, the ones most likely to answer the call to become guards, I''ve seen them growing up since they were toddlers taking their first steps."

    Duvas''s gaze swept across the courtyard, looking at the servants and maids going about their duties. "Many of these people here have families in the village too," he pointed out. "They know the villagers well, and they wouldn''t hesitate to vouch for anyone with a good reputation."

    "That being said," he acknowledged, a hint of caution creeping into his voice, "before finalizing your selection, Hudan, it wouldn''t hurt to run the names by me first. That way, I can verify if a potential recruit is someone I know and can vouch for, or perhaps someone who only arrived in Tiranat in recent years."

    Hudan acknowledged Duvas''s point with a respectful nod. "I understand your reasoning, Mr. Duvas," he replied with a respectful nod. "I will definitely consult with you before finalizing any selections."

    Turning his attention towards Kivamus, Hudan inquired, "My Lord, how many potential recruits should I announce we''re looking for?"

    "Before I answer that," Kivamus began, "Duvas, can you tell me how much we currently pay our guards?"

    "Certainly, my Lord," Duvas responded. "For a new guard, the daily wage comes to eleven coppers," he explained. "That''s much better than the eight to ten coppers a day they typically earn as a miner. As for experienced guards," he continued, "their daily wages can range up to fourteen coppers, while we pay the Guard Captain eighteen coppers a day."

    He paused for a moment, then added, "Unlike the miners who receive their wages daily, all the permanent manor staff, including the guards, are paid on a monthly basis. However, we do deduct the cost of the food and lodging we provide from their wages. Taking that into account," he calculated, "the net expense for a new guard comes to seven coppers per day, or a total of twenty-one silver coins every month."

    "Now," he added, a hint of concern creeping into his voice, "this is assuming we offer them food and living quarters within the manor. If the new guards choose to buy their own food and stay with their families in the village when they''re off duty, then we''d have to pay the full eleven copper daily wage."

    Kivamus winced at the realization. "That can get expensive quickly," he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "For a dozen new guards, the monthly cost in cash alone would be over twenty-five gold crowns. And that figure nearly doubles if we have to pay their full wages without deducting for food and lodging."

    A sigh escaped his lips as the weight of financial constraints settled upon him. The task of bolstering the village''s defenses seemed to be getting more complicated by the minute.

    "My Lord," Gorsazo said, "we''ve already made a contract to buy enough grain to sustain the entire village through the winter. So¡­"

    "Indeed." Kivamus interrupted, a plan formulating in his mind. "We can offer grain as a form of payment instead of relying solely on coin."

    "Hudan," he instructed, "when announcing the guard recruitment, inform them that we will compensate the new guards with grain instead of cash. Madam Nerida will be the best suited to determine a fair quantity - enough to sustain a family. When distributing the grain, she can help us with that. Of course, if they choose to live within the manor, they would get food and lodging with no wages for now, like the other guards, instead of grain."

    "Announce that we will be recruiting a dozen guards for now, and possibly more later on." Kivamus added, "Make it clear that each guard we employ will receive a weekly allotment of grain sufficient to feed their family in case they choose to stay outside the manor with their families when they are off-duty. This system will remain in place throughout the winter. We will reconsider it after that."

    Duvas interjected, "My lord, usually, when we provide them with a regular wage, they would use the coin remaining after buying grains to purchase coal, for cooking and heating. However, they can''t do that now if we just provide them grain as payment and no coin. It would also be difficult for them to find the time to look for firewood in the forests when training and guard duty will take most of their time."

    He continued, "For those who live in the manor, it won''t be a problem, since their food will be cooked along with others'' meals by the maids, and there will be enough braziers for heating in the manor. So, I''d suggest providing a small quantity of coal as well, along with the grain rations, for those who''ll live outside the manor."

    Kivamus nodded, "That''s a good idea." He looked at Hudan. "Add that to the announcement as well."

    He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard, and the sacks of grain being transferred to the barns. "Thankfully," he added with a hint of relief, "we will have all the grain we need within two weeks if everything goes well. But even until then, we should have enough reserves now to compensate the new guards with grain rations. And of course, we aren''t going to have a shortage of coal this winter, so we can provide them with sufficient grain and coal for now."

    Hudan looked curious after hearing about the availability of grain but didn''t say anything. "I''ll ensure the message reaches every villager, my Lord," he pledged with a curt nod. "I will personally make this announcement to the villagers after our discussion."

    Kivamus, however, had a different plan in mind. "Hold on, Hudan. Just give the information to some off-duty guards, and they can spread the news throughout the village." He said in a low voice, "There''s something else I need to discuss with you."

    He cast a wary glance around them, trying to ensure that no one was within earshot. After seeing that a few servants were working nearby, he signaled for others to follow him toward a secluded spot near the manor walls. Hudan fell into step beside Kivamus as they moved towards the location, while Gorsazo and Duvas followed closely behind.

    Once they reached close to the walls, Kivamus looked around to confirm no one else was nearby and lowered his voice even further.

    "Hudan," he began, his tone serious, "there''s something you might not yet be aware of. I just struck a deal with Pydas to purchase additional grain from Cinran and have it delivered here."

    Hudan''s brow furrowed on hearing that. "Additional grain, my Lord?" he echoed, looking at all the grain being unloaded from Pydas'' wagons.

    Kivamus nodded curtly. "While buying the stock of grain Pydas had brought with him was a good start," he explained, "it simply won''t be enough to sustain the entire village through the winter. We need significantly more - around a hundred and fifty sacks, not including what we''ve already bought."

    Hudan inhaled sharply on hearing the amount of grain they still needed.

    "Don''t worry, providing the money for this is my concern." Kivamus paused for a moment, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "However, to achieve this, we need to organize two more trips to Cinran and back, each taking at least a week to complete. We''ll also be providing three wagons of our own on top of the three Pydas brought, to transport that big an amount."

    Hudan looked towards the busy courtyard. "I did notice the servants loading coal into our own wagons as well."

    "Indeed." Kivamus continued, "Ideally, we needed there to be eight wagons in the caravan, but we''ll only have six of them, even including the three of ours. Although Pydas has said that he will try to rent more wagons from Cinran, I''m still sending another damaged wagon that we have here, to Cinran for repairs. It won''t be useful on the first trip, but hopefully, it will be repaired in time for us to use it on the second return trip from there, in case Pydas isn''t able to get more wagons."

    "It will make the caravan quite large, and thus, a ripe target for any bandits on the road. But this is the only way that we can stock up all the grain we need, in case the snow falls early this year." He continued, his expression grim. "So we must take every precaution to ensure the caravan''s safety. We just can''t let the bandits get their hands on it, or the village will starve."

    Hudan nodded. "Indeed, my Lord. But currently, Pydas only has a single guard with him, after everything that happened with Levalo."

    "I pledged Pydas to provide six guards." Kivamus thought for a moment and added, "However, I plan to send two guards for each loaded wagon we are sending. We just can''t afford to take any chances with the caravan. This would bring the total number of guards needed for the first trip to eleven, not including the one already with Pydas. Or, even more, if we can afford it."

    "My Lord," Duvas reminded Kivamus, "I tried to tell this to you earlier when we were negotiating with Pydas, but you stopped me from speaking at that time. We only have thirteen guards in total as I mentioned, even including Hudan and Feroy. Dispatching eleven guards for the caravan would leave the manor virtually defenseless. It''s just not feasible, my Lord!"

    "I realize that," Kivamus conceded. "But Pydas doesn''t know about it, nor does he need to know that we are so short on trained guards. This is not the kind of information that we should let any outsiders find out about. That''s why I cut you off at that time."

    "Frankly," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "if I hadn''t promised him to provide enough guards, he probably wouldn''t even have agreed to take this trip in these dangerous times, especially considering the size and value of the caravan. Apart from that, we''re also entrusting him with a significant amount of gold. So we need enough guards not just to protect the caravan from bandits, but also to keep Pydas from getting any thoughts of just taking off with our gold."

    "That''s true enough, my Lord," Gorsazo commented. "But the problem remains that we simply don''t have enough trained guards to protect the manor, and escort the caravan at the same time."

    Kivamus, after confirming no one else was nearby, leaned forward and interjected with a smirk, "I didn''t say that we needed eleven trained guards, did I?"

    "What do you mean, my Lord?" Duvas asked.

    "Let me explain," Kivamus continued, seeing the confusion etched on their faces. "Even if we sent half of our trained guards with the caravan, and we can barely afford to send even that many of them away from the manor, the reality is that a bandit attack could still result in many casualties. We already know from the bandits who attacked us at Helga''s inn, that their group could have mobilized up to a dozen men with prior notice."

    Hudan added, "It was indeed a big group, my Lord, but we did kill five of them, including their leader. And I''d say they were mercenaries more than bandits since many of them were staying in Cinran itself, waiting for contracts. So it''s unlikely that they would be trying to ambush caravans on that deserted road. That''s not to say there couldn''t be other groups of bandits roaming around."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. "However, a bandit group cannot know if or when a caravan will pass on that rarely traveled road, so it is unlikely they would have a dozen men lying in wait on just a single route. But even if they have just seven or eight men waiting to ambush the caravan, and we send half a dozen trained guards, we might not be able to protect the grain even after losing men to a fight."

    A shadow of concern flickered across his features. "We simply cannot afford to lose any more of our already limited pool of skilled fighters. They''re the backbone of our village''s defense right now. Even though I have told Hudan to recruit more guards, it will take time until they are ready to defend the village."

    He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across their faces. "But the thing is, whether the guards are seasoned veterans or raw recruits," he pointed out, "the difference in their training only becomes a factor if an actual fight erupts. So our primary objective in defending the caravan has to be deterrence. That''s why I proposed sending at least a dozen guards, including Pydas'' driver. And we''ll send Feroy to lead them as well. That number," he explained, "will serve as a powerful deterrent, forcing any bandit group to think twice before attempting an attack." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What I hope with this," he added, "is to prevent the situation from escalating to an actual battle at all, in case bandits are indeed scouting that road. From what I''ve heard," he continued, "bandits typically target easy prey - undefended caravans or lone travelers where they can plunder without risking their own necks. Engaging in battle with more than a dozen guards wouldn''t be a risk most bandit groups are willing to take, at least not without a significant advantage in numbers," he added with a hint of confidence. "They would much rather seek an easier target with a higher chance of success."

    Hudan offered a nod of agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he concurred. "Realistically, any bandit group targeting a caravan with a dozen guards would likely require a force of around eighteen to twenty to have a good chance of winning without taking too many casualties themselves. And a huge group of twenty bandits waiting in ambush along such a deserted road, where potential targets might appear only once every few weeks, seems highly unlikely."

    "If they did possess such a sizable force," Hudan added, "they would likely have focused their efforts on wealthier trade routes or targeted bigger towns within the kingdom. They wouldn''t waste their time lurking in this poor and sparsely populated region."

    "All of that makes sense, but how do we even get a dozen guards, my Lord?" Duvas asked.

 27. Subterfuge

    "Here''s what I propose," Kivamus began, his voice low. "As I said earlier, we''ll need to send a contingent of a dozen guards with the caravan, but not all of them need to be seasoned veterans."He held up a hand to forestall any objections. "Hear me out," he said. "We''ll select half of those, that''s five men not including the guard Pydas already has, from our trained guards, to escort the caravan and provide genuine protection. These will be the veteran defenders we already have here at the manor."

    "Now, for the remaining guards," he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, "we primarily need bodies - men who can convincingly appear to be trained guards from a distance."

    "Think about it," he continued, upon seeing the uncertain faces of others, "bandit scouts would typically observe their targets from afar, usually from the fringes of the forest bordering the road. To maintain their element of surprise, they''re unlikely to get very close to the caravan unless they are going to attack immediately." He added, "And if all the guards, both seasoned and green, are outfitted with similar leather vests and armed with swords, shields, and bows, they''ll present a formidable appearance from a distance."

    "What I''m hoping with this," he added with a hint of optimism in his voice, "is that the bandits'' scouts, upon seeing a dozen guards protecting the caravan, will deem it too well-protected to attack it and will move on. It''s all about deterrence, not necessarily about having the most skilled fighters."

    Kivamus cast a wary glance around them, ensuring their privacy. "As for Pydas," he added, "we''ll simply tell him that we''re sending just a few new guards alongside the veterans as a training exercise so that they can gain experience, just in case any of the newer recruits are... less discreet about their recent addition to our ranks."

    He continued, "But he doesn''t have to be told the exact number of veterans and new guards. All he needs to know is that we are sending at least a dozen guards with the caravan."

    A thoughtful silence descended upon the group as they thought about the subterfuge.

    Gorsazo chimed in with a measured response. "My Lord," he began, his brow furrowed in concern, "while I understand the logic behind your plan, it does seem like a rather audacious gamble. There''s always the chance the bandits might see through the facade, and then the caravan could be in a dangerous situation."

    Hudan said, "I can''t say that I support the idea of sending untrained men to escort the caravan either. But since we barely have a dozen trained guards in total, it is necessary to keep at least half of them here to defend the manor." He paused for a moment, then added with a hopeful note, "But if the Goddess smiles upon us and it does work, my Lord, it would be a brilliant stroke of strategy. We would be able to protect our much-needed grain, and assuming we can deter an attack from happening at all, we would also prevent any casualties in the caravan guards."

    "Indeed," Duvas conceded. "But we''ll be stretched thin on manpower to defend the manor if we send half our trained guards with the caravan. However, the alternative is certainly unthinkable. We desperately need those grain supplies to see us through the winter. We simply cannot afford to have it fall into the hands of bandits."

    Kivamus offered a resolute nod. "I understand your reservations, Duvas. But like you said, the grain is essential for our survival. As for the manor''s defenses," he continued, "we''ll still have six of the trained guards remaining in the manor. Hudan will be here as well, along with the new ones that we will start training from today or tomorrow."

    He looked at Hudan. "Assuming we get enough new applicants by evening, those who show a good aptitude for this, we will put on duty from tonight itself to man the gates. One new guard paired with an experienced one on every shift. Of course, the best six of them will go with the caravan tomorrow, but the others can be put on duty immediately to give them some experience."

    Hudan confirmed, "I will select those who look dangerous," he said with a determined glint in his eye, "and can learn how to act tough by tomorrow to send with the caravan. As for the rest, I will start their training as soon as I have enough men."

    "Good," Kivamus said approvingly. "Hopefully, by the time Pydas returns in a week, we will have enough guards here who at least know the very basics of fighting."

    He then turned to Duvas. "Do we have enough armor and weapons to equip them?" he inquired.

    In a less than enthusiastic voice, Duvas offered, "I can''t say that our extra equipment is of top quality, my Lord," he admitted. "However, we should have more than enough to equip at least those six new guards we''ll be sending tomorrow." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "My Lord," Hudan reminded, "we also have the spoils of our recent victory at Helga''s inn." A triumphant glint flickered in his eyes. "We seized a decent amount of equipment from those bandits - seven swords and five well-worn leather armors. While their quality is far from great, they''ll serve our purpose."

    A hint of a smile played on his lips. "Equipping the new guards on the caravan with the looted armor will create the impression of seasoned fighters. From a distance, bandit scouts won''t be able to discern the true quality of the equipment anyway. All they''ll see is a caravan well-guarded by men who appear battle-hardened. But if they do come a little closer to observe, then because the armor bears the marks of previous battles," he reasoned, "it will lend an air of experience to the new guards."

    "This, in turn," he concluded, his voice firm with conviction, "will significantly enhance the illusion of strength we''re trying to create, deterring any potential bandit attacks. We can reserve our higher-quality equipment here at the manor for the new guards we''ll be training, my Lord."

    Kivamus, a smile spreading across his face, offered a nod of approval. "Excellent thinking, Hudan," he commended. "That will indeed support the illusion of a well-guarded caravan."

    He cast a glance at the group, ensuring everyone was on the same page. "Now, listen closely," he began, his voice laced with urgency. "Pydas departs with the caravan at dawn tomorrow. We need to be prepared to send the guards by then. Ideally, we should have at least eleven guards ready to escort the shipment, and more if possible."

    He turned to Hudan. "You have a single day to assemble this contingent. Scout both the servants within the manor and any potential recruits from the village who would have applied. By nightfall, I need you to identify the most suitable candidates for this. Prioritize those with prior fighting experience," he instructed, his voice firm. "But in their absence, select strong individuals who can convincingly pass themselves off as trained guards."

    Hudan acknowledged the task at hand with a curt nod. "Consider it done, my Lord," he affirmed. "We''ll send at least eleven guards with the caravan tomorrow, and the rest will start their training here under me." He looked at Duvas. "I''ll let you have the final say in the selection, Mr Duvas, to verify which of the recruits can be trusted inside the manor." Duvas gave a nod as a reply.

    Gorsazo interjected with a question. "But what about Feroy, my Lord?" he inquired. "Shouldn''t he remain here to assist with the training of the new recruits?"

    "No, it''ll be better to send Feroy to accompany the caravan," Kivamus declared. "We need a trustworthy individual to keep an eye on things. And if needed, they can take shelter at Helga''s inn for the night. After all, we can certainly trust Feroy with the keys to the inn."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Hudan replied. "I''ll go and find someone to make the announcement in the village." With a newfound sense of purpose and a plan already in place, Hudan hurried off.

    The weight of the plan hung heavy in the air. The fate of the grain shipment, and potentially the well-being of the entire village, rested on their ability to pull off this elaborate bluff - a daring gamble that hinged on creating a convincing illusion of strength. It could ensure their survival through the harsh winter, or leave them exposed and vulnerable.

    **********

    The tension surrounding the urgent discussions about the caravan and the limited number of guards they had, was interrupted by a servant''s arrival. He approached Duvas, interrupting their hushed conversation, and delivered a brief message.

    Turning back to the group, Duvas addressed Kivamus and Gorsazo. "The maid," he announced, "the one who was a slave, has returned from the village." He also gestured for the servant to bring the young woman to them.

    Their conversation paused as they turned their attention toward the approaching figures.

    A young woman, seemingly in her early twenties, walked hesitantly towards them, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Clad in a maid''s attire in a faded brown color, she appeared fragile and uncertain. Madam Nerida, the head maid, accompanied her, a hint of a reassuring smile gracing her lips.

    Before Kivamus could utter a word of greeting, the young woman, her voice trembling with emotion, blurted out a question. "My Lord," she stammered, her words tumbling over each other, "is it true? Am I truly free? I''m no longer a slave?"

    She cast a pleading look at them, her voice laced with disbelief. "The other servants told me about what you said earlier," she continued, "but I... I thought they were jesting¡­ They even said that I will be paid like the other workers from now on!"

    The raw vulnerability in her voice resonated with everyone present. The very concept of freedom, something most took for granted, seemed almost unreal to her.

    Kivamus, his features softening with empathy, offered a reassuring smile with a firm nod. "Indeed," he confirmed gently, "you are a free woman from now on and not a slave. And yes, when the situation improves, and we are able to resume a proper wage system, you will be compensated fairly for your work, just like everyone else in the manor."

    His words seemed to hit her like a physical blow. The weight of her newfound freedom, a concept she might have only dreamt of before, appeared to overwhelm her. As if the ground beneath her had vanished, her legs buckled beneath her, threatening to send her crashing to the ground.

    Before she could crumble to the ground, Madam Nerida, with practiced grace, darted forward and caught the young woman, steadying her before she could fall. The dam of emotions finally broke, and the young woman dissolved into open sobs.

    The sight of her unrestrained grief tugged at the heartstrings of those witnessing the scene. Sensing the others'' concerned gazes, Madam Nerida spoke in a calming voice. "There''s no need to worry, my Lord," she assured Kivamus. "She''s merely overwhelmed. The news of her freedom is a lot to take in, but I will take care of her."

    Kivamus, relieved to see the young maid in capable hands, offered a grateful nod. "Of course, Madam Nerida," he replied. "Please do. And give her a day off for today, if she needs it."

    Madam Nerida nodded with a grateful smile. She turned to the maid, attempting to gently guide her away. "Come, Leah," she said softly. "Let''s head back."

    Leah, however, surprised everyone by pulling back slightly, determination replacing the earlier vulnerability in her eyes. "I can stand, Madam Nerida," she declared, her voice still having a small tremor in it.

    A hint of concern lingered in Madam Nerida''s voice as she inquired, "Are you sure, Leah?"

    With a determined nod, for the first time since her arrival, Leah straightened her posture, her chin held high. In that single moment, a spark of newfound strength flickered within her - a testament to the transformative power of freedom.

    Kivamus had a smile on his face, with a sense of purpose stirring within him. The fight to secure the village''s future wasn''t just about protecting their walls, it was about building a future where freedom and hope could flourish, even amidst hardship.

    She turned back towards Kivamus and dipped into a curtsy, her voice thick with gratitude.

    "Thank you, my Lord," she stammered, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her worn dress. "Thank you for everything."

    A hesitant question escaped her lips. "Does that mean, my Lord," she asked, her voice still laced with a hint of uncertainty, "that I am free to leave?"

    Kivamus, his gaze filled with a newfound respect for the young woman''s spirit, offered a reassuring nod. "Indeed, Leah," he confirmed. "You are a free woman, and it is up to you now. You are no longer bound to this manor or any master."

    "But have you considered your options carefully, Leah?" he asked kindly. "If you choose to leave the manor and quit working as a maid, do you have the means to support yourself? To buy food and shelter?"

    Leah shook her head fervently. "No, no, my Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice tinged with panic. "That''s not what I meant at all! I would like to continue working here if you would allow me to. It''s just¡­" her voice trailed off, her words catching in her throat.

    With a deep breath, she managed to continue. "I simply cannot¡­ I cannot bear to live within these walls any longer¡­" she confessed, her voice barely a whisper.

    Kivamus, a hint of understanding dawning upon him, acknowledged her feelings with a gentle nod. The weight of her enslavement had undoubtedly left scars living inside this manor, particularly under the previous baron, who was not known to be kind to the servants. He remembered how little Clarisa was scared that he would beat her because the previous baron used to do that. The situation couldn''t have been any better for the former slaves either, under the previous baron''s rule.

    "I understand, Leah," he reassured her. "As I said before, where you live and how you live is entirely your choice now. It is your life to lead. However," he cautioned, "I would advise you to remain in Tiranat for the time being. The other nobles and slave owners in the region might not take kindly to the news of a freed slave." He added, "I''m not even certain they''ll tolerate the act of freeing slaves within my own barony, but it''s my burden to bear, and I will find a way to deal with it."

    Leah offered a grateful nod. "Of course, my Lord. I am an orphan, with no ties outside of Tiranat. I have no desire to leave. But," she suggested tentatively, "would it be possible for me to work here in the manor during the day, and then live outside in the village when I''m not working?"

    She instinctively turned towards Madam Nerida, a person she seemed accustomed to reporting in her role as a maid. "Madam," she pleaded, "would it be possible for me to live outside the manor grounds? Like the other villagers?"

 28. Slave Price and Bounty Hunters

    Kivamus couldn''t help but notice a shift in Madam Nerida''s demeanor. The gentle, nurturing aura she had exuded earlier seemed to give way to the pragmatist in charge of managing the household staff."Leah," Madam Nerida began, her voice laced with a hint of disapproval, "there is a reason all the servants and maids reside within the manor grounds. This ensures they are readily available to attend to their duties whenever needed."

    Leah, however, was undeterred. Her newfound freedom had ignited a spark of independence within her. "But Madam," she countered, her voice now tinged with a quiet resolve, "most of my duties involve sewing and mending clothes. Tasks that are best done in daylight. Working at night on that would be difficult, if not impossible."

    She pressed her case with a fervent plea. "I promise, Madam," she vowed earnestly, "I will complete all my assigned tasks during the daylight hours. Please allow me to live outside the manor when I''m not working."

    A hint of unease crossed Madam Nerida''s features. Caught off guard by Leah''s unexpected request, she instinctively turned to Kivamus for guidance, with the sudden deviation from tradition presenting a challenge to her well-ordered world.

    Something as simple as reliable lighting would have eliminated the argument about nighttime work altogether, Kivamus thought. Electricity, a luxury he could only dream of in their current state, would allow for extended work hours regardless of daylight. It was a different fact that the servants and maids here probably worked very long hours anyway.

    "Madam Nerida," he began, his voice thoughtful, "as you rightly pointed out, most of the maids'' duties extend beyond daylight hours. However, if Leah''s primary task is indeed sewing and mending, then working at night wouldn''t be feasible anyway."

    He turned to Leah, a hint of a smile gracing his lips. "Very well, Leah," he declared. "If you wish to live outside the manor walls, that is your choice."

    A wave of relief washed over Leah''s features. "Thank you so much, my Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice thick with emotion.

    "But tell me, Leah," Kivamus inquired, "do you have a place to stay in the village?"

    The young woman''s face brightened as she nodded. "I do, my Lord," Leah replied with confidence. "I have a good friend, who''s the village blacksmith now. I can stay in his house until I can save enough coin to secure a place of my own."

    Seeing the uncertainty on others'' faces, Duvas added, "Cedoron is a decent fellow, my Lord. I''ve known him since he was a child. His father, who worked as the blacksmith since the village was founded, died of fever some time ago. Cedoron took over the smithy after that and knows the trade well."

    Kivamus considered her request for a moment. The potential benefits of a contented worker outweighed the slight deviation from tradition. "In that case," he agreed, "you may live outside the manor. However," he added, "you will still have to fulfill all your duties diligently during the day, as directed by Madam Nerida."

    Leah, overwhelmed with joy, curtsied deeply. "Thank you, my Lord!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes once more. "Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding! You have given me more than just freedom, you''ve given me hope for a future I never dared to dream of. I will work hard, I promise!"

    "My Lord," Madam Nerida interjected, "Although nobody in the manor is getting paid these days, everyone living here currently receives a portion of their wages in the form of food and lodging within the manor. If Leah lives outside, she won''t be receiving the same compensation as the others. That seems rather unfair."

    A frown creased Kivamus''s brow. "Indeed, that wouldn''t be fair," he conceded.

    "However," he continued, "as we are currently unable to spare additional coin, we were already planning to pay the new guards we are recruiting with a weekly grain and coal allowance. Perhaps we can extend the same offer to Leah. What do you think, Leah?" sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Leah''s face broke into a wide, grateful smile. "Oh, my Lord, absolutely!" she exclaimed, her voice overflowing with joy, "Even grain is more than I had hoped for, after gaining my freedom. I am truly indebted to your kindness."

    With a final, heartfelt curtsy directed at Kivamus, Leah turned to leave, her steps lighter and her spirits buoyed by this unexpected turn of events. Madam Nerida departed along with her.

    Leah, once a slave, now walked with the tentative steps of a free woman, while Madam Nerida, the embodiment of tradition, grappled with the unforeseen changes sweeping through the manor.

    Kivamus, his brow furrowed in contemplation, turned to Duvas. "Hypothetically," he began, his voice laced with curiosity, "let''s say that Leah decided to travel to Cinran after all. How likely is it that someone there would even discover her past as a slave?"

    Duvas cleared his throat and launched into an explanation. "Well, my Lord," he began, "every slave carries the burden of a slave price. This price, which is usually the same as the money that the owner paid to buy them, represents the sum they can theoretically pay their owner over many years, often decades, to earn their freedom. As you know, my Lord, the slaves aren''t paid any wages. That''s because the amount that would have been paid to them as a wage, after deducting the cost of food and lodging, of course, is said to be deducted from their slave price. So, it''s possible that every slave can eventually become free, once they have worked for long enough to earn their freedom from their owner."

    He elaborated on the system in place. "However, in most cases, if not all of them, the slave owner would continuously find ways to keep adding to the slave price, once it became low enough. It would supposedly be a punishment for the slave not performing his duties well enough, or the price of something that the servant broke or misplaced. But the result would be the same, that the slave would have to work just a few more years to pay the slave price, again and again. The previous baron did the same many times, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at him carefully. "And you never said anything?"

    Duvas shook his head slowly. "It''s not my place to question the baron, my Lord. My task is the proper administration of the manor, as well as the coal mines. And I try to do my best to manage and supervise everything here, to see that everything keeps running smoothly, within the bounds of the orders given to me. My personal opinion simply does not matter, my Lord."

    It made Kivamus remember that thinking outside the prevalent norms was not commonplace in this era, even on Earth. It was only during and after the Renaissance, from what he remembered, that common people started to question everything around them, giving rise to the scientific method, which eventually led to, well, nearly everything in the modern world. However, in the Middle Ages, it was probably typical for the common people to obey the orders and whims of their superiors, particularly the nobles, without questioning anything.

    Duvas continued, "Well, in the rare case that the slave price was indeed paid in full, a slave would typically receive a formal document - a piece of paper, no less - proclaiming their newfound freedom, and bearing the seal of the noble who owned the slave, or in whose domain the slave owner resided."

    "However," he added, "such instances of slaves buying their freedom are exceedingly rare, my Lord. Most remain bound to their owners for their entire lives. And as you might know, my Lord, the children of slaves are also the property of the slave owner."

    "That explains why they would rarely leave the confines of the manor or the farmlands they live in," Kivamus murmured.

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he confirmed. "Most slaves remain bound to their owner''s manor for their entire lives. And leaving the manor or the farm that confines them is a rare occurrence," he said. "The only exception might be when they are given an errand by their owner, whether it is to a nearby market or to some other place to deliver their produce. And in those cases, the owner knows precisely when to expect their return."

    "However," he continued in a grim voice, "any delays are met with harsh consequences, either by severely beating the slaves or in some cases, even branding them. And if a slave fails to return for many days, it results in a bounty being placed on their heads, which would carry their description."

    He elaborated on the bleak fate that awaited such runaways. "This bounty essentially brands them as fugitives," he explained. "Becoming an outlaw or joining the ranks of bandits becomes the only option for the desperate slaves seeking escape. But even then, the bounty hunters would relentlessly pursue them, making their lives a constant struggle for survival."

    Duvas''s voice softened slightly. "There is another option for them, my Lord, albeit a risky one. A slave could try to flee to a distant land, perhaps to another kingdom, or they may leave Cilaria entirely by enduring a long voyage on a merchant ship. But such a journey requires a lot of coin, a luxury most slaves simply don''t possess. And even if they somehow manage to reach a distant land, there is always the risk of their past being discovered."

    He added, "And if they do get recaptured by the bounty hunters after running away, their enslavers'' punishment would be swift and merciless. Often, it involves a brutal physical punishment like cutting off a limb, to serve as a grim reminder of the consequences of disobedience, and to set an example for the other slaves."

    Kivamus grimaced hearing about the dreadful condition of slaves, while Gorsazo was silent, likely already knowing the details.

    "So, to answer your question directly, my Lord," Duvas continued, his voice returning to a more neutral tone, "if Leah were to travel to a big place like Cinran or any other city, it''s unlikely anyone would suspect her past, as long as no one recognizes her there from her time as a slave. Particularly since the previous baron hadn''t needed to resort to branding the slaves which would make them easily recognizable, since none of them ever tried to run away from here, knowing they would likely die in the dangerous forests surrounding Tiranat far before they could reach another place."

    Taking a deep breath, he concluded, "The reason that no one would suspect her is simply that any other noble or slave owner would never free a slave out of goodwill, and if a slave were to flee, a bounty would undoubtedly be placed upon them by the enslaver. That would alert the authorities and bounty hunters alike, leading to a recapture of the slave, whether in Cinran or elsewhere. Of course, you seem to be an exception, my Lord."

    Kivamus, seemingly lost in thought, spoke after a while. "You said that slaves are not permitted to leave the manor, but Madam Nerida did allow her to go to the village," he pointed out.

    Duvas chuckled softly. "Indeed, my Lord," he conceded. "Madam Nerida has been a part of this village since its very foundation. The previous baron purchased Leah as a slave when she was a child, so Madam Nerida has known and trusted her for years. And as Leah herself mentioned, being an orphan, she has nowhere else to go even if she desired to escape."

    He continued, "When the previous baron ruled here, the slaves were escorted by a guard if they were ever sent to the village for an errand. However, as you know, my Lord, since that disastrous trip of the previous baron, we have been very short on trained guards. We barely had enough guards to man the gates till now, so we just couldn''t afford to send a guard to escort a slave as well. So Madam Nerida has had to trust the slaves that they would return if she ever sent them outside the manor."

    Kivamus nodded thoughtfully, the weight of Leah''s situation and the complexities of slavery settling in. He had only begun to scratch the surface of this deeply ingrained system, and the human cost associated with it. The path forward, towards a more just and humane future, was far from clear, but the decision to grant freedom to Leah and the other slaves was not something he was going to regret.

    He looked at Gorsazo and Duvas. "Perhaps it was indeed impulsive¡­" he conceded, a hint of doubt lingering in his voice. "Freeing the slaves so abruptly... it might not have been the most well-considered course of action."

    He glanced at Leah and Madam Nerida, who seemed to be in an animated discussion near the servants'' hall, with a smile playing on his lips.

    "But seeing the joy on their faces," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard where the former slaves bustled about with newfound vigor, their faces etched with genuine happiness, "it''s hard to believe I made the wrong decision. I stand by my decision."

    "However, the one thing that troubles me," he confessed, "is how Count Cinran will react to this news. This barony does fall under his domain¡­"

 29. Borders Of The Barony

    Gorsazo offered his insights. "My Lord," he began, his voice steady and reassuring, "the decision to keep slaves rests entirely with the individual noble. It''s a matter of personal choice." He elaborated further, drawing on his knowledge. "I have heard of some places in the northern parts of the kingdom, where many nobles have chosen to forgo slaves altogether. However, these nobles usually allow others, like wealthy merchants or landowners, to own slaves if they so desire, for fears of a rebellion against them."A pause settled between them before he continued. "Now," he continued, his voice laced with caution, "your earlier declaration about abolishing slavery entirely within your barony," he clarified, "that''s a far more radical step than just freeing the slaves which you owned yourself. It essentially forbids anyone under your domain from owning slaves. This," he warned, "could incite rebellion amongst any current slaveholders in your domain." Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Imagine this, my Lord," he added, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "Any slaveholders within your barony would likely rise up in protest, lodging formal complaints with Count Cinran. Should you refuse to back down," Gorsazo continued, his voice grave, "the Count holds the authority to strip you of your lands and title entirely."

    A wry smile played on Gorsazo''s lips. "However, slaves don''t come cheap," he added, casting a glance around the meager surroundings, "and considering the state of Tiranat, it''s unlikely anyone here possesses the means to purchase a slave in the first place, wouldn''t you agree, Duvas?"

    Duvas chimed in with a confirmatory nod. "Indeed," he agreed. "The previous baron was the only one in Tiranat who ever kept slaves. As of now, there aren''t any other slaveholders here. So the chances of anyone filing an official complaint with the Count are negligible." He added, "These days, most of the people here are more worried about where their next meal will come from, instead of thinking about ways to criticize or complain about the new baron."

    "At least there''s that," Kivamus sighed in relief. A contemplative silence descended upon the group as they mulled over it.

    "However," Duvas cautioned, "news of your actions will undoubtedly reach Count Cinran eventually. And how he reacts to this news remains to be seen. Although without a formal complaint lodged against you from someone within this barony," he pointed out, "the Count would be hard-pressed to impose any charges based solely on hearsay. But the ripples of your decision will certainly be felt amongst the nobility."

    Gorsazo offered a final thought. "There''s also the somewhat unusual circumstance of your appointment," he said. "While the Count holds a position of authority over Tiranat, it wasn''t Count Cinran who bestowed the barony upon you, it was the Duke himself. I believe being a son of the Duke should afford you at least some degree of leeway in this matter. But as Duvas mentioned, the other nobles, particularly in the south of the Kingdom, where Count Cinran''s domain lies, are sure to take a negative view of your actions."

    "Indeed." Kivamus acknowledged the complexities they faced with a slow nod.

    "Well," he declared, "let''s address those issues when the time comes. We have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment."

    The weight of their current predicament - securing the much-needed grain shipment and bolstering the manor''s defenses, settled heavily upon them. For now, their focus had to be on the immediate challenges that threatened the very survival of Tiranat.

    Hudan, the newly appointed captain of the guard, strode back towards them, his movements purposeful. "My Lord," he announced, his voice carrying a hint of pride, "I''ve dispatched a few guards to the village square. They''ll spread the word that we''re actively recruiting a dozen new guards."

    Kivamus offered a nod of approval. "Hopefully, by the afternoon or even this evening, we''ll have a good number of men interested in becoming a guard."

    He turned to Duvas. "Once we have a decent pool of potential recruits," he continued, outlining the next steps, "you and Hudan can then conduct a proper selection process and pick the most capable and trustable men for the job as we planned earlier."

    "However," he added, his voice turning serious, "we need to devise a solution for feeding the rest of the villagers as well. Hiring new guards and offering them grain and coal as their wages is only a start."

    He cast a thoughtful glance towards the servants, their movements imbued with a newfound sense of purpose as they transferred the precious grain sacks. Their renewed energy, a stark contrast to the listlessness that had gripped them before, served as a reminder of the positive impact that having enough food could have on people.

    He elaborated on his concerns. "We need to create more opportunities for work in the village," he continued, his gaze connecting with others. "That way, we can provide the villagers with the means to earn their keep and ensure they have enough grain to survive. So," he inquired, "where were we in our discussion before Leah''s arrival?"

    "We were discussing the surrounding lands, my Lord," Duvas clarified.

    Kivamus, his mind buzzing with possibilities, stood silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the dense forest that encircled the manor and the village. The servants, diligently working nearby, seemed to fade from his vision as he contemplated the vastness of his domain.

    As if struck by a sudden realization, Kivamus turned back to Duvas, a question forming on his lips. "Duvas," he began, his voice filled with curiosity, "how far do the borders of this barony actually extend?"

    Duvas chuckled softly, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "That, my Lord," he replied, "is where things are a little peculiar. As you well know, baronies typically encompass a relatively small area of land. However, Tiranat finds itself in a rather¡­ unique situation."

    He elaborated, "While being nestled within these vast, dense forests undoubtedly poses significant dangers, it also presents a unique opportunity. These sprawling woodlands remain entirely unclaimed."

    "Technically," he clarified, "these forests still fall under the domain of Count Cinran. However, in all of my experience here since the barony was founded, as long as the baron of Tiranat fulfills his obligation to pay the taxes owed by him," he added, "Count Cinran has never shown any interest in exerting control over these treacherous lands."

    "So," he added with a sly grin, "there are no other barons in the vicinity to challenge your claim if you were to, shall we say, expand your territory, my Lord."

    Kivamus''s mind reeled as he processed this new information. "So, you''re saying¡­" he began, a hint of awe creeping into his voice, "that all these lands, as far as the eye can see, could easily be mine?"

    Duvas, still grinning, only gave a nod in reply, while Gorsazo and Hudan had satisfied smirks on their faces.

    The reality of the situation took a moment to sink in. Back on Earth, the mere notion of buying the apartment he was renting, seemed like a distant dream, with the astronomical housing prices. But here, in this strange new world, he found himself the owner of a vast expanse of land, the likes of which he couldn''t even have imagined on Earth.

    However, he reminded himself, this was not Earth, and Tiranat was not a nice and cozy nature resort where people went for vacations. All kinds of dangers surrounded them in the middle of these uncharted forests, from ferocious beasts to ruthless bandits. And who knows what other threats lay hidden within these vast forests¡­

    Yet, amidst the dangers, a seed of hope bloomed within Kivamus. These vast, unclaimed lands held the potential to not only secure his own future but also build a brighter destiny for the entire barony. He already had the knowledge of a technologically advanced world, the likes of which these people couldn''t even dream of¡­

    Perhaps, with careful planning and hard work, he could transform Tiranat from a struggling barony into a thriving domain. And if he could harness the full potential of these lands, cultivate them, or exploit their resources strategically, it could be the key to their survival and eventual prosperity. The possibilities were endless¡­

    ~ Cedoron ~

    Cedoron grunted with exertion as he struck repeatedly against the red-hot metal with a rhythmic clang of his hammer, the bulging muscles in his arms flexing and rippling beneath his tanned skin. With a final, resounding blow, he brought his hammer down upon the glowing metal kept on the anvil, shaping the sword with practiced ease.

    He reached over with a pair of tongs, gingerly gripping the glowing blade, examining it from all angles. A grunt of approval escaped his lips. It wasn''t perfect, but it was close enough. Satisfied with its form, he plunged the metal into a waiting barrel of water, a hiss of steam erupting as the hot metal met the cool liquid.

    He sank back onto his workbench with a sigh, wiping his brow with a sweat-soaked sleeve. Though the midday sun hung high in the sky, a persistent chill lingered in the air, a constant reminder of the approaching winter. But despite the chill, sweat beaded on his forehead, a result of the intense heat generated by his glowing forge. He reached for a wooden mug resting on the workbench and took a long, satisfying gulp of cool water, the refreshing liquid easing the dryness in his throat.

    As he drank the water, he thought about his current circumstances. Work had been slow for a while now, but the past few months had been particularly bleak. Usually, a steady stream of miners came to his shop, bringing broken tools - shovels, pickaxes, and the like, for repair. But ever since the flooding of the coal mines, work had become scarce. With the mines closed, there were no miners, and without miners, there were no broken tools to repair. Now his days were often spent in quiet solitude, punctuated only by the sound of his hammer against metal. He wasn''t one to sit idle, though. Each day, he forced himself to find some task, no matter how trivial, to keep his skills sharp.

    News of the new Baron''s arrival had reached Cedoron yesterday, but he hadn''t been able to join the crowd that flocked to watch the caravan. He''d been too engrossed in his work, being unable to leave it in the middle or he would have had to start again from the beginning.

    He didn''t know what to expect from the new Baron. The future of Tiranat, and by extension, his own livelihood, rested on the decisions this new leader would make. He sighed, wiping the sweat on his face again. All he could hope was that the coal mines would reopen soon, and with that, there would be enough work for him along with a return to normalcy.

    *********

    Cedoron glanced out towards the street, his gaze falling upon a familiar figure skipping towards his workshop. Leah, his childhood friend, hurried down the street towards his shop, a radiant smile illuminating her face. They had only spoken an hour ago, and Cedoron couldn''t imagine what had brought her back so soon.

    As Leah drew closer, he noticed a hint of moisture in her eyes which glistened in the afternoon sun. A frown creased his brow. Leah had always been strong, and seeing her so emotional sent a jolt of worry through him. Although they didn''t get to meet very often, their friendship had endured through stolen moments between her duties in the manor.

    Before he could voice his worry, Leah threw herself into his arms, her sobs muffled against his sturdy chest. Taken aback, Cedoron instinctively wrapped his arms around her trembling form.

    "Leah? What happened?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. "You just left here a while ago. What''s wrong?"

    But instead of replying, Leah''s sobs intensified, her body wracked with silent tears. Cedoron, at a loss, could only hold her close, patting her back in a comforting rhythm. Slowly, her sobs subsided, replaced by a shaky sniffle.

    Pulling back slightly, Leah looked up at him, smiling with a teary face. "I''m free, Cedoron," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

    Cedoron furrowed his brow in confusion. "Free?" he echoed. "Well, of course, you must be free," he said with a chuckle, "since you found the time to visit me twice in the same day! Not that I mind it¡­"

    He tilted his head, a playful glint in his eyes. "Did the new Baron decide you weren''t cut out for sewing and send you packing?"

    Leah giggled and shook her head. "No, silly!" she exclaimed, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand. "I mean, I''m not a slave anymore! I''m free now!"

    Leah, the shy girl he had known since they were children, who was easily his best friend now, and perhaps even more, had been a slave nearly all her life. As a slave, she couldn''t choose where to live or who to live her life with. At times, they had even talked about running away together to another place, even though continuously hiding from the bounty hunters would have made their lives a living hell. And that would be if they were even successful in running away in the first place. But¡­ could it be true? Could she really be free?

    Cedoron''s heart hammered against his ribs. He stared at her, his mind struggling to grasp her words, leaving him speechless for a moment. He held Leah at arm''s length, his gaze searching her teary face for any hint of a joke. But the raw emotion in her eyes told the truth.

    Over the next few minutes, Leah poured out the details of her extraordinary day. As she recounted the events - the proclamation of freedom from the new baron, the disbelief she felt, and the overwhelming sense of liberation - Cedoron felt a lump form in his throat. Tears welled up in his own eyes, tears of joy for his best friend who had finally been released from a life of servitude, and for the possibility of a future that could not have been possible without her freedom.

    This time, it was Cedoron who pulled Leah into a crushing hug. The weight of her newfound freedom and the possibilities that lay before them, filled him with a happiness he hadn''t felt for a long time.

    "And guess what?" Leah exclaimed, pulling back slightly, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes. "I don''t even have to live in the manor anymore!"

    Cedoron, trying to contain his overflowing emotions, chuckled. "What? Did the baron really throw you out then?" he teased, feigning offense. "Where are you supposed to live now?"

    Leah giggled, the sound feeling like music to Cedoron''s ears. "I don''t know," she teased, her eyes sparkling with playful innocence. "If only I had a childhood friend who might be willing to let me stay with him¡­"

    Cedoron burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the small workshop.

    Relief washed over him, warm and comforting. His best friend was free, and a new chapter in their lives was about to begin. He pulled Leah into a tight embrace, his heart swelling with a happiness that rivaled the heat of his forge. It was the beginning of a new future for them, and no matter what it held, at last, they would face it together from now on. And the new baron was to thank for it.

 30. The Terrain Of Tiranat

    Kivamus furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping across the manor as he contemplated the challenges and opportunities before them. The harsh winter loomed ahead, its icy grip threatening to further isolate Tiranat.He gazed at Duvas before speaking, while Gorsazo and Hudan stood nearby as well. "Let''s consider the situation at hand," he began, his voice laced with quiet contemplation. "Even if we reopened the mines right now," he mused, "selling the coal during winter is not an option we have."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Duvas noted. "Every winter, we slowed down the mining once the snow started, since traders from Cinran cannot come in the winter and Kirnos doesn''t have as much demand for coal as Cinran, even though the road to Kirnos stays open during the winter. However this year, no trader is coming from Kirnos anyway due to the fear of bandits. So, every year, we kept stockpiling the coal slowly during the winter months, to sell in the spring. Of course, the demand for coal after winter is always lower than that before the snow falls."

    Thinking about it for a moment, he continued, "Right now, both of our coal barns are nearly full, so it''ll easily take more than a month to sell our existing stock after the winter, even if we didn''t reopen the mines during that time." He added, "And I believe by that time, it should have been long enough since the previous baron''s murder for traders to start coming regularly."

    "That means," Kivamus said, "reopening the coal mines would not be productive. We will postpone it for now." He looked at the vast forests surrounding the manor again. "However," he continued, a hint of a smile gracing his lips, "this presents us with a unique opportunity, wouldn''t you agree?"

    He allowed his gaze to meet the faces of the others. "Think about it," he elaborated, his voice brimming with newfound energy. "We have a group of skilled miners, men accustomed to hard manual labor. And now, they find themselves unemployed."

    He looked around them, trying to see which was the tallest place nearby. He found that it was the manor house itself, with its two-storey construction. He said to others, "Let''s move to the roof of the manor house."

    Duvas nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

    Kivamus followed Duvas to the manor house, with Gorsazo and Hudan trailing behind them. Once inside, instead of going towards the right into the hall of the manor house, Duvas turned left and started walking up the stairs. They eventually came out on the roof, which gave them a much better view of the surroundings.

    Kivamus took a minute to look around them. The lofty trees of the temperate forest were much taller than the manor house and stood towering not far outside around the manor, surrounding it from all sides, except the west. In the east, a few hills were also visible, covered with trees, while the Arakin mountains made up the eastern horizon.

    To their west, the sorry state of the village was easy to see in the light of the midday sun. Some of the burnt houses were visible from the roof, along with many other barely-standing shacks and huts of the village. Only a few of the houses were wooden constructions, standing out amidst the now-drying muddy paths snaking between the houses. A few people in the village were also visible from the roof, moving here and there listlessly, while many of them were just sitting at the entrance to their houses, staring into the distance. It wasn''t difficult to guess that normally, many of these people would be digging coal inside the mines at this time.

    Thinking about it, he asked Duvas, "How far are the coal mines located?"

    Duvas answered readily, pointing towards a hill towards the east. "Not very far, my Lord. Less than half an hour walk to the east."

    "Hmm¡­" Kivamus muttered. Only a few kilometers away then, he guessed. He asked, "You mentioned that you have been here since the founding of the village. Tell me, why was the village located here, then? There certainly isn''t any river here, which would make this a better place, than closer to the mines."

    Duvas replied, "This was the closest location to the coal mines, my Lord, from where the plain ground started. Any further to the east, and it would be difficult to find enough flat ground for a village to be located there."

    "And what about the other directions? Are the hills located only in the east or elsewhere as well?" Kivamus asked.

    "Although the dense forest surrounding Tiranat has never made it possible to send scouting parties very far, I can safely say that the hills are only located to our east." Pointing towards the hills on the east, Duvas continued, "Those are the foothills which slowly rise in height to give way to the Arakin mountains far in the east, my Lord. However, a few times in the past, I have been to the top of one of those hills, from where we mine our coal. Looking from such a height, it is easy to see that while the forests surrounding us seem endless from there, the ground itself is a flatland on all sides of us, except the east."

    Kivamus nodded. "And what about a river? Is there flowing water nearby?"

    Duvas nodded. "I wouldn''t really call it a river, my Lord, but there is a stream further ahead than the coal mines, which flows southwards between those hills. The miners usually go there to refill their water buckets during the day when they are mining." He added, "Occasionally, they also catch some fish there to add to their limited diets." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s not ideal, but it will have to do¡­" Kivamus muttered. He leaned forward towards the edge of the roof, and put his hands on the wooden guardrails surrounding the roof, as he thought about the terrain here.

    He continued, his voice taking on an air of determination, "If we were to clear a significant portion of the surrounding forest," he proposed, gesturing outwards, "we could create a viable space for cultivating crops. And within a few months, a fertile farmland could be created where these trees stand today."

    While others were mulling over the concept, Duvas added, "This idea has occurred to me in the past, of course. But with the previous baron''s disinterest in this village and a regular shortage of manpower, it was difficult to even seriously consider farming. But yes, with all the miners unemployed right now, this is indeed a good opportunity to do this."

    Gorsazo seized upon the idea as well. "I was thinking the same thing, my Lord," he said. "If everything goes well, we should be well-stocked with enough grain for the winter, in a couple of weeks. We might even have enough seeds left over to begin planting after the ground thaws at the end of winter. And even if our reserves are not enough for that," he conceded, "by that time, the route to Cinran will be open again, and we''d easily be able to purchase more seeds from the visiting merchants."

    A thoughtful frown creased his brow. "However," he added, "to ensure success in this, we''ll need someone at the helm with a far deeper understanding of farming than any of us possess."

    Duvas replied to that question. "I think that many of the older miners would have at least some experience with farming. Before they migrated to Tiranat when it was founded, not all of them would have been miners after all. I will make an announcement in the village that people who have any experience with farming should report to us by evening. There wouldn''t be many of them, but we should be able to get enough experienced farmers who can supervise the other villagers in farming."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus complimented.

    Hudan chimed in, "Clearing the surrounding woods would not only provide us with arable land, but it would also offer a significant security advantage. With a clear line of sight stretching outwards from the village," he pointed out, "we''d be able to detect any approaching bandits much sooner, giving us more time to prepare our defenses."

    "Indeed." Kivamus nodded. "While we will need to clear the forest in the east as well for good visibility all around the village, I think we should leave the cleared area empty in the east. As Duvas said, the terrain becomes hilly on that side, so it would be difficult for farming anyway. As for how much land we need to clear to grow enough crops to feed the village for a full year, we will need to ask those people who have experience in farming."

    He looked at Duvas. "Select those people with the most experience in farming, and bring them to meet us all by the evening. After getting a better idea of how much land we need for that, we will finalize it."

    Hudan added, "We should clear more area than just the farms, my Lord. I''d say we need at least five hundred paces of empty space all around the village, if not more, to be sure to detect any attack in advance."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "As Duvas said, in the east there is a stream near the hills, which flows southwards. As long as the land in the south of the village is suitable for planting, it would be much better to start farming in that direction, since it would give us a ready source of water for irrigation."

    Without access to any fertilizers and modern agricultural machinery, the yields of the crops were not going to be great, and they would need a much larger area dedicated to farming to get the same amount of grain, than they would have needed if they had such equipment. That did give him a few ideas on some very basic devices, like a seed drill, that he could try to design and build here, even with the materials they already had available in this village. It should help to improve the productivity of farms by a decent amount, but he put it into the back of his mind, to reconsider once the immediate concerns were taken care of.

    Thinking about cutting forests on this scale and all the deforestation they were going to cause, Kivamus gave a wry chuckle. It was far from ideal, and it would never be tolerated on Earth, and for good reason, but their situation was desperate enough that they had no choice but to clear the forests, or the villagers would continue to starve. And that was not acceptable to him.

    After taking a minute to think, he added, "We also need to think of a way to house the homeless villagers, and we will need logs as well as enough cleared land for it." He pointed towards the north of the village, "Let''s say we keep the new housing in the north, which would leave the land in the west empty for other things, like new barns, etc."

    Hudan added, "We will need to designate a clear area for that, my Lord, so that we can clear enough trees to have at least five hundred paces of clear land ahead of the new houses."

    "True." Kivamus nodded, and asked Duvas, "How many people would you say are homeless right now?"

    Taking a moment to think over it, while gazing over the village to their west, Duvas replied, "I can''t give an accurate number, my Lord, but I believe the bandits put above a dozen houses on fire, so that means there must be around seventy or eighty people who lost their houses in the bandit attack. Of course, there are some other villagers too, including orphans, who don''t have anywhere to live since that thunderstorm damaged or outright destroyed many huts around a month ago."

    Gorsazo said, "That''s a big number though. We would need to construct fifteen to twenty houses, at least, if we are going to give them a place to live so they don''t freeze to death. But I''m not sure we have enough time to do that before the winter hits."

    Duvas nodded as well. "Indeed. But it would take much less time if we just constructed bigger halls for them to live in, instead of separate houses."

    Kivamus mulled over the idea for a minute. Back on Earth, in some places people lived in longhouses in the past, when building separate houses for everyone was not practical. That seemed like a good option to him in these circumstances. "Why don''t we build longhouses then?"

    "Long¡­houses, my Lord?" Hudan asked.

 31. Housing The Homeless

    Thinking about how to explain without mentioning Earth, Kivamus said, "I read about those in the library, back in Ulriga Palace."He looked at Gorsazo, and remembering the vague memories of the original Kivamus, he said, "You know well how I used to spend a lot of time in the library there, every time after my brothers found a new way to mock or ridicule me, and when I didn''t want to face others for some time."

    Gorsazo nodded. "That''s certainly true, my Lord. Many times, I had to search for you in the library for your lessons."

    "Indeed." Kivamus continued, "That''s where I read about these longhouses that people used to make in the past, in some other countries. Basically," he elaborated while pointing at the barns inside the manor, "they are similar to those barns we have here, but they are only around ten feet high, and much longer than the barns."

    Seeing the others listening intently, he continued, "This way, we can put two bunks for sleeping on each side of the longhouse, the lower one only around say, two feet high, while the upper bunk can be around five or six feet high. This would allow us to house two people on one side and two on the other side, that is, a total of four people for every two meters of the length of the longhouses."

    Hudan interrupted again, "What is a meter, my Lord?"

    "Uh¡­ that book had the units of length in terms of meters," he tried to explain without giving away too much. "A meter is around, uh¡­" He looked around for something that had the same length, but not finding anything suitable, he just spread both of his hands to what he guessed would be the length of around a meter, and said, "This long. Or a little longer than a pace."

    He continued, trying to remember the length of a normal person''s step, "I''d say the length of around four paces is the same as three meters. Many of those books I read used a meter as a unit of length, so I am used to thinking in those terms."

    "Of course, my Lord." Hudan nodded.

    Duvas added, "By keeping each bunk to a length of uh¡­ two meters, even a full-grown adult can comfortably sleep in it."

    "Indeed," Kivamus agreed. "And I think, we could keep the width of the longhouse around five or six meters, which would give enough walking space between the bunks, which would be located next to the walls on both sides, while still leaving enough space for a fireplace in the middle. That would keep the long house warm in the winter, as well as be useful for cooking meals there. As for the length, we could keep it around say, twenty-five meters, which would be enough for a dozen bunks next to each other. That way, we could house forty-eight people in a single longhouse easily."

    He conceded, "Of course, these are just rough estimates, and we will need to talk with a carpenter who will give us the exact numbers." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "True enough, my Lord," Duvas said. "Those seem like reasonable numbers though. I will still send for the carpenters we have in the village, to talk over the details with them."

    Gorsazo commented, "Making these longhouses seems more practical than building individual houses for now. And even with just two new longhouses, we should be able to shelter all the homeless people in the village."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. "But instead of making two longhouses simultaneously, we will prioritize building only one of them at first, so that the homeless villagers can have at least some place to live. The temperature is going down every day, and even if it won''t be very comfortable to house nearly twice as many people inside a longhouse compared to what it was designed for, it will still be much better for the villagers than sleeping outside in the open."

    "That''s a good idea, my Lord," Hudan commented.

    "There are also many other villagers, who do have a shack in which to live, but those flimsy walls don''t hold the cold outside at all," Duvas added. "If possible, once we have finished building those two longhouses, we should construct more of them, so that any of the villagers who want to live in those instead of their own huts can move there. Every winter, there are at least a few deaths from the cold in those shacks and huts."

    Thinking about living in such cold temperatures in those huts, made Kivamus feel a shiver, even though it was noontime now. And once the snowfall started in around a month, it would indeed be difficult to survive in those huts. "Good idea. We will do that as well, once the first two longhouses are ready. But we can still house more people than their capacity in the first two longhouses, so people don''t have to stay in those huts until more longhouses are ready."

    Duvas began, "My Lord, we can certainly utilize the miners to clear the surrounding land and start farming in the spring. However," he cautioned, "paying them for their labor would put a significant strain on our already depleted treasury."

    "Unlike the coal mines," he elaborated, "where we get a product to sell and recoup the wages we''d be paying the miners, clearing the land wouldn''t yield any immediate revenue stream."

    The weight of Duvas'' words hung heavy in the air. The potential benefits of clearing the land were undeniable - increased food production, improved security, and a chance to put their unemployed workforce to good use. But the financial burden of paying the miners loomed large, threatening to derail their plans before they even began. The path forward required careful consideration, a delicate balancing act between ambition and fiscal responsibility.

    Kivamus knew their financial challenges, but the rewards were too significant to ignore. Perhaps, he thought, there was a way to bridge this gap. The gears in his mind began to turn, formulating a plan to address this obstacle and propel Tiranat towards a more secure and prosperous future.

    Acknowledging the constraints Duvas had outlined, he offered a counterpoint. "True," he conceded, "but we should consider it as an investment. And a necessary one at that."

    His voice firmed with conviction as he elaborated on his vision. "If we can cultivate the land successfully," he argued, "and grow a significant portion of the grain we need to buy every year, our reliance on Cinran for grain would diminish significantly, if not entirely. That, in turn, will lead to substantial cost savings."

    He tempered his optimism with a touch of reality. "I understand it won''t be easy at all," he admitted. "But even if we manage to grow just half of what we require in the first year of farming, it would still represent a significant reduction in our reliance on Cinran for food and that would lead to a considerable amount of money saved."

    Kivamus shifted his focus to the immediate challenges. "Thankfully," he said with relief, "we will have all the grain we bought from Pydas arriving within the next two weeks or so. But selling that grain to the local merchants isn''t an option," he explained, "since Pydas already tried that without any success."

    "So, here''s what I propose," he declared. "What if we adopted a similar approach to the one we''re using with the new guards - a system of payment in kind?"

    Duvas, his brow furrowed in curiosity, leaned forward. "Payment in kind, my Lord?" he queried, seeking clarification.

    "We''re only hiring a small group of guards, only a dozen for now," Kivamus explained. "For them, paying their wages in coin might still have been manageable. However," he pointed out, "the sheer number of people required to clear the land and prepare the fields for farming, not to mention the other projects like constructing new longhouses, would make paying them in coin entirely impractical, with the limited amount of hard currency we have remaining."

    "So," he continued, "I propose offering grain as a form of payment to anyone willing to contribute to this effort. This includes felling trees, preparing the land, and any other manual labor required. Just like the new guards we are hiring, we could provide them with a set amount of grain and coal, enough to sustain their families for each day or perhaps each week of work they complete. We''ll have to pay it in advance though, so they''ll have enough to eat after they start working."

    "By doing so," he explained, "we achieve two crucial objectives. We conserve our limited coin reserves, which are essential for future needs, while simultaneously ensuring that the villagers have enough food to feed their families and enough coal to heat their homes."

    He acknowledged another looming concern. "Also, as Duvas mentioned earlier," he added, his voice tinged with a hint of worry, "we need to be prepared for the possibility of Count Cinran sending someone to collect the taxes owed to him."

    Duvas offered a curt nod, "If not now, my Lord, then he''ll surely send someone after the snow melts and the road to Cinran opens again."

    Kivamus pressed on. "Whether it happens now or after the winter," he continued, "we need to have enough coin on hand to pay those taxes," he declared, "especially if negotiating a tax waiver is unsuccessful."

    "Of course," he added, "we only bought enough grain to last us till the end of winter, that''s just another four months. Hopefully, the traders will start coming by then, and we will earn more coin by selling the coal we have stockpiled. However," he added, "just in case the traders take more time to start coming, and we are not able to raise coin by selling coal, then we need enough coin in hand to buy more grain immediately."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Duvas said. "And the wheat we will plant in spring won''t be ready for around¡­ four or five months, I think. Even if we harvest a good crop later on, we will still need to buy grain for those months."

    "Of course. And this grain-based payment system isn''t going to be a long-term solution," Kivamus admitted. "However, it should serve us well for the upcoming winter. Once spring arrives, we can reopen the coal mines after we have sold our existing stock, and return to a coin-based system for compensating the villagers, the guards, and the manor staff."

    "That is a good idea, my Lord," Gorsazo commented.

    Duvas nodded as well. "It would be helpful to start giving wages to the manor staff, if not now, then at least after the winter. Not paying the wages may be fine in the short term, but if continued for too long, it may give rise to all kinds of problems."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. Not paying wages to workers while still making them work could easily lead to a rebellion against him. And he had no intention to be deposed from his position as a baron any time soon. At least they will be able to provide food and coal for the villagers, which means this temporary solution should be fine for the winter at least.

    The door to the roof opened again, and Syryne walked towards them.

    "Food is ready, my Lord," she announced.

    Kivamus nodded. "We''ll be there in a few minutes."

    He craned his neck upwards, squinting at the sun. It hovered near its zenith, casting the roof of the manor house in a warm glow, which was very much welcome after the chill in the morning. Gazing out from the vantage point of the manor rooftop, he surveyed the scene below. The transfer of grain from Pydas'' wagons to the grain barns had nearly reached completion.

    A team of servants, their movements efficient and practiced, were loading coal onto the emptied wagons now. Pydas, who had left with a single wagon earlier to make the grain deliveries to the merchants in the village, had also returned by now and was directing the loading process of coal into all the wagons.

    With a satisfied nod, Kivamus addressed his advisors, his voice carrying a hint of finality.

    "Hudan, after we have eaten," he instructed, "head down to the village square and see if any good recruits have arrived for the guard positions." With a glance towards the majordomo, he added, "And Duvas, you should accompany him. Together, you both can assess the candidates and select the most reliable individuals for the job."

    He continued, "For hiring workers for cutting trees and clearing the fields, it doesn''t matter when that person moved to Tiranat. But for hiring new guards, we need loyal men, people you''ve known for a long time within Tiranat and for whom you can vouch for their character. We cannot take the risk of a traitor within the new guards we hire."

    He added, "While you are there, you should also announce that we will be clearing the forest surrounding the village for farming and that we will also start constructing shelters for housing the homeless villagers. So anyone who wants to do manual work should report outside the manor gates from tomorrow. Tell them that they will get the same deal as the new guards, that is, manual work in exchange for a fixed quota of grain and coal."

 32. Hoarding The Grain

    Hudan offered a curt nod. "Consider it done, my Lord," he replied with unwavering resolve.Gorsazo suggested, "Since many villagers will be gathered there anyway, it would be a good idea to make other announcements at the same time as well. Since we are looking for skilled carpenters and any experienced farmers in Tiranat, announcing this in the gathering would spread this news faster, and we will be able to meet with them before the evening."

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed. Their knowledge will be helpful to make a list of the necessary tools we require. Saws, shovels, axes, and anything else that might be needed for preparing the land for farming. We can then give this list to Pydas and have him purchase them for us in Cinran."

    Duvas chimed in, "My Lord, once we have a clearer picture of what tools we actually need, we should also consider the tools Pydas already brought with him. Although he brought them with coal mining in mind, many of those tools could be repurposed for our current needs."

    Kivamus''s eyes widened in realization. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "That completely slipped my mind. We should definitely ask what Pydas has brought and see if anything can be used for our requirements."

    Syryne, who had been a silent observer until this point, spoke up, her voice laced with concern. "My Lord," she began, "shouldn''t we also consider the situation of the orphans in the village? From what you''ve said, you will only be providing the grain to those who can contribute by doing manual labor. But what about those who are unable to work, like the children, or the elderly? They can''t work as guards or chop down trees!"

    Her question caused a moment of silence to descend upon them, forcing Kivamus to confront a blind spot in his plan. A grimace flickered across his face as he confessed, "The orphans¡­ I hadn''t thought about them¡­" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He vividly recalled the sight of the ragged children he''d encountered upon his arrival yesterday. They were too young to contribute manual labor in exchange for food, and without families to support them, they were the most vulnerable. The same likely held true for many of the older villagers, their bodies weakened by years of toil, rendering them unfit for strenuous labor.

    A pang of guilt washed over him. How could he have overlooked such a crucial aspect? Leading a village wasn''t just about grand plans and resource management; it was about ensuring the well-being of all its inhabitants. He chastised himself silently. He couldn''t leave their survival to chance. He may have been a stranger to this land just yesterday, but he was no longer an outsider. He was the Baron of Tiranat, and the well-being of his people, including every last one of them, now rested on his shoulders.

    He certainly realized that he was far from an expert in managing and leading a whole village. He was still learning the ins and outs of this, and it was inevitable that he would overlook certain things. He glanced at the faces surrounding him, a newfound appreciation blooming in his chest for the people who had slowly become his advisors. These were the people who would help him navigate the complexities of his new role. He was still a novice leader, and their willingness to point out his oversights was invaluable.

    Taking a deep breath, Kivamus forced himself to focus on solutions. Blaming himself wouldn''t feed the hungry children. "Thank you for reminding me, Syryne," he conceded, his voice heavy with newfound understanding. "I was overly focused on the immediate challenges and neglected to consider the most vulnerable members of our village." He looked at others. "We need to come up with a plan to ensure that the orphans and the elderly are also fed."

    He inquired, his gaze settling on each of his advisors in turn, "While the adults might be able to scrape by for another week until Pydas returns with more grain, children are far more vulnerable. So, what options do we have for them?"

    Gorsazo offered a preliminary solution. "Distributing a portion of the grain to the orphans, or perhaps to all the children in the village, seems like a reasonable starting point," he suggested. "We could even extend this list to the elderly and those who are physically unable to work."

    "While providing grain to the children seems compassionate, my Lord," Duvas pointed out, "it could lead to unintended consequences. If we simply announce that children can come and collect grain, many families might exploit this system by sending their children too, to collect the free grain. This would include even those families with adults who will already receive their weekly grain quota when they start to work from tomorrow."

    He continued, "In the worst-case scenario, it could lead to people hoarding the grain by firstly sending each of their children, and then the elderly members of their households one by one, to claim their share of free grain, creating a situation where those who truly need it are left empty-handed. With winter not far away now, fear can be a powerful motivator for people to do such things. Especially after they have spent the past few months without having enough to eat."

    A shadow of worry crossed Kivamus'' face. "You''re right, Duvas," he conceded. "It could very well happen."

    He continued after a moment, his voice grim, "In around two weeks we will have enough grain to feed the whole village for the winter, but that will only work if everyone receives their fair share. If people start hoarding the grain, the most vulnerable will be the ones to suffer, and that''s not acceptable."

    "Apart from that," Syryne pointed out, "simply providing raw grain to them wouldn''t be a good enough solution, my Lord. The orphans and the homeless people don''t have a place to stay. How would they even cook the raw grain? I am not sure if some of the young children we saw yesterday would even know how to cook a proper meal."

    A spark of inspiration ignited in Kivamus''s eyes as he contemplated Syryne''s words. "That''s it!" he exclaimed, a triumphant smile replacing his frown.

    "They may be able to hoard grain," he elaborated, "but they can''t hoard cooked meals! Here''s what we''ll do. Starting today, we''ll offer a bowl of hot porridge or soup to every child and elderly villager who comes to the manor gates for food. We can start with twice-daily meals, and then we can increase it to three meals a day once we have more grain after a week."

    A confident smile replaced his earlier frown. "This way," he explained, "we can ensure that everyone gets enough to eat every day and it also eliminates the possibility of hoarding, as the food will be cooked and ready to consume, which means it can''t be stored for weeks, unlike raw grain."

    "The able-bodied adults will continue to earn their meals by contributing to the land clearing efforts," he explained, "but for those who are unable to work, we will provide them enough food to ensure that no one in Tiranat will go hungry this winter."

    "Of course," he conceded, "even then many families may still send their children to get free meals from the manor, while they preserve the grain they have earned from doing manual labor. But this seems like an acceptable solution for now."

    Syryne interrupted, "But my Lord, can we even afford to feed them from the grain we already have in the manor?"

    Shaking his head slowly, and chiding himself for acting without thinking again, Kivamus said, "That''s a very good question. Did we even consider whether we can afford to provide grains to all the villagers for the next week? It will be fine after Pydas returns in a week, but until then do we even have enough grain in the manor to provide rations to all of the workers from tomorrow?"

    He continued, "If we only had to increase the amount of food cooked in the manor for the twelve guards we are hiring, it would not be too difficult. But it''s a different matter altogether to feed the whole village until we get more grain. At least one of you should have mentioned this before!"

    Duvas, with a hesitant nod, acknowledged, "Forgive me, my Lord, for not mentioning this earlier during our discussion. But I have already made the rough calculations for it earlier. It will be a challenge, but I believe we can manage it."

    Kivamus conceded, "That''s a start, but elaborate, Duvas! Tell me what you''ve considered. I need to be sure before making more promises!"

    Duvas cleared his throat. "Currently, my Lord, the manor holds a stockpile of twenty-five sacks of grain, including the three we already had in reserve. Earlier, I consulted with Madam Nerida on this very issue. We concluded that even if we were to feed the entire village from our reserves, that''s assuming nearly three hundred and fifty souls, it would take roughly one and a half sacks of grain, or perhaps a little less, to sustain them for each day."

    He continued, his voice gaining confidence, "That means, even with a ten-day wait for Pydas'' return with additional grain, we would only require around fifteen sacks to feed the whole village during that period. Of course, we must factor in the merchants within the village who purchased eight sacks of grain from Pydas. This means at least some villagers will likely purchase their own provisions and won''t rely on us, which will reduce the burden on our stores."

    "Since we now have twenty-five sacks of grain in the barns," he added, "we can indeed afford to spend fifteen sacks to provide enough grain rations to the workers until Pydas returns with new supplies. This will undoubtedly leave our grain barns nearly empty once more, but it is achievable, my Lord."

    Kivamus let out a relieved sigh. "That''s a weight off my shoulders."

    A thoughtful expression settled on his face. "And before I forget about it, when you make the announcements to the villagers, add this as well. Tell them that from this day forward, I want everyone in the village to know that they have my permission to hunt in the surrounding forests and cultivate vegetable patches behind their houses. You mentioned earlier that some of them already do this out of necessity," he acknowledged, "but they shouldn''t have to live in fear of punishment for simply trying to feed their families."

    His gaze swept across the manor from his vantage point on the roof. "While we plan to establish proper farms in the spring, ensuring a steady supply of grain will take time. There''s no harm in allowing them to cultivate their own vegetables in their free time. It not only supplements their diet but also fosters a sense of self-sufficiency within the community."

    He gestured towards the forests, his gaze sweeping over the vast expanse of trees visible beyond the manor walls. "And these forests are vast," he continued. "There''s no need to worry about over-hunting, not even if the entire village participated. The bigger concern, as you rightly pointed out earlier, is the danger lurking within - ferocious beasts and those damned bandits."

    Hudan suggested, "My Lord, when we have enough trained guards in the coming weeks, we can organize bigger hunting parties. These groups can include experienced hunters from the village, along with some of our armed guards. This way, instead of venturing out alone and risking their lives, the villagers will have some protection in numbers."

    "Good idea," Kivamus complimented. "We''ll try to do that as well."

    He continued, "Duvas also mentioned that the villagers don''t own the land they live on." Kivamus paused, his expression turning contemplative. "This is a complex issue that requires a lot of consideration. We''ll address it in due time, but for now, let''s focus on our immediate priorities."

    Duvas offered a curt nod, acknowledging Kivamus'' decisions.

    With finality in his voice, Kivamus concluded, "Alright everyone, after our meal, Duvas and Hudan, both of you will head to the village square. There, you''ll make the necessary announcements and begin recruiting for the guard positions."

    He looked at Syryne, who had been listening carefully to the discussion. "Let''s go for lunch now. We can''t let the food go cold that you and Madam Helga prepared for us."

    Hudan and Duvas exchanged a determined look, both men understanding the weight of this responsibility. With a respectful nod, they acknowledged Kivamus'' instructions and left the rooftop along with Gorsazo, keen to begin their assigned tasks after the meal. Syryne followed them as well.

    Left alone on the rooftop, Kivamus allowed himself a moment of quiet contemplation before leaving. He gazed out at the throng of activity below and the sprawling forests surrounding Tiranat for a while. With a plan taking shape and his advisors by his side, he was determined to succeed. The challenges ahead were undoubtedly daunting, but Kivamus, the unexpected baron of a struggling barony, was prepared to face them head-on. The journey to transform Tiranat from a struggling barony to a thriving domain had begun.

 33. Tall Tales

    Kivamus pushed open the heavy doors of the manor hall, a wave of warmth and enticing aromas washing over him. The afternoon sun streamed through the high windows, illuminating the room. Inside, the long wooden table that dominated the hall was already bustling with activity.Madam Helga moved around the table, arranging an assortment of steaming platters and bowls, with the help of Syryne. Gorsazo and Duvas occupied one side of the table, deep in conversation. Hudan, on the other side, seemed a world away from his usual stoic demeanor. He was the center of attention for Lucem and an unexpected guest who was sitting next to him.

    There, perched on the very edge of a chair, sat Clarisa, the young maid who had narrowly escaped death by poisoning the previous day, seemingly recovered and in good spirits. As his gaze settled on the scene, he realized the source of her merriment. Hudan, his massive frame occupying a nearby chair, was imitating one sword strike after another while telling a tale from his past. His booming voice, usually reserved for pronouncements and commands, was being used for recounting an outlandish story about the day when he single-handedly defeated an adzee. From the giggles escaping Clarisa and Lucem''s awe, it was easy to guess that Hudan''s story was a captivating one.

    As Kivamus entered, Clarisa, startled from her amusement, leaped to her feet and bobbed a hasty curtsy. "My Lord!" she squeaked, her voice betraying a flustered mix of embarrassment and fear. "I didn''t mean to take a seat here, my Lord!" she stammered.

    "It''s... it''s Hudan''s fault!" she declared, pointing an accusing finger at the still-chuckling giant beside her, her voice laced with mock anger. "He was telling us a really great story, my Lord! And I didn''t even notice when I sat down! I promise!"

    Hudan, his attempts at stifling his laughter now a comical sight, could only manage a series of snorts and wheezes. Kivamus couldn''t help but smile at the sight. The previous day had been filled with tension, and this unexpected burst of lightheartedness was a welcome change.

    Kivamus, who found the scene endearing, raised a hand in a placating gesture. "Don''t worry about it, Clarisa," he chuckled, his voice radiating relief and amusement. "And I''m glad to see you''re feeling well again."

    Madam Helga interjected with a warm smile. "She woke up feeling much better earlier, my Lord," she explained, "and simply refused to stay cooped up in her room any longer. So, I brought her here to join us. I hope you don''t mind."

    "Not at all, Madam Helga," he reassured, his voice warm as he settled into his seat at the head of the table. "It''s a welcome sight to see everyone gathered and in good spirits, especially Clarisa." His gaze softened as he turned to Clarisa. "Are you feeling well enough to join us for a meal, Clarisa?"

    Clarisa, still flustered from her outburst, hesitated before responding. "I¡­ I''m not sure, my Lord," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. Casting a hesitant glance at Syryne, she added, "Can I, Miss Syryne?"

    Syryne offered a reassuring smile. "Of course you can, Clarisa," she replied, "as long as you feel up to it. Does your stomach feel okay now? Or is it still hurting?"

    Clarisa shook her head. "No, Miss Syryne, I feel alright."

    Kivamus, noticing her lingering uncertainty, decided to intervene. He gestured towards the table, and with a hint of encouragement in his tone, he said, "In that case, you can take a seat with us, Clarisa."

    Clarisa''s gaze darted around the table, taking in the faces of the assembled group. Hesitation flickered across her features once more. Perhaps the company of the Baron and his advisors seemed a bit too grand for a young maid who had just recovered from a poisoning attempt.

    Clarisa''s gaze darted to Syryne, who had become a pillar of comfort during her ordeal. Syryne''s warm smile seemed to break the dam of hesitation. With a shy nod, Clarisa returned a hesitant smile. Gathering her courage, she took a small step forward, then another, until she reached the empty chair beside Syryne.

    Sensing Clarisa''s slight awkwardness, Syryne, who was sitting next to Lucem, reached out and patted the empty chair next to her. "Come on, have a seat here," she said in a gentle voice. "I''ll keep you company and help you with your meal if you''d like me to."

    A genuine smile finally bloomed on Clarisa''s face, chasing away the last vestiges of shyness. With a newfound confidence, she walked towards the chair and settled down next to Syryne. When Madam Helga took a seat as well after she finished serving everyone, they began the simple lunch, with many conversations happening around the table simultaneously. Duvas and Gorsazo still seemed to be in a serious conversation, while Lucem and Clarisa were talking to Syryne, and Madam Helga watched the kids with a smile.

    Meanwhile, Kivamus leaned in towards the new guard captain, a playful glint in his eye. "Hudan," he murmured in a low voice, barely audible over the soft chatter at the table, "that tale of single-handedly defeating an adzee? I find it a little hard to believe."

    Hudan, unable to contain his amusement any longer, let out a hearty laugh, albeit softened to avoid startling the children at the table. "Of course you do, my Lord!" he chuckled, as he whispered. "Truth be told, even with four trained men, including a knight, it was a close call. But any good story needs a bit of uh¡­ decoration, wouldn''t you agree? Especially for youngsters like Lucem and Clarisa."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh as well. Hudan, despite his gruff exterior, possessed a surprising knack for connecting with children, particularly after living the last few years in Helga''s inn, where Lucem must have provided a keen audience for his tall tales. "True enough, Hudan, true enough," he conceded with a chuckle.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Tesyb hunched deeper into his worn out blanket, the late-morning chill seeping through the threadbare fabric. He was sitting on the crumbling remains of his doorstep, the remnants of what had once been a sturdy door creaking mournfully in the breeze. The news carried on the excited chatter of villagers hurrying past had drawn him out of his burnt house. Apparently, guards from the manor were going to make an announcement in the village square, and everyone was expected to gather there.

    He hadn''t missed the arrival of the caravan yesterday, the one that brought their new Lord to Tiranat. A young man by all accounts, his arrival had caused a stir in the village. Whispers flew like wildfire, carrying the rumor that he was none other than a son of the Duke of Ulriga himself. Tesyb had scoffed at the rumors at first. It seemed too grand, too unbelievable to be true, but a rapid spread of the rumors had lent them a troubling weight. Now, they seemed to be the only explanation for a high-born noble like him ending up in this desolate village. He guessed that the baron was exiled, most likely. The specific crime the new baron might have done to earn that exile remained a mystery, lost in the murky games of power that nobles played amongst themselves.

    What could this announcement be about? Curiosity tugged at him. News was a rare commodity these days, especially good news. With a shrug of resignation, he decided there wasn''t much else to do, so why not? As he stood up, a sliver of hope ignited within him. Maybe, just maybe, the announcement had something to do with the coal mines reopening. But Tesyb quickly crushed any lingering hope with a cynical scoff. Wishful thinking, nothing more. He knew for a fact that the manor''s coal barns were still overflowing. After all, he had been the one leading the wagons the last time they delivered a load of coal to the manor - the barns were loaded to the brim back then. And without a steady stream of merchants to buy the coal, Tesyb couldn''t fathom why anyone would consider reopening the mines.

    He glanced towards the ramshackle structure that served as his family''s home nowadays. His parents, their weathered faces etched with worry, peeked out from the doorway. Handing over his blanket to them, Tesyb offered a reassuring nod. "Just heading down to the square to see what the fuss is about," he called out. "Be back soon."

    As he set off, Tesyb shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What did the lineage of the new Baron matter to him? A noble was a noble, exiled or not. Their reasons for being here were irrelevant to the harsh realities facing the villagers. Exiled for political missteps or genuine crimes, it all meant the same - another master to serve, another set of rules to follow.

    The village square wasn''t very far, and he needed to hear this announcement for himself, even if it was just another empty promise from a self-serving noble. As he reached closer, a wave of murmur and excited chatter drifted towards him from the square.

    Tesyb rounded a corner and the familiar sight of the village square came into view. This central gathering place of the village, which doubled as the sole marketplace of the village, now reflected the hardships that had befallen Tiranat. These days only a few stalls stood as silent testaments to better days, their awnings drooping and their wares gathering dust. With the mines shuttered, and after the recent bandit raid, the villagers'' pockets were lighter than ever, and there were few customers to tempt the weary merchants. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He gazed at the villagers walking towards the square, noting the familiar faces bearing a mixture of curiosity and desperation. A low sigh escaped his lips. It wasn''t surprising. With the closure of the mines, and their most reliable source of income severed, most villagers had little else to occupy their time.

    He quickened his pace, weaving his way through the growing crowd. As he entered the square proper, the sheer number of people already gathered there surprised him. Drawn by the promise of news, it seemed like most of Tiranat''s inhabitants were gathered here, a stark contrast to the deserted square he was accustomed to these days. He must have received the news later than most - his home, nestled near the village''s western edge, placed him further from the rumor mill.

    The sight before him stirred a bittersweet pang of nostalgia. He remembered evenings in the square after each hard day spent working in the coal mines, his pockets jingling with hard-earned coin. Nearly all the miners, their faces flushed and muscles aching from exhaustion, would gather here after collecting their wages for the day. This place would become a hive of activity in the evenings - stalls overflowing with fresh vegetables from the local vegetable patches and fruits brought by the gatherers would do a brisk trade, with the joyous laughter of children chasing each other in the background. The butcher''s shop at the corner would offer freshly cut meat brought by the hunters venturing into the nearby forests.

    All around the marketplace, merchants would be hawking their wares to the newly paid miners. The air would be thick with the chatter of bartering and the clinking of coins, their laughter mingling with the comforting aroma of brewing ale wafting from the alehouse at the corner. For many, it was a time to unwind - a mug or two of ale at the tavern, a shared joke with friends, a respite from the day''s toil. Tesyb cast a wistful glance towards the alehouse, its once-gleaming sign now dull and chipped. It had been far too long since he''d enjoyed a mug of ale after a long day''s work. A pang of longing shot through him - a longing for better times, for a full belly, and the camaraderie that had once filled the village square.

    He shook himself out of his melancholy, the urgency of the present pushing aside the ghosts of the past. He needed to get closer, to hear what the Baron''s announcement was all about. He maneuvered through the crowd, the press of bodies pushing him steadily toward the center of the now densely packed marketplace.

    Tesyb squelched his way through the final patch of mud, a remnant of the downpours that had plagued them just days ago. Reaching near the center of the crowded square, he found himself craning his neck to see over the heads of the villagers gathered there. As he scanned the crowd, his gaze fell upon the two manor guards standing near the aged well that served as the unofficial heart of the gathering place. He recognized one of them instantly - Kerel, a grizzled guard with a mane of iron-gray hair who usually manned the main gate of the manor. A seasoned veteran pushing forty, Kerel wasn''t exactly friendly, but Tesyb knew him by face at least.

    The crowd continued to swell, their murmurs and hushed conversations creating a low buzz of anticipation. Tesyb had to wait for a while to hear the announcement since the guards seemed to be waiting for more of the villagers to gather there. Finally, Kerel stepped onto a sturdy wooden bench beside the well, his presence demanding silence. He raised a hand, silencing the growing din, all eyes fixed on the guard.

    "Hear ye, hear ye!" his voice boomed across the square. "A message from the Baron himself!"

    A hush fell over the crowd, a mixture of anticipation and trepidation hanging heavy in the air. Tesyb shifted his weight, his curiosity piqued.

    "The Baron seeks new recruits for his manor guard! Those with experience in combat will be given preference," he continued, his gaze scanning the faces before him. "Any young man, strong and fit, with a desire to serve as a guard, step forward and speak to me after the announcement." Young men, their faces etched with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, shifted at the front of the crowd.

    A flurry of questions erupted from the crowd. "How many guards is the Lord looking for?" someone shouted.

    Kerel held up a hand, silencing the growing commotion. "We aim for a dozen new recruits today, and possibly more in the coming weeks."

    Another voice, this time belonging to a burly miner, boomed with a question that echoed the anxieties of many. "And how much will the new guards be paid for it?" he demanded.

    A tense silence followed the question. Kerel exchanged a hesitant glance with his fellow guard before turning back to the expectant faces. He shook his head slowly, the movement stiff and deliberate.

    Turning back to the crowd, he spoke, his voice carrying a note of regret. "At this time, we cannot offer any payment of coin..."

 34. All Work And No Payâ€¦?

    A chorus of angry shouts erupted from the assembled villagers after hearing that. The announcement, far from the news of opportunity they had craved, was met with an immediate uproar."We have to risk our lives without pay? How are we supposed to feed our families?" a man shouted in protest, his tone laced with anger and despair.

    "It doesn''t make sense! Why would we work for free?" a woman''s voice shrieked in disbelief. Frustration and desperation boiled over as others continued to voice their concerns.

    Tesyb''s heart sank as disappointment clawed at him. Truth be told, he wasn''t surprised by the lack of coin. The manor wouldn''t have been able to sell any coal in the recent months after all, without any traders coming here. But the spark of hope he''d clung to - a chance at a steady income, a way to provide for his family - vanished like smoke in the wind after hearing the harsh reality of no coin payment. He stood rooted to the spot, the weight of the announcement settling heavily upon him, as he waited to hear if there was more to it.

    Kerel held up his hands, palms facing the crowd, in a desperate attempt to quell the rising tide of anger. The air crackled with frustration, the villagers'' shouts echoing off the houses that surrounded the square. Once a semblance of quiet had returned, his voice, roughened by years of service, cut through the tension.

    "Hold on, everyone!" he bellowed. "There''s more to the announcement. I''m not saying that you wouldn''t be compensated for the work! Instead of providing coin, the Baron is offering the new guards a regular allotment of grain and coal - enough to feed their families and keep their homes warm through the coming winter."

    A lone voice, laced with suspicion, cut through the fragile calm. "But why not coin?" the man hollered. "Grain and coal are all well and good, but we need coin for other things - clothes for our children, repairs to our homes¡­"

    Kerel locked eyes with the speaker, his gaze unwavering. "It is not for me to explain the reasoning behind this decision," he admitted. "I''m simply here to deliver the message. The exact amount of grain and coal each guard will receive will be determined once we''ve chosen our recruits."

    With that, Kerel hopped off the bench, his job complete. The crowd, however, remained abuzz. Tesyb, his heart pounding in his chest, knew what this meant. With the mines shut down, this was their only chance to put food on the table. Only a dozen new jobs for the whole village wasn''t much, but it meant a dozen families would have a chance to survive the harsh winter. Every unemployed miner in the village would be vying for these guard positions. But he wouldn''t let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

    Tesyb, a broad-shouldered former miner himself, felt a surge of adrenaline course through him. He scanned the crowd, his eyes locking onto other burly men, their faces a reflection of his own desperation. The air crackled with unspoken tension as everyone shuffled forward, jockeying for position, each pushing to be the first to reach the guards. Heaving himself onto the balls of his feet, Tesyb used his broad frame, honed by years of laboring in the mines, to his advantage.

    He waded through the throng, shoving and jostling his way towards the guards, determined to be among the first considered. Every other able-bodied man in the village seemed to have the same idea. Elbows started to fly, shouts erupted, and a tense silence punctuated by the heavy thud of boots on packed earth filled the air. The promise of food and warmth had turned neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, all in a desperate bid for a sliver of hope in a bleak future.

    Kerel''s voice boomed through the square. "Hold it right there, all of you! Reaching the front first won''t guarantee your selection. We need disciplined men, not brawlers!"

    His words, laced with authority, gradually penetrated the haze of desperation. Slowly, the initial frenzy subsided, replaced by a tense calm. Many villagers - those too old, too young, or simply unfit for such a role, drifted away from the center of the village square. Their faces were etched with disappointment and a hint of resignation, as they moved towards the outskirts of the square to keep watching. The women, some of whom were cradling toddlers or infants in their arms, retreated to the periphery of the square, casting worried glances at their husbands and sons still vying for a spot. Even the children, initially curious about the commotion, lost interest and wandered off to play amongst the few stalls.

    The announcement, while offering a glimmer of hope for some, only served to highlight their own helplessness. As the crowd thinned near the center, only the young men remained near the well - those with a strong build and a look of determination etched on their faces. Tesyb scanned the faces around him - a sea of former miners, their calloused hands and sturdy builds a testament to their past profession. Yet, the despair of unemployment had brought them here, ready to trade the darkness of the mines for the uncertainty of a guard''s life.

    They were all competitors now, vying for a limited number of spots. He estimated close to a hundred men still standing to be chosen as a manor guard, a number far exceeding the dozen guards the Baron required. A cold knot of anxiety formed in his stomach. Only a select few would be lucky enough to be chosen, leaving the rest to face the harsh reality of empty bellies when they returned home.

    He straightened his back, a steely resolve hardening his features. He couldn''t afford to dwell on the odds. He had to make a case for himself and prove his worth. This was his only chance, a chance for survival, not just for himself, but for his parents who depended on him. Even if the pay wasn''t in coin, as announced earlier, the grain and coal would be enough to keep his aging parents fed and warm through the harsh winter. This was his only chance, and he wouldn''t let it slip through his fingers.

    With a newfound determination, Tesyb focused his gaze on Kerel. Now that the initial mayhem had subsided, the guard seemed to be waiting for something. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once Kerel noticed only the young, able-bodied men remained, he cleared his throat and addressed the remaining hopefuls. "Alright, lads," he announced. "Now, you have to wait. The guard captain himself will be coming to assess the recruits."

    A murmur of anticipation rippled through the crowd as they waited. Tesyb took a deep breath, his nerves frayed with a blend of apprehension and determination. He had to be ready. The future of his family depended on the impression he made on the guard captain.

    The tension in the village square remained thick as the minutes stretched into an hour. Based on the temple bell which was rung twice during that time, he guessed that more than an hour had passed by as they kept waiting, marked only by the occasional cough from an older villager and a muttered curse from the gathered men. Some of the villagers had found places to sit, usually on the ground where they were standing. Tesyb shifted his weight from one foot to the other, anxiety gnawing at him.

    Then, a commotion arose from the edge of the square. Tesyb craned his neck for a better view. A group of villagers parted, revealing a familiar figure - Duvas, the Baron''s majordomo. Flanking him was another guard, a man Tesyb recognized seeing with the baron''s caravan yesterday. This new guard, however, was impossible to miss. Armed with a sword on his back, he was a giant of a man, his heavy boots thudding on the packed earth as he walked. This man was built like an ox, his broad shoulders straining the seams of his leather armor, as his height towered over the villagers. Even Tesyb, known for his stature amongst the miners, paled in comparison.

    The newcomers walked towards the well, the crowd parting easily around them. After a brief conversation with Kerel and the other guard, the giant of a man strode towards the well, his gaze sweeping over the assembled hopefuls with a critical eye. Tesyb felt a tremor of apprehension run through the crowd. This seemed like the new guard captain, and his approval was the key to securing the coveted position of a manor guard.

    The huge man reached the empty bench beside the well and hoisted himself onto it with surprising agility for his size. Finally, the man cleared his throat and addressed the assembled men.

    The huge man''s voice, deep and booming, echoed across the square. "Listen up, all of you!" he commanded. "Hudan''s the name, and I''m the new guard captain of the manor. First things first - make some space here. I need to see each of you properly."

    A hesitant murmur rippled through the crowd. A few men shuffled their feet a little and moved a step back. But most of the men, desperate to be seen as the best candidates, were reluctant to move back.

    But Hudan''s patience seemed to be wearing thin. His brow furrowed, and his voice took on a harsher edge. "Did I stutter? Move back! Create some space in the center. Right now!" he bellowed.

    This time, the message resonated clearly. The raw power in his voice brooked no argument. The crowd slowly shuffled backward, muttering amongst themselves, but a clear space finally opened up in the center of the village square. Tesyb himself had only moved back a small step, resulting in his new position much closer to the front of the crowd, instead of in the middle where he had been standing earlier.

    Hudan grunted in satisfaction. "Alright, that''s better," he rumbled, surveying the newly formed space with a nod of approval.

    "Good. Now, listen closely," he barked. "I''ll be pointing at some of you. Those chosen will step forward. The rest of you - stay back. And remember, one word out of line, one disruption, and the whole damn recruitment is off. Disobeying orders will guarantee that you''re not getting selected, is that understood?"

    A chorus of gruff affirmations echoed through the square. The air crackled with nervous anticipation. Tesyb straightened his back, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The moment of truth had arrived. His future, and the well-being of his family, hung in the balance. He had to be ready to prove his worth to this formidable new guard captain. He even craned his neck upwards to be more visible to Hudan, a nervous tremor running through him.

    Finally, Hudan, the imposing guard captain, began his selection. One by one, he pointed a thick finger at different young men, his gaze lingering on each for a moment before a gruff, "Step forward," echoed across the square. Envy washed over him as each chosen villager, a triumphant grin plastered on their face, stepped into the designated area. Yet, as the number of chosen villagers rose higher, Tesyb''s own smile remained stubbornly absent.

    The minutes ticked by, agonizingly slow. Tesyb remained rooted to the spot, a knot of anxiety tightening in his gut with every passing selection. He kept watching, his heart sinking with each choice that wasn''t Tesyb himself. He was well aware of his own strength, honed years in the mines swinging a pickaxe. Yet, as the number of selected men rose past a dozen, cold sweat began to prickle his skin. Why hadn''t his turn come yet?

    He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze constantly flitting between Hudan''s imposing figure and the dwindling pool of hopefuls. Suddenly, Hudan''s gaze snapped towards him. Tesyb felt a jolt of adrenaline course through him as the captain''s finger pointed directly at him. "Step forward," Hudan rumbled.

    Relief flooded his system, so intense it almost knocked him off balance. With a surge of nervous energy, he pushed his way through the remaining crowd, a wide grin splitting his face. Joining the ranks of the chosen, Tesyb cast a glance around.

    He couldn''t help but notice a pattern. These men weren''t just physically imposing, they exuded a certain fierceness. Many of them, including Tesyb himself, bore the marks of past fights - scars that criss-crossed their faces or adorned their knuckles and arms, each one a testament to a past brawl or skirmish. They held themselves with a different kind of confidence, a predatory glint in their eyes that spoke of experience in the harsher realities of life.

    A frown creased his face. This wasn''t right. Hudan wasn''t picking based on strength or fitness for work, at least not solely. He seemed to be picking based on something else entirely - a past marked by violence, an apparent willingness to get into fights. Or more likely, based on their looks - those who looked like they were already experienced in fights were the ones to be chosen.

    The realization gnawed at him, a bitter taste in his mouth. Was this truly the only way to secure a place as a guard? It seemed absurd, a nonsensical way to choose guards. Surely, strength and skill held more weight than a collection of past brawls. He shook his head. Perhaps the long hours underground had dulled his senses, or maybe the desperation clouding his judgment was playing tricks on him. He pushed the thought aside, focusing on the task at hand.

    Hudan''s selection process continued until nearly twenty men stood before him. Then, to Tesyb''s surprise, the guard captain stepped off the bench and turned to Duvas, the majordomo. They huddled together, their voices dropping to a low murmur. The majordomo, his brow furrowed in concentration, scrutinized the chosen men before murmuring a response back. Tesyb strained to hear what was being said, but only fragments reached him - whispers of "loyalty," "discipline," and a name he couldn''t quite catch.

    Finally, Hudan cleared his throat and addressed the group once more. "Alright, listen up," he boomed, his voice silencing the murmurs that had begun to rise. "This is it for now. Those of you who have been chosen will come back with me to the manor. There, we''ll put your skills to the test. We need men who can fight, who can defend the Baron and his interests. After I see which of you can actually hold your own in a fight, we''ll choose the final twelve who will become the new guards for the Baron."

    What? They had to go through another test now? Tesyb was quite surprised to hear that there would be a further selection process before they became manor guards. He had thought the guard captain had simply decided to recruit more guards than he had claimed earlier.

    Disappointment clouded the faces of many of them, while some even muttered curses. The initial relief of being chosen was replaced with a new wave of uncertainty. A physical test? Even if getting in a brawl in the alehouse was nothing new to them, none of them had ever trained for combat. They were miners, not warriors. But it couldn''t be helped¡­

    Tesyb squared his shoulders, a newfound determination hardening his gaze. This wasn''t over yet. He may have been chosen based on his scars, but he wouldn''t back down without a fight. He had come this far, and he wouldn''t let this opportunity slip through his grasp. Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself for what was to come. The promise of food and warmth for his family outweighed his fear. He would prove himself, even if it meant facing his fellow villagers in combat.

 35. Big Promises

    A low murmur of disappointment rippled through the crowd. The unchosen men, their dreams of a steady income now disappeared, slowly shuffled away, muttering curses under their breath. It could have been him, Tesyb thought. It still could be so, if he didn''t get picked in the final selection.But before they could start to disperse, Duvas intervened and halted the guard captain. A short exchange with Hudan followed, and the guard captain gave a nod to the majordomo before addressing the crowd once more, after climbing back on the wooden bench.

    "Hold on, everyone!" he boomed. "There''s more to the announcement. Mr. Duvas was going to tell you about this, but instead, he has asked me to make the other announcements as well."

    A spark of curiosity flickered in the weary eyes of the villagers. Even the women and elders, who had retreated to the fringes of the village square after the initial selection, perked up their ears, eager to hear what else the Baron''s representatives had to say.

    Hudan cleared his throat and continued. "Let me assure you," he declared, "the new Baron, Lord Kivamus, is different from the nobles you''re used to. He doesn''t just see Tiranat as a source of revenue. Lord Kivamus has a genuine interest in the well-being of Tiranat and its people. He envisions a brighter future for this village, a future brimming with opportunity for everyone. He has grand plans for this village, plans that extend far beyond the selection of new guards."

    A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd. Tesyb, along with most others, had grown accustomed to the indifference of the previous Baron. The notion of a leader who actually cared for their plight seemed almost unimaginable to them.

    Hudan continued, his voice taking on a more official tone. "There''s a significant amount of work to be done to realize the Baron''s vision. And that''s where all of you come in. Those who weren''t chosen for guard duty, and anyone in the village willing to put in honest manual labor can report to the manor gates starting tomorrow morning."

    Hudan paused for a moment, letting the meaning of his words sink in. "Lord Kivamus," he proclaimed, his voice ringing out across the square, "has decided to establish farms here in Tiranat itself!"

    Tesyb, along with the rest of the villagers, couldn''t help but stare in astonishment. The previous Baron had been a leech, sucking the village dry without giving a single thought about its well-being. Under his rule, farming had never been allowed here, except for a few meager vegetable patches behind the houses of some villagers, which he probably never noticed. The villagers were forced to rely on overpriced grain from distant traders, putting a constant burden on their meager earnings, just so the previous baron could increase his profits by taxing those traders from Cinran, as well as the local merchants.

    The prospect of growing their own food here, of achieving a measure of self-sufficiency, was a dream they had almost dared not dream. Of course, even then the baron would take his share of the profits and his taxes, but it still would be much better than buying the grain from the traders who charged sky-high prices for it.

    A murmur of excited chatter erupted amongst the villagers. The prospect of work, of a chance to contribute to their own future, was a beacon of hope in their bleak circumstances. Even those who hadn''t been chosen as guards couldn''t hide the smiles spreading across their faces.

    If Lord Kivamus'' plan came to fruition, it would mean a future free from the chokehold of exorbitant food prices. The village could become self-sustaining, and it could become a turning point for Tiranat. A genuine smile stretched across Tesyb''s face as well. He glanced around the square and saw the same flicker of hope reflected in the eyes of his fellow villagers. Perhaps, just perhaps, a brighter future was on the horizon.

    A hush fell over the square once again. Every villager, young and old, able-bodied and not, strained to catch Hudan''s next words.

    Hudan, his gaze sweeping over the attentive faces, continued. His large hand gestured outwards, encompassing the trees that fringed the village. "To make way for these fields," he explained, "we''ll need to clear the land - a lot of it. That means felling trees, clearing the shrubs, and once the land is clear enough, then preparing the soil for planting in the spring."

    A ripple of eager mutterings spread through the crowd. Many of the men, especially those who hadn''t been chosen as guards, straightened their backs, a sense of purpose rekindled in their eyes. The prospect of working on the land, of nurturing crops that would sustain them through harsh winters, held a noticeable allure. But as Hudan held up his hands again to silence the crowd, Tesyb realized he wasn''t finished yet.

    "And that''s not all," the guard captain declared. "Lord Kivamus has also noticed the plight of those who lost their homes in the fire." His gaze swept over the makeshift shelters and the remnants of burnt houses which were easily visible beyond the packed marketplace as a silent acknowledgment of their hardship.

    A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The burnt houses, a constant reminder of their misfortune, now seemed to hold a glimmer of hope for them.

    "So, he''s decided to address that as well," Hudan continued, his voice rising above the murmurs. "The Baron is going to construct new housing for all the homeless villagers! No one in Tiranat will have to face the coming winter without a roof over their heads!"

    A beat of silence followed, before giving way to a thunderous eruption of cheers, a joyous roar that echoed through the village. Relief, disbelief, and pure, unadulterated joy washed over the faces of the villagers. No more nights spent huddled together for warmth, shivering in the unforgiving winds¡­ The thought of a secure roof over their heads brought tears to some eyes and wide smiles across others.

    Tesyb, his heart swelling with cautious hope, couldn''t help but grin as well. A genuine, unrestrained smile stretched across his face for the first time in months. Perhaps, just perhaps, this new Baron would really be different... The prospect of his parents finally having a proper home, a place free from the biting wind and relentless rain, filled him with a hope that had been absent for a long time. But, would it really happen¡­?

    A sliver of doubt remained lodged in Tesyb''s heart. Years of neglect under the previous Baron had instilled a healthy dose of cynicism in him and many of the villagers. They had heard grand pronouncements before, promises that fizzled out like dying embers. And so, he wouldn''t allow himself to get swept away by euphoria just yet. He would only believe Lord Kivamus'' promises when he saw definite action, until his parents had a roof above their heads and the first seeds were sown. Only when these pronouncements transformed into tangible improvements in their lives, would he allow himself to trust the new baron''s words. But for now, at least he had some hope for the future¡­

    Hudan, his hands raised in a placating gesture, waited for the joyous outburst to subside. "There''s a lot of work to be done to achieve all this, as you all can guess," he continued once a semblance of quiet returned. "Winter is approaching fast, and these houses won''t build themselves. We need to move quickly to ensure everyone has a roof over their heads before the harsh weather sets in."

    He looked at the crowd for a moment. "That means there''ll be enough work for just about everyone in the village. Those who can fell trees, those who can haul stone, those who can work on sawing the logs - all your skills will be needed."

    Another wave of cheers echoed through the square, a testament to the renewed spirit that coursed through the villagers. Tesyb looked around at the faces of the villagers, as a sense of camaraderie, a shared purpose, filled the air. They may have been battered by hardship, but their spirits were far from broken.

    The once-despondent crowd thrummed with a newfound energy, a collective determination to seize this opportunity and rebuild their lives. With work to be done, food to be grown, and a roof over their heads, Tiranat might just rise from the ashes of despair. They would face the challenges together, as a village united. And for the first time in months, hope, a fragile yet persistent flame, flickered brightly in the hearts of the people of Tiranat.

    Hudan raised his hand to calm down the crowd, and a hush fell back over the square. "As Kerel must have informed you earlier," he began, "there are reasons beyond our control that prevent us from offering coin payment for the work at this time."

    "That''s why," Hudan continued, "the compensation for all laborers - those clearing land for the farms and those assisting with construction, will be similar to what the guards are receiving. Everyone who reports for work tomorrow will be paid a fixed amount of grain and coal every week. This system will continue throughout the winter, and then Lord Kivamus will re-evaluate the situation."

    A collective sigh rippled through the crowd, the disappointment palpable. The promise of grain and coal had initially sparked hope, but it wasn''t coin. Coin meant freedom, the ability to choose what they bought and how they spent it. Grain and coal as payment, while essential, felt restrictive. But at least it was better than starving and freezing in the winter.

    Tesyb exchanged glances with the other selected recruits, a silent conversation passing between them. Becoming a guard, with its inherent dangers, wasn''t the only option anymore. The announcement sparked a quiet conversation amongst the newly selected recruits. Tesyb himself didn''t mind fighting. He had been a big man all his life, and although he had never gotten any formal training to fight, he had had more than his fair share of breaking up brawls in the alehouse when a few miners got too drunk. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Suddenly, two of the men chosen as guards stepped towards the guard captain, their faces etched with trepidation. One of them, a young man named Finn, addressed Hudan directly. "Sir, if the wages are the same anyway, we would like to work as laborers for clearing land and felling trees instead of becoming a guard. We''d prefer not to risk our lives, now that we know there is another option to feed our families."

    He glanced at the other recruit who had stepped forward with him. "Like him, I have a wife and a young child waiting for me at home, and I''d rather not take the risk of making her a widow already."

    Hudan, his face an impassive mask, acknowledged their request with a nod. "The duty of a guard does carry a higher risk," he rumbled, "which is why they typically receive a higher wage than miners or laborers. To compensate for that risk, even though we are not able to pay you all in coin, the guards will still receive slightly larger portions of grain and coal each week compared to the laborers."

    The announcement had a clear impact. The other hesitant recruit, swayed by the promise of more provisions, seemed to reconsider. He mumbled something under his breath and stepped back into the ranks of the guards-to-be. Finn, however, remained resolute. The thought of risking his life was seemingly not acceptable to him if there were other options to provide for his family. Hudan, with a curt nod of understanding, dismissed him and Finn returned to the crowd surrounding the center of the marketplace.

    Scanning the crowd once more, Hudan addressed a new topic. "We are aware," he boomed, "that some of you have been cultivating vegetable gardens behind your homes, despite the lack of permission from the previous baron."

    A flicker of apprehension ran through the crowd like a nervous breeze. Hudan''s words brought back memories of the iron fist of the previous Baron. Tesyb''s father had also been growing a few vegetables behind their now-damaged house, which had helped them a lot in recent times. Were they now facing punishment for those vegetable gardens?

    Hudan, sensing the shift in mood, quickly interjected. "Hold on now, there''s no need to worry!" he boomed in a reassuring voice. "Lord Kivamus is not going to punish anyone for simply trying to feed their families. He understands the hardships you''ve faced, especially with the recent grain shortage."

    A collective sigh of relief washed over the villagers. Their defiance, born out of necessity, had been tacitly acknowledged, and perhaps even commended.

    Hudan continued, his voice laced with a hint of empathy. "Lord Kivamus sees the value in self-sufficiency. That''s why, starting today, he has lifted all restrictions on vegetable gardens. Every villager is free to cultivate whatever they can behind their houses, and the Baron even encourages you to expand them if possible. The more food you grow, the better!"

    A cheer erupted from the crowd. Nervous glances were replaced by nods of approval and murmurs of gratitude. Women who had nurtured small vegetable patches in the shadows, fearing the Baron''s wrath, now beamed openly.

    "This new policy extends for hunting in the forests as well," Hudan continued. "While the forests belong to Lord Kivamus, he recognizes the village''s desperate need for varied food sources." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

 36. Tesybs Father

    A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. The forest, though technically the Baron''s domain, had always been a source of sustenance for the villagers, even if they had lived under fear of reprisal for hunting without getting any permission for it."Therefore," Hudan continued, his voice ringing with authority, "Lord Kivamus is granting permission for any skilled hunters among you to freely hunt within the forest!" A cheer erupted from the crowd again, this time laced with a newfound sense of empowerment.

    "Now, we all know the dangers that lurk within those woods," Hudan added. "Dangerous beasts roam these forests, along with the ruthless bandits hiding there. To address this, Lord Kivamus has decided to establish organized hunting parties." Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He continued, "We will make small groups of experienced hunters from the village, alongside some of our armed guards. This way, the hunters will have the protection of numbers while bringing back much-needed provisions. There will be more details about these hunting parties announced in the coming weeks."

    The villagers exchanged excited glances. This new Baron, it seemed, wasn''t just offering freedom, he was offering support. Men who had risked venturing into the nearby forest to hunt for rabbits or deer, a practice previously deemed unlawful, now thumped their chests in approval. Working together, with the added protection of guards, they could secure a steady source of meat without succumbing to the dangers that lurked within the woods.

    Tesyb''s gaze drifted towards the fringes of the crowd, where a cluster of older villagers huddled together, their faces etched with quiet despair. He spotted many younger faces as well amidst the crowd - orphans, many of them not even teenagers, their eyes dull with hopelessness that tugged at his heart. These were the marginalized, the forgotten souls of Tiranat. Even amidst the rising tide of optimism, Tesyb knew they would be left behind. The promise of work, of earning grain and coal, did little for those who were too frail or too young to contribute manual labor for food.

    Lord Kivamus'' pronouncements, however generous, seemed to have an invisible fence, one that left these unfortunate souls excluded, as always. If he died while working as a guard in the future, his parents might be sitting amongst them as well. Looking at their faces was even making him have second thoughts about working as a guard.

    But Tesyb forced himself to tear his gaze away, a necessary act of self-preservation. He had his own family to worry about, and his own future to secure. In the future, if he could manage to save enough coin from the higher wages of a guard, he might be able to leave enough savings for his parents for them to survive a little longer, in case he did lose his life while fighting. But Hudan''s next announcement snagged his attention, yanking him back to the present.

    The guard captain raised his hand once more, silencing the enthusiastic chatter of the packed village square.

    "Now, for our final announcement," he declared. "Lord Kivamus understands that not everyone here will be able to answer the call to manual labor tomorrow. The elderly, the children, especially the orphans with no one to care for them - they wouldn''t be able to handle the physical demands of working as a laborer." He paused, letting his words sink in.

    A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. Even the most able-bodied among them acknowledged the plight of the weak.

    "However," Hudan continued, his voice firm but filled with a hint of compassion, "Lord Kivamus will leave no one behind. That''s right. Every single villager, regardless of age or ability, will be looked after."

    A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Was the Baron truly considering everyone? Even those who couldn''t work? This was a promise unlike any they had ever heard from a noble. A promise of compassion, of a society that valued all its members, was unheard of.

    Hudan''s next words brought the square to life. "This announcement," he boomed, his voice ringing with authority, "is for those very villagers. Starting this evening," he elaborated, "a warm meal of porridge or soup will be offered at the manor gates for every child and elder who needs it. In the coming weeks, when we can manage it, we''ll include bread and some meat in the meals as well. We''ll begin with two meals a day, and once our grain stores are replenished in a week, we''ll increase it to three!"

    The announcement was met with a deafening eruption of cheers and shouts that echoed throughout the village. The joy on the faces of the elderly and the orphans was a sight that warmed even the most hardened hearts. The very air vibrated with the villagers'' jubilation as the cheers continued, soon reaching a fever pitch.

    Even the birds perched on the thatched roofs squawked in startled protest before taking flight. A few infants, startled by the sudden uproar, let out wails, but Tesyb barely registered the noise. His heart overflowed with a happiness he hadn''t felt in years. These children, oblivious to the hardships they had just escaped, were truly fortunate to be born under the rule of this new Baron.

    It took a while for the joyous pandemonium to subside, and for the wave of euphoria to recede. Finally, when a semblance of order was restored, Hudan raised a hand for silence.

    "Now, I must be clear," he finally spoke, his voice cutting through the lingering excitement. "Providing for so many mouths is no small feat, especially when there''s no coin coming in to pay for it." He continued, his voice turning serious. "To prevent any misuse of this kindness, these free meals will only be provided to the young children, the elderly who can no longer work, and those with disabilities that prevent them from contributing through manual labor."

    A murmur of understanding rippled through the crowd. The villagers, though basking in the afterglow of Lord Kivamus''s generosity, were also practical. They understood the need for some limitations.

    "So, the rest of you," Hudan boomed, his voice regaining its authoritative edge, "will have to earn your meals. There''s a lot of work to be done in the village, so there will be enough opportunities for everyone in Tiranat to go to sleep on a full belly. Remember, Tiranat''s future hinges on your efforts now." He roared, "Are you ready to rise to the challenge?"

    The air crackled with a newfound energy as a thunderous roar of affirmation echoed through the square. The villagers, their hearts brimming with hope and full of anticipation, were ready. They were ready to work, to fight for a better tomorrow, for themselves, for their families, and for the new future Lord Kivamus had promised them.

    This new Baron was unlike any other they''d ever encountered. The promises made by Lord Kivamus, while not a complete solution to their problems, offered a glimmer of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. With the opportunity to work, grow their own food, and hunt safely, the people of Tiranat began to believe in the possibility of a better tomorrow. They would face the challenges ahead, not as individuals, but as a united community, their spirits bolstered by a newfound sense of purpose and a Baron who, for the first time in their memory, seemed to genuinely care about their well-being.

    The cheers that continued to roar in the marketplace were no longer just a release of tension, but a genuine expression of hope.

    Tesyb scanned the faces around him, and as expected, he didn''t find any of them discouraged at the news of free meals being limited to children and the elderly. These were proud people, their spirits unbroken despite the hardships of recent months. Their eyes, though weary, held a spark of fierce determination - those able to work would undoubtedly pour their hearts into it.

    This unexpected compassion from the new lord in the last announcement instilled a fierce sense of loyalty in the chosen recruits, including Tesyb himself. Free meals to those who couldn''t work meant that the Baron would ensure the well-being of the families of any guards who fell in the line of duty, ensuring they wouldn''t have to resort to begging or stealing to survive. Any lingering doubts in his mind about risking his life as a guard vanished into thin air, and he resolved to do everything in his power to protect Lord Kivamus and his ideals. The new baron didn''t just view the villagers as human beings, he seemed to actually care for them.

    Tesyb wouldn''t be fighting for just himself anymore, he was fighting for the well-being of his loved ones, and for a comfortable future for his family, where the new lord of Tiranat would ensure they wouldn''t go hungry again.

    Finally, Hudan raised his hands, signaling for quiet. "Alright, those were all the major announcements for now," he boomed. "And those of you who''ll be coming for the meals in the evening, don''t forget to bring a bowl if you have it." However, before he could dismiss them, Mr. Duvas, the Baron''s majordomo, leaned in and murmured something to him. Hudan nodded thoughtfully and addressed the crowd once more.

    "There''s one last thing before we depart with the new recruits," he announced. "To start our farming initiative properly, we require a few experienced farmers to guide the process. I understand that most of you have spent your lives toiling in the mines, as farming has never been done here since the village''s founding. However, some of you, particularly the older villagers, might have experience in tending to crops before they moved to Tiranat."

    "Lord Kivamus," Hudan continued, "wishes to meet any villager who has prior farming experience. Once you all return home, spread the word about this. Also, let the village carpenter and the blacksmith know that they are needed at the manor by this evening."

    Hudan surveyed the crowd with a satisfied nod. "Alright, that''s all for today. Remember to spread the word about the free meals for the elderly and children. Let them know they can come to the manor gates in a few hours to receive their evening meals." With a final nod, Hudan stepped off the bench he had been standing on.

    Tesyb''s heart pounded in his chest. He couldn''t let this opportunity slip away. Interrupting Hudan, he blurted out, "Wait, Sir Hudan!"

    Hudan chuckled. "Easy there, I''m not a sir," he said, his gruff voice laced with a hint of amusement. "Call me Hudan."

    Tesyb nodded. He explained, his voice filled with nervous urgency, "You mentioned a need for experienced farmers¡­"

    Hudan nodded in confirmation. "We need all the expertise we can get to get these farms up and running by springtime."

    Tesyb took a deep breath. This was it. "Well, sir¡­ I mean, Hudan," he stammered, correcting himself, "my father, Pinoto, used to work on a farm before he moved here to work in the coal mines. I was just a young child then, but I remember him talking about it often. He has decades of experience in farming, easy." He continued, "He wouldn''t be able to handle farm work anymore, but he could certainly assist Lord Kivamus with his past knowledge."

    A slow smile spread across Duvas'' face. "That''s right! In fact, I think I remember Pinoto telling me about that, many years ago." He looked at Tesyb. "The Baron is eager to meet anyone with experience like his. Why don''t you run home right quick and tell your father about this? You can ask him to come to the manor by evening."

    "And you," Hudan said, "don''t worry about being late. We won''t begin the final selection of the guards until you return."

    Tesyb''s heart swelled with gratitude. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, a wide grin splitting his face. "I won''t be long."

    Turning to the newly selected recruits, Hudan bellowed, "The rest of you, follow me to the manor now!"

    A wave of nervous excitement washed over the chosen men. Today marked a turning point not just for their village, but for their own lives. They straightened their backs, and with a heart brimming with loyalty, they followed Hudan, eager to face the final test and claim their places among the protectors of this village.

    The crowd began to disperse as well, a hive of activity buzzing with renewed purpose. The prospect of work, food security, and a caring new Baron filled the air with a tangible sense of optimism as they turned to walk to their homes.

    Tesyb darted through the dispersing crowd, his legs pumping with renewed energy. But the image of his parents, gaunt and dejected, haunted him. He couldn''t bear to see them wasting away any longer. It wasn''t just about the food, it was about giving his father a sense of purpose, a way to reclaim a part of his lost life and feel useful again. His father''s knowledge of farming, gleaned from years of toil on the land, could be his saving grace. He yearned to see the spark return to his parents eyes, to replace the dejection that had settled there in recent months.

    Tesyb vividly recalled the stories his father used to tell him and his sister when they were young, stories of life on a farming estate in the north - of their life before the land owner said he couldn''t afford to pay them anymore, forcing them to move to Tiranat. Now, perhaps, his father could relive those memories, not just through stories, but through active participation. He couldn''t wait to share this news, to see a flicker of hope rekindle in their eyes.

    He also harbored a secret hope - that his father''s experience might pave the way for a better life for their whole family. Perhaps, with his father''s guidance and the Baron''s support, they could even own a small plot of land someday, a place of their own to cultivate and call home. He quickened his pace, his heart brimming with a newfound determination to seize this opportunity and carve a brighter future for himself and his loved ones.

 37. Taniok

    The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the manor hall as Kivamus Ralokaar, the new Baron of Tiranat, sat deep in conversation with Gorsazo and Duvas. Clarisa, having declared herself fully recovered earlier, had returned to the servant''s hall, while Lucem perched nearby as a silent observer of the discussions. Hudan, having ushered the new guard recruits inside the manor, had come there earlier to report that he was going to begin the final selection process for a dozen new guards in the training grounds located in the southeastern part of the manor, with the help of Feroy.A sound of chairs being dragged drew Kivamus'' attention. Syryne and Madam Helga, their previous conversation concluded, rose from their seats. Madam Helga, her voice carrying a hint of purpose, addressed the Baron. "My Lord," she began, "we are going to speak with Madam Nerida about the vegetable patches she and the other maids have been tending here. During our recent years living at the inn, Syryne and I had also cultivated a vegetable garden there to add variety to our otherwise monotonous meals. Since we have experience in it as well, we were thinking about further expanding the vegetable garden within the manor walls."

    A thoughtful smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "That''s a good idea. In these times, any effort that increases our food supply is most welcome."

    Helga inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Indeed, my Lord. While the grain stores will likely be replenished in the coming weeks, incorporating a variety of vegetables into our diet is essential for good health. However," she continued, her voice taking on a thoughtful tone, "from what I''ve gathered, while the snowfall here isn''t as prolonged as in Reslinor''s northern regions, it can be quite heavy during that one month. Any attempt at cultivating vegetables during that time would be wasted."

    Helga pressed on. "That being said, I want to begin planning and preparing the most suitable locations within the manor walls - those spots which get the most sunlight and aren''t under the shadow of any buildings here. This way, we can begin planting as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws."

    Kivamus listened intently to Madam Helga''s proposal, the mention of winter vegetable production sparking a memory from his past life on Earth. Greenhouses. Those ingenious structures that defied the seasons, creating pockets of warmth where even the most delicate plants could thrive. It was a tempting solution, yet it was utterly impractical in their current situation. Plastic, the cornerstone of modern greenhouses, was an alien concept in this place.

    And even glass, from what he recalled from the original Kivamus''s memories, was a luxury reserved for the nobility. While the Ulriga Palace boasted glass bottles and window panes, such extravagance was rarely seen outside the confines of noble houses. He winced as a memory surfaced - the original Kivamus'' unrestrained wine consumption in the exorbitantly priced glass bottles on his journey here. The cost of those bottles, far higher than the commoner''s ale stored in wooden barrels, had eaten away at his savings. Even the other refined liquors were kept in ceramic containers, which also acted as a symbol of status for the wealthy landowners, merchants, and even minor nobles.

    And even if they could purchase enough glass for a greenhouse, its quality wouldn''t be good enough. The glass found here was cloudy and riddled with imperfections, filtering out precious sunlight and diminishing the greenhouse''s effectiveness. Kivamus shook his head, dispelling the daydream. Dwelling on it wouldn''t solve their current problem.

    He turned his attention back to Madam Helga. "It''s a good idea. We must take advantage of every available resource to survive in this place. And we have more than enough space within the manor walls for that." He continued, "Once you''ve concluded your discussion with Madam Nerida, tell her that I want to talk to her."

    Helga nodded. "Of course, my Lord." She and Syryne then exited the hall, leaving Kivamus with Gorsazo and Duvas.

    The silence was broken by the creaking of the heavy oak door as a guard entered. After a swift bow, he announced, "My Lord, Taniok, the carpenter, has arrived as requested."

    Kivamus gave a curt nod. "Show him in."

    The guard gestured for the carpenter to enter. Taniok, a balding man with a weathered face that spoke of nearly four decades of life, stepped into the room. He wore a simple, worn tunic, the fabric a mixture of fading brown and gray. He bowed low, his face etched with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You called for me, my Lord?" he rasped, his voice roughened by years of labor.

    Kivamus gestured towards a nearby chair. "Indeed, Taniok. Take a seat."

    Taniok shifted uncomfortably, looking surprised by the Baron''s insistence on offering him a chair. "There is no need for such courtesy, my Lord," he said. "I am fine standing here."

    Kivamus stifled a sigh. The ingrained social hierarchy of this world was proving to be a headache at times. He understood that commoners weren''t accustomed to sitting in the presence of nobility, and yet, the idea of conversing with the carpenter while craning his neck upwards the whole time felt impractical as well.

    "Just take a seat, Taniok," he insisted. "It will be a much easier conversation that way."

    Taniok hesitated for a moment, his calloused fingers nervously twisting the hem of his tunic. Finally, with a hesitant nod, he lowered himself onto the chair near Kivamus and the others gathered by the fireplace. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the unaccustomed plushness making him feel even more out of place. Despite the Baron''s insistence, it seemed sitting in the presence of nobility still felt wrong to him.

    He cleared his throat. "So, my Lord," he began, "what can I do for you?"

    Kivamus leaned forward, his brows furrowed. "Firstly," he began, "tell me, are you the only carpenter in Tiranat?"

    Taniok nodded. "Aye, my Lord. There simply isn''t enough work here to sustain more than one carpenter. There''s a young lad, around twenty years old, who helps me out sometimes as an apprentice when the workload gets heavy. But for the most part, it''s just me."

    Kivamus nodded thoughtfully. "I see," he murmured. "Now, as you know," he continued, his voice turning serious, "a lot of the villagers currently lack a proper shelter. My goal is to provide them with a roof over their heads before the harsh winter sets in."

    Taniok''s brow furrowed. He interjected before Kivamus could elaborate further. "But my Lord," he said, his voice laced with concern, "with snowfall barely a month away, there simply isn''t enough time for that. Building new houses for all of the homeless villagers¡­" he trailed off. "We''d need at least a dozen new houses at least, and that''s just not feasible within this timeframe."

    Kivamus held up a placating hand. "I understand that, Taniok. That''s precisely why I''m proposing an alternative approach. Instead of building individual houses for each family, I am planning to build a communal dwelling - a longhouse, or perhaps even two of them."

    A frown etched itself onto Taniok''s face. "A longhouse, my Lord? Forgive my ignorance, but I''m not familiar with that term."

    Kivamus smiled patiently. "Ah, it''s a type of dwelling, quite common in some cultures. Have you seen the large, rectangular barns located within the manor walls?"

    "Indeed, my Lord," Taniok admitted, a hint of pride creeping into his voice. "Most of the manor buildings, including the barns you mentioned, are the work of my hands." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "So, you''re suggesting using... barns... to house the villagers?"

    Kivamus chuckled. "Not exactly, Taniok. While a longhouse shares many similarities with a barn, it wouldn''t be quite as tall. Imagine an elongated version of the barns, perhaps three meters high and stretching out for twenty-five meters or so, with a width of around five or six meters."

    Looking at the slightly confused face of the carpenter, Kivamus extended his arms and explained, "A meter is roughly this long. It''s just a bit longer than a yard. I tend to think in terms of meters because that is what was used in the books I read."

    Taniok leaned forward, his interest piqued. "I see," he murmured, nodding in encouragement for the Baron to continue.

    "The walls would be constructed using wooden planks, similar to the barns," Kivamus began, "but the interior layout would be quite different. Here''s the key part - we''d build bunk beds along both sides of the longhouse, one stacked on top of the other. This way, each two-meter section would have four bunks, and the entire longhouse, with its twenty-five-meter length, could accommodate twelve bunks on each side. That means forty-eight people would have a place to sleep comfortably in a single longhouse of that size."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, observing Taniok''s expression. "While I am giving a general idea, you are the expert in this. What are your thoughts on this?"

    Taniok furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on a spot in the distance as he processed the idea. After a moment''s thought, he offered a slow, deliberate nod. "It''s feasible, my Lord," he admitted. "The concept is sound. Building even a single longhouse before the snowfall wouldn''t be easy, but with sufficient materials and a team of capable workers assisting me, I believe it''s achievable."

    He paused, then added, "You mentioned building two of these structures, my Lord?"

    Kivamus confirmed his statement with another nod. "According to our estimates," he explained, "close to a hundred villagers currently lack proper shelter. This includes the homeless, orphans, and those who lost their homes during the bandit raid."

    "That number sounds about right," Taniok acknowledged. "And where do you want to make these longhouses, my Lord?

    "Regarding that," Kivamus continued, "you might have heard the announcements made in the village earlier today."

    Taniok dipped his head in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord. And I must confess, I wasn''t expecting half of what I heard. The villagers will be incredibly grateful for your initiatives." He paused for a moment, then continued, "The guard captain also mentioned plans to clear the forest surrounding the village. That would undoubtedly provide a plentiful supply of logs for construction. Does that mean you plan to build the longhouses in these newly cleared areas, instead of within the village?"

    Kivamus nodded decisively. "Indeed," he declared. "It would be difficult to find enough empty space within the village right now to build the longhouses. And we''ll be clearing a significant area of the forest anyway. My aim is to create enough cleared land to begin farming there in the spring. Also, for added security, we''ll be clearing roughly five hundred paces of space encircling the entire village."

    He gestured expansively. "This way, we''ll have an abundance of space and timber for constructing the longhouses."

    "Space certainly won''t be an issue, my Lord," Taniok acknowledged. He paused for a moment, a contemplative crease forming on his brow. "However, the eastern side wouldn''t be a suitable location for the longhouses. The terrain there becomes quite hilly as you move further in that direction."

    Kivamus acknowledged this with a curt nod. "Precisely. And since there''s a stream flowing southeast of the village, I am planning to designate the entire southern region for agricultural purposes. That leaves us with the western and northern regions of the village. So, I''m thinking of building longhouses in the north."

    Taniok considered it for a moment before replying. "Either of those directions would be fine, my Lord."

    Gorsazo, who had been silently following the conversation, interjected. "But wouldn''t that delay starting the construction until the forest in those areas has been cleared?"

    "That it would," Taniok conceded. "However, preparations for building longhouses will take time as well, since we''ll need to saw the logs into planks before we can start the construction. So, once the trees start coming down, and there is a steady supply of logs coming in, I can begin preparing the planks and stockpiling them. That way, as soon as enough space is cleared, we''ll have a ready supply of lumber and planks for rapid construction of the longhouses."

    Duvas chimed in, "Of course, that means, we''ll have to begin clearing the forests in the north before we do it in the other regions. Since winter is not far away now, it means building longhouses has to be a higher priority than the farms, for which we have until spring to prepare the land."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly." He thought for a moment, before adding, "But if we just had a watermill here, like I saw outside Cinran on the Kal River, it would make sawing the logs much easier and faster as well."

    Taniok added, "Indeed, my Lord. But there was never any need for a watermill in Tiranat, since there is a very low demand for new planks here. Mostly I do repair work here in Tiranat, which I can easily do manually. This is the first time since the founding of the village that so many large-scale projects are being started together, including the longhouses, new farms, and clearing the forests."

    "Hmm¡­" Kivamus looked at Duvas. "You mentioned that stream in the southeast, near the hills. How big is it? Can''t we make a watermill there?"

 38. Saws, Nails and Axes

    Map of southern Reslinor:Duvas shook his head. "No, my lord. It''s only a small stream, not a river. It would be enough for irrigating the farms, but it''s neither deep enough nor fast enough to install a watermill there."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "Of course, with the vast forests surrounding us, the wind speed wouldn''t be high enough here to make a windmill either - unless we make it much higher than the towering trees surrounding the village, which is not practical anyway."

    Although if he could make even a basic steam engine here, it would allow them to have a continuous source of power, for sawing and so many other purposes. He could draw up the blueprint for that easily enough, but he didn''t even know the level of metalworking in this place, and whether the blacksmith would be able to create the required components in a good enough quality. He''d have to add it to his growing list of things that he needed to find out before he could try to invent something new here. For now, he had to focus on the current situation.

    Taniok leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a respectful tone. "If I may offer a suggestion, my Lord, I''d recommend focusing on completing only one longhouse first. This way, we can ensure that at least one longhouse is fully completed before winter arrives, rather than having two partially finished structures."

    Kivamus''s lips curved into a smile. "That aligns perfectly with my thinking, Taniok," he replied. "Even a single completed longhouse before the snowfall would provide much-needed shelter for the homeless villagers, even if it might be a bit crowded and uncomfortable."

    He straightened in his chair, his gaze turning serious. "As you''re aware, the road to Cinran, our primary source for external supplies, will be impassable soon. Therefore, any materials we need to acquire from outside the village must be brought in before that happens."

    "I have a merchant who''s leaving for Cinran tomorrow," he continued. "I can give him a list to purchase whatever supplies are necessary for building the longhouses. While I''ll try to source as much as possible locally, to help the local craftsmen and smiths as well as to save our limited coin, there might be specific items we''ll still need to purchase from Cinran."

    Taniok nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he said. "There will be no shortage of logs here, that much is certain. However, I currently possess only two saws and my workload in the coming weeks would be many times of what''s usual. So if the saws break or become unusable during the project, I''ll be unable to continue sawing logs into planks. So, adding a few more saws to the purchasing list would be incredibly helpful. And of course, with the sheer number of trees you''re planning to cut down, a significant number of axes will be required as well."

    He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the previous baron was never interested in providing work to the locals. He preferred buying everything from traders coming from Cinran, so that he could levy more taxes and duties on them to raise his profits. However, you, my Lord, have said that you will prefer the local craftsmen for this, so I thank you for that."

    Taniok added, "Regarding that, I''ll have to add that the village blacksmith, Cedoron, is a good lad, and he can make all of those things easily. However, it would be difficult for him to supply a large quantity of saws and axes, since he works without an apprentice. But I''ll still suggest asking him first, my Lord, so that he can tell you how much of it he will be able to supply himself. And for the rest, you can add it to the purchasing list you''ll be giving to the merchant tomorrow."

    Duvas scribbled the list of items onto a piece of parchment, his brow furrowed in concentration. He added, "Indeed, in the earlier announcement in the village, I had asked the villagers to let Cedoron know that the baron wants to talk to him. We were already planning to speak to him later this evening about that."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Well, carry on. What else will you need?"

    Taniok gave a nod. "Now, regarding the construction itself," he continued, "while the beams for the longhouse frame can be connected using traditional wooden pegs and joints, acquiring a good stock of iron nails would significantly improve the construction speed when it comes to attaching the planks."

    Kivamus listened intently, absorbing the carpenter''s insights. "That''s true," he acknowledged with a nod. "Please, continue."

    Emboldened by the Baron''s encouragement, Taniok elaborated. "Typically, for structures solely used for storage, a single layer of planks for the walls is enough. However, since these longhouses will be housing people, I recommend using two layers of planks with a small gap between them for better insulation and overall sturdiness, like this manor house. Iron nails would not only simplify the process of securing these two layers but would also considerably speed up construction."

    Duvas chimed in with a thoughtful observation. "But wouldn''t that require a substantial quantity of iron nails?" Looking at Kivamus, he added, "They aren''t cheap, my Lord, and for buying that many iron nails, the cost would be significant."

    Taniok acknowledged the concern with a grimace. "There''s no denying they won''t be cheap, my Lord," he conceded. "But using iron nails would save a considerable amount of time that would otherwise be spent crafting a vast number of wooden nails, which is the traditional binding method. Especially considering I''m the only one in Tiranat skilled in crafting them."

    He leaned forward slightly, his voice turning serious. "While wooden pegs and nails are certainly an option, they simply wouldn''t be feasible given the time constraints of completing the longhouses before the harsh winter arrives. Usually, I would resort to using only wooden nails, but there just aren''t enough hours in the day for me to craft enough of them on my own, while I''m constructing the longhouses at the same time." He added after a moment, "And my apprentice is simply not skilled enough yet to make them."

    Taking a moment to think about it, Kivamus added, "But can''t we buy wooden nails from Cinran then? That has to be cheaper than buying iron nails."

    Taniok shook his head slowly. "That is just not an option, my Lord. No carpenter worth his salt would keep a big enough stock of wooden nails for our purposes, since in this climate they don''t last long enough to be usable after some time of crafting them. In nearly all cases, they are produced as needed, at the same time as constructing any wooden building. And that system works fine, since the carpenters don''t usually have to work under a strict time constraint like us."

    Kivamus nodded, his expression grim. He was painfully aware that every additional expense would further deplete their already limited funds. However, the reality was that with only a single carpenter and his apprentice at their disposal, they needed every advantage to speed up construction and ensure the villagers wouldn''t be left to face the harsh winter elements without proper shelter.

    "While I can''t guarantee a surplus of iron nails just yet," he admitted, "acquiring them for your supplies will be a priority. Now, is there anything else you anticipate needing, Taniok?"

    Taniok added, "Nothing much, my Lord. Maybe a few hammers and some iron hinges¡­ and a small number of other things like that. But Cedoron should be able to supply those easily." He pondered for a moment, his calloused finger tapping his chin thoughtfully. "With the materials I''ve mentioned so far," he finally said, "we should be able to construct the outer structure of the longhouses."

    Kivamus raised an eyebrow. "The outer structure? But that does include the floor as well, right?"

    Taniok chuckled softly. "Well, my Lord," he began, "most dwellings in Tiranat, including the barns you mentioned, have nothing more than simple dirt floors. However, some of the finer houses in the village, like this manor house itself, utilize wooden planks to create a more stable and comfortable floor."

    He cleared his throat and continued, "But I purposely left that detail out, my Lord, because as you rightly pointed out, our immediate priority is to complete the structure itself before winter arrives."

    Kivamus nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Indeed, that takes precedence," he acknowledged. "However, once the walls and the roof are completed, putting wooden planks on the floor as well would be better than just using the dirt as floor. Since we''re prioritizing the completion of a single longhouse initially, it means we''ll likely house a lot more people in it than its intended capacity, at least until the second one is built. During that time, having a wooden floor would make sleeping on the ground more bearable in the cold, otherwise there would be fights for places on the bunks we''ll be constructing along the sides."

    Taniok absorbed this information with a curt nod. "Of course, my Lord," he replied. "I''ll add a wooden floor into the plan, to be put in place once the main structure is completed."

    Gorsazo added after a moment, "There is a simple solution to prevent any argument over the sleeping arrangements, my Lord. We can house the children, the women, and the elderly on the bunks, which will be much more comfortable and warmer than the floor, while the adult men can sleep on the floor initially. Since they are the ones most likely to get in fights for places on the bunks, making it a rule that until the second longhouse is completed, they will only sleep on the floor would easily prevent any fights. Of course, having a wooden floor would make it much easier to convince them, compared to making them sleep on the dirt in the winter."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus commented. "We''ll do that."

    All this talk of constructing a building, made Kivamus reminisce about a commonplace building material back on Earth - concrete. But here, in this world, there were no vast cement factories churning out the versatile material. But in the future, once Tiranat''s situation had stabilized, and the basic needs of its people were met, he''d have to seriously consider it.

    Truthfully, he wasn''t even sure if he would be able to get all the materials for producing cement here, but the possibility of manufacturing concrete was an exciting one. Not only would it provide a superior building material for houses, but if he could produce it in a large enough quantity, it could even pave the way for the construction of a tall, fortified concrete wall around the village, a feat that would make Tiranat one of the most secure settlements outside of a castle. Those were dreams for the future, however. The present dire situation of the village demanded his full attention for now.

    "Alright, Taniok," Kivamus said, addressing the carpenter, "discuss your estimates with Duvas and provide him with your best calculations for the quantity of nails and any other materials required for constructing the two longhouses before you leave. Later we''ll assess the capabilities of the village artisans and smith to see how much they can realistically produce and how much we''ll need to buy from Cinran. And of course, you should report to Duvas tomorrow along with your apprentice, so you can start sawing the logs from the trees tomorrow itself."

    Taniok gave a respectful nod. "Of course, my Lord."

    He then turned his gaze towards Gorsazo. "Come on," he beckoned, rising from his chair. "Let''s take a look outside."

    Gorsazo rose promptly. "As you wish, my Lord," he replied.

    With that, Kivamus and Gorsazo exited the manor hall, leaving Taniok and Duvas to delve into the specifics of the required materials and their costs for constructing the longhouses.

    The late afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the exterior of the manor house, its rays slanting low in the western sky. The hustle and bustle of activity that had filled the air earlier had calmed down. The last of the grain sacks had been meticulously transferred to the storage barns, and the six wagons stood fully loaded with coal, ready for their journey to Cinran. A seventh wagon, its undercarriage damaged and deemed unfit for cargo, stood behind the rest. Though unable to carry a load, it would still be pulled to Cinran for repairs.

    Kivamus scanned the manor grounds, searching for Pydas. Not finding him, he turned to a nearby maid, his brow furrowed in inquiry. "Have you seen Pydas?"

    The maid, a young woman with bright eyes and a respectful demeanor, curtsied slightly. "He left for the village a short while ago, my Lord," she replied.

    "I told him to speak with me before departing," Kivamus muttered.

    "He did say that he would be back within an hour, my Lord," the maid added. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus dismissed the maid with a curt nod. He decided to set off on a tour of the manor grounds, casting an observant eye over the ongoing tasks. Once he started walking, a distant clamor of yelling and cheers drew his attention towards the southeast. Curiosity piqued, he followed the sound, his steps quickening. As he rounded the corner of the manor house, a cacophony of shouts and the rhythmic clash of wood on wood reached his ears.

    There, in the designated training area near the grain storage barns, right next to the walls in the southeastern corner of the manor, he came upon the group of potential guards Hudan had brought in from the village. Most of them bore the marks of hard labor - threadbare tunics and patched trousers, their attire a testament to their simple but difficult lives. A few off duty guards were standing there as well, keeping an eye on the recruits.

    They were gathered in a loose circle, their rapt attention focused on two figures in the center - their fellow recruits locked in a mock duel. The combatants, armed with wooden swords and shields, were locked in a fierce struggle, their movements reflecting an intense determination to overpower their opponent. Despite the cool afternoon air, sweat beaded on their brows as they parried and lunged, their bodies straining with the effort.

    Hudan stood amidst the watchful onlookers, his keen eyes dissecting their every move. He barked out instructions, correcting their stances and offering pointers on how to improve their technique. Kivamus observed Hudan''s animated gestures, his own lips curling into a faint smile. It was reassuring to see the former knight-trainee putting his experience to good use.

    Beyond the impromptu dueling ring, another training and testing session was underway. Looking further along the eastern palisade wall, Kivamus spotted Feroy and another guard overseeing a smaller group of villagers holding bows and arrows. The makeshift targets - straw figures designed to resemble humans - stood propped up at varying distances in front of the walls. These recruits were taking aim one by one at the straw targets, their bows taut and their eyes narrowed in focus.

 39. Training Grounds

    Kivamus winced as one arrow flew wildly off course, embedding itself harmlessly into the manor wall behind the targets. Another villager, a man of lean build and wiry frame, let out a triumphant yell as his arrow found its mark, striking the target squarely in the straw-stuffed head. Feroy acknowledged the successful shot with a hearty clap on the young man''s back, although they were too far away from Kivamus for him to hear their words.A satisfied smile touched Kivamus''s lips. It seemed the testing was yielding positive results already, and they would get at least a few effective guards from these villagers. With focused training and dedicated instructors like Hudan and Feroy, these raw recruits had the potential to become capable guards, bolstering Tiranat''s defenses.

    Of course, if only he could get access to a few firearms, most of this training would become a moot point. Even untrained villagers, including the women and the older men, would be able to wield guns easily without much training, and they could successfully repel any bandit raid in the future. But that would come later. Before anything else, he had to secure the basic necessities of food and shelter for the villagers.

    Kivamus watched as the mock duel between the two fighters within the circle reached its climax. Their wooden swords met again with a resounding thunk, but this time, the exchange ended less favorably for one of them. Losing his grip on the wooden sword, one of the fighters stumbled back and landed with a thud in the dusty ground. His opponent, flushed with victory, raised his own wooden sword and shield with a triumphant roar, as the collapsed villager slowly got up again while dusting his trousers.

    The victor, however, enjoyed his glory only for a brief moment before Hudan''s booming voice cut through the air, shattering the illusion of a real fight. "Not like that!" Hudan roared at the disarmed fighter who had picked up his wooden sword again. "You''re holding the sword too loosely, again! I could disarm you with a single hand and a twig!"

    He pivoted his attention to the victor, his growl deepening. "And you! That''s a sword, not a pickaxe! Stop trying to hit from the top every single time. It''ll only take a second for someone to slash you sideways and cut you in half!"

    Suddenly aware of Kivamus observing the spectacle, Hudan redirected his gaze towards the Baron. He offered a brief apologetic nod before bellowing at the two sparring villagers. "Start again! And Kerel," he barked, directing his attention to the grizzled guard with a mane of iron-gray hair, "keep an eye on them. I''ll be back in a minute." S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    With that, he strode purposefully towards Kivamus and Gorsazo, his frustration simmering just beneath the surface.

    "How''s it going?" Kivamus inquired, his voice calm and steady.

    Hudan shook his head slowly, a sigh escaping his lips. "Not great, my Lord," he admitted. "While a handful of them show some natural talent for combat, the rest are practically useless in a fight right now."

    He paused for a moment. "At least Feroy seems to have discovered a decent archer among them. I''ll be sending him with the caravan tomorrow, just in case they encounter any bandits on the road." He pointed towards the wiry villager who had once again found his mark, the arrow lodged firmly in the center of the straw target''s chest. "In an ambush," Hudan explained, "that guy, Yufim, could potentially take out one or two bandits before they even reach the wagons." He sighed, "But the majority of these new recruits would be lucky to last a minute against a serious attack."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "There''s always a learning curve," he replied. "We wouldn''t expect them to become knights overnight."

    He cast a scrutinizing gaze over the group of recruits, noting their calloused hands and scarred physiques that spoke of a life filled with hardship. He commented, "But I have to say, Hudan, you''ve selected well for our purposes tomorrow. Even if they don''t yet know how to fight well, at first glance it would be difficult for anyone to tell if they are seasoned veterans or new recruits, especially when they are outfitted with leather armor and real swords."

    Lowering his voice to a whisper, Kivamus took a quick glance around to ensure that other than Gorsazo, no one else was within earshot. "Remember," he said, "we need half a dozen of them ready to leave by daybreak tomorrow. So after you send the extra men back to the village - anyone beyond the twelve we need, have these new guards test-fit the armor and weapons we retrieved from the bandits near Helga''s Inn, tonight itself.

    Hudan nodded. "Don''t worry, my Lord," he assured Kivamus, "I''ll get them outfitted later today. And by tomorrow morning, we''ll have twelve well-equipped guards including Feroy, ready to escort the caravan."

    He continued, elaborating on his plan, "And as you mentioned earlier, I''ll assign the remaining recruits to night watch duty at the gates starting tonight, each recruit paired with a trained guard." He pointed towards the eastern gates of the manor, where two guards were standing next to the gate. "Currently, both the gates of the manor are manned by two guards at all times, but half of our trained men will go with the caravan tomorrow. So by putting one new recruit along with each trained guard, the gates will still appear well-manned from the outside, even if it would only be a facade right now. This will also give our five trained guards a much-needed night of rest, instead of them carrying out the night shift at the gates as well before they leave tomorrow."

    He added, "Of course, the villagers will indeed realize that the new guards were mining coal a while ago, and are not trained, but we only need to present this facade to any scouts of the bandits who might be watching from the forests. Hopefully, within a week or two, I will have whipped them into a good enough shape that they will be able to hold their own in a fight."

    A satisfied smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "And to ensure these men would be loyal to us, I presume you''ve already vetted these men with Duvas?"

    Hudan nodded. "Indeed, my Lord. Mr Duvas has known most of these men for at least a decade. They''re trustworthy folk."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment. "Speaking of guards," he said, "I''ve noticed that none of them, even those on duty, seem to be wearing any metal armor or even helmets."

    Hudan offered a slow nod. "That''s true, my Lord. Unfortunately, we simply don''t have any iron armor or helmets here at the manor. Such equipment comes at a hefty price, and typically only knights can afford it. And based on what I''ve gathered, the previous Baron only had a single retired knight in his retinue, and he died during that ambush along with the baron himself."

    He continued, "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the previous baron was not known as a miser for nothing. If he had spent a little more money on equipping his guards, he might not be dead today." He gave a shrug. "But who am I to say that, maybe he really didn''t have enough money to afford it."

    A shadow of concern flickered across Kivamus''s face as the reality of their limited resources settled in. This was indeed one of the poorest baronies in the duchy, if not in the whole kingdom, where the previous baron only had a single retired knight to defend him. He added, "So, for now, the best we can equip our guards with is just leather armor?"

    Hudan nodded slowly. "That''s the current reality of the manor, my lord."

    Kivamus absorbed this information, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "I see," he murmured, acknowledging the limitations. "Well, carry on with your training and selections then," he finally said.

    Hudan acknowledged the order with another nod and jogged back towards the area where the mock fights were taking place.

    Kivamus turned to Gorsazo, a question hanging heavy in the air. "What do you think?" he asked. "Will our gamble with these new recruits pay off?"

    Gorsazo studied the recruits for a moment, their movements reflecting a mix of raw determination and clumsy technique. He then met Kivamus''s gaze, his own expression solemn. "I hope so, my Lord," he finally replied, his voice heavy with uncertainty. "I truly hope so. But only time will tell."

    After observing the training exercises for a few more minutes, Kivamus decided to resume his tour of the manor grounds. As he rounded a corner, he spotted Madam Nerida approaching him.

    "You asked for me, my Lord?" she inquired upon reaching him.

    "Indeed," Kivamus confirmed. "I have new instructions regarding the meals you make. From tonight, I want you to significantly increase the quantity of food prepared." He continued, "Starting tonight, we''ll be providing meals twice a day for all the elderly and children living in the village. Once our grain reserves are replenished, we will increase that to three meals a day." He gestured towards the manor house. "You can talk with Duvas to get a more accurate headcount for preparing the meals."

    He paused for a moment, then continued, "As you may have heard, starting tomorrow, we''ll be compensating both the new guards and the manual laborers with grain instead of coin. You''ll need to allocate a suitable amount for each individual, enough to sustain their families for a full week, since we will be providing a weekly payment of grain rations to them." He added, "Now, for those chosen as guards, I want you to allocate a quarter more grain than what the manual workers will receive."

    Nerida''s brow furrowed slightly. "My Lord," she began cautiously, "even with the recent grain purchase, our remaining stock can''t sustain this level of increased consumption for long."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ve already made arrangements to acquire a fresh supply of grain within the week."

    Nerida absorbed the information with a firm nod. "Understood, my Lord," she finally replied. "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I must begin preparations immediately if we''re to have enough food for everyone tonight."

    "Of course, Madam Nerida," Kivamus said with a nod. "Carry on with your duties."

    With a final nod of respect, Nerida hurried off towards the kitchens.

    A guard, his posture stiff and formal, approached Kivamus, ushering forward a man whose powerful build demanded attention. While not quite as massive as Hudan, the newcomer''s broad shoulders and bulging muscles still rivaled the guard captain''s physique.

    The man, his strides purposeful, stopped before Kivamus and dipped his head in a respectful bow. "Cedoron at your service, my Lord," he rumbled. "I take care of all the welding and blacksmithing work in Tiranat."

    Kivamus returned the greeting with a nod, his gaze appraising the blacksmith. "Cedoron," he began, "I have a few things I''d like to commission, and your skills are exactly what I need for them."

    Cedoron''s face, etched with the lines of a life spent wrestling with fire and metal, lit up with a mix of relief and eagerness. "New orders would be very welcome, my Lord," he admitted. "Work''s been scarce for me ever since the mines shut down."

    Kivamus began, "As you may have heard from the village announcements, I''m aiming to clear a part of the surrounding forests to make way for farmland, for which I''ll need a lot of axes. I''m also planning to construct a couple of large longhouses, which is a type of communal housing, before the harsh winter arrives, along with a few other projects I have in mind." He paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in.

    He continued, "While I''ll send you to speak with Duvas, the majordomo, to determine the exact quantities needed, here''s a rough estimate. I''ll need around two dozen axes, along with a few hammers. Maybe a dozen machetes as well. And of course, a substantial amount of iron nails and some hinges for doors, along with various other odds and ends."

    A frown creased Cedoron''s brow as he interrupted. "Forgive my ignorance, my Lord," he said, scratching his head, "but what exactly is a machete?"

    Kivamus pondered for a moment, searching for a way to explain the unfamiliar tool. "Hmm, it''s like a small sword," he began, tracing a shape in the air with his hands. "But unlike a sword, it''s usually a little curved and used for clearing away smaller branches from trees and shrubs."

    A spark of recognition ignited in Cedoron''s eyes. "Ah, I believe I understand what you mean. It''s something similar to a cutlass, then?"

    Kivamus raised an eyebrow, surprised by the blacksmith''s knowledge. "A cutlass? Like the ones pirates use?"

 40. Ulrigan Smithies

    Cedoron chuckled, a deep rumble that seemed to emanate from his very core. "Not just pirates, my Lord," he clarified, "they''re quite common among sailors in general. But yes, I see your point. For clearing small branches, they would certainly be effective. I can definitely craft those for you.""That''s good," Kivamus said. He continued, "Taniok, the carpenter, mentioned you didn''t have any apprentices to help you. With such a large order, it might be difficult to fulfill everything on your own. So, tell me, how much can you realistically handle? Knowing that will help me determine how much I need to buy from Cinran."

    "When do you require these tools, my Lord?" Cedoron asked. "And what do you need first?"

    Kivamus considered the question for a moment, his eyes scanning the grounds of the manor. He began, "I think we should already have at least half a dozen axes here in the manor, apart from whatever the villagers might own themselves. That should give us a good starting point for felling trees. But acquiring more axes is the first priority, so we can start clearing these forests at a large scale. Then we will need some machetes to prune the trees so we can convert them into logs for easy transport and storage."

    He paused for a moment. "As for shovels, I believe Pydas, the merchant, already brought a few with him. It makes more sense to purchase those from him, freeing you up to focus on crafting the items we lack entirely. So, after axes and machetes, our next priority would be saws for Taniok so he can start making planks from the logs. He said that he already had two saws with him, but we will need more in case they break."

    Kivamus paused, allowing Cedoron to absorb the information. "Hammers, nails and hinges," he added, "won''t be needed immediately. We''ll only need them later in the construction process, when the framework of the longhouses begins to take shape in a couple of weeks."

    Cedoron listened intently, his brow furrowed in concentration as he mentally tallied the workload. "While I possess the skill to craft all the tools you''ve mentioned," he admitted, "I don''t have enough iron ingots here to make all of it. I do have a small stock, of course, which will allow me to craft some of the tools, but I''ll need more within the week. The thing is, my Lord," he explained, "my usual workload only revolves around repairing the mining tools that get damaged in the coal mines here. There''s basically no demand for new tools in Tiranat, so I don''t keep a large stockpile of iron ingots."

    Kivamus considered this new information for a moment. "Very well," he said. "I can arrange to buy more iron ingots for you from Cinran. You should provide Duvas with an estimate of the amount of ingots you''ll need later. But speaking of iron," he continued, a thought striking him, "can''t you produce iron ingots from ore yourself? If I only needed to buy iron ore for you to smelt here, it would likely be significantly cheaper."

    "Well, you see, my Lord," Cedoron explained, "I do have a small forge here. But like I mentioned earlier," he continued, "most of my work involves welding and reforging mining tools. Usually, that involves nothing more than heating the broken pieces in a hot coal fire in my forge. Once softened, I can weld them back together and reshape them to their original form."

    Kivamus recalled seeing the wagons loaded with coal earlier. Upon closer inspection, it had looked like bituminous coal to him. It wasn''t the best quality anthracite, but it was certainly better than some other types of coal. But it felt odd to him to hear Cedoron using coal instead of charcoal. "Duvas mentioned that you purchase coal from the manor," he said. "But wouldn''t charcoal be a better fuel source?" Of course, coke, which was made after processing coal, would be the best fuel for it, but it was very likely that the process to make it was unknown in this era. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Cedoron''s surprise was easily apparent from his expression. "I am surprised you know that much about smithing, my Lord."

    Kivamus offered a wry smile. "I have a fondness for reading," he admitted, reaching for the most plausible excuse to explain his knowledge. "The libraries within Ulriga Palace held a wealth of information, and I devoured it all."

    Gorsazo chimed in with a confirmatory nod. "Indeed," he said. "His Lordship is quite the scholar. I can attest to that."

    Cedoron inclined his head in acknowledgment, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. He began, "It''s true that charcoal is the preferred fuel for smelting iron ore. However, since my primary task involves welding and repairing existing tools, the coal I purchase from here serves the purpose well enough. It''s only once in a few months, when I''ve accumulated a significant amount of scrap metal and enough tools which are too broken to be repaired, that I need to melt them further. That''s when charcoal becomes essential, since using it can raise the temperature further within the forge."

    He eyed Kivamus with a hint of respect. "Since you possess such knowledge about smelting, my Lord, you might also be aware that creating charcoal is a laborious task for one person. So once in a few months, I have to dedicate an entire week to make charcoal - time I could be spending on other projects - just to have enough fuel for further softening of all that scrap metal by heating it a lot more than usual, so I can forge it back into usable iron ingots."

    Cedoron concluded with a shrug. "So, for most of my day-to-day work, coal from the manor is sufficient for heating the broken tools for repairs and welding. Especially since there is not much of a demand for me to make new tools myself."

    He straightened his posture, his gaze fixed on Kivamus. "So, my Lord, that answers your question about why I can''t simply smelt the iron ore myself for your rather substantial order. It''s just a matter of sheer workload. Producing charcoal, smelting the iron ore into ingots inside a bloomery I''d have to make from scratch, and then forging those ingots into the tools you need - it would simply take too long for one man to handle it all, especially since you need those tools immediately. And I can''t just hire a new worker for that either, since most of those are specialized tasks which need years of experience to do it right."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "I can understand that."

    Cedoron''s eyes took on a distant, almost nostalgic glint as he reminisced. "Though I''ve never set foot in Ulriga myself," he began, "my father used to tell me stories about a big smithy there, the one he worked at before he relocated to Tiranat. Apparently, they have a water-wheel powering a massive ore crusher, this ingenious contraption that could pulverize iron ore into much smaller pieces for smelting, in a fraction of the time it takes by hand. Moreover, their bloomeries for smelting the ore were behemoths compared to those found in Cinran, true marvels of engineering."

    A spark of yearning flickered in Cedoron''s voice as he continued. "He even mentioned that many smithies there even employed water-powered trip hammers for drawing out the iron blooms into workable bar iron for easy transport and storage. If I had access to such equipment, my Lord," he sighed wistfully, "I could smelt as much iron ore as you desired. However, that is a big operation, requiring dozens of skilled workers to keep everything running smoothly. Not only do we lack a river powerful enough to sustain such a system, but there simply hasn''t been a need for it here in Tiranat."

    Gorsazo elaborated on the economic factors at play. "It all boils down to scale, my Lord," he said. "Ulriga has a constant need for a substantial amount of iron," he explained. "All those knights the Duke employs require a lot of armor and weapons, you see. Also, Ulriga is a huge city - seven or eight times larger than Cinran, I''d estimate, which is itself nearly ten times larger than Tiranat. That means a much bigger market for various goods - a greater demand for horseshoes, cooking utensils, farming implements, mining tools, as well as weapons like swords, axes, maces¡­ you name it. Apart from that, Ulrigan blacksmiths supply the Fort Aragosa as well. That''s why they have huge smithies producing iron at such a large scale."

    Kivamus couldn''t stifle a small, rueful smile as he compared these medieval smithies to their counterparts back on Earth. While these waterwheel-powered primitive machines seemed cutting-edge to the people here, they were nothing compared to the colossal, modern blast furnaces that dominated Earth''s industrial landscape.

    Yet, despite the vast knowledge he possessed, the construction of a blast furnace here remained a distant fantasy for now. The limitations were simply too stark - a lack of proper resources and the necessary skilled workforce to build and operate such a marvel were only a small part of it. But that did give him an idea of where he could use his modern knowledge in the future. If he could locate a nearby source of iron ore or even a cheap supplier for it, and establish a system for large-scale iron production, then simply exporting the unprocessed iron ingots could become a significant source of income for Tiranat.

    The benefit from economies of scale would be undeniable as well. His production methods, informed by his modern knowledge, would drive the manufacturing cost down dramatically, allowing him to undercut even those waterwheel-powered smithies in Ulriga. The potential profits were staggering, and the possibilities for improving the lives of his people were even more enticing. He could use these profits to invest in infrastructure, healthcare and education, not to mention defense - a far cry from the current state of affairs.

    Of course, selling finished products, for which there seemed to be a significant demand in Ulriga, would only be a long-term goal. And Ulriga wouldn''t be an immediate market anyway. Initially, he''d need to focus on capturing Cinran''s market. But there was a potential problem he saw already - the blacksmiths in Cinran themselves. If he managed to establish iron production in Tiranat, they might become his competitors.

    With his brow furrowed in contemplation, he asked the burly blacksmith, "And what about Cinran? Do they have any capabilities for iron production?"

    Cedoron shook his head. "Not really, my Lord. From what I''ve gathered," he replied, "in the past, Cinran did have a few small bloomeries, but not anymore. Nowadays, the blacksmiths there usually purchase their iron ingots directly from Ulriga, which is cheaper than smelting the ore locally. Of course, they do have forges to recycle scrap metal and heavily damaged tools, as well as to make new tools."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod as reply. He steepled his fingers, his mind already racing with possibilities. He''d need to tread carefully, perhaps even consider striking a permanent deal with them - offering them iron ingots at a lower price than they could get from Ulriga, creating a mutually beneficial partnership. This approach could establish Tiranat as a reliable source of iron, fostering trust and potentially opening doors for future trade deals involving more complex goods.

    That meant he would have to figure out a way to not only establish iron production but also navigate the existing market dynamics. These were all details to be ironed out later, but the potential for a brighter future for Tiranat, fueled by his unique knowledge was undeniable. The path wouldn''t be easy, but with careful planning and strategic execution, he was confident he could turn this dream into a reality.

    As he moved his gaze around the manor, thinking about something that was easily a futuristic technology for the people here, he remembered the burnt houses in the village, as well as the sight of hungry villagers who didn''t know where their next meal would come from. He sighed, shaking his head slowly. Although he had started doing what he could to improve the current situation of the village, he had to stop himself from wasting too much time daydreaming about things which were too far in the future, before he got carried away like this. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head, and to ground himself with the current reality of Tiranat.

    He turned back to Cedoron, his gaze settling on the blacksmith''s broad frame. "Very well, Cedoron," he said. "Now tell me, how much of this order can you realistically handle on your own?"

    Cedoron gave a nod. "This is a substantial order, my Lord," he acknowledged. "To forge such a large quantity of tools efficiently, I would need to hire one or perhaps even two assistants. Naturally, that would add to the overall cost of production."

    He added, "But I''m confident I can deliver all the tools you require within the coming weeks. That is, with the exception of the iron nails. And rest assured, my Lord, even with the added cost of hiring assistants, my prices will still be lower than what you''d pay to purchase and transport them from Cinran."

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus nodded with a smile. "Speaking of which," he inquired, "why haven''t you taken on an apprentice before now? Surely an extra pair of hands would have allowed you to produce tools at a faster rate. Pydas, the trader, mentioned he always brought a few pickaxes and shovels with him to sell here. But with an apprentice or two assisting you, couldn''t you have made those tools yourself to sell to the manor, for use in the coal mines?"

    Cedoron gave a rueful chuckle. "Unlike you, my Lord," he explained, "the previous Baron had a different approach. He preferred to buy most of the village''s necessities, including new tools, from the traders who visited from Cinran, just so he could levy hefty taxes and duties on the visiting traders." He paused for a moment, seemingly weighing whether to speak more, then he added, "Perhaps I shouldn''t be speaking this, but to be frank, my Lord, this way, the Baron could line his own pockets while keeping the villagers dependent on external trade, so the traders would keep coming and he could keep getting his profits."

 41. Incentives

    Cedoron shrugged his broad shoulders. "As a result, the only work I typically received was repairing broken tools. There wasn''t a need for new tools being crafted here, so hiring a permanent apprentice never seemed necessary."Kivamus offered a curt nod, a thoughtful expression settling on his face. "That clarifies a lot," he said. "Well, for the immediate future," he said, a hint of reassurance in his voice, "you don''t have to worry about the cost of hiring new assistants. The current situation in the village is quite dire, and ensuring everyone survives the harsh winter will require a tremendous amount of work. So from tomorrow, I will be paying the wages to every villager who is willing to do manual work of any kind. That would include anyone you need to help you make those tools faster as well."

    Cedoron shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I did catch wind of these rumors earlier, my Lord," he admitted, "but I wasn''t sure whether to believe them."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "You heard correctly Cedoron, and those aren''t just rumors. That means that you can hire as many workers as you need to supply me with all the tools on time, without worrying about paying them for now. Of course, they wouldn''t be skilled in smithing itself, but even training them to do the easier tasks would help to improve your production speed."

    Cedoron nodded. "It will certainly help a lot, my Lord. I can just give them the simpler tasks like fetching coal from the manor, fitting the handles in the axes and machetes, or even operating the bellows to keep the forge hot, which will free me to focus on the actual forging of those tools."

    "That''s true." Kivamus added, "From tomorrow, you''ll just have to inform Duvas about how many people you will need for this. He''ll be responsible for assigning the required number of workers to you, as well as keeping track of where the villagers are working to ensure fair compensation."

    Cedoron nodded. "I''ll do that, my Lord. And if I''m not paying for the assistants, the prices will be lower as well." He added after a moment, "So, assuming I have all the necessary materials readily available, and with a couple of apprentices by my side, I can realistically produce three, maybe even four axes per day. Now, this assumes you''re not looking for top-notch quality with detailed engravings."

    He puffed out his chest with a hint of pride. "Don''t get me wrong, my Lord," he continued, "my father instilled in me the skills to craft such exquisite tools. But creating those elaborate designs would easily double or even triple the production time."

    Kivamus chuckled, appreciating Cedoron''s dedication to his craft. "No worries," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "I don''t need any engravings or such things," he assured the blacksmith. "Just make sure they''re sturdy and functional enough to handle the task they are meant for."

    "Of course, my Lord," Cedoron nodded. "In that case, I can deliver all two dozen axes you ordered within a week. Now, machetes would be a bit trickier. They require a lot more shaping work, so I can only manage two or perhaps three per day. To give you a dozen machetes, that would take¡­ another four or five days. But," he continued, his voice taking on an enterprising tone, "I can alternate production days between axes and machetes. That way, you''ll start receiving both of them simultaneously. All in all, I can get you all the axes and machetes within two weeks, assuming there are no unforeseen delays."

    Kivamus pursed his lips in contemplation. A two-week wait for the axes and machetes wasn''t ideal, but it was still a better option than purchasing them from Cinran. Pydas would likely inflate the prices, and even then, buying the tools from him would take another week or maybe even two due to travel time. So getting the tools made locally, albeit slower, offered the advantage of a steady supply and potentially lower costs in the long run.

    There was an additional motive behind his decision. Getting the blacksmith back into a routine of smithing new tools regularly, since he only repaired the broken tools till now, was a necessary step if he wanted to get completely new things made from him - things which Cedoron might never have seen in his life.

    "Very well," Kivamus said. "Two weeks for the axes and machetes is manageable. Hammers, hinges, and the like, are only needed once Taniok begins constructing the longhouse frames, so you can work on those after the initial two weeks. He did say that he will only stock up planks until enough space is cleared for making the longhouses anyway."

    "That will work, my Lord," Cedoron replied. "Now, the final item on your list was iron nails. That presents a bit of a challenge, my Lord. We''re talking thousands of nails for a single longhouse, easily. And making them is very time-consuming, for something that is so small." He added, "While I consider myself a fast worker, I can only manage about a dozen nails per hour. Many blacksmiths would take twice as long."

    "So, even if I dedicated an entire day to hammering out nails," he continued, "the most I could manage to produce would be around a hundred nails per day. And that''s pushing it, using every available hour of daylight. However, I will try to train a couple of new workers I''ll be hiring to make nails as well. It''s not exactly intricate work, it is just incredibly time-consuming. Hopefully, within a week or two, assuming they pick it up quickly and can produce decent quality nails, the three of us combined could churn out around three hundred nails every day."

    He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "But even with that increase, producing enough nails for even a single longhouse before the snow falls will be impossible. Realistically, my Lord," he said, "I''d advise purchasing a decent stock of iron nails from Cinran. That way, you can get started on the construction, and by the time those supplies are running low, I''ll have completed your other orders and can dedicate myself solely to making new iron nails."

    "At a rate of three hundred iron nails a day, and even higher if I take on more workers to assist me," he continued, "we could keep you steadily supplied for those other projects you mentioned earlier, as well as any more longhouses which you might consider building in the future."

    Kivamus steepled his fingers, his gaze fixed on a distant point as he weighed the options. "Alright, that will work." Pointing to the manor house, he said, "Now head over to the manor hall there and speak with Duvas, so he can note down the exact numbers for everything you''ll be producing. He can finalize the compensation details with you as well." He added, "You should start work on these items from tomorrow morning itself."

    "Of course, my Lord," Cedoron nodded. "And thank you for providing that much work for me. It will be a welcome change after the slow times I''ve been facing." With a quick bow of respect, he turned and strode purposefully towards the manor hall, eager to get the wheels of production in motion.

    As the setting sun approached the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and red, Kivamus had decided to return inside the manor house again. A chill had settled in the air, a stark reminder of the approaching winter. He and the others were now gathered near the crackling fire in the manor hall.

    Earlier, after a productive meeting with Taniok and Cedoron, Duvas had sent them back to the village after finalizing the details of their respective projects. He had also provided the final list of items to Pydas which he had to buy for them from Cinran, including grain, iron ingots, a decent quantity of salt on Nerida''s request, as well as enough iron nails for them to finish constructing at least one longhouse. While he had to give a small amount of Reslinor gold crowns as an advance for the extra items, they had decided to settle the final amount after the merchant returned with all the required goods.

    Hudan had reported selecting the final twelve recruits, who were now equipped with the bandits'' armor and weapons. Half of them were already on duty as new guards for the manor, while the other half would go to the servant''s hall to get their evening meal and have a good night''s rest before they departed for Cinran tomorrow morning.

    Nerida had just left the hall, informing them that the evening meal was nearly prepared. Soon, the distribution would begin outside the manor gates, catering to the growing crowd of elderly villagers and children who had already started to gather.

    Helga, her eyes fixed on the now-closed windows, spoke up, her voice laced with concern. "My Lord," she began, "I saw the villagers gathering outside the gates of the manor, many of whom must be homeless right now. Can''t we do anything to provide them with temporary shelter until the longhouses are built? These poor souls have little to no protection from the elements, and sickness can spread quickly in such conditions."

    "That''s a valid point," Kivamus acknowledged. "The evenings are certainly getting colder. But housing all of them within the manor doesn''t seem feasible. Isn''t that right Duvas?"

    Duvas shook his head with a regretful sigh. "Indeed, my Lord," he replied. "Even if we wanted to house them in the barns for now, both of the coal barns are already full and the grain barn will be approaching its limit soon enough. And after allocating sleeping spaces for the dozen new guards we have hired, we don''t even have enough space in the servants'' hall now. We could probably take in a few children there, mostly on the upper floor with the maids, but that would be the limit of our available space within the outbuildings."

    Kivamus furrowed his brow. "But what about the manor house itself?" he countered. "You mentioned earlier that there were a few vacant rooms here. Couldn''t we use those?"

    Feroy, who was the only one who had been taking swigs from a tankard of ale, reacted swiftly to Kivamus''s suggestion. "Absolutely not, my Lord!" he exclaimed, slamming his tankard on the table and spilling some ale in the process. "Housing a large number of unknown people within the manor walls would be risky enough on its own. But lodging them within the manor house itself? Especially after that recent scare with your life? It''d be madness! Best find another place to house them."

    Hudan echoed Feroy''s sentiment with a firm nod. "Indeed, my Lord," he declared. "It would be impossible to know where their loyalty lies, and the security risk in that is simply unacceptable. I cannot allow it."

    Kivamus sighed, acknowledging the validity of their concerns with a nod. "Very well," he conceded, "housing them within the manor is off the table for now." He looked at the faces of everyone gathered around him for a moment. "Is there any other solution we haven''t considered?"

    A thoughtful silence descended upon the group, broken only by the crackling of the fire, as they considered it.

    After a moment, Gorsazo offered a suggestion. "My Lord," he began, "could we reach out to the villagers who still have houses in decent condition? Perhaps they could be persuaded to take in the homeless folks for the time being." sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas added with a skeptical frown. "We can certainly ask them," he conceded, "but very few of them will want to open their doors for strangers, unless Lord Kivamus makes it mandatory." He added, "The idea of housing unknown people and possibly putting their own families'' well-being at risk is not acceptable to most people, or they would have already done it. They have nothing to gain from doing that."

    Kivamus tapped his fingers thoughtfully against the armrest of his chair. Forcing villagers to take in others wouldn''t be a sustainable solution anyway. There had to be a way to encourage them, to incentivize their compassion.

    A smile played on his lips as a plan began to form. "Incentives, Duvas," he declared, his gaze sweeping across the faces gathered near the fireplace. "That''s exactly what we need."

    "Here''s an idea," he announced, leaning forward in his chair. "Let''s offer the villagers a choice. They''ll be under no obligation to take anyone in, but for those families who do choose to open their homes to the homeless until the longhouses are built, we will provide a fixed amount of grains every week, for every new person that a family takes in."

    He paused for a moment, letting the idea sink in. "Let''s say a family agrees to take in two homeless people. So we''ll provide them with enough grain every week to feed two people. But that family doesn''t have to actually feed the people they take in - they only need to give them shelter, so they can keep the provided grain for themselves."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, as he explained. "Remember, manual labor is the only way to earn grain right now in Tiranat. But not everyone is capable of such work. There might be someone who recently suffered an injury, or perhaps a woman who''s simply too weak for heavy labor. Those people might have no means of obtaining grain on their own, and wouldn''t qualify for the free food program reserved for the elderly and children."

    "But with this plan," he added, "we create a fallback option for them. People with spare space in their homes, and especially those who can''t do manual labor, can still contribute to the village and earn a living. In essence, they become temporary innkeepers, offering shelter in exchange for a small, but guaranteed income in the form of grain rations."

    Gorsazo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An interesting plan, my Lord," he mused. "The prospect of additional grain, especially with winter approaching, might be enough to sway a lot of villagers." He added, "Since we are already providing meals for the elderly as well as the children, and those who are capable of working will also get grain rations from tomorrow, so the burden of feeding the homeless wouldn''t fall on the villagers who are housing them. It''s an incentive that benefits both parties - the homeless receive much-needed shelter until the longhouses are built, and the participating families have their own food stores bolstered."

    "Exactly." Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. "And to further sweeten the deal, we''ll throw in a small amount of coal as well, for cooking and heating. Those extra rations of grain and coal will serve as a valuable backup for them in the winter."

    "Of course," he added, "this is only a temporary solution, but there would still be a few people who''d like to continue this arrangement even after the longhouses are built, since many homeless families might still prefer to live with another family until they get their home rebuilt, instead of inside the crowded longhouses. That means many of the villagers, particularly those who are not capable of manual work, can continue to get a fixed amount of grain in the near future by providing housing to those who still want it."

    He turned towards Duvas. "That reminds me, do we have an actual inn here? We could offer the same deal to the innkeeper as well."

 42. Blending In

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. We only have an alehouse at the market square, with a couple of rooms for visitors on its upper floor, as well as the hall on its ground floor. Tiranat is a small enough village that it has always been enough for the few visitors, mainly the traveling merchants, who come here." He added, "Last I checked, the owner of the alehouse had already taken in a few people there."Kivamus gave a nod. "Alright, let''s leave it at that. And from what you told me earlier, we already have enough grain in the barns to feed the entire village for at least ten days. By that time, Pydas will already be back with a new shipment."

    Duvas offered a nod in confirmation. "Indeed, my Lord," he replied. "With that buffer, issuing these additional rations shouldn''t be a problem, especially since it''s temporary." A thoughtful expression crossed his features. "Since today is the first day of our free meal program, there are bound to be more villagers gathered outside the gates out of curiosity than the actual number we''ll be feeding. It would be a good opportunity to announce this new incentive program."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus nodded. "Get the word out there today itself. Then, tomorrow morning, when the workers report for doing labor work, announce it again, so that everyone finds out about this."

    Thinking for a moment, he continued, "While we''re at it, let''s add another point to tomorrow''s announcement. Inform them that after a week, once our grain stores are replenished, we''ll be offering grain sacks to the village merchants at cost price. Since we are buying the grain in bulk, our prices should still be a little lower than what Pydas would have offered them. It''s a win-win situation - we recoup some of our grain investment, and the merchants get a chance to resell at a fair profit to those who still have the means to buy it, to earn some income and feed their families."

    Kivamus'' brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at everyone gathered in the manor hall. The fire crackled in the hearth, casting long shadows that danced on the walls. Looking at Feroy, he remembered that the ex-mercenary was nowhere to be found in the morning. "Feroy," he called out. "Where were you earlier? When we were talking about the guards for the caravan, I looked for you within the manor, but didn''t see you anywhere."

    Feroy chuckled. "Actually, milord," he admitted, putting down his tankard of ale on the table, "I was down in the village, getting the lay of the land. See what the villagers are feeling about their new baron." He continued, "Talked with some vendors at the market square, listened to Hudan''s announcements there - even spent an hour at the alehouse later on. Folks get real chatty after a few pints, you know?."

    Kivamus hadn''t expected that kind of initiative from him. Looking at the surprised face of Hudan, it seemed even he hadn''t realized that Feroy was standing within the crowd. The ex-mercenary clearly had a knack for blending in, a skill that could prove very useful in the future.

    "It was a good idea going there," he conceded with a nod, a hint of grudging respect in his voice. "So, what do the villagers think?"

    Feroy stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Too early to say for sure," he began. "Every villager has their own way of looking at things, you know? But after the announcements about work and food, the general mood seems positive. Most folks are happy they''ll have a chance to earn grain and coal for their families from tomorrow. Especially the older ones, the ones who thought they''d have to spend the winter begging for scraps."

    He took a swig of his ale, the firelight gleaming off his tankard. "Of course, even if these announcements were completely unexpected to them, they have had a lot of bad experiences in the past where the nobles made big promises which never came true. So they are hopeful, sure, but they gotta see it to believe it, you know? Whether they truly have a baron who actually cares about them, or it''s just another empty promise."

    Kivamus nodded. While he was doing his best to ensure everyone''s survival through the winter, and he wanted to do a lot more for the village in the future, he wasn''t naive enough to believe he''d win over every villager''s heart overnight. "That''s fair enough, Feroy," he conceded with a slow nod. "Earning people''s trust takes time, especially after a string of disappointments." S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Anything else?" he probed, leaning forward in his chair. "There must be a few people who aren''t exactly thrilled with the changes."

    Feroy grunted, swirling the ale in his tankard thoughtfully. "There were a handful of them who were grumbling, for sure. Mostly folks who hold a grudge against the manor in general. They haven''t forgotten about the manor guards not helping them during the recent bandit raid."

    Duvas sighed. "I did tell you all that we just didn''t have enough guards during that raid, to protect the manor and the village at the same time."

    Feroy''s gaze locked with Duvas. "I realize that, but the villagers don''t care about the reasons, do they?" He added, "All they see is a group of bandits rolling in, pillaging their homes, and the manor guards nowhere to be seen." He shrugged. "It''s a harsh reality, but they''re not wrong. The guards didn''t fight the bandits."

    Duvas released a weary sigh, the weight of responsibility apparent on his features. "I can''t deny that," he conceded, running a hand through his thinning hair.

    "Truth be told," Hudan added, "I''d say the bandits expected the manor guards coming out to attack them, which is why they focused on quickly plundering as much as they could and rode away before giving enough time for the guards to respond. Otherwise, it could have been much worse."

    "Makes sense, I suppose," Kivamus conceded. "At least no one died in that raid, or those grumbles might have turned far more serious. However, dwelling on the past won''t solve anything." He continued, "Our focus now must be on preparedness, so that nobody in the village dies or gets all their life savings, including their stored food stolen by bandits."

    Hudan, his face grim, nodded curtly. "Indeed, my Lord. The bandits won''t be so timid next time, especially since they would have seen that the guards remained inside the manor. They would expect the manor defenses to be weak and would come prepared for a fight. And if they come in big enough numbers, they might even attempt to breach the walls of the manor itself."

    He continued, "It won''t be easy to defend against such an attack right now, since we''ll be spread too thin for the next fortnight. Escorting the grain caravan means a dozen guards will always be out of Tiranat for the next two weeks, leaving only half our force to defend both the manor and the village, just like it was before we hired the new guards."

    "We''ll have to make do with what we have," Kivamus said. "But on the bright side, once they return, we''ll have a full complement of two dozen guards."

    Hudan''s lips curved into a determined smile. "Indeed, my Lord. I assure you, I''ll do my best to whip them into a good enough shape that we can repel any bandit attacks after these two weeks."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair. He added, "Hopefully, we''ll have that much time. But in this uncertain world, we can never be sure, can we?"

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Sitting inside the servant hall now, Tesyb savored the last spoonful of his warm porridge, a content sigh escaping his lips. Earlier that day, when Hudan, the gruff captain of the guard, had announced his selection as one of the new manor guards, the whoop of pure joy that erupted from him and his fellow recruits had echoed loudly throughout the training grounds. The news had brought a surge of excitement, a testament to the life-altering opportunity that lay before them.

    He had even noticed the new baron, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar, watching them for a while during the selection process, his pale skin and highly unusual silver hair noticeable easily. He looked young, probably the same age as his own twenty-two years, but lacked the muscled physique common with heavy labor, or the golden jewelry commonly associated with nobles. But Tesyb had returned his focus to his upcoming fight, so he didn''t notice when the baron had walked away from the training grounds.

    Gazing around the bustling servant hall, with other servants, guards and maids coming and going continuously, he took in the sight of his new surroundings. A door opened to the communal kitchen on the right, where maids were busy transferring the huge amounts of porridge they had prepared from the cooking pots into wooden buckets. A staircase next to the kitchen door went to the floor above, with the upper floor being restricted for use by only the female servants. For the male servants and the guards, two rows of straw mattresses were lined up next to the walls on the wooden floor, quite unlike the dirt floor of his own house. This was where he was sitting now, along with the other new recruits having their meal. A large fireplace crackled merrily on the left wall, casting flickering shadows that danced across the room, close to where they were sitting.

    The two-story structure, its strong wooden beams bathed in the warm glow of the roaring fireplace, offered a sense of security and stability he hadn''t known for a long time. Even now, with half of the new recruits already stationed at the manor gates, the voices of the remaining men, along with the other off-duty guards and servants filled the hall with a low hum of conversation. This, he thought looking around the cozy hall, would be his home for the foreseeable future.

    However, with a dozen new recruits joining the ranks of the existing guards, the once-spacious hall was bound to feel crowded. Yet, there was a comforting camaraderie in the shared living quarters, a sense of belonging that soothed the ache of misery prevalent in the village. There was also the fact that while the actual number of mattresses was lower than the total number of guards and servants, many of them would be on duty at any given time, which would mean enough empty sleeping spaces for those who needed to rest.

    Unlike other recruits, he had been assigned a different task. He was part of the contingent tasked with escorting a vital caravan departing for Cinran at dawn. The boisterous chatter of the new guards, most of whom hadn''t left the village since arriving in Tiranat as children, including Tesyb himself, filled the air with a nervous excitement. The prospect of an expedition to the bustling town of Cinran, which was said to be teeming with life, was both daunting and exhilarating. But tonight, they were granted a reprieve from guard duty, allowed to rest before the journey began tomorrow.

    Yet, he did realize that even if they had been equipped with well-used leather armor as well as swords and shields, which made many of them feel like seasoned guards unlike the fresh recruits they actually were, the journey was not going to be easy. The dangers of escorting a caravan through dense forests, especially after the recent bandit raid and the ambush which took the life of the previous baron was still fresh in their minds. But, even if he hadn''t ever trained as a guard, he had found in the training earlier that he could still hold his own even against some of the veteran guards. A sliver of fear danced in his chest, but it was eclipsed by a newfound sense of purpose. He was a guard now, a protector, and he was determined to live up to the responsibility that came with the title.

    Earlier in the evening, a pang of guilt was gnawing at his heart. The warmth and comfort of the hall, the camaraderie of his fellow guards, had all felt undeserved when he had pictured his hungry parents huddled in their cold, dark shack.

    *******

    *******

 43. Kigeir and Dalaar

    ~ Tesyb ~Thankfully, Madam Nerida, the head maid, had already foreseen this. After deducting the rations the guards would consume themselves, she had ensured each new recruit received a fixed quantity of grain and coal as the weekly payment of their wages. These precious provisions, packed into small sacks, would be a lifeline for their families.

    Hudan, with surprising leniency, had even granted them a precious hour outside the manor walls. It was a chance to share the news of their selection and to deliver the much-needed supplies to their loved ones. His parents'' faces had lit up at the news, with pride shining in their eyes in the glow of the newly lit coal fire, courtesy of his first wages in a new job. Their son, a guard for the baron! It was a position of respect in the village, a chance to earn a steady income and secure a brighter future, not just for himself, but for them as well.

    He wiped a stray bit of porridge from his lips, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had put the extra time outside the manor to good use. With the help of a mortar and pestle borrowed from a neighbor, he''d managed to grind a portion of the allotted grain, to make it easier for his parents to prepare porridge in his absence. Normally, with his income from the mines, they could afford to buy fresh bread from the village baker.

    Now, however, bartering would be their only option. To get bread, they''d have to take some of their remaining grain to the baker, who would then take it to the miller to be milled into flour based on his own needs. But it was still much better than not having any grain at all, and wondering where their next meal would come from. He did hope that the baron would start paying them in coin after the winter, and wouldn''t go back on his bunch of promises, unlike what usually happened with nobles. When he had told his parents that he would be leaving for Cinran tomorrow, they were worried for a moment, but his mother had reminded them that it was a good opportunity for him to check on his sister who lived there.

    Another concern gnawed at him - his father''s recent sickness. His father had told him that he hadn''t been able to go to the manor earlier because he was feeling too weak to walk that much, but thankfully, it didn''t appear to be anything serious.

    Most importantly, with his new position as a guard, he could now provide grain and coal regularly to his family. This, he hoped, would allow them to regain their strength and face the coming winter with more resilience. His father, his voice raspy but resolute, had assured him that he would meet with Lord Kivamus the very next morning, and apologize for the delay. He knew it would take some time until their situation approached anything like normal, but at least his parents wouldn''t have to face the coming winter hungry or cold.

    His reverie was interrupted by a nudge and a playful jab. It was Yufim, another recruit who was the same age as him, known for his excellent archery skills honed during his hunting days in the forest. Though a familiar face from their small village, their conversations had been brief. However, their shared selection as guards had forged a quick bond between them.

    Yufim spoke again with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Stop daydreaming, you idiot! No time for sleeping now. Didn''t you hear? Kerel''s here." He gestured towards the door of the servant''s hall with a jerk of his thumb.

    The mention of Kerel, the gruff taskmaster who oversaw the new guards'' training in the absence of the guard captain, sent a jolt of nervous energy through Tesyb. "Shut up!" he retorted. "I saw him already."

    Kerel, a seasoned guard with a mane of iron-gray hair, strode towards the group of new recruits. "Alright, lads," he rumbled, his voice roughened by years of shouting commands. "Bellies full, I guess? Good. Because now we''ve got a job to do."

    His gaze swept over them, taking in the nervous energy and the eagerness to prove themselves. "Head to the kitchens," he ordered, pointing a thick finger towards the door where the maids were working. "The porridge needs to get to the manor gates."

    He jerked his head towards the kitchen. "The maids have already filled the buckets. Two men to a cart, and make it quick. There''s a hungry crowd waiting outside." Following the order, Tesyb stood up from the straw mattress he was sitting on, along with the other new recruits.

    Kerel jabbed a finger in the general direction of the manor gates, his voice dropping to a low growl. "Remember, there''ll be a mob out there. Hungry, desperate, and likely more than a little unruly. And a hungry crowd can turn ugly in a heartbeat. Make sure the food gets distributed fairly, no pushing, no shoving." He paused, letting his words sink in. "The gate guards won''t be able to lend a hand - they gotta keep an eye out to prevent unwanted folks from slipping into the manor during the chaos. That means you lot, along with a few other guards who''re already there, are responsible for keeping the crowd in check."

    A collective intake of breath filled the air. Kerel, however, didn''t miss a beat. "Don''t worry," he added, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips. "You lads grew up here. You know these folks. Use that to your advantage. A calm word here, a gentle nudge there - you get the picture."

    A chorus of assent rippled through the group. Yufim fell into step beside Tesyb, their new camaraderie already forming a silent bond. The sharp-eyed archer used the walking time to tie his long flaxen hair into a knot behind his head, unlike Tesyb''s own brown hair, which he had cut short nearly to the roots, so he didn''t have to worry about it too much.

    The servant hall buzzed with activity as they reached the kitchen. Maids bustled about, carefully transferring the steaming porridge from large cauldrons to smaller, more manageable wooden buckets. The aroma of cooked grains filled the air, a stark contrast to the emptiness that had gnawed at many bellies for far too long. Working in pairs, the new guards hoisted the buckets onto sturdy wooden carts kept outside the servant hall. With a shared grin, they grasped the handles, ready to embark on their first official duty. The small carts, usually used for transporting supplies within the manor, were now laden with their precious cargo. Together, they maneuvered the cart on the gravel path, the weight of the porridge buckets surprisingly heavy.

    Yufim grinned at Tesyb as they pushed their own cart. "Ready for your first taste of guard duty?" he quipped.

    Tesyb chuckled, "As ready as I''ll ever be, I suppose."

    Leading the way was Kerel, his imposing figure a beacon of authority. Mr. Duvas, the old majordomo, kept a watchful eye on the procession, his brow furrowed in concentration. A few servants and maids trailed along, carrying additional supplies - wooden ladles to serve, as well as bowls and wooden spoons for the neediest. As they navigated the gravel path towards the manor gates, the distant clamor of a large crowd grew steadily louder. Tesyb''s heart hammered in his chest. This wasn''t just about delivering food - it was about facing the desperation that had become a part of village life.

    Finally, they rounded the last bend, and the sight that greeted him was both overwhelming and heartbreaking. A sea of weary faces, etched with desperation, stared back at them in the light of the two torches placed near the gates, which were burning bright with animal fat. Haggard men and women, their faces etched with the lines of hardship, were waiting there, not knowing whether the new baron would really provide them food, or this was another one of a noble''s grand lies.

    The older folks, their bodies stooped and gaunt, leaned heavily on makeshift walking sticks, their eyes dull with exhaustion. Scattered amongst them were children, their bony limbs a stark reminder of the harsh realities the village faced. Some of them clung to their parents'' legs, their wide eyes reflecting a hunger that went beyond food. Many young villagers who had escorted their own children and parents to the manor gates, were standing there as well.

    A handful of off-duty guards, their expressions grim, were already working to maintain some semblance of order within the crowd, their voices growing hoarse from shouting instructions.

    A knot of tension tightened in Tesyb''s stomach. This wasn''t just about delivering a meal - it was about offering a lifeline, a glimmer of hope in a time of despair. And for the first time, Tesyb felt the weight of his new responsibility settle upon him. He was no longer just a young man from Tiranat - he was a guard, a protector, and today, he would play a small but vital role in bringing a measure of comfort to his people. He took a deep breath, straightened his back, and pushed the cart forward, his resolve hardening with each step. He wouldn''t let them down.

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir, a wiry man with worry etched into his brow, stood amongst the throng of onlookers gathered outside the baron''s manor. His gaze was fixed on his two younger children, their hopeful faces bobbing in the crowd for the free meal. His eldest son, who was too old for the free meals for children, was back at their shop, minding the meager stock of grain. His wife had also stayed behind to keep an eye on things.

    Suddenly, a voice broke through the murmur of the crowd, calling his name. Dalaar, the other grain merchant in Tiranat, a man perpetually on the cusp of a scowl even on the best of days, walked towards him. The man was in his thirties without a child to call his own, and he looked far from pleased with the current turn of events.

    "This whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth, Kigeir," Dalaar grumbled. "All these people lining up for free meals. They could have been buying the grain from us. Think of the coin we could be making!"

    Kigeir shot him a sideways glance. "They wouldn''t be lining up if they had the money to buy grain, Dalaar. You know that as well as I do." His gaze moved towards the front of the crowd, where a skeletal elder was waiting with an empty bowl, a tremor running through his hands. "Do you really believe that those starving orphans or those frail old folks have the coin to spare?" S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Dalaar scoffed. "Well, even if they come into some coin, they won''t spend it now, would they? Certainly not with free meals like this up for grabs. Damn this baron and his bleeding heart! Trying to take food out of our mouths."

    Kigeir''s eyes narrowed, his patience wearing thin. "What in the name of the Goddess do you want, Dalaar? For these people to starve on the streets? Is that your idea of good business?"

    Dalaar muttered a reply which wasn''t loud enough for him to hear. He cleared his throat and continued, his voice sounding desperate. "But this isn''t some temporary act of charity! Didn''t you hear the rumors? The baron is ordering a massive shipment of grain. Seems he fancies himself a merchant now!"

    Kigeir nodded. "I did hear. But it doesn''t necessarily mean anything. The snow will soon block the roads to Cinran, remember? At least this way, the village will have enough grain for the winter, since neither of us could have bought that much grain right now."

    He paused, his gaze moving back to his children. "Look, I''d rather see the villagers stay alive through the winter, so they can buy grain from me next year. Many of them really would die without these free meals from the baron."

    Dalaar scowled. "I don''t wish them to die, Kigeir. A living customer is better than a dead one, that much I know. But a man needs to make a living! I want to make money, dammit!" He looked towards the manor. "Before this¡­ this boy-baron arrived with his free meals, at least I could mark-up my prices enough on those who could still afford to buy. It evened out the losses from the lower sales, you know. But now? Free meals for the children and the elderly, and those who can work, get grain directly from the baron! What are we supposed to do, if nobody''s buying grain from us merchants? We can''t just sit twiddling our thumbs while everyone eats for free!"

    *******

    *******

 44. Free Meal Program

    ~ Kigeir ~Kigeir grinned. "There''s always another option, you know." He gazed at the younger merchant. "You can just close up your shop and join the line for work at the manor from tomorrow."

    Dalaar''s smirk was humorless. "You would love that, wouldn''t you? To get your only real competitor out of business?"

    Kigeir threw his head back and laughed again. "Of course not! But a man can dream, can''t he?"

    Dalaar''s earlier annoyance seemed to be fading, replaced by a simmering resentment as he watched more guards emerge from the manor gates, pushing carts laden with steaming buckets. "Those rumors must hold some truth, though," he muttered, his voice laced with a venomous hiss. "No noble in his right mind would willingly come to this wretched village. He must have been exiled for a heinous crime!"

    Kigeir whirled on him, his face hardening. "Shut your mouth, Dalaar!" he hissed, his voice tight with anger. "Those are dangerous words to speak in the open."

    Dalaar fell silent, cowed by Kigeir''s sudden display of temper. The two men watched in tense silence as the guards barked orders, attempting to herd the throng of villagers into some semblance of order. Without another word, Kigeir nudged his children towards the manor gates. "Go on now," he murmured, his voice gentle with concern, "and wait patiently."

    After a while, Dalaar couldn''t contain himself any longer. "Damn this new baron and his handouts." He scowled. "Look at those greedy wretches, waiting to gobble down that free slop like starved dogs."

    Kigeir whirled on him, his eyes blazing. "Shut your trap! My children are also in that crowd, you insensitive cur!"

    Dalaar flinched. "You know I meant no offense."

    Kigeir''s jaw clenched, his gaze locked on Dalaar''s. "No, you did mean offense," he said. "And I don''t want to hear another word of it. If you can''t manage a civil conversation, then maybe you better find another place to watch."

    Dalaar''s gaze darted towards a group of younger villagers, who seemed to be his friends by the look of their exaggerated gestures towards him. A sly grin tugged at his lips. "Well," he drawled, a hint of defiance in his voice, "perhaps I''ll try my luck at snagging a free meal myself. It''s the least the baron can do after stealing our livelihood!"

    Kigeir eyed him with exasperation. "It won''t work, Dalaar. There are guards watching like hawks. No need to make a fool of yourself."

    Dalaar''s smirk widened. "Maybe it''ll work, maybe it won''t. But the baron can''t stop me from trying, can he?" And with that, he weaved through the crowd towards his friends, whose sniggering felt out of place in the hopeful atmosphere.

    Kigeir watched him go, a sigh escaping his lips. Unlike many villagers, Kigeir had managed to keep his family fed, albeit with ever-shrinking portions. Just yesterday, a heavy conversation with his wife and children had revolved around rationing their meals for the coming winter.

    While he did realize that the baron''s plans would likely mean a sharp decline in his grain sales, a bittersweet warmth bloomed in his chest as his gaze landed on his two children. Despite their young ages, they had somehow understood their situation yesterday. He didn''t have words to express how painful it felt to have his young children try to console him, when he couldn''t even fulfill his duty as a father to provide food to them regularly. But their innocent faces, usually etched with worry these days, beamed with a newfound hope tonight with the promise of regular meals here, instead of the single, meager one he''d mentioned the day before.

    This was the first genuine joy he''d seen in their eyes in a long time. How could he begrudge the baron for trying to help, and easing the burden on families like his, even if it meant his own business suffered temporarily? The man was simply trying to ensure the villagers didn''t starve through the harsh winter.

    But a flicker of unease settled in his gut as he watched Dalaar and his companions huddle together, their scowls a stark contrast to the hopeful faces around them. It wouldn''t be an easy feat, Kigeir realized. Winning over the entire village, especially those clinging to their dwindling livelihoods, would be a long and difficult task for the new baron.

    ~Tesyb ~

    Thankfully, there wasn''t any wind right now, so the weather didn''t seem very cold tonight. As he took a moment to look at the crowd, those who were truly in need were joined by a fringe of onlookers standing at the edges of the empty space outside the manor gates. These curious villagers, who were not eligible for the meals, stood at a distance, their faces a mix of skepticism and a yearning for a morsel themselves. This spectacle - a baron offering free food - was a stark departure from the harsh realities they''d known. A few of the younger villagers who were standing together even seemed to be laughing scornfully at the crowd of elderly and children.

    Putting them to the back of his mind, Tesyb watched as the older villagers, including a few of those whom he knew to be homeless, shuffled forward to see why the manor gates had been opened. Disbelief flickered in their eyes, born from years of broken promises and empty bellies. But as the steaming buckets of porridge came into view, that disbelief morphed into astonishment, then into a surge of unbridled joy that warmed Tesyb from the inside out. For many of them, this porridge represented more than just sustenance - it was a lifeline, a beacon of hope in the midst of despair.

    "Clear some space here." Kerel, the veteran guard, barked orders through the din. "Make way, all of you! Move back!" The crowd, initially resistant, shuffled back a few paces, their hunger a powerful motivator for obedience. "Form lines!" Kerel bellowed again. "Old folks to the left, children to the right! The rest of you, move back behind the lines! And no pushing, there''s enough food for everyone we''d promised."

    Confusion rippled through the crowd for a moment, as the villagers, accustomed to a chaotic scramble for scraps, were unsure how to proceed. Many, weakened and disoriented, stumbled about, unsure of their place. Kerel and a few other guards, their voices hoarse from shouting instructions, waded into the human tide, gently guiding and separating the crowd. Some of the recruits stepped between the crowd to help as well, while Tesyb, Yufim and a few other recruits stayed with the carts to protect them from a rush.

    The older folks, their movements slow and deliberate, gravitated towards the left, while the children, their eyes wide with a mix of anticipation and apprehension, clustered to the right. Slowly, a semblance of order emerged - two distinct lines snaking their way towards the steaming buckets.

    "Kerel, look there!" Yufim pointed towards the back of the older villagers'' line, his keen eyes spotting a few able-bodied men attempting to blend in with the elderly. Tesyb recognized them as those standing on the fringes of the crowd earlier, who''d seemed to be scoffing at the idea of the baron providing free food, but were now trying to snag a free meal themselves.

    Kerel, his weathered face hardening with anger, strode towards the men who had positioned themselves between the older villagers for an undeserved free meal. "Out!" he growled, shoving one particularly audacious young man back with a firm hand. "Don''t test Lord Kivamus'' generosity!" he warned, his voice having a dangerous edge to it. "You want to eat, you work for it tomorrow. One more attempt at this trickery, and you can forget about getting any work at all!"

    Initially, the ruler-breakers seemed to be scowling, and looked ready to break into a fight right there. However, a couple of experienced guards jogged over there sensing trouble, flanking Kerel for support. The veteran guard snarled, putting his hand on the sword on his shoulder, without pulling it out yet, "Walk back immediately! Otherwise we can break your legs right now, and then you''ll rightly deserve a space in this line. Up to you all."

    The chastised rule-breakers, their faces flushed with shame, mumbled apologies and retreated back to the ring of onlookers. Kerel, satisfied with maintaining order, gave a curt nod to the other guards. "Alright," he announced, his voice gruff but relieved. "Let''s feed these people."

    Finally, with the creaking of wooden wheels, Tesyb, Yufim, and the other recruits pushed their carts to the head of the lines. Most villagers, anticipating this moment, had already brought their own vessels - wooden mugs, chipped bowls, anything that could hold the much needed nourishment. With practiced efficiency, the servants and maids started to ladle the steaming porridge into the bowls the villagers had brought.

    Tesyb, however, noticed a few faces that lacked even this meager possession - those who possessed nothing but the clothes on their backs in this unforgiving world - the homeless elders, stooped figures with resignation etched deep in their wrinkles, and a handful of orphans, their eyes large and wary. But the maids, anticipating this need, had brought their own stock of simple wooden bowls.

    "Here you go," a maid said, placing a bowl of porridge in a weathered hand. "Eat slowly, now. There''s no hurry."

    The old woman cradled the bowl, her eyes brimming with tears. "Bless you, child," she croaked, her voice thick with emotion. "Bless Lord Kivamus for his kindness."

    Tesyb watched as the line inched forward steadily, a wave of gratitude rippling through the line as the elders and children received their share of the porridge. He couldn''t help but notice disbelief in some of the older faces, a testament to the years of hardship they''d endured. But with each steaming bowl distributed, that disbelief melted into a genuine smile, a silent prayer for a brighter future. Blessings upon blessings were heaped upon Lord Kivamus for this unexpected bounty, along with a lot of thankfulness for the benevolent Goddess.

    "One bowl per person," a maid called out, her voice carrying over the murmur of the crowd. "Remember to return them after you''ve eaten. We need them back for tomorrow." S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Each villager, young and old, received their portion of porridge with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief. Some had even brought small pots or wooden plates, hoping to sneak an extra helping for a bedridden family member or a neighbor too frail to stand in line. And a few of them were even allowed the extra meal, as long as one of the guards recognized the name of the person and already knew that they were indeed bedridden or too weak.

    As he scanned the crowd to see that the villagers maintained a proper line and didn''t try to re-join the line at the back, he spotted Father Edric, the village priest, a man rarely seen outside the confines of the temple of the Goddess. The old priest, his long white beard moving as he spoke, was deep in conversation with Mr Duvas and Hudan, who had come out of the manor at some point.

    He knew the priest did his best for the villagers. Father Edric and other younger followers who lived at the temple of the Goddess, regularly ventured into the forest to forage for fruits and vegetables for the poorest and most vulnerable - orphans and the very old. But their efforts had been overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the recent hardship in Tiranat, leaving them helpless in the face of such widespread hunger.

    Another figure caught Tesyb''s eye - a man with a withered leg, using a crude wooden branch to help him walk. The man''s eyes were brimming with disbelief as he accepted a bowl of warm porridge from a maid, the new baron''s kindness being completely unexpected for him. Although Tesyb''s own parents weren''t old enough for this handout, he was glad to see that even the downtrodden like him, those who usually received only morsels of pity, hadn''t been forgotten. A bittersweet pang struck Tesyb - there was only one disabled person in the crowd. The harsh reality was that many in such circumstances wouldn''t have lived long enough to see this day.

    Tears welled up in the eyes of some of the homeless elders as they cradled their bowls of porridge. For many, it was the first decent meal they''d had in weeks, a taste of hope after a long descent into despair. These were the people who had lived on crumbs for weeks, their bellies hollow and their spirits crushed. As Tesyb watched the lines dwindle, a quiet satisfaction settled over him. This was a good day for Tiranat, a day that promised a bright future for the long-neglected mining village at the fringes of civilization.

    Though he hadn''t been outside Tiranat for a long time, he had heard enough stories from his parents and others to realize how common it was for nobles to care only about themselves, or their profits, like the previous baron. He knew it had to be the Goddess'' blessing for her to have sent this unusual baron to their poverty-stricken village, and he would do his best to protect the baron and his ideals, starting from the visit to Cinran tomorrow. He also made a promise to visit the temple to thank the Goddess for their good fortune, as soon as he got a chance to visit.

    *******

    *******

 45. Interlude: Maisy and Timmy

    ~ Maisy ~Ten-year-old Maisy, a wisp of a girl with eyes that held the wariness of someone who had seen too much, had heard that the village had a new baron now, who came with the caravan yesterday. She didn''t know why the previous baron never returned to the village from his trip. Maybe he had another place to live, and he left the village forever. Who would want to live here anyway?

    Earlier in the day, she had been standing outside the crowd in the market square while clutching little Timmy to her side, and had heard what the big, scary guard who came yesterday was saying. Free food for all the children, that''s what the booming voice had declared. But Maisy had scoffed on hearing that. Of course, that had to be a lie. Free things were a fairytale, and she was old enough now to know those were just imaginary stories. Besides, nobody could afford to feed that many mouths anyway. Everyone in the village looked poor now, even those living in the manor. Maybe that''s why the previous baron had gone away!

    The guard''s words, however, had been followed by another, even more incredible promise - a place for everyone to live in during the harsh winter! Surely that couldn''t be true, could it? Would the new baron really give free food and a place to live to her and Timmy? Looking at the frail body of her eight-year-old brother, she hoped it was true, but it was far too difficult to believe, in all her worldly experience of ten years surviving in this cruel world. Good things, she had learned the hard way, never came to people like her and Timmy. So there was no point in getting their hopes up, only to have them broken again.

    But when the evening turned into night, Maisy noticed a fuss amongst the villagers. Many people were gathering and heading towards the manor. She still didn''t believe the baron would give them free food, but her belly which ached with a constant hunger, forced her to take a look anyway. She grabbed Timmy''s hand, her brother constantly by her side. "Come on, Timmy," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Let''s go on an adventure." She didn''t say that they might get food there, because she didn''t want to crush the hopes of little Timmy again, in case it was all a cruel lie, which she was sure it had to be.

    When she reached near the gates of the manor, she saw a huge crowd there, much bigger than the one in the market square earlier. She clutched Timmy''s hand tightly, her small frame dwarfed by the press of bodies. It would be impossible to search for him if he ran away and got lost in this massive crowd. They stood waiting for a long time as the crowd kept growing, until there were enough tall people in front of her that she couldn''t see the gates of the manor at all.

    Maisy couldn''t hear what was happening beyond the cacophony of voices, the murmurs and shouts punctuated by the occasional rumble of annoyance. She strained to understand what they were talking about, but the words swam in a meaningless jumble. The loud voices were already starting to scare Timmy, who was clutching her with both hands.

    Then, a booming voice cut through the noise, demanding order, demanding space - it had to be the manor guards, their strong orders now starting to frighten her as well. But slowly, the noise died down, and it became a little quieter.

    Then she heard someone in the crowd say that the guards were forming separate lines¡­ including a line for the children. Confusion clouded Maisy''s mind. What was going on? She was too far back to see what was happening, and the press of bodies made it impossible to push forward. There was no way she could navigate this sea of people, reach that line for the children, even though she kept trying. Slowly, she began to feel hopeless, as Timmy began to cry in the press of the crowd.

    Just as despair threatened to bury her, a tall and scary figure emerged from the crowd. It was that huge guard, who was making the announcement in the market square earlier, who spotted her and Timmy. He saw the lost look in their eyes and with a hand gently nudging her and Timmy, parted the crowd, creating a narrow passage for them. "Come on, little ones," he rumbled, his voice surprisingly gentle, despite his scary look. "Looks like you two got separated from your folks. Come along, I''ll put you at the back of the children''s line."

    Gently, he ushered them to the end of the children''s line, where Maisy took her place while still clutching Timmy''s hand tightly. "Thank you, mister," Maisy whispered to the huge guard for the unexpected kindness, who just gave them a sad smile before he left.

    Now finally, the crowd was thin enough here that she realized that there was another line where the very old people were standing, along with the line for children, in which they were standing at the end. Timmy, overwhelmed by the crowd, had clutched her hand even tighter, the surrounding voices being too much for his senses. He tugged at her hand, begging to return to the small sleeping place on the ground between the huts, which was their current home.

    Maisy, despite her own fear, forced a smile. "Just a little longer, Timmy," she soothed, her voice barely a whisper. She scanned the area near the manor gates, her gaze falling upon a cluster of guards. And there, steam billowed from large buckets perched on carts near them.

    Her brow furrowed in confusion. Why would the guards keep hot water in the buckets there? She couldn''t see any use for that, unless they were providing hot water to the people in line, since obviously, they couldn''t provide food to all of them.

    She sighed. Of course, there wasn''t any free food! It was too good to be true anyway.

    She looked at Timmy, and was glad that she hadn''t told him about the food, so he wouldn''t be disappointed once again, like her. She scolded herself for letting her believe in that possibility for a moment. Never again! Nothing came for free in this world.

    After a while, the line started moving forward slowly. She watched with wistful eyes as the other children from their own line went straight to their parents standing in the crowd of onlookers surrounding the two lines. A few old villagers returned from the front as well, cradling steaming bowls close to their chests, tears glistening in their eyes. Relief, not disappointment, etched their faces. She was glad that at least the guards were providing hot water to everyone.

    She leaned down to whisper the news to Timmy, whose face lit up after hearing that, and he finally calmed down to wait for their own chance to get a bowl of hot water. It was going to be quite cold at night in a few hours when they would go to sleep behind the huts with empty bellies, but she was glad that the hot water would at least heat up their bodies a little.

    Maisy, emboldened by this small victory, kept her gaze fixed on the buckets, and kept checking again and again to see that the maids were still giving the hot water out - to confirm that there was still enough hot water remaining for them. But there were still too many people in front of her to see it clearly, and everyone around her, even those in their own line of children, seemed like giants, their forms blocking her view.

    Slowly the line kept moving forward. After a long while, as they reached close to the front of the line, Maisy''s heart hammered against her ribs with anticipation. She craned her neck once more, her gaze finally landing on the bowls. And what she saw caused a jolt of disbelief to shoot through her.

    Her breath caught in her throat, and a shiver ran down her spine, but not from the cold. It wasn''t hot water the maids were ladling into the bowls. The steam she had seen earlier - it was from porridge! Thick, warm porridge, the kind she hadn''t seen in months. A wave of dizziness washed over her, before tears started to leak out of her eyes, blurring her vision.

    Timmy, who was too short to see the buckets full of warm porridge, noticed this immediately and started to tug at her sleeves. "Big sis, what''s wrong?" he whimpered. But Maisy didn''t know the words to give a reply, and soon Timmy started to cry as well, mirroring her own distress. It took a few minutes for her to calm down enough to tell him that there was nothing wrong at all.

    Now she understood why the older villagers were crying when they left with their own bowls. She knelt before Timmy, her voice thick with emotion. "We''re getting food tonight, Timmy," she whispered. "Warm food."

    Timmy wiped his own tears, his gaze fixed on the steaming buckets in front of them with disbelieving eyes. Even though he didn''t really believe her words, at least his tears had stopped, replaced by a wary curiosity as he watched the maids fill the bowls.

    When they finally reached the front of the line, the serving maid paused for a moment, her gaze lingering on their ragged clothes and hollow cheeks. When Maisy noticed that the maid looked really sad after seeing them, she thought the bucket was finally empty and there was nothing left for them, but the maid shook her head gently and reached for a wooden bowl.

    "Goodness, you two must be starving¡­" the young maid murmured as she ladled steaming porridge into the bowl. Steam rose from its depths, carrying with it the most intoxicating aroma Maisy had ever encountered. It wasn''t the faint, greasy stink of discarded scraps they were used to scavenging, but the rich, warm fragrance of freshly cooked meals and a hint of sweetness.

    "Are we dreaming, big sis?" Timmy whispered, his voice barely audible above the murmur of the crowd. Maisy just shook her head slowly, a lump forming in her throat, and clutched him closer. The maid took another look at them and then heaped another ladle of porridge on top of the bowl which was now nearly overflowing, and gave it to Timmy.

    Timmy stared at the bowl of porridge, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and delight. He hesitantly reached out, his fingers brushing against the steaming hot porridge. It was real. Warm. Food.

    The maid, her lips curving into a small, sad smile, reached for another bowl. After filling it until it was nearly overflowing as well, she handed it to Maisy. She knelt before Timmy, her voice gentle. "Don''t rush yourself, okay?" she cautioned. "Your body hasn''t had much food lately, and if you gobble it all down too fast, it might make you sick. Take small bites and chew it well."

    Maisy finally found her voice, a mere whisper escaping her lips. "Thank you," she breathed.

    The maid squeezed her hand gently. "Remember, you''ll need to return the bowls after eating so we can give everyone another meal tomorrow morning. But for now, you two just enjoy your meal. There''s no need to hurry." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Maisy nodded, her heart overflowing with a gratitude she couldn''t express. Timmy was now holding his bowl with both of his little hands, while looking at it without blinking, as if he thought it would vanish if he closed his eyes for even a moment. Gently pushing him, she began to lead them away from the lines. They found an empty spot on the dusty ground, settling down near a group of older villagers who sat huddled together, already savoring their bowls of porridge.

    For a moment, Maisy simply held the bowl, her gaze fixed on the still steaming bowl, a beacon of plenty in a world of scarcity. It was a simple thing, a bowl of food, yet in that moment, it felt like a precious treasure to her. She closed her eyes, trying to imprint the image into her memory. And if they never got to eat a full bowl of warm food again, in case this really was a dream, a cruel trick of a starving mind, at least she would have the memories of this evening.

    Finally, she watched as Timmy, gathering his courage, hesitantly brought a spoonful of porridge to his lips. He blew on it tentatively, then took a small bite. His eyes widened in surprise, then crinkled at the corners in a smile that slowly spread across his face.

    With trembling hands, she copied him, taking a small bite herself. The porridge was warm, creamy and sweet. The warmth of the porridge seeped into her frail body, chasing away the gnawing hunger that had been a constant companion for months.

    It was supposed to be a simple meal, but after spending the last few months searching around in the garbage for food, she felt that she hadn''t tasted anything better in her life. In that moment, the harsh realities of her world faded away, replaced by the simple joy of a warm meal on a cold night. She thought if this was a dream, it was the best and the tastiest dream she had ever had.

    That simple bowl of porridge brought back a sliver of childhood innocence in her, a reminder of a time before hunger had become a regular part of their lives. This regular day, which started as just another day spent looking for a scrap of food, while shivering in the winds of the coming winter, was a day neither Maisy nor Timmy would ever forget.

    Unknown to her, as she savored another spoonful, a small, innocent smile of pure joy bloomed on her face. She was just ten years old, after all¡­

    *******

    *******

 46. A New Friend

    ~Tesyb ~As the last ladle of steaming porridge found its home in a waiting bowl, a hush fell over the crowd. The villagers, their faces glowing with the warmth of the unexpected meal, cradled their bowls close, savoring the simple pleasure of a full stomach. While they waited to collect the empty bowls, Mr. Duvas, the majordomo, stepped forward, his voice ringing out through the square.

    "Now listen, all of you. While the baron is committed to building longhouses to provide shelter for all the homeless villagers," he announced, "their construction will take several weeks to complete. With the nights already getting colder," Mr. Duvas continued, his voice firm, "his lordship understands the immediate need for warmth and safety. So the baron asks those of you with undamaged houses to consider opening your doors to those in need. Of course, this would only be a temporary arrangement, until the longhouses are ready." S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb scanned the faces around him, a sense of foreboding settling in his gut. Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the occasional cough or sniffle. This was exactly the reaction he''d expected. The villagers, already struggling to feed their own families, were unlikely to welcome the additional burden of housing and feeding others. He thought the baron and his advisers should already have known about it.

    But Mr. Duvas, his voice betraying a hint of weariness, seemed to have anticipated this reaction. He cleared his throat and continued, "The baron understands the difficulties this may cause and to ease the burden, he is prepared to offer a form of compensation."

    The crowd kept hearing the majordomo with bated breath, a keen interest replacing the initial resignation.

    Mr. Duvas elaborated, "For every homeless person that a family takes in, they will receive a fixed amount of grain every week, enough to feed a grown up, as well as a small amount of coal. As you all know," he elaborated, "the elderly and the children will continue to be covered by the baron''s free meal program until the longhouses are built, and those who are capable of doing manual work will also be working for their meal from tomorrow. That means, the grain and coal we''ll provide for taking in the homeless, is for the use of those families themselves. Since they won''t have to feed the people they take in, they are free to add it to their food storage for the future."

    A murmur rippled through the crowd, while Tesyb''s mind whirred with calculations. Grain and coal - essential for survival in the harsh winter months. The offer was indeed very tempting.

    "Now let me be very clear," Mr. Duvas continued, his tone turning stern, "we will have guards patrolling the village regularly to ensure that those you claim to be sheltering are indeed residing with you. Taking advantage of the baron''s generosity will be met with harsh consequences."

    "Spread the word throughout the village," Mr. Duvas concluded. "Those who are willing to participate in this, should take in the homeless villagers as soon as possible, preferably tonight. As you all know, while many of those people who don''t have a place to live are already here, a lot of them are not present here right now. It is up to you all to talk to them. And once that is done, those who have taken in other people will need to come to the manor tomorrow to register themselves. Once we have verified it, we will provide them the promised amount of grain and coal in the evening."

    Tesyb watched as the villagers started speaking with each other immediately, the news buzzing amongst them like a swarm of restless bees. He knew this night would be filled with whispered discussions and difficult choices, but the promise of extra rations would be a huge motivator for the baron''s plans.

    He would have gladly offered his own home as well, for a chance at that precious grain, if it hadn''t been nearly reduced to rubble during the recent bandit raid. And as he expected, he saw that it didn''t take long for the implications to sink in. That was basically free grain given by the baron.

    The villagers watching the meal distribution from the fringes of the ground had huddled together, whispering and gesturing towards those who sat finishing their meals. They were the same people who had seemed reluctant to open their doors just moments ago, but now they were practically tripping over themselves to talk to the older villagers and homeless orphans. Conversations buzzed with frantic whispers and hurried negotiations, all aimed at a search for the most suitable addition to their households - someone who wouldn''t disrupt the delicate balance of their own family life but would qualify for the baron''s offer.

    The sight brought a bittersweet smile to Tesyb''s lips. The transformation was remarkable. The homeless villagers, who had been openly ignored by other people until they heard about this incentive, were now approached with tentative smiles and kind words. And before long, most of the homeless had already found temporary housing, their faces reflecting a genuine hope that had been absent just an hour ago.

    Even Kigeir, the usually stoic grain merchant who''d brought his own children for the free meal, seemed to have taken action. He was talking with a pair of young orphans, after they had returned their empty bowls. After a quick conversation, with a nod and a gruff pat on their heads, he ushered them towards his family along with his own two children. The orphans, hesitant at first, eventually turned to follow, a new hope visible in their eyes. Tesyb''s heart warmed at the sight. Those children deserved a roof over their heads, and with Kigeir already having two children of a similar age, the adjustment to a new life wouldn''t be as jarring. It still wouldn''t be easy for the orphans, since they would know that it would only be temporary, but it was certainly better than the harsh reality of the streets.

    The first voice, uncertain at first, rose above the murmur. "All praise the new baron! Long live Lord Kivamus!" it cheered, the sound echoing across the area. It wasn''t clear who started it, but the cry ignited a spark within the crowd, quickly morphing into a unified chant. The air vibrated with a newfound optimism, a testament to the transformative power of the baron''s well-timed generosity.

    Once the cheers subsided, Hudan''s voice boomed across the square, "Remember, those willing to work in exchange for grain and coal have to report here at seven bells tomorrow morning!"

    Tesyb watched the crowd disperse slowly, a sense of hope blooming in his chest. The road ahead wouldn''t be easy, that much was certain. But for the first time in a long while, the future of Tiranat didn''t seem so bleak. The baron, with all his new plans and genuine concern for the villagers, had managed to spark a flicker of light in the darkness. The leaving villagers, once sullen and resigned, now seemed to hold their heads a little higher, with their bellies full and looking forward to the next day.

    Whether this would be enough to get through the coming winter and the future challenges, only time would tell. But for now, Tesyb allowed himself a moment of hope, a belief that perhaps, just perhaps, brighter days were on the horizon.

    ~ Maisy ~

    Maisy had heard the announcement from the old man earlier. It was supposed to be good news - the villagers would take in the homeless, including her and Timmy. But Maisy wasn''t naive. In her world, nothing was truly free. It was a constant hustle, a relentless scramble for scraps. Getting a free meal had felt like she had already used up the little luck she had.

    But when the old man mentioned free grain for those who took in the homeless, suddenly, everyone was eager to house the children and elderly. That, she understood. Give and take. It was the way the world worked. She was still glad that the new baron, whoever he was, had thought of orphans like them, because no one thought about them. Well, almost no one.

    The man who approached them, offering a place in his home, wasn''t like the others. Maisy recognized him from her scavenging days - Mr. Kigeir, the grain merchant with his kind eyes and three kids. Two of them, a girl and a boy, had even looked to be of the same ages as her and Timmy. Back when things weren''t so bad, Mr. Kigeir and his wife had even offered them a fruit or a leftover meal sometimes - a rare act of kindness in their world.

    So, when Mr. Kigeir offered to take them in until the longhouses were built, Maisy didn''t have to think long. It wasn''t blind trust, but a wary acceptance based on her past experiences. Now they were walking towards the man''s house, while his younger child, a boy the same age as Timmy, seemed to have found a new friend in her brother.

    Elsie, Mr. Kigeir''s daughter, was also ten-years-old, the same age as her. And no, Maisy didn''t have to ask her. Elsie just didn''t seem to know how to stay quiet, and kept talking about one thing after another. So when Elsie asked her about which games Maisy would like to play with her, she didn''t know what to answer. She didn''t even know any games! She wasn''t used to someone who talked that much, so she just agreed to play whichever game Elsie wanted to play with her.

    As they reached the house, Mr. Kigeir''s wife emerged, her brow furrowed in surprise. She even asked Mr Kigeir about how he returned with double the number of children he''d left with, although Maisy couldn''t hear Mr Kigeir''s answer. While the adults talked, Elsie kept chattering excitedly. Maisy struggled to keep up with the young girl, most of her questions and answers being foreign concepts to Maisy''s simple world.

    Everything was changing so fast, it made her dizzy. But at least she was glad that unlike many times in the past, it felt like a change for the better.

    Elsie, noticing that Maisy wasn''t listening to her, puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Then, in a gesture that surprised Maisy even more than the day''s events, Elsie wrapped her arms around Maisy in a tight hug. "Talk to me!" she exclaimed. "You''re my new best friend!"

    Maisy didn''t know why, but after hearing that, a tear of pure, unexpected happiness escaped her eye. In the midst of uncertainty, she had found not just a roof over her head with the promise of a warm meal, but maybe, just maybe, an unexpected friend as well. And in that moment, under the faint light of the countless stars twinkling in the night sky, Maisy allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, the world wasn''t such a cold and unforgiving place after all.

    *******

    *******

 47. Departure

    The crisp dawn painted the sky in hues of orange and red as Kivamus stood near the manor gates, with Hudan, Feroy, and Duvas standing nearby. The early morning breeze held a distinct chill, making Kivamus pull his fur coat tighter around his frame. Although he hadn''t heard the sound of the temple bell earlier, Duvas had told him that the time was just after six bells right now.Finally, after a lot of preparation for the journey, the caravan of seven wagons, each pulled by a pair of sturdy horses, stood ready before them. Although it had made the stables in the manor considerably less crowded for now, after providing the horses for the wagons. A dozen guards, a mix of seasoned veterans and recently recruited villagers, along with Pydas and his wagon driver, moved around the caravan, their movements purposeful as they performed final checks. Each wagon would be accompanied by two guards, one experienced and one new, who were now meticulously checking every rope and knot of their assigned wagon, ensuring nothing would come loose during the journey.

    Kivamus scanned the guards, all of whom were clad in similar leather armor, with an iron sword strapped to their hips, and a sturdy wooden shield leaning against their designated seats. Although he didn''t find it easy to tell which of them were the new guards. I guess that''s a good thing, he thought.

    Earlier, Duvas had told him that the guards had been well-provisioned for the journey. Some dried meat from their own stores, freshly baked bread, and a supply of hardtack biscuits would see them through, along with enough waterskins for everyone. Kivamus could even smell the remnants of the coal fire in the servant hall''s kitchen, where the morning meal was prepared for those departing for Cinran.

    Pydas, with his intimate knowledge of the route, had assured Kivamus that the dense forests along the way offered ample grazing areas for the horses, eliminating the need to carry additional feed. Six of the wagons were loaded with coal, their wooden frames straining under the black bounty, while the seventh one, which was damaged, would remain empty. All seven, however, were meticulously covered with oilcloth, in case it rained on the way, so it wasn''t noticeable which of them was the damaged one. "Hudan," he asked, "why''ve you covered the empty wagon as well?"

    Hudan pointed towards the last wagon. "This is the decoy, my lord," he explained. "One of the bandits'' favorite tricks," Hudan continued, his voice low and serious, "is to target the last wagon in a line. They''ll drop a fallen branch or some other obstacle right in front of it, creating a break in the caravan. And in bad weather, including rain or even during a rarely-made night journey, the wagons ahead might not even notice it right away. The bandits then have their pickings, plundering a single, isolated wagon without having to confront the entire group. However, by making it appear identical to the others, we hopefully lessen the potential reward for an attack. The bandits wouldn''t be getting anything, and by the time they''d go after the rest of the caravan, the guards would have enough time to prepare."

    He added in a low voice, "I know this wouldn''t do much to protect the caravan in case of an actual attack, but we might as well do it, even if it only improves our chances a little bit on this first journey."

    Feroy spoke up with a hint of a smirk, "And jus'' in case the bandits wanna get clever," he said, patting the hilt of his sword, "I''ll be enjoying the view from the back, ready to give them a surprise welcome." He pointed towards a young guard with long blond hair tied into a knot standing near a wagon. "Yufim there," he continued, indicating the new archer with a proud grin, "will be sitting in the middle wagon, you know? His aim with a bow is unmatched, and he can cover all sides of the caravan if need be."

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "While the guards appear to be well-armed, wouldn''t giving them spears be helpful as well? They''d offer a longer reach in combat, right?"

    Hudan chuckled, a dry sound devoid of humor. He added in a low voice, "Training someone in proper swordsmanship takes time and dedication, my Lord. While a spear offers reach, it requires a tight formation to be effective. Most of these new recruits can barely hold a spear straight, let alone maintain a straight line during an ambush. And even if they could, a caravan''s guards are spread a long way from the first to the last wagon, so in case an ambush happens from a side, they simply wouldn''t have the time to form up properly in that chaos anyway."

    Feroy added in an even lower voice, "Honestly milord, in this case, it''s better to maintain the illusion of a well-trained force, you know? Swordsmen are often much better fighters than spearmen in a close range fight, and as long as the bandits believe they''re facing a dozen well skilled sword-fighters, they''d be far less likely to attack the caravan - and that suits us jus'' fine."

    Kivamus nodded. "It makes sense..."

    One of the new guards jogged towards them. "Feroy, sir," he called out, his voice a touch too loud in his enthusiasm, "we are ready to leave!"

    "Stop calling me sir!" Feroy retorted. "And I''ll be there in a moment." The guard nodded and jogged back towards his wagon.

    Soon, Pydas approached Kivamus as well, with worry lines creasing his face. "We really should get going now, my Lord."

    Kivamus took a deep breath. "Very well," he replied, his voice firm. "I hope the journey goes without any problems. Good luck to you all."

    Feroy nodded with a grin, "Nothing to worry, milord. We''ll be back within a week, you know?" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    With a final nod, Kivamus watched as Feroy and the guards scrambled onto their respective wagons. The creaking of wooden axles and the rhythmic clopping of hooves filled the air as the line of wagons snaked its way out of the manor grounds. A knot of unease tightened in his gut as he watched them leave. The success of the plan, and the well-being of his people through the harsh winter, rested on the shoulders of these men and the precious cargo they''ll bring back. The caravan''s journey to Cinran had begun, and with it, the first crucial step towards securing their future.

    After having a quick breakfast in the manor hall, Kivamus came outside again, walking towards the manor gate along with Gorsazo. A sizable crowd had already gathered outside the manor gates, including men and women, while Duvas was having an animated conversation with Hudan nearby.

    "Quite a turnout," Kivamus observed, his voice carrying across the morning air.

    Duvas nodded, "Indeed, my lord. There are even more villagers here than I expected."

    "How many of them are waiting here?" Kivamus asked. "From what you told me, the total population of Tiranat is around three hundred thirty only."

    Duvas nodded. "Thirty-nine amongst them¡­ no. Now fifty-one people, including the new guards we have hired, are living in the manor. That means around two hundred and eighty people in total live in the village. That number is an estimate, of course." He paused, his gaze scanning the crowd. "Right now, at least sixty or seventy workers are already waiting here, and I think that number could climb to nearly a hundred and fifty, once everyone who''s willing to work has arrived."

    Gorsazo said, "That would mean nearly all the villagers of working age would be here."

    "More or less, apart from those who have shops or work in other trades," Duvas replied with a nod. "When the mines were working, we had more than a hundred men working underground to dig coal, along with another twenty or thirty women who carried the coal out in small baskets, from inside the mines to the carts waiting outside." He added, "Nearly a dozen children also worked in the smaller tunnels, to bring the coal from hard to reach places. However, with the present condition of the village, if some women didn''t have to stay at home to take care of their children or parents, even more people would have come here."

    Kivamus winced on hearing about children working in the mines. Of course, child labour had to be present in most place in the medieval ages¡­ He even remembered hearing from someone in the past, that even in England, child labor was fairly common until laws were passed specifically to prevent that. However, when a family is nearly starving, every single one of them would go out to find some work, no matter if it was a ten year old child, or a sixty year old elder.

    "Very well," he said, his voice firm. "So there will be no shortage of workers then. But instead of waiting for the rest of them to arrive, we should put these people to work right now. Our first priority is to start cutting down trees in the north of the village to clear the land for the longhouses. About that, how many axes do we have at our disposal right now?"

    Duvas hesitated. "Not as many as we''d like," he admitted. "We had a dozen axes in the manor, apart from a few more which some of the villagers have already brought here. I had told them yesterday to bring any tools they might have with them, and in return, those people will be given priority in allotting them work. I''ll have a better count of axes soon, when more of them have arrived here. Hopefully, we should be able to gather around two dozen of them."

    Kivamus nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Cedoron will give us another three or four axes by this evening, and then three machetes by tomorrow evening and so on. But that still limits us to a maximum of two dozen people actually cutting trees today."

    Gorsazo interjected. "That''s true, but they will still need at least that many more men to help them. Felling trees is only a start, and the real work begins afterward. The branches need to be trimmed, the logs cut to manageable lengths, and so on."

    "They will also need to tie the logs to the horses with a rope," Duvas added, "to drag them to a central place, where they will stack the logs."

    "Drag them?" Thinking about how much not having modern machines limited them in doing even simple things, Kivamus asked, "Isn''t there a better way?"

    Hudan replied, "Well, if the logs aren''t too long, and the ground is flat enough, they can even roll the logs to move them more easily. But it''s not always feasible, particularly in a forested area."

    "Maybe we can use our carts to haul the logs¡­" Gorsazo added, looking at a small cart kept nearby. "Although I doubt our existing carts are built for such heavy loads."

    Duvas shook his head. "You''re right. They''re simply not designed for that kind of weight, or I''d have suggested them myself. They''d immediately break into splinters if we tried to put fully grown trees on them."

    A spark of innovation ignited in Kivamus'' mind as he thought about the problem. While they didn''t have any tractors or other such modern machines, it should still be possible to build a primitive system to pull logs much easier, even if powered by horses. Any simple method which used wheels to lift the logs, even from one side, would be better than just dragging them flat on the ground. "We could build a new kind of cart," he suggested. "Well, not exactly a cart, but something large and sturdy enough to handle these loads but also simple enough to make."

    He added, "I know we had to send the damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs because no craftsman was skilled enough to do that in Tiranat, but that wagon was much more complex, with its bearings and double-axle design. What we need here doesn''t need to be as complex as those wagons, but it should be sufficient for moving logs. In fact, building this should be a priority. We have to move as many trees as we can, as quickly as possible." He looked at Duvas. "How wide are these trees we''ll be cutting?"

    Duvas scratched his graying beard thoughtfully. "While a few of them grow much bigger than others, most of the mature trees should be around two feet wide," he estimated.

    "Two feet," Kivamus muttered, thinking about it. "That should be manageable." He glanced around, searching for the carpenter, but didn''t see him nearby. "Where is Taniok?" he asked.

    *******

    *******

 48. Log Mover

    Immediately, a servant summoned by Hudan, darted off into the crowd in search of Taniok, the village carpenter.Kivamus told others to walk a little further away from the gates and the growing noise of the crowd, where they could talk more easily. He watched as the servant disappeared into the throng, his gaze lingering on the towering trees that ringed the village. Their heights, he estimated, easily surpassed thirty meters. At first glance, they looked similar to the tall redwood trees found on Earth, although they weren''t nearly as big as those giant trees.

    Nevertheless, these trees still seemed immense when compared to the single story houses found here, unlike watching such tall trees from a high-rise apartment on Earth, which would have made the same trees look much shorter in comparison.

    "What kind of trees are these?" he asked Duvas. "I know we don''t have an option to bring in timber from another place, but will these trees be good enough for making the longhouses?"

    Duvas offered an immediate answer. "You don''t need to worry about that at all, my Lord. They''re fedarus trees," he explained. "Their wood is renowned for its durability and resistance to moisture. The manor house itself, and all of the outbuildings in the manor, were constructed from fedarus wood." He pointed towards the manor house. "As you can see, even after enduring countless rains over more than a decade, they show no signs of rot or decay."

    Gorsazo added, "I have heard that fedarus timber is even preferred for use in shipbuilding in Dorastiz, after transporting it from the fedarus forests near the capital."

    Relieved, Kivamus gave a nod. "That''s good," he said. "At least we don''t have to worry about the quality of the timber."

    Soon, the servant returned along with Taniok. The carpenter, a wiry man with a face weathered by years of toil, bowed his head in a respectful greeting. "You asked for me, my Lord?" he inquired, his voice carrying a note of deference. "I heard my name being called before I had even reached the manor."

    Kivamus said, "We have a problem in moving the fallen trees," he began, "and we need a better method than just dragging the whole tree on the ground. So I need you to build something."

    He looked around and saw a small wooden stick lying nearby and picked it up. Then he squatted on the ground, and started to make a crude drawing on the ground itself with the pointed end of the stick. He remembered seeing something like what he was drawing on the internet in the past, though he didn''t remember what it was called. He explained to others while drawing at the same time, "It''s nothing complex. What I need is two large wheels with a radius of around three to four feet. Bigger would be better, but there''s no need to make its radius more than five feet."

    He continued while others watched the stick drawing on the ground, "And these two wheels should be fixed to a very strong wooden axle, so that the distance between the two wheels should also be around the same length as the radius of the wheel, or maybe just a little longer. This way, we can easily tie a log or a felled tree of around three feet diameter under the axle. Or we can tie many smaller logs as well, as needed." He added while finishing the crude stick drawing, "This will lift the logs on one end - the part under the axle, so they can be pulled by a pair of horses much more easily."

    He stood up while looking at his handiwork, and couldn''t prevent a small laugh from leaving his mouth when he compared this drawing to the high-tech blueprints he made on his computer, back in London. When others looked at him with surprise, he just shook his head and said it''s nothing. He continued, "I think we can call it, uh¡­ a log mover. Ideally, we would need another such log mover, to lift the log from the other end as well, particularly if we have to move the logs for a longer distance, but a single one will do for now. We can think about making another log mover once Taniok gets some free time." He looked at others'' faces. "So, what do you all think about this?"

    Gorsazo examined the drawing with a critical eye. "It makes sense," he said slowly. "Lifting the logs, even from one end, would significantly reduce the drag from the ground, making it much easier to move them." He added, "While it looks simple enough in concept, how did you even get the idea for this?"

    Kivamus replied, "I think I read something like this in one of the books in the library of the Ulriga Palace."

    Gorsazo stroked his chin. "I''m not sure if I saw something like this in the library."

    Kivamus thought about it from his memories of the original Kivamus. "Gorsazo, you know you didn''t have access to the whole library back there. It must have been a book kept in the section restricted for the Duke''s family."

    Gorsazo seemed to be gazing at a distance, while thinking about it. "Hmm¡­ It very well could be. And it is not like I spent nearly as much time in the library there as you did."

    Kivamus gave a nod, and seized the opportunity to lay the groundwork for explaining how he gets new ideas in the future. "I always kept thinking about making new things after reading books there. Even back in Ulriga, my mind was constantly churning with ideas, imagining new and creative ways of doing things, or pondering on designs for things that could make life easier."

    Gorsazo looked at him for a moment, and said, "Your mind has always worked differently from your siblings, nobody can deny that. While your brothers were busy forging alliances in the Duke''s court, or hunting deer in the reserved forests, you were lost in the pages of a book."

    Kivamus nodded. "As you know well, mostly it was just to get away from my brothers'' bullying," he admitted, "but slowly I began to like spending time reading those books more than any other thing. But I never had the chance to put those ideas into practice in Ulriga. But now that I have the freedom to build anything here, away from my brothers and the rest of my family, I already have many ideas in my mind which can help us a lot."

    After seeing Gorsazo give a nod to that, Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "So can you make it?"

    Taniok looked worried. "Most of it sounds simple enough, milord, and I can make the wheels and the axle for sure. But the most challenging part of this would be making a bearing for the axle, to hitch it to the horses, or even to tie the logs to the axle." He winced as he added, "That is not a simple thing to make, and I''m not sure if I can make it, milord." He looked at Kivamus'' face for a moment before adding, "Mr Duvas did come to me to repair a wagon some time ago, but that is what I told him at that time as well, that a trained wainwright would be needed to make those bearings."

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "That''s why we needed to send the damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs," he explained. "The wainwrights there have the expertise and the equipment to create those bearings, as well as the other complex parts for a wagon." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus pondered this new challenge. "We don''t have an option to buy bearings for this from Cinran," he said. "We need a solution which we can make easily from the things we already have at hand."

    Hudan suggested, "What if we just use a thick rope, looped around the axle loosely, and use it to hitch the horses to the log mover? It is far from ideal, but this way we wouldn''t need any bearings. We can do the same to tie the logs to the axle, or we can even use an iron chain if we have it here."

    "The constant friction will wear down the ropes in the loop quickly," Gorsazo warned, "and we will have to keep making those loops again and again with new ropes. But it''s a workaround by which we can easily manage to make the log mover right now, without needing to make any bearings."

    Duvas, however, seemed more optimistic. "I don''t think we have an iron chain strong enough for that here. But if we can find a thick enough rope," he said, "it might still hold up for a while."

    Kivamus nodded, "It''s a temporary fix," he said, "but it''ll work until we can find a better solution." He continued, thinking about it, "We will need to make two loops to tie the logs to the axle though. One to tie securely around the logs, and the other - which would be at right angles to the first loop - to tie a loop loosely around the axle, which would also pass through the first loop. But the logic still stands."

    He added, "And if we can find something smooth, maybe something like an animal skin, to tie around the axle before looping the rope around it, it will allow the ropes to last longer."

    Hudan commented, "That''s a good idea. In fact, we can even put some tallow on that loop of rope, as well as on the animal skin to make it even smoother."

    "That''s much better," Kivamus commended, and looked at Taniok. "Can you make it?"

    Taniok, relief evident on his face, replied. "If I don''t have to try to make the bearings," he said, "I can certainly make the rest of it easily enough."

    "Good." Kivamus nodded, his attention focused on the task at hand. He also remembered Cedoron telling him about making elaborate carvings on the tools, so he decided to stop that here as well to prevent Taniok wasting valuable time on that. "Now the finishing doesn''t need to be top notch, and I certainly don''t need any carvings or anything. The log mover only needs to be sturdy enough to move the trees without breaking."

    "We need it built as soon as possible," he added, his voice firm. "Even a single one will significantly speed up moving the logs. So, how long will it take for you to make such a log mover?"

    Taniok''s gaze was fixed at some distant point, while he seemed to be thinking about the process. Finally, he said, "Once I have finalized the details including the size of the wheel and the length of the axle, which will take around an hour, I can put my assistant to make the spokes. I think he can make all the spokes for the two wheels by evening, since I think I already have some wood in the right sizes. I will work on making the two naves - those are the hubs of the wheel - myself. Those are usually very time-consuming to make, but since you don''t need a perfect finishing, I can skip the grinding and polishing of them. So I should be able to make both the naves by evening as well."

    Kivamus gestured for him to carry on.

    Taniok continued with a nod. "If you provide me with a few extra workers to help, I can give them a saw and put them to cut out a beam of the right size from a log, which I can make into an axle tomorrow. That will leave the felloes - that''s the surface of the wheel, which I will put my assistant to work on tomorrow. Assuming we can get all the parts completed by noon tomorrow, I will only need to connect all the parts to make the wheels and then attach them to the axle, which will take a few more hours."

    He seemed to grimace for a moment before he added, "So, I think we can complete this... log-mover by evening tomorrow. It might have been done earlier, milord, but what you are asking for is quite big - I''ve never made a wheel with a diameter nearing ten feet!" He pointed to a smaller cart kept nearby, "I made those carts in a single day, but those are much smaller!"

    Kivamus saw his grimace, but couldn''t immediately think of a reason for that. "This will take longer than I thought, but it will have to do." He added, "Don''t worry about payment for your materials - you''ll be compensated for everything that you use from your own stores, and you can take as many workers as you need from the waiting crowd. You don''t have to worry about paying them either. Just let Duvas know who you''ve chosen, so he''ll keep track of their hours."

    "I will do that, milord. By your leave, I should get a start on this immediately," Taniok said. "I need to finish this so I can start cutting planks. We will need a lot of planks to make even a single longhouse, so I need to get to work now."

    Kivmaus nodded. "Go on then." And after a quick bow, Taniok walked away towards the crowd waiting for work.

    Kivamus turned his attention back to Duvas. "What about Cedoron? Did he come here to get more workers?"

    *******

    *******

 49. Excursion

    "Cedoron is a hard worker, my Lord." Duvas replied. "He came here soon after the caravan had left the manor, before the villagers had even started gathering outside. I already sent two men and a woman to assist him at his smithy.""Good," Kivamus said. "Tell the servants to gather all the available shovels - we should have more than enough of them kept for use in the coal mines, along with the ones we bought from Pydas yesterday. We''ll divide the workers into two groups for now - one for logging, the other for clearing the land."

    He ordered, "Then send around half of the workers with shovels, so they can start clearing shrubs and the undergrowth in the south of the village. And send the remaining men for logging to the north of the village, so they can get a start as well. You can send more workers to any place, as needed, once more villagers have arrived for work."

    "We should send some pickaxes as well to the group going south," Hudan added. "The ground might be hard in some places, or they might need to break some stones lodged in the ground."

    "That''s a good idea," Duvas nodded. He looked at Kivamus. "I''ll tell the servants to distribute the tools. And I''ll also note down where the workers are sent, so I can ensure that they are actually working here and wouldn''t return here in the evening to get the grain and coal without even working, or more likely, while they were working somewhere else."

    Kivamus said, "I don''t think there are many places willing to hire them in the village right now, but sure, do that as well." S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We need someone to oversee these groups," Gorsazo said, his voice carrying over the growing clamor of the assembled villagers. "A foreman, someone with experience leading men, to ensure the tasks are completed efficiently and to verify that everyone is pulling their weight." He added, "We should send a foreman for each task that we are sending the workers to do. Say, one foreman for the workers who are clearing ground in the south, another for those who will be cutting trees in the north, and so on."

    Kivamus nodded in agreement. "That''s a good suggestion." He looked at Duvas. "Find some men who command respect - those who can motivate and discipline the workers, to make sure they wouldn''t slack off during work hours. Perhaps some of the older villagers - those who might not be able to climb trees themselves, could take on this role."

    "Don''t worry, I know a few men who would be perfect for this, particularly those who worked as foremen in the coal mines earlier," Duvas said, while looking at the crowd outside the manor gates. "I''ll appoint them as foremen when I send the workers. They can also ensure nobody leaves during work hours, since I can''t check it myself."

    He called a servant working nearby. "Fetch a parchment and quill from the manor," he ordered, his voice sharp. "Then call a few more servants and bring all the axes, shovels and pickaxes from the barn. Select only those people who''ll not be doing anything else for a while, since they''ll need to help with the distribution as well." The servant immediately ran off to the manor house to carry out the orders. Duvas turned back to Kivamus. "Let me send off the workers after I note down their names. This will take me a while."

    "Wait a moment," Kivamus paused, a thought occurring to him. "How did the villagers respond to the proposal of housing the homeless?"

    "Far better than I expected," Duvas replied. "The offer of free grain proved to be a powerful incentive for them. Many villagers who were initially hesitant, quickly changed their minds once they realized they could help those in need while also benefiting themselves. Immediately after the announcement yesterday, there was a scramble among the villagers to take in the homeless orphans and elderly who were there. I believe this continued even after everyone returned from here."

    He added with a wide smile, "I even heard some of the villagers outside muttering about not hearing that announcement on time, thus missing the opportunity to get some free grain since they couldn''t find any villagers who were still homeless by the time they heard about it."

    Kivamus gave a satisfied nod. "That''s good to hear. At least we won''t have to worry about any children freezing to death on the streets in the coming weeks." He paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "I''m thinking of taking a walk to the north of the village. I want to get a firsthand look at the area we''ll be clearing."

    Duvas nodded in understanding. "I''ll have to remain here to oversee the distribution of tasks and to send more workers where needed. It will soon be time for the morning meal for the elderly and the children as well."

    He added, "I''ll also have to write down the names of those who have taken in the homeless villagers and then send guards to verify it, so we can give them the promised supplies after work hours in the evening. Apart from that, I will have to talk with Madam Nerida about the distribution of the weekly grain and coal to all the workers in the evening. While she can determine a good amount for the grain herself, I will need to oversee the same for the coal myself."

    "That''s alright, you can handle it as you see fit," Kivamus reassured him. "I''ll be back soon."

    With a final nod, Duvas walked away towards the waiting crowd to send them to their tasks.

    "Let''s go," Kivamus said to Gorsazo and the guard captain.

    Hudan hesitated for a moment, his gaze scanning the crowd. "Wait a moment, my Lord. Let me call a couple of guards as well to accompany you."

    "Is that necessary?" Kivamus asked. "You will be there as well."

    Hudan grunted, "Better to have the guards with you and not need them, than the other way. In any case, you are still leaving the safety of the manor walls, and we don''t know where the wild beasts might be lurking in those forests."

    Kivamus considered this. It felt unusual to him to wait for guards before he went anywhere - like some important politicians were escorted back on Earth. But after the recent attempts on his life, it might be better to err on the side of caution anyway. "Very well," he agreed. "But make it quick."

    Hudan nodded and disappeared back into the manor. Soon, he returned with three burly guards in tow, armed with swords on their sides and wooden shields on their backs. Hudan, who was always armed with his longsword on his back, had picked up a shield as well. "I have told Kerel to keep an eye on things here," he reported. "We can leave now."

    "Let''s go then," Kivamus said, his voice firm. Gorsazo accompanied him as well, as they started walking towards the gates of the manor.

    The guards on gate duty saw Kivamus and their guard captain approaching, and stiffened to attention, their postures rigid and alert. Kivamus acknowledged them with a nod, his gaze sweeping over the villagers gathered outside.

    As they exited the gates, he saw that only a few villagers were remaining there, with Duvas continuously sending the workers one by one to their tasks, while scribbling on a piece of parchment. The once chaotic scene had transformed into an organized assembly, a testament to Duvas'' efficiency. Those who had come later were still waiting to be assigned, their faces a mixture of hope and uncertainty.

    As Kivamus and others walked closer, the villagers stood up straighter after recognizing him, with expressions of awe and respect. A few of the bolder ones even bowed, a gesture of deference to the new baron. Kivamus returned their greetings with a warm smile and a wave, until their group moved away from the small crowd.

    "A lot of them have already come to respect you, my Lord," Hudan observed, his voice low. "You''ve done more for them in a matter of days than the previous baron did in his entire reign."

    Kivamus acknowledged the compliment with a modest shrug. "I still haven''t done anything much, Hudan. There''s a lot of work that needs to be carried out."

    They turned right and started walking towards the north, next to the palisade walls of the manor. The narrow path they were walking on was just packed dirt, which looked recently dried after a spate of rainfall right before he arrived here. The palisade wall itself seemed undamaged and stood taller than them, probably around three meters high, with the wooden stakes sharpened to a point at the top.

    Once they reached the northern corner of the manor walls, the dirt path turned to the left, forcing them to navigate their way through a maze of tightly packed houses. Two of the manor guards led the way ahead of Kivamus and Gorsazo, while Hudan and another guard followed behind them while keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.

    As they walked, Kivamus took in the sights and sounds of the village. With most of the villagers having already gone to work as laborers, he didn''t see too many people on these narrow streets. Nevertheless, the crisp morning air was filled with the sounds of life - the chatter of a few children playing somewhere, the barking of dogs, and the voices of a few old people who seemed to be reminiscing about their lives before they came to the small village of Tiranat. And then, the unmistakable sound of a baby''s cry pierced the air, a stark reminder of the new shoots of life amidst all the challenges faced by the villagers.

    Since the bandits had not approached close to the manor in the recent raid, none of the houses here were burnt. And all of these houses were actual wooden houses, unlike the shacks and mud huts he had seen farther away from the manor when he arrived at this frontier village. He shook his head slowly, realizing that this would be called the posh residential area of Tiranat - living close to the baron''s manor and in real houses made of wood.

    However, it was easy to see in the light of the day that most of these houses, which were still standing unlike those in some other parts of the village, still had damaged walls or roofs, and they would hardly do much to protect those who lived inside from the coming winter. The residents of these houses had done their best to patch up the damaged parts, but the fact that even the better houses of the village had patchwork repairs told a lot about the situation of the village.

    "We need to plan for the future," he said to Gorsazo, while following the guards walking in front of them. "While it''s true that firstly we have to house those villagers who are still homeless, even if they have been taken in temporarily by other villagers, we have to keep the construction of longhouses ongoing throughout the winter. This way, even the other villagers would have an option to move to the new longhouses, instead of living in their own damaged ones which wouldn''t do much to protect them from the cold."

    "That''s true enough," Gorsazo commented while looking at the patched houses. "Having more longhouses would also reduce the overcrowding in the initial ones, which would be inevitable in the beginning."

    "Certainly. Overcrowding will lead to its own set of problems," Kivamus nodded. "But more importantly, such construction projects will also create much-needed employment opportunities for the villagers until we reopen the coal mines."

    He continued, "I know we will soon have all the grain we need to feed the village through the winter, but I don''t want to provide it to the villagers without having them work for it - at least those who are capable of working. Otherwise, it can lead to a lot of problems in the long run. So, we''ll put them to work on new projects once something is completed. I can think of many other projects we can implement to improve and secure the village."

    *******

    *******

 50. Yeden

    Emerging from the last cluster of houses, they reached the edge of the village, and saw the sprawling expanse of towering trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. The tree line itself was not far away from the houses. Most of the leaves had turned red and orange, making the ground seem colorful with the fallen leaves, while the trees themselves only had a small number of leaves still remaining.This was where the group of villagers sent to the north were working, their axes biting into the dense wood with rhythmic precision. Some had already scaled the trees, their silhouettes stark against the bright sky, as they cut the branches of those trees which could get tangled with another tree when felled. Others, working on the ground, swung their axes with all their might, chipping away at the base of trees which were ready to be felled. At the same time, the lack of sufficient tools was easily noticeable, as more than a dozen men sat idle, waiting for their turns with an axe.

    As he watched, a large tree which was on the brink of collapsing, finally snapped with a final hit of an axe, and started to bend towards the ground with a loud tearing sound. Slowly, what remained of its trunk couldn''t support the weight of the tree anymore, and it fell with a thunderous crash echoing through the morning air. Immediately, a bald man, above forty years old - whose authoritative stance and the way the other workers responded to his commands made him stand out from the crowd, barked new orders and sent the waiting workers towards the fallen giant. They jogged towards the felled tree and took over the axes from those who had been cutting the tree, giving them a moment to rest, and started cutting off the branches of the fallen tree.

    Noticing his gaze, Gorsazo said, "The process will speed up in the coming days, once Cedoron provides us more axes. Until then, this is the best they can do."

    Kivamus gave a nod but didn''t say anything.

    Soon, two manor servants, their faces flushed with exertion, arrived at the clearing, leading a pair of sturdy horses. The animals were saddled and bridled, with thick ropes coiled at their sides. They took the horses to the older man, who greeted them with a nod of appreciation, and after taking the reins of the horses from them, he sent the servants back. He also ordered the workers who had been cutting the branches of the felled tree, to start cutting another standing tree, instead of trimming the branches from the cut trees. Making logs from the felled trees would have to wait until they had more axes. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Who is that?" Kivamus asked, his gaze fixed on the man who seemed to be directing the efforts of the loggers.

    Hudan shrugged. "I can''t say, my Lord. I don''t yet recognise most of the villagers."

    Hearing their conversation, one of the guards who had come with them, spoke up. "That''s Yeden, milord," he informed them. "He used to be a foreman in the coal mines as well."

    Kivamus nodded, his attention drawn back to the man in question. Yeden was overseeing the process where a few workers attached the trunk of the fallen tree to thick ropes, and then tied the ropes to the horses. Once it was done, Yeden gave a sharp command, and the workers started to lead the horses towards the right side, likely to clear the space there. It wasn''t easy to drag the logs on the forest floor, but they didn''t have a better option until Taniok came through on his promises to build the log mover. The workers led the straining horses to move the tree to an empty place on the right, to a slowly growing stockpile of felled trees. Yeden then ordered the horses to be tied away from the danger of the falling trees, until they were needed again to move another felled tree.

    "He seems to know his work," Kivamus observed. "Duvas chose a good foreman here."

    "Indeed," Gorsazo replied. "He has a natural authority about him."

    Right at that moment, Yeden looked in their direction and with recognition in his eyes, he started walking towards them. "Milord," he greeted with a respectful bow, his voice carrying a hint of surprise. "I didn''t expect to see you here."

    "I wanted to get a firsthand look at the operation," Kivamus replied. "How''s it going?"

    Yeden hesitated for a moment, then scratching his bald pate, he spoke bluntly. "We could use more axes, my lord," he admitted. "There are twice as many workers as there are tools, so the work is going much slower than I wanted."

    Kivamus said, "I have already given an order to Cedoron to make two dozen more axes, and he will start providing them from this evening itself." He added, "I have also told him to make some machetes, which are like much bigger knives. They will be useful to cut the smaller branches from the trees, instead of using the much heavier axes for it, which could be better used for cutting more trees."

    Yeden looked satisfied on hearing that. "Getting that many new axes would make a world of difference. I haven''t heard of any machetes in my life, but anything that can be used to cut, will help us right now."

    Kivamus continued, "I have also told the carpenter to make something which would make moving the logs much easier. You''ll see it tomorrow."

    Kivamus looked towards the trees being cut and his attention was drawn to two workers who seemed to be taking a break. With their axes casually propped against a nearby tree, they seemed to be engaged in idle conversation. Following his gaze, Yeden noticed them as well, and growled. "By your leave milord, I need to get back there," he said, his voice sharp, "or they will start slacking off. We can''t afford to have any axes idle right now."

    With a quick bow to Kivamus, Yeden strode towards the idle workers, his voice carrying across the clearing. "Get back to work!" he bellowed, his words sharp and commanding. "We don''t have time for slacking!"

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "He''s a natural leader," he murmured.

    As they continued their inspection, he pondered about this area. The initial focus was on clearing the land, but the construction of the longhouses would require careful planning. Looking at the clearing, he tried to visualize in his mind about where the longhouses might be constructed, but right now, the cutting of trees had barely started and there was just not enough space between the houses of the village and the tree line. For now, he would have to wait until more axes and machetes had been built by Cedoron to address the bottleneck of tools, which was slowing down everything.

    "We''ll need to return in a few days to reassess the location," he said to Hudan. "Once enough area has been cleared, we can start planning the layout of the longhouses. It''ll be better to start building them only after we know exactly where they will be located."

    Gorsazo suggested, "We should also establish a central storage area for the felled trees," he said aloud. "A place where the workers can cut them into manageable lengths and prepare them for construction."

    "We are clearing trees for at least five hundred yards on every side of the village," Kivamus replied. "So instead of dragging the logs to a single location - which is not going to be easy right now, we can keep the logs from each direction in separate stockpiles." He added, "As of now, we don''t even have enough axes to put all the workers to cut trees in every direction, but when we start cutting trees in other areas, you can tell Duvas to let the local foremen know about that. For now, Yeden seems to be managing everything here well enough."

    Kivamus asked Hudan, "What about the security of the workers here?"

    "These laborers are certainly not trained guards, but most of them are physically fit young men, and are armed with axes, and in the coming days, they''ll have machetes as well." Hudan explained, "A bandit attack is unlikely on a group of forty-fifty young men in the middle of the day, unless they have superior numbers, which is highly unlikely. Still, these men should be able to hold on long enough in case of an attack, even if it''s by a wild beast, to send a man on horse to call for guards from the manor - they already have horses here, and we''ll send one to the southern group as well."

    He added with a grimace, "It''s true that even with most of the men armed with axes and machetes, they are no match for a determined group of bandits who might attack while riding on horses. However, we are already short on guards, so we simply can''t maintain a constant guard presence in every place we have sent the workers, especially since we''ll have to keep a particular number of guards at the manor at all times." He continued, "For now, I''ve already started training the new guards. It''s slow going, but they''re making progress."

    Kivamus asked, "What about training these laborers in the basics?"

    Hudan replied, "Kerel and I can''t personally train more than a dozen men properly, and we''re already doing that with the current guards. And even though their new profession leads them to risk their lives in any attack - which means they would be highly determined to learn, it still takes time to train a man to hold his own against a trained fighter." He added, "As for the laborers, they will be working during most of the daylight hours so they wouldn''t have the time or energy to learn much, and even if I showed them the basics after they returned in the evening, their skill would only increase if they get actual experience in fighting, like the way we are training the new guards. Just explaining to these workers about how to fight wouldn''t increase their skill even a little bit from what they could do right now with an axe."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That makes sense. For now, let them focus on working on their given tasks." He continued, "But when all the guards are back from Cinran after the final trip, you should have enough guards to put a few of them to patrol around the village on horses, so that they can keep an eye on everything. They''ll also be able to inform the manor more quickly as well, in case of an attack."

    "I''ll do that, my Lord," Hudan replied. "I was already planning something like that."

    "That''s good," Kivamus said. "Now let''s take a look at the south of the village as well."

    Hudan nodded, and they started walking back on the same path they had taken to come here.

    As they approached the manor gates, he saw that Duvas was waiting for them, accompanied by a middle aged man with thinning, almost white hair, who was standing with a humble posture. The man''s frail appearance was a stark reminder of the harsh conditions the villagers endured.

    "This is Pinoto," Duvas explained, "He''s the father of Tesyb, who''s a new guard we hired. He is here to discuss matters about farming with you."

    *******

    *******

 51. Pinoto

    Pinoto, a gaunt figure with eyes that held the weariness of a life spent in struggle, bowed deeply. "Forgive me, milord," he began, "I was unable to report to the manor yesterday. Weakness had kept me confined to my home."Kivamus placed a reassuring hand on the man''s shoulder. "Don''t worry about it," he replied. "Besides, I was busy with other things yesterday, so I probably would have sent you back anyway if you''d come. How are you feeling now?"

    Pinoto''s gaunt face relaxed slightly. "Much better, milord," he replied. "It''s not a serious illness or something. We just haven''t had enough to eat recently, and my body has grown weak. But my son brought home some grain last night, and I can already feel my strength returning."

    Kivamus grimaced, a pang of sympathy shooting through him. The villagers'' plight was more dire than he had imagined if some of the older people weren''t even able to walk because of weakness and not having enough food to eat. But at least the immediate crisis of hunger was being addressed now, even though the underlying issue of long term food security still remained. "I''m glad to hear it," he said. "We need everyone at their best to rebuild this village."

    Pinoto bowed again, "I can''t thank you enough milord, for accepting Tesyb as a manor guard."

    Kivamus looked at Hudan, who replied in his place. "It wasn''t a favor to hire him. He got selected on his own merits," said the guard captain with a shrug.

    Pinoto stood straight again with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, I am so glad to hear that! Now at least he''ll earn a wage as a guard, instead of wasting his fighting talents for breaking up brawls in the alehouse for free."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but give a small laugh at that. "Don''t worry, I''m sure he''ll do well as a guard." He added, "I''m going to take a walk to the south of the village, where I want to build the new farms. Walk with me, while we talk."

    Pinoto nodded, and said, "Gladly, milord."

    Duvas added, "I''ll stay back here, my Lord. We already provided the morning meal to the children and the elderly, but I still have to arrange for the grain and coal we have to provide in the evening."

    With a final nod to the old majordomo, Kivamus set off southwards, on the dirt path next to the palisade walls of the manor, with Gorsazo and Pinoto walking beside him. Hudan and the other guards took their previous positions as well, to escort him.

    As they walked, Kivamus took the opportunity to ask more questions. "So have you worked as a farmer before?" he asked the ex-farmer.

    Pinoto paused for a moment, before giving a nod. "Before moving to Tiranat, my family and I used to live on a farm in the northwest of Cinran. I worked as a farmer there for over two decades," he explained, his voice carrying a hint of nostalgia. "It was a simple life, but a fulfilling one. But then, the farm owner fell on hard times and could no longer afford to pay us, so I had to leave with my family."

    He continued with a distant look in his eyes. "We ended up in Cinran for a while, where my daughter still works as a seamstress'' helper. But when I heard that coal had been found to the south and they needed workers for the mines, I moved here along with my wife and son. That was more than a decade ago." He gestured towards the east. "I worked in those mines for over a decade, until one day I injured my hand badly enough that I couldn''t use the pickaxe anymore."

    "I''m sorry to hear about your injury," Kivamus said. "It must have been a difficult time for your family."

    Pinoto shook his head. "We managed," he said simply. "Tesyb was still young at the time, but he took my place as a miner and we have been living on his mining wages since then."

    Kivamus studied the man for a moment. While Pinoto''s recent sickness had made him look gaunt and older, but even with his nearly white hair, he didn''t seem that old. It was possible that he was lying about how long he''d worked at that farm, to bluff his way into getting a role for advising him. "How old are you, for you to have been working that long?" he asked.

    The question seemed to take Pinoto by surprise. He hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I''m not entirely sure, milord. But I think I must have seen around fifty winters by now. My parents died when I was young, so I had to start working on that farm - which was close to where I was born, when I was nearly fifteen years old, I think. That''s where I met my wife as well, in later years."

    He continued, "When my family was forced to leave that farm, I remember that Tesyb was only around seven or eight years old, so I think I must have been around thirty-five years old by then. And then I worked as a miner here for nearly a decade, before Tesyb took over around five years ago."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. Those numbers added up. It seemed he wasn''t lying about working on a farm for two decades, after all. For a moment, it did feel odd to him that Pinoto didn''t remember exactly how old he was, before he remembered that most people in this place must be illiterate, and without good enough recordkeeping, it would be difficult anyway.

    From losing his parents at a young age, then having to leave the farm he worked on for most his life, and eventually not being able to work as even a miner after that injury, Pinoto had seen more than his fair share of hardships. But he was a man who had weathered life''s storms with a stoic determination.

    Nobody said anything for a while, as they walked south next to the palisade wall. Eventually, Kivamus asked, changing the subject, "What did you grow on your farm?"

    Pinoto''s face brightened as he started talking about farming. "Mostly wheat, milord," he replied. "We had a few fields of oats as well, but wheat was the main crop. Oat is a more hardy crop than wheat, so it can be grown in a variety of soil and climate types. But nearly always, people prefer to eat wheat, which tastes better than oat. However, we still grew some oats there to feed the animals."

    Kivamus listened intently, his mind already formulating plans for the future. He needed to understand the agricultural potential of the land, to know what crops could be grown successfully and what challenges they might face.

    He said, "You have been living here for more than a decade. So you must have noticed the soil around the village. Which of those crops will be better to grow here?" He added, "I would prefer wheat, because soon we''ll have a good stock of it to use as seeds, and if needed, buying more of it from Cinran after the winter wouldn''t be a problem. However, I don''t know if we can get enough seeds for oats at a low enough price."

    Pinoto thought for a moment before replying. "Since the forest land around the village hasn''t ever been farmed in the past, it is still rich in humus. Also, we have a loamy soil in this region, so wheat can easily be grown here. So, because of the reasons you mentioned and the quality of soil here, I''d suggest sowing wheat in the farms."

    Kivamus nodded, satisfied with the assessment. "Okay, that''s good. Wheat it is, then." He continued, "Since you''ve worked in the coal mines in the eastern hills, you must already know that there is a stream there."

    "I''ve seen it, milord," Pinoto replied. He hesitated for a moment, before adding, "I''ve also fished there in the past, to add to our diets in lean times." He gazed in the distance for a while, then said, "It flows southwards from between those hills in the east, so I''d say you chose well to build the farms in the south. However, it''s still too far away from the village to use it for irrigation directly." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus considered this, trying to visualize the terrain. "That''s true. We might have to dig a small canal to bring the water closer to the farms. I will have to check the slope of the ground from the stream to the south of the village, to see whether the water will flow here by itself, or if I''ll have to do something else about it. Leave that to me." As they continued walking, he asked, "Now from what I heard about the weather here, we can''t plant any wheat for the winter, right?"

    Pinoto nodded. "You might already know this milord, but just like the northern part of Reslinor, it snows every year in the winter even in southern regions of Reslinor, even if the snowfall is not very heavy here in the areas away from a mountain range. That''s why all the wheat which is planted in Reslinor is sown in spring and harvested in autumn."

    He continued, "In our case, in Tiranat, the snow lasts here for around a month and a half, so it''s not feasible to plant wheat in the winter. So, we''ll also have to do the sowing of wheat in spring, just like the rest of Reslinor."

    "That''s what I expected," Kivamus said. "So, we have a few months before we can start sowing."

    As they reached the designated area for farming, the scale of the task became increasingly apparent. Trees, their trunks thick and imposing, stood like silent sentinels, their branches reaching for the sky. A group of workers were already working to clear the ground there. While the men were using pickaxes to break the rocks which were present in some places, the women were using baskets to move the smaller stones to a growing pile nearby.

    "What about just burning the shrubs and small plants here?" Kivamus asked. He remembered the fertilizing acronym NPK, which stood for the three major elements needed to increase the fertility of plants - Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, although people here wouldn''t know anything about elements and atoms. Soil acidity would also be a factor affected by mixing ash, but he didn''t have a way to measure it yet. He added, "It would help to improve the soil quality as well, if we mixed the ash into the soil."

    "That''s true, but we can only do it after the workers have cut all the trees from the area," Pinoto replied. "But even then, since this area has never been used for farming, there are still many stones here, both small and large, which have to be removed manually. After that is done, and the trees have been cut, we can still burn the shrubs anyway, as needed."

    Pinoto added, "Give me a moment, milord," before he started walking again towards the laborers working ahead.

    *******

    *******

 52. Yields

    The ex-farmer walked a little ahead and bent down to the ground near the trees. Picking up a small amount of dirt in his hand, he crushed it, watching it carefully. With a nod to himself, he got up and walked a little farther away and repeated the same thing in a few other places. Then he looked around, and seeing a wooden bucket filled with water, which one of the laborers must have brought there from the village well for drinking, he walked towards it.As Kivamus watched, Pinoto poured some water from the bucket onto the ground, and mixed some of the soil with water, kneading it into a ball of mud. With a nod to himself, he picked up that round clump of mud in both hands, and walked towards Kivamus. After lightly tossing up the ball of mud and catching it again, he opened his hands and explained, "As you can see, milord, this soil can hold its shape well enough, which means it is not too sandy." Then he took a part of the muddy ball in one hand, and squeezed it out between his thumb and index finger. Kivamus saw a strip of mud forming outside Pinoto''s hands for around two to three centimeters, before it fell to the ground in a clump. Pinoto reported, "Like you saw milord, the mud holds itself together for nearly an inch, but not for much longer. This is a good quality of loamy soil for sowing wheat." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Before he saw Pinoto doing this, Kivamus had thought of testing the soil type by putting some dirt inside a glass jar, and leaving it to settle for a while after filling it with water. That would have shown what the soil consisted of. But he didn''t think they had a glass jar here of a good enough quality and transparency to do that, so he hadn''t mentioned it. However, this method seemed to work for the locals just as well. "That''s good thinking!" he commended.

    Pinoto nodded with a smile. "Thank you, milord. While the soil here is good for sowing wheat, having flowing water nearby would help a lot, otherwise we would need to dig a well here which would be quite time consuming."

    "Don''t worry about that. I will take care of supplying enough water here," Kivamus reassured. "But what about plowing the soil? How did you do it on the farm you worked at?"

    Pinoto replied, "For the big fields, we used nodors there, milord." Seeing the confused look on Kivamus'' face, he bowed his head. "My apologies, milord, I should have explained first. It must be rare to see a nodor near Ulriga, where oxen are used more often."

    He explained, "Nodors are plant eaters, similar to oxen, but smaller than them. They are often seen grazing in forests and are easy enough to tame. While it''s true that oxen are built more powerful, they are fewer in number and are much more costly to buy, feed and maintain, compared to nodors."

    He added with a shrug, "The truth is, other than on hilly terrains, an ox is always better than a nodor for plowing and pulling carts, if only a farmer can afford it. That''s why, away from the big cities like Ulriga and Cinran, as well as the farms of some rich nobles, nodors are much more common on farms."

    Kivamus nodded slowly, thinking about it. It seemed a nodor was like a poor-man''s ox, serving nearly the same purpose, but cheaper to maintain. He said, "Okay, carry on."

    Pinoto continued with a nod. "We don''t have any nodors or cattle in the village right now, apart from a few cows I''ve seen in the manor itself." He shook his head slowly. "There just wasn''t enough fodder in the village to sustain them. The few cattle that we did have in the village earlier, had been slaughtered in the past few months for their meat. It was the same for most of the goats we had here." He added after a moment, "I think some of the relatively well-off villagers might still have a few of them, but not many. Anyway, those cannot be used for plowing the fields. But I think you might still have enough horses in the manor for that."

    Kivamus asked the guards who had come with them, "How many cattle and horses do we have in the manor? All I saw was two thin cows in the shed."

    A guard, who had been listening intently, spoke up. "You are right, milord, right now we only have two cows in the manor. We had more cattle in the past, but we had to butcher them in the past few months when we didn''t have enough grain here. As for horses, we only had six of them remaining after the previous baron''s unfortunate trip, before you arrived with another six horses. So we have a dozen horses now." He added, "Of course, eight of them are out on the journey to Cinran right now."

    Pinoto observed, "A dozen horses might be enough, I think, if we could use all of them for plowing the land. However, you might only be able to provide half of them or even fewer, since they would still be needed for pulling wagons and other purposes, like right now. We''ll have to see what we can do about plowing when the fields are ready." He added, "But we certainly don''t have a single plow in the village, since we never did any farming here. You would need to have them crafted, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Once the longhouses have been built and Taniok has more free time, I will need to talk to you again about the design of plows, so we can have them made before spring arrives."

    Pinoto nodded in agreement. "Of course, milord. I will be available whenever you ask for me."

    Kivamus could think of ideas for so many things which would make their lives much easier in this place. For farming, if only they just had a single tractor, it would be so easy to work the fields. However, just like most other machines and equipment from his past life, building a tractor was simply not possible with the current level of technology in the village, which was simply too primitive right now. Even so, it was another good idea for the future, which would greatly reduce the labor needed and vastly improve their productivity at the same time.

    He also remembered thinking about seed drills earlier, and thankfully, that was something which seemed feasible to make in their current situation. He asked, "You sow the seeds manually, by your hands, right?"

    Pinoto looked a little surprised, "That''s the only way to sow seeds that I know of, milord. After plowing is done, we scatter the seeds by hand, before covering them with soil so the rodents and birds wouldn''t eat it and so the seeds would grow their roots easily. Of course, we can sow each seed by hand, one by one, but that is rarely done for sowing in a large area." He asked, "Maybe I didn''t understand your question correctly?"

    Kivamus said, "Don''t worry about it. I have been thinking about making something which would make sowing much easier and improve the yields as well. Basically, it is a contraption made of wood and some iron, by which a farmer can control the distance between the seeds sown, as well as their depths under the soil." Looking at the interested faces of others, he asked, "Firstly, tell me Pinoto, what is the yield of wheat here? You must know about it."

    Pinoto nodded, and thought for a moment before replying. "It varies based on the soil type and amount of irrigation, and how well the usual problems like removing weeds and scaring away birds are taken care of." He continued, "It''s been some time since I did any farming, but from what I remember, we used to get two and a half sacks of wheat from an acre on that farm, which was a fairly productive land."

    Kivamus gave a sigh. Of course, they don''t use metric measurement! He said, "I am used to thinking in terms of meters and hectares, which are easier in terms of calculations. So, I would like to convert these numbers. Tell me, how big is an acre here?"

    "I''m not sure, milord," Pinoto replied.

    However, Gorsazo demonstrated his knowledge. "An acre is roughly seventy yards by seventy yards, my Lord," he estimated.

    Kivamus did a mental calculation. "That''s nearly five thousand square yards," he said, "or around four thousand square meters, which is point-four hectares. That means we can expect around six sacks of grain per hectare." He asked, "Now, how much does a sack of grain weigh?"

    Gorsazo replied again. "Around two hundred and fifty stones."

    Kivamus said, "That doesn''t help me!" Thinking about it, he asked, "Tell me, how much does a man weigh in terms of stones?"

    "That is difficult to say," Gorsazo chuckled. "I have rarely heard of weighing up a man on a balancing scale! But if I had to give an estimate anyway, I would say the average man weighs around one hundred and fifty stones."

    Kivamus nodded. Without access to something as basic as a weighing scale, it was only going to be an estimate, but for now, he had to work with the technology available here. Looking at others around him, he said, "Okay. The weight of an average man here should be around seventy-five kilograms, in the metric measurement, which is what I prefer to use. That means a single sack of grain is around uh.. one hundred and twenty-five kilograms, more or less." He concluded, "So we''re looking at a yield of around seven hundred and fifty kilograms per hectare of farmland."

    That was just point-seven-five tons per hectare, while modern yields on earth could easily be ten times as high. While they wouldn''t get a yield of that level here anytime soon, but just with the use of seed drills, the yield should increase significantly. He said, "Okay, now I have a general idea of it. I will talk with Taniok and Cedoron about making that machine, which we can call a seed drill."

    "A machine?" Gorsazo echoed.

    Kivamus said, "That''s what we call something which makes things easier to do for a person. You really should have read more in the libraries!"

    Gorsazo looked away. "I am not the son of a Duke, so I didn''t have access to the whole library, like you said earlier. Let''s leave it there." He asked, "But how would it even work?"

    *******

    *******

 53. Seed Drill

    Kivamus gave a nod to Gorsazo, hiding his smile. It felt a little bad to him to deceive Gorsazo like this, but it had to be done to lay the foundation for inventing any such machines in the future.He began to sketch a rough diagram in the dirt by using a pointed wooden stick, which he found lying nearby. "Basically, it is a wooden frame with a small box for storing the seeds and a series of tubes, each with a small opening at the bottom," he described. "Preferably, the field should be already plowed, especially since it''s the first time we''ll be sowing anything in these lands. Then the seed drill, which will be pulled by a pair of horses, will make thin furrows in the field," he continued, "and it will drop the seeds into those furrows as we move across the field. We can control the depth of the seeds by adjusting the tubes before sowing, and behind the machine, we can also add a wooden board or maybe a chain of iron or even wooden rings, to loosely cover the furrows as the machine moves ahead."

    Gorsazo studied the crude drawing, his face a mixture of confusion and intrigue. "It sounds complex," he admitted. "Can we even make such a thing here?" he asked doubtfully.

    "I know it will require a few attempts to get it right," Kivamus agreed. "But the benefits will easily be worth it."

    However, Pinoto''s eyes had already lit up with excitement. "You are right, milord! This will save us so much time and effort!" he said enthusiastically. "Usually a lot of seeds are wasted and don''t develop into grown plants, since many of them aren''t fully covered by soil. They can also germinate too early or too late, depending on the depth they settle to when scattering them by hand, which often means that the plant doesn''t survive for long. But this machine will easily prevent that!"

    At this point Pinoto wasn''t even looking at anyone near him. Rather, he gazed into the distance as he kept speaking, his eyes widened in amazement. "And by keeping a fixed distance between the rows of plants, weeding would also be much easier." He nodded to himself, getting carried on in his chain of thoughts. "If this... seed drill can also put the seeds at a fixed depth under the soil and cover them after sowing, birds and rodents wouldn''t be able to eat the seeds either!" He looked exhilarated as he continued, "And the seeds which aren''t getting wasted, we can plant in another field, which will improve the overall yield!"

    Finally, he shook his head and said, "Milord, I can''t be completely sure about it without actually seeing such a¡­ machine in work, but if it can really do all the things you claimed, I can easily see the yields doubling or even tripling!" However, a note of skepticism crept into his voice as he looked at Kivamus. "But can such a miraculous machine really be made here?"

    Kivamus gave a satisfied smile. "You''ll see," he replied. "Once I''ve gotten the first seed drill built, you can judge for yourself."

    Gorsazo interjected, "But did you read about this machine in your books as well? I think I would have heard about such a thing if it existed anywhere."

    Kivamus shook his head. "Not at all," he admitted. "The books I read there didn''t mention anything like that. But like I told you earlier, I''ve always been thinking about such ideas in my mind. So when I realized that we would need to do large scale farming here, I spent a lot of time thinking about this." He gestured expansively to the wild, untamed forests around them. "As you know we need every advantage that we can get here to survive in Tiranat."

    "That is true enough," Gorsazo acknowledged.

    Kivamus continued, "Eventually, an idea came into my mind to make a machine to reduce the wastage of the limited amount of seeds we can buy with our funds, as well as to improve the yields." He gazed at everyone around him. "Most importantly for us here, by using a seed drill, we can cover much more ground in less time, with the same number of farmers. That means, as long as we get enough land cleared for farming, we should be able to produce all our food here, and stop relying on traders from Cinran who charge sky-high prices for the grain."

    The guards who had come with him, seemed to be listening carefully as well, with an inkling of hero-worship in their eyes.

    Pinoto looked at him thoughtfully for a while. Eventually, he smiled and looking at the afternoon sky, he said, "The goddess must have finally heard our prayers to send you as the new baron here. The truth is, most of us had nearly lost all hope before you arrived in Tiranat." Looking at the villagers working diligently to clear the ground nearby, he said with glistening eyes, "I think I speak for all the villagers when I say that I am glad that it is you who was sent to become our new baron." He gave a deep bow. "Thank you milord, for thinking about us commoners as well. It''s a completely new experience for us - we are just not used to it."

    Apart from Pinoto, one of the young guards who had come with them, who was probably a newly recruited guard, seemed to have gotten emotional as well. When Kivamus looked at him, the guard just muttered something about getting dust in his eyes. Their reactions clearly emphasized how downtrodden the villagers were, if even just the possibility of getting enough grain at a reasonable price to feed their families was enough to make the villagers tearful.

    Kivamus just smiled and walked closer to Pinoto and patted him on his shoulder. "Don''t worry about it, Pinoto. I will do my best for every last person in the village."

    Pinoto stood straighter, and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. "I know you will, milord. I have no doubt about it." He added, "I give you my word that I will put every effort into making this farming plan successful. You can count on me."

    Kivamus began, "So let''s decide how much land we need to farm to feed the whole village. From what Duvas told me earlier, we need around one and a half sacks of grain to feed the whole village for a day." He remembered from the memories of the original Kivamus, that a year was nearly the same length here as on Earth at nearly three hundred and seventy days, divided into twelve uneven months of a little above thirty days.

    He continued, "Based on that number, we need around five hundred and fifty sacks of grain to feed the whole village for a year. But including some spare grain to account for spoilage, let''s plan for six hundred sacks of grain as the minimum that we should aim for, to feed all the villagers."

    Gorsazo interrupted, "My Lord, we should also keep some grain aside to use as seeds for the next season, so that we wouldn''t have to buy more seeds from Cinran after the first harvest."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a very good suggestion." He looked at Pinoto. "How much grain do you think we need to keep aside for that?"

    Pinoto thought for a moment before replying. "Usually, milord, we used to get around ten new grains of wheat for every seed sown. So based on that, to aim for six hundred sacks of grain, we will need uh..." he trailed off.

    Kivamus gave the answer for him, doing the simple math which was still too difficult for the ex-farmer. "Sixty sacks. That number is based on your previous experiences though. But I believe we will be able to get a better yield with the use of seed drills. Even so, to be on the safer side, let''s add another sixty sacks of grain to use as seeds in the next season. That means, our target is to harvest six hundred and sixty sacks of grain to account for everything."

    He continued, "Now, six hundred and sixty sacks is around uh... somewhere around eighty to eighty-five thousand kilograms of grain. Let''s call it eighty-five tons, in the metric measurement, where one ton is equal to a thousand kilograms of weight."

    Looking at others'' faces for a moment, he added, "Now, based on the current yield of farms here, where we get point-seven-five tons per hectare, we need a little above than one hundred and ten hectares to feed the whole village for a year, and still have enough grain remaining to use as seeds for the next year. That means, we need to clear an area of around eleven hundred meters by eleven hundred meters of forest to use for farming."

    Pinoto looked confused on hearing the numbers, and asked, "Forgive me milord, but how much is that in terms of acres?"

    Kivamus took a moment to think about it, trying to convert the numbers, and said, "We need around two hundred and eighty acres of farmland, I''d say, where we need to plant wheat."

    Pinoto gave a slow nod. "That I can understand. It is quite a big area, but since the one thing that we don''t have any shortage of in Tiranat is land, it should be achievable once we clear enough land for farming."

    "Indeed. With any luck, we won''t have any shortage of food grains from the next year," replied Kivamus.

    Gorsazo nodded as well. "Let''s hope so, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked around at the villagers working in the early afternoon sun for a moment and said, "Well, now that we have a basic idea of what we need to do, we should return." He looked at the ex-farmer. "Pinoto, I will call you again in the coming weeks to ask for your help in designing a plow. Until then, you can either stay here to supervise the workers, or you can return home. It''s up to you."

    It didn''t take long for Pinoto to make his decision. He said, "In that case I''ll stay here for a while, milord. Earlier, there was no reason for me to wander around here, especially with the dangers of wild beasts here, but with so many other people here already, I think I should use this chance to take a better look around the land."

    Kivmaus nodded. "Sure, you should do that." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    With that, Pinoto gave a bow and walked towards the villagers working nearby.

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "Let''s return now."

    As their small group started to walk back on the path they had come from, he saw a group of women coming from the village with more buckets of water in their hands, along with wooden bowls in which they seemed to have brought the afternoon meal for those people from their families who were working here. When one of them recognised him, perhaps because he was the only person in the village to walk around accompanied by guards, most of them gave him nods and curtsies of respect, while a few even added praises and blessings to him.

    He responded with a smile and a wave of his hands, as the small crowd of women passed their group. And slowly, they walked on the dirt path next to the palisade walls, on their way back to the manor.

    It was evening now, with the sun getting close to the horizon in the west. Kivamus was strolling around the manor along with Gorsazo and Duvas to take a look at how things were going, while Hudan had gone to the training grounds in the eastern part of the manor to train the new guards.

    A servant approached him. "Milord, the blacksmith is here to talk to you."

    *******

    *******

 54. Axes

    Kivamus nodded. "Bring him here."Soon, Cedoron walked towards them. After a quick bow, he said, "I have brought the axes I have made today." When Kivamus gazed at his empty hands, he explained, "I can''t show them to you because I was asked to give the axes to another servant here. The guards refused to allow me to approach you with an axe in my hands."

    "That''s alright," Kivamus said. "So how many axes did you manage to make today?"

    "I brought five axes, my Lord," Cedoron replied.

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. "That''s more than I expected. Didn''t you say you''d only be able to make three or four in a day?"

    Cedoron shrugged. "I knew I would be able to make more of them than I promised. But I have learnt the hard way, that when a noble asks you for something, it is better to underpromise and overdeliver, than the other way. My father, when he was alive, still had the scars to show for it."

    "What do you mean?" Kivamus couldn''t help but ask.

    Cedoron gazed at Kivamus carefully for a moment before he replied. "The previous baron didn''t like it when people couldn''t deliver on what they promised. The baron had my father whipped on many occasions in the past, when he couldn''t deliver something which the baron had ordered, even if the reason was out of his hands. So my father made me learn this lesson as well."

    Kivamus look at Duvas for confirmation, who just gave a nod in reply. He sighed. Just what kind of a person was that baron? Or perhaps that was the usual behavior for nobles?

    He shook his head slowly before speaking. "Cedoron, I am not the previous baron. As unusual as it might feel to you to hear this, I will never punish anyone for something that is out of their hands. You can be frank with me about what you can deliver and what you cannot."

    Cedoron looked uncertain, but he gave a slow nod.

    Kivamus asked, "Does that mean you gave lower numbers for everything else as well?"

    Cedoron nodded again. "More or less, my Lord. Although not by too much."

    Kivamus gave a smile. "Well, it''s still good to hear that we will get more tools than we expected. Well, you can return now."

    Cedoron hesitated. "Uh... my Lord, about my payment..."

    "Oh right." Kivamus said to Duvas, "Give him what he deserves for his work. Are you also using grain as payment for him?"

    "Grain and coal are a part of his payment, my Lord, but the wages for a skilled craftsman are much higher than a laborer''s." Duvas replied. "So I had to pay him in coins, to cover his wages, as well as a payment for his materials. It is the same arrangement with Taniok as well."

    Cedoron gave his input as well. "Mr Duvas did promise me to pay me more grain to cover my wages, but I just don''t have a use for that much grain."

    "That''s okay," Kivamus said after a moment''s thought. They could still afford to pay a few craftsmen in coin, and he needed them to give their best effort, which wouldn''t happen if they paid them a half wage like the other laborers. He looked at the blacksmith. "Well, go with Duvas then. You did good work today!"

    Cedoron looked surprised for a moment, before he accepted the praise with a smile, and walked with the majordomo towards the manor house.

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir was once again walking to the baron''s manor in the evening, hoping to get the promised grain for taking in the two homeless children. The evening air was a little chilly, but it wasn''t so bad walking on the dirt path between the houses, with the wooden walls taking the brunt of the cold wind. He looked at the clear skies above. At least he was thankful to the Goddess that it wasn''t going to rain any time soon, because that always managed to make him feel miserable, with his knee ache getting much worse in such weather.

    Yesterday, when he had made the decision to take in the two orphan siblings into his home, it was purely out of self-serving reasons. Just by providing a shelter to them, the baron would give them grain and coal for free, after all, and that free grain would go a long way to bolster their food reserves for the winter. But on the way to his home yesterday, he had been continuously thinking about the positives and negatives of his decision, like he always did when he made a deal with a new merchant.

    Even his wife had initially been reluctant to house two more children, when they barely had enough to feed their own children. Although when he told her that they only had to give shelter to the children without worrying about feeding them, and they would even get free grain for it, she had come around to the idea quickly enough.

    Their house, albeit a wooden one instead of a mud-shack like many of the villagers'' homes, was still barely big enough to house the five members of his own family. But with two of his own children quickly becoming friends with Maisy and Timmy, who were the same ages as them, somehow they had managed enough sleeping spaces for everyone. He still couldn''t forget the fond smile his wife had given him once she realized that the two orphans were as well behaved as any children they had seen, if not better.

    He shook his head slowly with a smile, realizing that it hadn''t even been a full day since he took them in, but those adorable children had already started to become a part of his family. While they still had a few weeks until the construction of new longhouses was completed and those orphans had to move there, he didn''t know if his children and wife would manage to bear to be separated from them by then. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He sighed, as he reached close to the manor. He would deal with it when he had to. For now, he just hoped that the baron remained true to his words in giving them the promised grain and coal. As he made the final left turn, he saw that the area in front of the manor was already packed. Most of them were the villagers who had chosen to work as laborers, while the rest were people like him, who had taken in the homeless for the next few weeks. The laborers looked tired after working all day, but their eyes still had a hopeful look in them as they waited, since today was the first day when they would get their weekly wages.

    He even noticed that in one of the alleys near this now-packed area, a few children and some older villagers were already starting to gather to wait for their evening meals. Kigeir couldn''t help but remember the earlier days when this used to be a desolate area, where the villagers only came when they had some business with the manor. Otherwise, everyone had learned to stay clear of the previous baron and his manor, or the consequences might be painful.

    However, after the arrival of the new baron, Lord Kivamus, it looked like a completely different place. It wasn''t just a much busier place than it used to be, but the people looked happy to be here. Many of them were already starting to see the new baron as the protector and provider for the villagers, instead of someone who just took and took from them, like the previous baron. However it wasn''t a hopeful place for everyone in the village.

    Dalaar and his friends were scowling near a corner, talking about nothing good, he was sure. There were a few more people he knew about - mainly those who had lost the most in the bandit raid, who still didn''t look favorably to the new baron. But as the gates of the manor opened and a few guards came outside while escorting carts full of grain to distribute to the waiting villagers, he thought that even if it wasn''t likely that every villager would be satisfied with the new baron, Lord Kivamus was undoubtedly a vast improvement over the previous baron. So, for now, he would accept the new baron and his unusual policies, even if it meant that he couldn''t profit by selling more grain to the villagers.

    Although he had five kids to take care of from today, somehow he wasn''t worried at all about how he''d feed them in the coming winter. As he waited for the manor servants to distribute the grain to him, he found that he had a smile on his face after a long time.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ On the road to Helga''s Inn ~

    They had been traveling north towards Cinran since the early morning, and it was approaching sunset time now.

    Earlier, in the morning, Tesyb had been quite worried when the caravan had left the village and they had entered the tree line. While he had gone a small distance into the forest a few times in the past, this was the first time that he would be leaving the village behind. His heart had been beating so fast at that time that he hadn''t realized that he had been clenching the scabbard of his sword until his fingers had turned white. However, Nurobo, the other guard on his wagon, who was known as a decent archer despite being fat, had told him to calm down or it would be obvious to any observers that he was a new guard.

    It had taken a while, but slowly he had managed to slow down his heart, after he explained to himself that despite half of the guards being untrained ones, the other half still had a lot of experience. It was quite likely that while traveling together with a dozen well armed men who were constantly on the lookout for any dangers to the caravan, he was probably more safe here than he was in his parents'' home on the western outskirts of the village, which didn''t even have a wooden wall to protect them.

    Thankfully, the journey had been uneventful so far. They had kept the resting stops short enough that it hadn''t eaten much into their travel time. In their last stop, Feroy, the leader of the guards for this journey, had told them that they had managed to make good time because the dirt road they were traveling on had dried by now after the recent spate of rain a week ago. Feroy had been traveling in the only wagon behind Tesyb''s own for the whole day, but after the last stop, as they approached closer to Helga''s Inn, he had exchanged seats with the leading wagon.

    The sun, which was still visible between the tall trunks of the mostly leafless fedarus trees, was going to set soon in the west. The weather had been decent enough that Tesyb hadn''t really felt cold in the warmth of the daylight sun, despite the light wind blowing throughout the day. The ground was littered with reddish-yellow leaves, matching the color of the setting sun. He hadn''t seen many animals in the forest on their journey though. Perhaps the creaking sound of the wagon wheels might have scared them away from the road.

    Soon, Nurobo, who had kept his quiver and bow below their seat, pulled up the reins of the horses. "Looks like Feroy ordered the wagons to stop."

    Slowly, all of the wagons ahead of them came to a stop. Tesyb looked around in curiosity, but only found the same trees surrounding them, and nothing else nearby. There was no wooden building to be seen anywhere. "Why''ve we pulled up already?" he asked the archer. "Our last stop wasn''t that long ago. Shouldn''t we keep moving so we can reach there in the daylight?"

    *******

    *******

 55. Journey

    Nurobo had stood up on the seat and seemed to be looking around the area carefully. "Doesn''t really matter now. We''ve nearly reached the inn anyway." He pointed ahead, a little towards the right side. "The inn is ahead of us that way, maybe around five hundred yards away."As they waited, Nurobo picked up his bow, and grabbed a few arrows in his hands as well, while still looking cautiously around them. "Be ready with your sword. There must be a reason Feroy stopped us here."

    Before long, Feroy came jogging back, while waiting to talk with each wagon''s occupants for a moment. When he reached their wagon, he said, "We''ll stop here for now. After confirming that there is no threat nearby," he added, while pointing towards the left of the road, "we will make a camp in a clearing I know there. For now, move the wagons closer to each other, and then gather around."

    With a nod, Feroy moved behind them to talk with the last wagon''s guards. Nurobo tugged the reins again to slowly move their wagon closer to the one ahead of them, which was itself doing the same. However, it didn''t take long for the wagons to stop again, this time much closer to each other.

    Feroy, who was walking nearby while keeping an eye on their surroundings, spoke up, "All but those in the leading and trailing wagons, gather here. The rest of you, stay there to keep an eye around us."

    Tesyb and Nurobo got down from their wagon seats, and walked towards Feroy. Other guards, as well as the constantly worried merchant, were moving there as well. Once they were all closer, Feroy spoke again. "Mr Pydas, you stay here for now. I''m making three groups of two men each to check around this area." He pointed at Tesyb and another guard. "The two of you will go to check the area east of the road." Pointing at two others, he said, "You both have been to the inn before, so go and check out the inn carefully. Make sure to see if there are any recent tracks of men walking around there, and if there are any signs of the inn being broken in."

    He continued, "Nurobo and Yufim, you will stay here with the rest of the guards. Be ready with your bows. I will take one guard with me to the west to check out a good clearing I know about. Assuming everything is fine, we will camp there for the night."

    Yufim asked, "Why aren''t we staying in the inn itself? Wouldn''t that be safer than camping outside?"

    "Because we aren''t here to stay safe. We are here to protect the caravan," Feroy chastised the new guard. "That inn is the only recognizable place in this area, and if there are any bandits scouting this area they will certainly keep an eye on the inn. That''s why it is better to stay in that clearing nearby." He explained, "Even if it is unlikely that there are any bandits in this area right now, since this road is rarely traveled these days, we just can''t take any chances here. Tiranat''s survival in the coming winter depends on keeping this caravan safe and returning with all the grain we need. Let''s move!"

    As ordered by Feroy, they all went to check the perimeter in their allotted directions. Tesyb followed behind an experienced guard who walked towards the east.

    A shiver ran down his spine as he stepped off the well-trodden path and into the dense forest, with the shadows growing long in the sunset time. The familiar sounds of the talking guards were quickly replaced by the sounds of nature - the crunching of leaves on the ground, the distant call of a bird.

    After they had walked a little further ahead, he heard a sound of twigs crunching under something. The other guard immediately held out his hand in front of Tesyb and whispered, "Wait..."

    Tesyb stopped walking at once, slowly moving his hands on the pommel of his sword. His heart pounded in his chest, a mix of anticipation and apprehension. Before long, they saw a fully grown wild boar emerging nearby behind the thick trunk of a fedarus tree. It looked towards them for a moment, but then slowly walked ahead on its own path, leaving them alone for now.

    The quick encounter highlighted the danger of the forest, this far away from the village he had been living in for most of his life. His heart was still beating wildly, as he tried to look everywhere at once to see where the next danger would come from. However, the guard beside him seemed unfazed, his steady gaze scanning the surroundings, as they started moving again. Perhaps sensing his unease, he said, "It''ll be fine, don''t worry. Just keep a sharp eye around yourself."

    Tesyb nodded, trying to mask his fear with a nonchalant shrug. Every shadow here seemed to conceal a potential threat, every rustle of leaves a sign of danger. But he refused to let fear dictate his actions. He was a warrior now, and it was his duty to overcome adversity. And this dense forest was just another challenge to conquer. Slowly, he forced himself to relax, to focus on the task at hand, and with renewed determination, he pressed on, his eyes scanning the forest for any sign of danger.

    Soon, they had completed the check for their allotted direction and turned back towards the caravan. As they reached back, he saw that the other groups had already returned. Spotting them, Feroy spoke up. "You are back as well. Did you see anything?"

    The other guard shook his head. "Saw a wild boar there, but other than that, there is nothing much on that side. Didn''t find any tracks of any other men being there recently."

    Feroy nodded. "Good. Then this area should be safe for tonight. Let''s move the caravan to the clearing in the west." Looking at everyone for a moment, he pointed to an experienced guard and said, "You and Yufim go on and try to see if you can find something for our meal tonight. Try to return by the time it''s dark."

    "But we still have the rations we were given for the journey. Why do we need to hunt now?" Yufim asked, looking confused.

    Feroy scowled at him. "Did you see the food stores overflowing in the manor? We should try to preserve what we can." He berated the young archer further, "You are not a prince on a leisure trip where attendants will carry loads of food for you. In the future whenever you are on a journey, always remember that it is better to preserve any dried meat and use fresh meat and fruits for your meals. You never know when you might need it if your journey lasts longer than expected, or if you get lost and are separated from others, particularly in these forests. Now go on."

    Yufim looked sullen and didn''t speak any more. With a nod, he and the other guard left again into the forests. Another two guards were sent to look for any edible fruits or nuts from the area.

    The rest of them brought the wagons into the clearing on the west side. It was a fairly large grassy area, with space for all the wagons to be parked in a loose circle. Nurobo told Tesyb that the wagons would act as a barricade in all directions, and they can safely shoot arrows from behind it, in case of an attack. The horses had also been tethered to the nearby trees to graze, although they would be brought back inside the circle of wagons when they went to sleep. The experienced guards were putting some traps around the area to catch any small animals in the night. A thin rope with wooden sticks attached to it was tied around the camp as well to serve as an early warning measure.

    As it started to get dark, the wind picked up and it started to become a little chilly. Feroy had sent a few new guards to bring some firewood earlier and soon they started a small fire in the middle of the circle. Before long, Yufim and others were back and they had brought two rabbits, and some fruits with them. It wasn''t much, but it would still reduce the amount of dried ration they had to use.

    While he waited for the food to be cooked, Tesyb was sitting on the north edge of the camp thinking about the day. Soon, he saw Yufim coming towards him, who came and sat on the log that he was sitting on. "Take this." The archer gave a wooden bowl of rabbit stew to him, with another bowl in his hands for himself. He had also brought some bread with him which they had been given in the morning.

    As they ate their meal, Yufim said, "Life as a guard ain''t that bad, is it?"

    Tesyb drank some of the warm stew and said, "Perhaps." This being the first time he had left his parents since he was a child, he missed them. But at least there was the consolation that he would get to meet his sister in Cinran after a long time.

    "Feroy gave us the first watch duty," Yufim said, while he dipped his bread in the stew before taking a bite of it. "Someone will come to relieve us in a few hours." S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb nodded. "Will we be the only ones to keep watch?"

    "Nurobo said there will be four guards on watch at all times," Yufim replied. "We have to patrol around the camp as well."

    Tesyb gave a nod as reply. He looked at the archer again. "Why do you keep asking such silly questions to Feroy?"

    "What?" Yufim raised his eyebrows. "Those were real questions! How was I going to know that he wanted fresh meat?"

    Tesyb shook his head with a smile. "You are an idiot. I don''t know why Hudan even selected you."

    Yufim grinned. "Because I am the best archer there is!"

    Tesyb laughed at his new friend. "Of course you are..."

    ~ Kivamus ~

    It was late afternoon on the next day, and Kivamus was sitting inside the manor hall. Duvas entered the hall, and said, "My Lord, Taniok has told me that the log mover is ready."

    "That''s great!" Kivamus commended. "Where is it?"

    "He had built it at his shop," Duvas replied, "but I told a couple of workers to move it to the north of the village. But if you want to see it, the log mover should be passing in front of the manor soon."

    Kivamus stood up. "Let''s take a look at it."

    They left the hall and walked to the gates of the manor. Before long, he saw two horses entering the empty area in front of the manor from the left. They were pulling the first machine of Tiranat behind them.

    Two huge wooden wheels were connected by an even thicker axle between them. The axle had been wrapped around with a smooth leather, and looked to be waxed as well to reduce the friction on the loops tied to it, just like they had talked about. Taniok, who was walking next to the log mover, barely reached the height of the wheels themselves.

    At first glance it didn''t look anything special, when Kivamus thought about the huge machines found on Earth for basically everything. But this was not Earth, and it was still much better than dragging the logs flat on the ground.

    When Taniok noticed them, he walked towards him and greeted him with a bow. "It is done, milord. It took longer than I thought, but it should work well enough."

    "It certainly looks sturdy enough," Kivamus commented, looking at the log mover which had stopped in front of the gates, so that the servants could load more ropes on the horses. "Well done!"

    Taniok looked at him with surprise, but then accepted the praise with a nod. "Thank you, milord." He added, "Now that this is completed, I should get started on making planks."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly. Go on then."

    With another quick bow, Taniok left them to get back to work.

    Kivamus turned to Duvas. "Hopefully, Pydas will be able to get enough nails from Cinran. Cutting planks has already been delayed long enough."

    Duvas gave a nod in reply.

    Kivamus continued, "That reminds me, what about the houses which had been burned? Can we salvage anything from them?"

    *******

    *******

 56. Losuvil Vines

    "No, my Lord. Any planks in those houses would already be damaged enough in the fires that we can''t use them again," Duvas replied."No, that''s not what I meant," Kivamus said. "We already have more than enough wood here. But what about iron nails? Those should have survived the burning of the houses."

    "They would only have survived if iron nails were used there in the first place," Duvas told him. "Since there was no hurry when those houses were being built in the past, only wooden joints were used in all of the houses outside the manor. Iron is quite costly for most of the villagers, and other than the baron himself, people in Tiranat can hardly afford to spend coins on such a thing, if there is a cheaper alternative."

    "That''s true enough. I thought we might be able to get a head start on stocking up on the nails." Kivamus turned back and walked towards the manor hall, and his gaze fell on the barns which held their fast shrinking reserves of grain. "Feroy and others should reach Cinran by this evening, right?"

    Duvas nodded. "If everything went well, then yes."

    "Let''s hope they are successful," Kivamus said. "We really need that grain."

    Soon, he saw Madam Helga walking towards him. As she reached him, she said, "I wanted to talk to you my Lord."

    "What is it?" he asked.

    "Clarisa had been complaining again about some pain in her stomach, so in the morning I went for a walk to the places where the workers are cutting the trees, to see if there were any herbs which I could use." Helga added, "While I didn''t find anything of use there, I did find a vine of losuvil towards the eastern hills."

    Seeing Kivamus'' confused look, she explained, "It''s a plant whose leaves can be crushed and given to people to reduce pain. It even reduces the fever, as long as the fever is not too high."

    "That''s very interesting," Kivamus said. In his free time, he had been thinking about many things from his life on Earth for which he could find something similar in this world, and this certainly seemed like such a thing. While he was hardly a chemist, he remembered that it sounded similar to how aspirin was used by people on earth before it was isolated as a compound.

    "Have you never heard about it, my lord?" Helga asked curiously.

    "Well... I rarely got sick back in Ulriga," Kivamus said, thinking about the past memories of this life, "so I never really thought about it." He asked, "Well, how do you use it?"

    Helga replied, "We crush the leaves of losuvil vines in a mortar and pestle along with some water to make a paste, and give it to the person while it is still fresh. Preferably the leaves should have been plucked within the past few hours, or it starts to lose its effect quite fast." She stared at Duvas. "Did you not know that a losuvil vine was there? You should have told me so I could give it to Clarisa earlier."

    "I had seen a few vines of losuvil there in the past, but you must already know that it is rarely found. The few vines which we had found in the past had already been used up by the villagers." Duvas added indignantly, "If I had known that there was still a losuvil vine there, I would have been the first to tell you about it!"

    "Of course you would have." Helga sighed. "I shouldn''t have said that. It''s just that seeing a child in pain makes me want to do everything to help them."

    "I understand that," Duvas said hotly. "But you shouldn''t be so quick to blame others. I don''t want to see Clarisa in pain any more than you do!"

    "Didn''t I apologize for that already?" Helga retorted. Hearing their raised voices, Syryne and Gorsazo, who had been passing nearby, walked towards them as well.

    "It''s okay, calm down both of you," Kivamus tried to placate them. "At least it''s good that you found something like that here." He asked, "How costly is that plant?"

    "Usually I had to spend a lot of money to buy it from Cinran in the past to give to Lucem when he got sick," Helga replied. "In Cinran, it used to cost above six silvers for a single use, which consists of around a dozen full-sized leaves of losuvil."

    "That''s... quite high," Kivamus said. It was nearly a week''s worth of wages for a laborer. "Is it not commonly found?"

    Helga shook her head. "Losuvil vine grows in relatively cold places, under the shade of bigger trees. But it is not common at all. In Cinran, there are a few herbalists who cultivate it there to provide for the people living there, otherwise you only see it by chance in the wild."

    "Hmm..." It seemed that the availability of those leaves was already low but the demand for such a fever and pain-reducing plant would certainly be high in this world where hygiene and sanitation were non-existent. Thus the prices were surely going to be high.

    He remembered Gorsazo telling him that his wife had died from fever in the past. He asked him, "Were losuvil leaves not available for your wife, Gorsazo?"

    Gorsazo got a far away look in his eyes. He replied after a moment, "They were not found in the village in the north of Ulriga where my family lived, my Lord. It was before the time I started working in the Ulriga Palace and the prices for losuvil leaves were high enough that I could barely afford it." He gazed at the ground. "I did send my eldest son to buy more of it from Ulriga itself after borrowing more money from my neighbors, but my wife passed away before he returned."

    Kivamus didn''t know what to say to that. Without an easy availability of losuvil extract, and at a cheap enough price to be affordable to even the common people, many lives would have been lost in this world, and would still be lost in the future.

    After a while, he asked Helga, "Would that vine be enough for Clarisa?"

    Helga nodded. "It was a small vine, and I had to pluck nearly half of its leaves to give to her today. I will have to use the remaining leaves again tomorrow, but we won''t be getting any more leaves from that plant after that for a long time."

    "Hmm... But if the conditions are right for that vine to grow near the eastern hills, there might still be more of those losuvil plants there," Kivamus said. He asked Duvas, "Have you ever sent a few men to search those hills for that plant?"

    "Not really," Duvas replied. "We usually looked for that vine only when we needed it in the past, and often we found a vine in the east."

    Kivamus thought that it was possible that losuvil was not very common, but if they searched well enough in the eastern hills, they might still find more of it. He asked Helga, "What about storing it? Can''t you dry it after crushing the leaves, to use it in the future?"

    "No, my Lord. It doesn''t work if we store it like that," Helga replied, "so we have to use the leaves soon after plucking them. I had to give them to Lucem many times in the past when he got sick, so I did try to store them after drying. But it has nearly no effect if used after around a day or two of plucking the leaves."

    Kivamus nodded. It was possible that the losuvil plant contained a precursor compound to acetylsalicylic acid, which was aspirin. But there had to be a way to isolate that compound from the leaves, which would prevent the medicine from going bad within two days. He asked Helga, "Did you try mixing it with something before drying it, or maybe even after that?"

    Helga looked surprised. "Why would I do that, my Lord?"

    Kivamus sighed internally. The local people here must have never heard of the word experiment. He tried to explain, "When we mix two things, many of their properties change from what they were earlier. While I can''t say what we might need to do for this, but that''s why you need to experiment with it. That means trying new things again and again based on an assumption, until you either prove or disprove it. And if it doesn''t work, then you come up with a new assumption, and try it again."

    He continued, "For example, you could try mixing the crushed leaves of losuvil with some other liquid like alcohol, before drying it. Or you can try boiling it until the water dries a little and only a dry paste is left, and then maybe you can add something else in it and repeat the process. You can even try adding some other leaves or plants in it at any step of the process, to discover a way to keep the herbs effective after those two days."

    Helga seemed lost by this point. "Uh..."

    However, Syryne spoke up, "I''ll do it, my Lord. I have enough free time that I can try doing such... experiments. But we don''t have enough losuvil leaves to try it."

    "That''s true," he said. "When the guards have returned from Cinran, we will try to send a few of them to scout in the eastern hills for this plant. It would be a good idea to locate a decent source for this vine, in case we need it again in the future."

    After thinking for a moment, he asked Helga, "Did you also find any edible berries, nuts or fruits there? Or any other herbs which we can use?"

    Helga shook her head. "I didn''t go that far away from the manor. I didn''t think it was safe enough to go inside the forest yet."

    Duvas said, "We have already scoured the nearby areas of the village in the past few months for anything which we can eat. However, it is true that because of the constant danger of bandits and wild beasts, we never really went too deep inside the forests." sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus gave a sigh. The past few months were difficult enough for the villagers, that they would have already searched for any edible things found nearby. He looked at Helga. "Even so, you should go with a few other maids to where the villagers are working every day to look for any such plants. As long as you don''t go too far from them, it should be safe enough in the daylight. Then as they keep cutting new areas of the forest, you can keep going further as well. If we can find some berries, mushrooms or even some edible roots to add to our diets, it wouldn''t just fill our stomachs, it would also keep our diets varied and healthier. And it would be a good idea to locate such shrubs in advance, so we can tell the workers not to cut them."

    Helga nodded. "I''ll do that, my Lord." She added, "I have to give another spoonful of losuvil extract to Clarisa, so I should leave now." With that, she and Syryne returned back.

    In the evening Cedoron met Kivamus again near the gates of the manor. This time he had brought four machetes with him.

    Hudan, who had been talking with a guard nearby, picked up one of the machetes, testing its weight. He tried to swing it around a few times as well, trying to use it as a makeshift sword. He looked at Kivamus after he was done with it. "These are heavier than swords, but not unwieldy at all."

    Cedoron gave a smile. "I do have experience in making swords, so I kept that in my mind while forging these, even though I have made the machetes a lot more top-heavy than a sword would be, based on what they will be used for."

    Hudan continued with a nod, "While I wouldn''t want to use these as a sword, but in a pinch, the workers can still use it as an improvised weapon once they get a hang of using them."

    "That''s true," Kivamus said. "In that case, it would be better to let a few particular workers use it regularly, instead of all of them using it whenever they need it. This way they would become habitual of using it, and if you give them a few tips about the basics of fighting, they can act as a first line of defense in case a wild beast attacks the workers."

    Hudan nodded. "That''s a good idea, my Lord! Tomorrow, I will go myself to where the workers are cutting trees to tell all of them to give it a try, and once I have found a few people who can use it easily, I will tell Yeden to give all the work of using machetes to only those workers. While I won''t have time to train them regularly, I can still give them a few suggestions for the basics."

    Soon, he saw Yeden, the foreman of the northern forest clearing, walking inside the gates as well. When he noticed Kivamus and others, he came towards them. "Today''s work is done, milord." Looking at the blades in the hands of Hudan, he asked, "Is that the machete you were talking about?"

    *******

    *******

 57. Machetes

    "Indeed," Kivamus agreed. "Take a look at it."Yeden took the machete in his hands, and after taking a few steps back, he tried to swing it vertically downwards a few times, as if cutting an imaginary branch. However, his movements were noticeably different from Hudan, who was earlier trying to slash it in a slanted way, like he was trying to attack an imaginary person with it. Each man''s profession seemed to have a distinct bearing on what they tried to do with the same blade.

    Yeden nodded to himself and said, "These are good, milord. I can tell that they would be quite useful in cutting small branches. However, while these will still be helpful, would it be possible for us to get more axes instead of these machetes?" He added, "Right now, getting more axes would increase the pace of clearing the forest much more than getting more machetes." S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Certainly," Kivamus said. "I had given the earlier order based on my initial estimates. But we can surely change it based on our needs."

    Hudan said, "Even so, I would like a few more of these machetes built as well, as long as they are still needed for cutting branches, since we can also use them as makeshift weapons."

    Kivamus nodded. He asked the foreman, "Cedoron can make five axes or four machetes every day. Earlier I had told him to alternate his working days between both of them. What do you suggest now?"

    Yeden took a minute to think about it, while moving his hand over his bald head. He looked at the blacksmith and asked, "Can you make both of them on the same day, or do you have to forge only a similar thing each day?"

    Cedoron replied, "It would certainly take some adjustment to forge an axe and a machete on a single day, but it wouldn''t be too difficult. I can make both of them everyday if you want it that way."

    "That would be very helpful." Yeden looked at Kivamus. "In that case, milord, I would like Cedoron to make four axes and one machete every day. Or... maybe substitute one axe with a saw if possible. Depending on the shape of the tree, many times it''s easier to use a saw instead of an axe." He added, "This way we will get enough axes to increase our speed of clearing the forest, but we''ll also be getting a steady stream of machetes as well, to cut branches as well as to stock up on them as weapons."

    "That works for me," Hudan shrugged. "For tomorrow itself, I''ll have to give more time to tell the basics to those workers who get these four machetes, but from the next day, I''ll only have to give the basic training to a single worker every day, for the one machete which is made that day. That will be better for my schedule of training the guards, since telling the basics to just a single worker wouldn''t take too much of my time."

    "That''s agreed then," Kivamus commented. He said to Cedoron, "You have your new orders now. Three axes, one saw and one machete every day. Can you do it?"

    Cedoron gave a confident nod. "Certainly." He hesitated for a moment, but then seemed to make up his mind about something. "You asked me to be frank with you, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed. What do you have in mind?"

    Cedoron said, "Your suggestion of using a few workers to assist me has been quite helpful, milord. So if you give me a few more of them, then I might be able to produce more tools every day. Of course, I cannot guarantee it, because there are some problems occasionally, but I still should be able to do better than that. Well, as long as my iron ingots last."

    "That''s very good!" Kivamus commended him. "In fact," he added, thinking about the specialized production lines on Earth, "instead of giving the task of making a complete tool to a single worker, make every worker specialize in doing a single task. For example, while only you will forge the iron parts for now, one worker can just work on making new handles from wood, another can work on attaching all the axe-heads or the machete-blades to the new handles, while another one can test them and properly fix the handles tightly if they are loose. This way, all of them will specialize in doing a single task and they will slowly get better in that particular task with more practice. It is called specialization, and this will make the production of new tools more efficient."

    Cedoron thought about the idea for a minute, while gazing into the distance. "It does make sense, milord. As I do it now, I have to train each worker to do every single thing, but this way, I''ll only have to teach about a single task to a worker, which will save my time as well. I will do it like this from now on."

    Kivamus gave a nod and continued, "Don''t worry about the iron, Pydas should be able to bring more of it in a few days." He looked at Duvas. "Send a couple of servants later to search for broken tools or any scrap iron in the manor. Many times they are just thrown away inside the barns or other places, but Cedoron should be able to make new tools from those. We need all the iron we can get right now to forge into new tools."

    "I''ll do that after this conversation," Duvas replied.

    Cedoron spoke again. "Since making a saw wouldn''t use as much iron as making an axe or a machete, I would suggest making more of them, until I get more iron ingots in a few days. This way I will be able to provide many more saws instead of only a few machetes or axes."

    Kivamus looked at Yeden for his opinion.

    The foreman shrugged. "That''s fine with me, milord, especially if it''s only for a few more days. I would rather have more tools right now, even if they are saws instead of axes, since I have a lot of workers who sit idle all day because of a shortage of cutting tools."

    "Good. It is final then." Kivamus looked at the blacksmith. "Prioritize saws over other tools until Pydas brings more iron ingots."

    Cedoron gave a firm nod in reply.

    "Very well, you both can leave now."

    With that, Cedoron and Yeden gave him a bow and turned back towards the manor gates.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Somewhere south of Cinran ~

    After leaving their camp in the clearing near Helga''s Inn in the morning, they had continued their journey towards Cinran. This time, Tesyb had taken a place on the middle wagon along with Yufim, and after traveling the whole day, now they were approaching the bustling town of Cinran. It was nearly dark now, but the stone walls of Cinran were already visible far in the north, with burning torches and lanterns kept at equal spaces on the top of the wall. Around them, there were a lot of empty agricultural fields on both sides of the road, since the harvest must have been done a while ago.

    "How big do you think Cinran is?" Yufim asked excitedly.

    Tesyb looked at the approaching walls. "Can''t really say. The last time I was here, I was only seven years old, I think. I hardly remember anything from then."

    "Well, at least you must have some memories of that time, unlike me, since my mother brought me to Tiranat when it was founded and I was only a baby at that time."

    "One could argue you still are..." Tesyb muttered with a smirk.

    Yufim sulked. "Shut up! You are mean!"

    Tesyb just shook his head at the archer''s antics and looked ahead as the caravan kept moving on the dirt path. Hearing the sound of water flowing nearby, he looked to his right and could barely make out a river flowing in the light of the moon, a little far away. "That must be the Kal River."

    "I want to take a swim in it! It''s such a bummer that there isn''t a river in Tiranat," Yufim moped.

    "Do you even know how to swim?"

    Yufim looked away. "I can still learn..." he muttered.

    Tesyb couldn''t help but give a small laugh at that reply. As the caravan reached near a thicket of trees, the wagons ahead of them started slowing down, before finally stopping.

    "Why are we stopping already?" Yufim asked as he stopped their own wagon, while looking around them carefully.

    They didn''t have to wonder for long since another guard came running to all the wagons, telling them to gather around.

    Once all of the guards had gathered near the middle of the caravan, Feroy said, "Now that we are nearly here, we need to change the look of the caravan." Looking at the merchant standing nearby, he added, "Mr Pydas has told me that there will be a lot of unnecessary questions at the gate if we go in with a dozen armed guards. And there is no real risk of someone looting the caravan inside the city, so I am leaving half of our guards here. We will only be going inside with a single driver per wagon, with most of their weapons left with those who''ll stay here. This way, any onlookers will only think that we are drivers for the wagons, and not trained guards."

    He added after a moment, "There are twelve of us, not including Mr Pydas and his own guard, so six of the manor guards will go inside the town as drivers for each wagon, while the rest will have to stay here. This will also help us in case a scout of a bandit group notices the caravan leaving with only a single guard per wagon, since they wouldn''t expect that we would actually have double the number of guards than what they expected. I am also leaving one of the horses here - one of those pulling the damaged wagon, in case you need to get in touch with me quickly for any reason."

    He continued, "Since those who are new guards would make it very obvious to anyone watching in the town that the caravan is not as well protected as it looks, so I am leaving the new guards here. You all will stay inside this thicket." He stared hard at all the new guards. "Do not leave this place, especially in daylight. That is an order!"

    Tesyb and other new guards nodded on hearing that.

    "They will still need someone to keep an eye on them here," Nurobo said, with both of his hands on the side of his huge belly.

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "That''s a good idea. You should stay here then." He looked at the new guards carefully before saying, "Tesyb, you come with me in place of Nurobo."

    Tesyb gave a nod in reply, while Yufim whined, "That''s not fair... I want to see the town too!"

    "Shut up, you idiot," Tesyb chided him. "We aren''t here to enjoy the sights!"

    Yufim just looked at the ground, sulking.

    All of the guards who were going inside the town gave most of their weapons to Nurobo and others who were staying back, while only keeping a dagger in most cases. Feroy, along with Pydas'' own guard, still kept their swords though. They also transferred some of their stored food from the wagons for those who would be staying in this thicket.

    Feroy said to those who were staying back, "It will take nearly the whole day tomorrow to transfer all the coal as well as to buy the grain sacks and everything else we need, so there is no point in leaving the town tomorrow evening. So you all will have to spend two nights here. I will bring the caravan the day after tomorrow around dawn, so be ready to leave by then."

    Nurobo gave a nod. "Don''t worry Feroy, I''ll take care of things here."

    "Good," Feroy nodded.

    Before long, Tesyb and the other guards took their places on the wagons again, this time with only a single guard per wagon, and with a flick of the reins, the caravan lurched forward again.

    Soon, the caravan reached the dirt road next to the walls of the town, before finally reaching the gates. Tesyb saw that there were three guards at the closed gates, standing next to a burning brazier. Looking at the caravan approaching, one of them held up his hands to stop them.

    "Hold up right there! What business do you have here?" one of the gate guards asked in a loud voice.

    Tesyb was far enough behind the leading wagon, that he couldn''t hear what was replied to that. For a while, Pydas and Feroy, who were in the leading wagon now, discussed something with the guards. Soon, they seemed to be handing over what seemed like a few coins to the guard, who appeared to be grinning now. Finally, another guard opened the gates, waving them inside, and the caravan entered the town.

    As Tesyb''s own wagon entered the gates, he saw the mighty stone walls of the town passing above him. He thought wistfully that if they had something similar in Tiranat, his house wouldn''t have been looted and burned by the bandits. He shook his head slowly. Cinran was the residence of the Count, and it was a big town, unlike the poor village called Tiranat. That wasn''t a fair comparison. How could a small village compete with a town like Cinran! But at least these walls would ensure the safety of his sister here.

    Inside the gates, it looked quite dark. He had thought that there would be burning torches and lanterns kept everywhere inside the town, but other than on the top of the town walls, there were hardly any torches here. He had also expected that there would be a lot of people on the streets even at this time, but perhaps he had heard too many grand stories of big towns and cities. But at least he would be able to see Cinran''s huge marketplace tomorrow, unlike Yufim, who must still be sulking in that thicket. He couldn''t help but give a small smile thinking of his friend, who still seemed to be quite innocent.

    Soon, after the caravan took a few turns, they entered what seemed to be an inn, with a big empty area for parking wagons. One by one, the wagons were parked next to each other, while the horses were detached from the wagons to give them water and feed them. Feroy gathered all of them together, and said, "This is where we''ll stay for the night. Mr Pydas and his own guard will take a room in the inn itself, while it is another camping night under the wagon for the rest of us."

    It seemed logical that the guards would have to stay with the wagons to protect their cargo, but Tesyb had still expected a few groans at that. However, the other guards only gave firm nods after hearing it. That went to show the difference between seasoned veterans, and new recruits like him and Yufim. He steeled himself for the next day - he was here to protect the caravan and not to sightsee, just like he told Yufim earlier.

    *******

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 58. Expansion

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, after Kivamus and others had finished the breakfast of freshly baked bread along with eggs which they got from the small chicken coop inside the manor, Hudan entered the manor hall.

    "My Lord, there is something I would like to talk with you about," the guard captain said.

    "Take a seat," Kivamus said, while moving to the more comfortable armchairs near the fire. "What is it?"

    Hudan took a seat as well, next to Duvas and Gorsazo. "I had gone to the northern area, where the workers are clearing the forest, to give a few of them suggestions on how to use the machetes in case they are forced to fight with it. While I was there, I saw that there was already a big pile of logs on one side, with more logs coming every hour."

    "Hasn''t Taniok already started cutting them into planks there?" Gorsazo asked.

    "Yeah, he has, and everytime he gets a new saw from Cedoron, he also takes on another worker to help him in that," Hudan replied. "Even so, it is a slow process, and the logs are piling up much faster than he can cut them into planks. And in the coming days when Cedoron gives more axes to the woodcutters, the pace of cutting new trees will increase further, and we will get new logs at an even faster pace."

    "Hmm... I think I should have expected it," Kivamus said. "Without an actual sawmill, even if it was powered by a water wheel, cutting logs into planks would take a lot of time." He asked, "So, what did you have in mind?"

    "I was going to suggest making a palisade wall surrounding the whole village," Hudan replied. "It is true that all the new grain we are buying - which will be the primary target of any bandits who attack here, will be kept inside the walls of the manor, where it should be safe enough. However, the rest of the village will still be vulnerable to such an attack."

    He continued, "We have already seen that the bandits won''t shy away from putting the houses on fire to cover their retreat. But what if they do the same for the longhouses after they are built? It is already very difficult to house all the villagers, and if the longhouses or even other houses in the village are burned before the guards can respond to such an attack, the villagers won''t have any place to live in the winter."

    "That''s true," Kivamus nodded. "We certainly cannot risk that."

    Gorsazo asked, "But is it even feasible to surround the whole village with a palisade wall? I know we won''t have any shortage of logs, but we will have to spend workers'' time digging holes in the ground for those wooden stakes all around the village, apart from moving the logs there."

    Duvas answered, "That is not a problem at all. We have more than enough workers who sit idle for nearly the whole day, because of a shortage of axes and saws." He looked at Kivamus. "Yeden told me earlier that the log mover has helped a lot in moving the logs faster in the northern area. If we can build another log mover or two, then moving the logs to the periphery of the village wouldn''t be a problem either."

    Kivamus thought about it for a minute. "But what about digging tools? Shovels or even pickaxes? Do we have enough of those?"

    Duvas said, "Getting more tools forged would certainly help, but even now we should still have enough of those digging tools which have been sitting unused from the time the coal mines were closed." He explained, "Since our primary target was cutting trees, we don''t have any spare axes or saws left anymore, but even though I did provide some digging tools to the workers earlier, many of them should still be left in the manor."

    "That decides it. We will make a new palisade wall to surround the whole village," Kivamus said. "It will be very helpful to ensure the safety of the village in the coming future." He looked at Duvas. "Give all the remaining shovels and pickaxes to any workers who are still sitting idle, and send them to dig holes for the walls."

    Hudan said, "We should also sharpen the top of the logs before we fix them into the ground as stakes, to make it difficult for any bandits to just climb over it."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus said. "Since we already told Cedoron to forge more axes instead of machetes, we can give some of those axes to the workers who will be sharpening the stakes. It is not a lot of work compared to cutting a tree, so giving even a few axes to some workers would be enough for sharpening the logs into stakes."

    "But where will this wall be?" Gorsazo asked. "I mean, we are building the longhouses outside the current area of the village, so how far should we build these walls from the last houses?"

    "That''s a good question," Kivamus said. Thinking about it, he said, "While it is true that we only need a few longhouses right now to house the homeless villagers, we need to build even more longhouses after that to shift all the villagers who have a damaged house to the new longhouses as well. And those are not the last things which we need to build here."

    He added, "We will certainly need more storage areas for the grain which we will be harvesting from the coming year, for which we talked about making new storage barns in the west of the village. Also, if we shift that many villagers to a different place from where they used to live, that means some of the shops in the marketplace might also need to be shifted to be closer to the longhouses. Or maybe the merchants might want to open new shops there altogether, while retaining the original location of their shops - all of which will need more land."

    He continued, "I have a few other plans in my mind as well for the future. So we should leave some extra space to construct any other buildings in the future, without needing to expand the palisade wall for some time."

    Duvas said after a moment, "That makes sense, my Lord." He continued, "Since the manor has already been built at the beginning of the plains area, we cannot really expand the village in the east side because the terrain starts to get hilly there."

    "That''s not entirely true," Hudan commented. "The thing is, I would like to get some empty land to make a dedicated training area for the guards, instead of just using the empty space in the eastern part of the manor, like we do now."

    He added, "I have taken a look in the east of the manor, and there is still around a thousand yards of space in the east before the hills start. So I will suggest making the new village wall around a hundred yards away from the eastern walls of the manor. This way, once we clear the trees on that side, we will still have around five hundred yards of clear space after the new village walls - which will give good visibility there, and I can make the new training ground in that space between the manor walls and the new village wall."

    Kivamus liked that Hudan was already thinking of such things - that he needed to train the guards further. It made sense too, since Hudan''s past training as a knight-trainee would have been a lot more extensive than that for the other guards for this poor barony in the middle of nowhere. "That''s a good idea. You can even make an obstacle course there - which is a series of various obstacles kept one after the other - including a ditch, a wall and so on, where you can make the guards run, while trying to increase their speed and awareness." He could think of many such good ideas from his life on earth, mostly seen on documentaries and TV about such training courses, which Hudan wouldn''t know about. He said, giving the same explanation again, "I had read a little about that in a book in Ulriga, so remind me when you start making the dedicated training area, and I can give you some good suggestions about it."

    "That will be very helpful, my Lord," Hudan said with a nod.

    "Okay, then let''s do the same for all sides," Kivamus said. "That is, we should keep a distance of a hundred yards on all sides of the village, between the new walls and the last houses of the village. That will be more than enough space for any new buildings in the village. We certainly aren''t going to have any shortage of logs for the new walls."

    Gorsazo suggested, "Since winter is coming soon, we should focus on digging the holes for all the stakes first, since it would be much more difficult to do it once the ground freezes over. Fixing the stakes into them can be done even after that."

    Kivamus nodded and said, "Duvas, after we finish this discussion, you and Hudan should go and measure a distance of a hundred yards from the village, and send the idle workers with the extra shovels and pickaxes to start digging the holes there. Tell them to start from the north and the south areas first, otherwise the location of the walls might be in the middle of the forest right now, since we haven''t started clearing those areas yet. Once we get more axes, we can put a few workers to sharpen the logs on one side to convert them into stakes for the wall."

    He added, "Also, tell Taniok to start building another log mover as well. I know it will slow him down further in cutting the planks, but building more log movers would increase the efficiency of all the tasks, and anything that improves the efficiency should always be prioritized. And since we have arranged for the homeless villagers to have a roof over their heads - even if it''s temporary, so a delay of another few days in completing the longhouses shouldn''t be a problem."

    Duvas asked, "In that case, can''t we just keep the homeless villagers with the other villagers for the winter?"

    Kivamus shook his head. "That won''t work, Duvas. Think about it. Before we offered free grain to the villagers who took in the homeless people, nearly no one had volunteered to do it. The villagers may be fine with the current arrangement since they know that the longhouses will be built soon and they can go back to their previous ways of living with their own family soon. But if they had to keep the other people in their own houses for all the winter or even longer, then it can easily lead to a rise of tension between them, even if they are people they have known their whole life. That can easily lead to fights breaking out between them, and I don''t want anything to break the village''s unity right now. We need everyone to work together for our survival over the winter."

    Duvas gave a nod after hearing it, but didn''t say anything.

    Shifting his mind to the plans they were talking about, Kivamus remembered the narrow roads between the houses in the village when he had gone for a walk to the north of the village. It was a good opportunity to do something about that as well. He continued, "There is another thing that we should plan for - and that is the roads inside the village. The current narrow roads may be fine for the villagers walking on foot, but if we needed to move the log movers through the village, it simply wouldn''t be feasible right now, and it isn''t possible to widen those roads either since the houses have already been built there. We have an opportunity here to plan well and make wide roads for the future - each of them intersecting at right angles for ease of navigation."

    Gorsazo gave a slow nod at that. "That is true enough. Since we still haven''t started building the longhouses and the new barns, it would be good to plan for that in advance."

    "It would have another benefit, my Lord," Hudan said with a smirk.

    *******

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 59. Cinran Market

    The guard captain explained, "In case of a bandit raid, it would make it much easier for us to respond if we had wide, straight roads in the village. In that case we could even ride on horses to that location, in order to quickly overwhelm the bandits with numbers in each place they are attacking, since they would be spread-out throughout the village for plundering.""That is true as well," Kivamus said with a nod. "Let''s also keep a standard width for all the new roads. I think a width of ten meters - which is around eleven yards, would be more than enough for us." While it was true that roads on earth were much wider to accommodate automobiles, in this world ten meters would be more than enough for them for the coming years.

    He continued, "That space would allow us to make a drainage system on both sides of the road - that is a narrow trench, maybe around one foot wide and may be a little deeper than that. This way, even in case of heavy rainfall, all the excess water would go to those drains - which would run all around the village and eventually end in a pond dug specifically for that. We can make that pond in the southern area of the village, to use for irrigating the farms."

    "That would be a very good idea, my Lord," Gorsazo said. "Usually only the bigger cities like Ulriga or Dorastiz have such a drain within the city. And it would reduce the chances of flooding which can damage any stored grains, or even the houses themselves. Of course, we would have to give the longhouses some height for that."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly, the foundation of the houses should be a little higher than the roads themselves."

    Duvas said, "We have more than enough stone rubble from the coal mines sitting in big piles near those hills. We can''t bring that rubble here until the wagons are back from Cinran, but after that, we can easily use those in the foundation for the longhouses and any new barns."

    "That''s doable as well," Kivamus replied. "We can''t do the same for the rest of the houses in the village yet, but after the longhouses have been built and people have shifted all their belongings there, we can tear down the damaged houses and make new housing in place of that, while making properly planned roads with drainage in those places as well. Of course, that is for the future - maybe after the winter."

    "We can also use some of that gravel as the surface of the new roads, which will allow for better drainage of them." He continued, "There should also be such a road going south to where the farms start, so that any carts, wagons and log-movers can travel easily on them."

    He added, "Apart from the roads around the longhouses, let''s also make a road for the periphery of the village, just inside the new village walls. In case there is a breach of the walls, we need the guards to be able to reach any place near the walls easily on horses and still have enough space near the walls to be able to repel any attackers there by using superior numbers."

    Hudan smirked. "Once we have such wide roads in the village, then with well-trained guards and enough fast horses for them, the bandits wouldn''t know what hit them if they dare to raid us after that!"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but grin at that notion. "Indeed. But that reminds me, even after all the guards have returned from Cinran, will we have enough guards to defend the whole village?"

    Hudan shrugged. "If you ask for my opinion, my Lord, I would always like to have more guards. But whether we can afford to properly outfit that many men and basically have them sitting idle when they are not fighting is a different matter altogether."

    Kivamus commented, "They do not necessarily have to sit idle, you know?" sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What do you mean?" Duvas asked.

    Kivamus steepled his hands. "It is always a good idea to train more men than you think you''ll need, but we don''t have to keep all of them on guard duty full time. We can just keep a core of two dozen well trained guards - the men we have already hired, who will be on guard duty all the time."

    Kivamus continued, "But we can have another dozen guards, who have been well trained by Hudan, but they won''t normally have to do guard duty in the village. And in case there is a bandit raid, since we will now have proper village walls around us, that means the full-time guards can hold on any attackers there, while one of them goes to the village to call upon the other uh... reserve guards. Then we can quickly outfit those reserve guards, and send them wherever they are needed."

    He added, "This way we can call upon up to three dozen guards when needed, but in peaceful times, only two dozen men will be out of the village workforce, and the rest can do whatever work they need to do. And as an incentive to villagers to become reserve guards, we can pay them say... a quarter of the wages of a guard. That should still be affordable to us, and by doing this, we will be able to quickly increase our guard force in case of a bandit raid."

    It didn''t take long for Hudan to think of the implications. "That is an excellent idea, my Lord!" he said excitedly. "Earlier, I had thought about further increasing the number of guards, but I knew we couldn''t afford to pay that many men."

    He nodded to himself. "I will start doing this from today itself. Since many of the workers are still sitting idle because of a shortage of tools, I will select a few of them who are trusted men, after verifying with Mr Duvas, and will start giving them some basic training. In fact, since I am already telling the basics of fighting to those men who are good with using machetes, I can just select the trusted men among them as our reserve guards. Once they find out that they will get some extra money just for getting trained, and knowing that they would rarely be called to actually fight, there shouldn''t be any shortage of volunteers for this."

    "Good idea. You should do that," Kivamus said. "Of course, that money will also be in the form of some extra grain for now."

    Thinking for a minute, he added, "Since we have decided to leave a hundred yards of empty space all around the village, we can build the new barns in the south of the village itself, instead of in the west as we planned earlier. These barns can be located on the inner side of the periphery roads, which would allow easy access to the barns when we are bringing in the new harvest next year on the wagons and carts."

    Gorsazo said, "But this would mean that the new barns would be quite close to the walls. And in case the walls are breached in a bandit raid, they can easily steal grain from there, and when running away, the bandits could put the barns on fire, so the guards would become busy putting out that fire instead of chasing them. We have already seen them doing that in the previous raid."

    Kivamus sighed. There were no easy solutions in this world. "That is true enough. But there is still some time before we start to make new barns, since we have to build all the longhouses as well as the village walls first. So constructing the barns might not start till spring anyway. We''ll see what else we can do about this at that time."

    He stood up from his armchair. "Alright then. Duvas and Hudan, both of you go and measure a distance of around hundred yards in the north and the south and tell the workers to start digging the holes for the walls. Hudan, you also need to give some training to those with machetes in the evening, so start picking those amongst them who are trusted people and are interested in becoming reserve guards. You can leave now."

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Market square, Cinran ~

    As Tesyb waited for Pydas to complete his deal with another grain merchant in the afternoon, he took a moment to look around the place. The town of Cinran stretched out around him, a sprawling mass of haphazardly arranged buildings - the huge market square on one side, and the residential area on the other. Hearing stories about this town from his childhood, he had been excited to visit this place, and it didn''t disappoint.

    The market square was a bustling hub of activity. The air was thick with the scent of roasting meat and fresh bread, a tantalizing contrast to the paltry meals they were accustomed to. Stalls overflowed with a variety of well crafted tools, fabrics, and heaps of vegetables and fruits. The blacksmith''s forge glowed nearby with an orange heat, the rhythmic clang of metal on metal echoing through the square. As he had passed a nearby alley earlier, the acrid smell of animal hides had announced the presence of a tanner''s shop there. There were shops selling pottery, clothing, and hand-carved wooden toys, along with many butcher shops. Several bakeries lined the street as well, their windows filled with tempting displays of bread, cheese and pastries sweetened with honey, even though he couldn''t afford any of it. A group of traveling minstrels entertained the crowd with their lively tunes near the center, drawing a cluster of onlookers.

    The market square was paved with cobblestones with a stone sculpture built in the middle of the square. However, the rest of the town, at least the parts he had seen so far, didn''t have any cobblestone streets. Instead, he had found himself navigating a maze of dirt paths, churned into mud by the constant traffic of horses, nodors and carts, while dodging goats and chickens who seemed to have free reign of the town. All the buildings around him were made of wood as well. Although he had heard from someone that the Count of Cinran himself lived in a stone mansion, unlike the wooden baron''s manor in Tiranat. Of course, he was the Count of this whole region, unlike the baron who only governed a small coal mining village. But despite its shortcomings, the town of Cinran was a stark contrast to their small village. There was a sense of energy and vitality here that was absent from the quiet existence of Tiranat.

    Earlier in the day, after they had left the inn with their cargo of coal, Feroy had told them that he was taking the damaged wagon himself to the wainwright for repairs, and he would find them in the market square in the afternoon, after he had completed a few other things that he wanted to do. However, Tesyb had no idea what those things were. After that, Pydas had led them to a local coal merchant who readily agreed to buy all their coal. They had spent all the morning transferring coal from their own wagons to the huge storehouse of that merchant with the help of his workers.

    That had only been completed around an hour ago, and then Pydas had told them to park three of their empty wagons in a side alley with little traffic, with half the guards staying there with the empty wagons. He had only taken the remaining three wagons with him, including the other three guards to a grain merchant he knew, after telling them that he didn''t want any onlookers to know that he would be leaving with such a big grain caravan later. The plan was to buy enough grain for the three wagons in one trip, and then to park these wagons in that alley later, and return with the other three wagons to buy the remaining grain with another merchant, along with the other things like salt, iron nails and iron ingots.

    Soon, Pydas let him know that it was done, and the guards started to load up the wagons with all the bought sacks of grain. With that done, they carried out their agreed upon plan, and this time it was Tesyb''s turn to stay in the alley with the loaded wagons, while three other guards went with Pydas again to get the remaining grain. It was getting late in the afternoon now, and until now Tesyb hadn''t gotten any opportunity to go and meet his sister.

    He told another guard staying there that he would be back within half an hour. The guard was reluctant to let him leave, but Feroy had told them that a robbery was not likely in the town, particularly in daylight, so Tesyb was still allowed to go as long as he didn''t take too long.

    Giving a nod to him, Tesyb returned towards the market square, since his sister had told him when she had last visited Tiranat, that she worked in a seamstress'' shop in an alley close to the market square itself. It took a while as he wandered through the market looking for it, but soon he saw a sign above a shop''s door indicating that it was a tailor''s workshop. Entering inside, he asked the shop owner, "Does a girl by the name of Isuha work here?"

    *******

    *******

 60. Isuha

    The shop owner shook his head immediately. "No, as you can see, I''m the only one who works here. But you might want to ask in the other seamstress'' shop, a few doors ahead in the alley."Nodding his thanks, Tesyb hurried outside, this time with a spring in his steps. Before long, he saw another similar sign on the wooden walls of a two story building. Entering inside, he found a small, cramped shop, with bolts of cloth and unfinished garments kept everywhere. This time he saw an old woman sitting near the store counter, without any customers in the shop, and he asked the same question again.

    The old woman gazed at him with beady eyes. "What is it to you, lad?"

    "She''s my sister," Tesyb replied. "I want to meet with her."

    He had to wait until the old woman made up her mind, after staring at him for a while. Then she hollered back towards a set of stairs going to the upper floor, "Isuha!"

    A woman shouted back, "What is it, you old hag? Let me work in peace!"

    Tesyb couldn''t help but smile after hearing Isuha''s voice after more than a year.

    "That brat!" the old woman muttered, "Young people these days have no respect for their elders..." She shouted again, "Get down here. There is a young lad here saying he is your brother."

    Immediately, there was a sound of feet thundering on the floor above, and Isuha came running down the stairs. She had cut her black hair shorter, with it barely reaching her shoulders now. There was also a wooden stick in her hands, probably for measuring cloth. She was still just as beautiful as always, although she did look a little thinner than she was when he had seen her the last time.

    "Tesyb!" she shouted while dropping that stick, and jumping into his arms with a huge smile and hugging him.

    Tesyb couldn''t help but laugh at her enthusiasm as he hugged her back. She was still the same, even if she looked a little different now.

    After a while, she took a step back and looked at him. "How are you here? I never thought I''d see you in Cinran!"

    "It''s a long story, but I''m only here for today."

    Isuha looked at the store owner and said, "I am taking my afternoon break now, ''kay? I''ll be back soon." Then she held the arm of Tesyb and tugged him outside without waiting for the reply of the old woman.

    Tesyb said with a grin, "I can walk myself, you know? I''m not a child anymore."

    "Shut up, I''m still older than you!" Isuha retorted, as she pulled him outside the shop.

    "Yeah, yeah, I know you''re getting old, no need to keep reminding me," Tesyb quipped.

    Isuha glared at him as they reached the alley. "Want another beating? It''s been a while since the last one, hasn''t it?"

    "I''d rather not," Tesyb replied with a laugh. "How have you been?"

    She looked down for a moment, before speaking, "I''m okay. How are ma and pa? I heard that the baron of the village had been killed in an ambush a while ago. How are things there now?"

    Tesyb noticed the pause before she spoke. "They are okay now. And the village has a new baron, who''s named Lord Kivamus. He''s nearly the same age as me, actually." He looked around them to confirm that there wasn''t anyone else nearby, before he said in a low voice, "Don''t tell it to anyone but I''ve heard that he is actually the son of the Duke of Cinran."

    "What? Why would the Duke send his own son to such a place?" She whispered, "Is he a bastard child of the Duke?"

    Tesyb shrugged. "I wouldn''t know about that." He paused for a moment, thinking about the recent past, and said, "The past few months after the previous baron was killed were... difficult. No grain caravans were coming there because of a threat of another ambush. There was even a bandit raid in the village itself, where they burnt a third of the village, including our house there." S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Isuha immediately had tears in her eyes. "Are ma and pa really okay?"

    "Don''t worry," Tesyb reassured her, while holding her shoulders. "They are completely fine now, and nobody was killed in that raid."

    "But... I still should have been there..." she said while wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

    "No, no, it''s fine. The one thing that puts them at ease is that you are safe within the walls of Cinran here."

    "Is the situation in Tiranat better now?" she asked.

    "It''s still not fully normal, but things are improving. One thing I can say for sure is that whatever the reason may have been for Lord Kivamus to be sent to the village, he is certainly a good person, who really wants to take care of the villagers, unlike the previous baron." He continued, "The coal mines were flooded a while ago, so there wasn''t any work to be found in the village before he arrived. But now he has arranged a food for work program for the villagers, and for those who can''t work, including the orphans and the elders, he is providing them free meals twice a day." He added, "In fact, that is the reason why I am here. I''m escorting a caravan to bring more grain to the village from Cinran."

    "Escorting?" Isuha looked surprised. "Don''t you work as a coal miner...?"

    "Like I said, things are changing there. Now I am a guard in the baron''s manor!" he told her proudly.

    "What? For real?" Seeing him nod in reply, she hugged him again. Stepping back she looked at him from head to toe. "Wow! My little brother is a manor guard now?"

    Tesyb grinned. "I did tell you, I am not a child anymore." He asked, "How are things with you here?"

    "Well..." she trailed off. "Things could certainly be better. With the rising grain prices everywhere, people are barely buying any new clothing these days, so we don''t get as much work as we did earlier." She looked towards the shop that she worked at with a smile. "But the seamstress who owns this shop is a good person, even if she is a cranky old lady now. She ensures that I have enough to eat, even if the shop''s income is much lower now."

    "Well, if things get any worse, you always have an option to come back home. The baron is building new housing as well for those who lost their houses." He grinned. "And I am a manor guard now, so I get paid more than what I was paid as a miner. I''ll look after you. And ma and pa would be happy to see you as well."

    She gave a genuine smile. "Well, you have grown up now, I''ll accept that much." She grinned and rising on her toes, she bopped him on the head. "But you''ll still be a big baby in front of me!"

    Tesyb couldn''t help but laugh after hearing that.

    "What?" Isuha asked with confusion.

    "Nothing. There is another new guard, Yufim, who''s the same age as me, and acts childishly even now. Hearing you say ''big baby'' reminded me of him." He laughed again. "Earlier he was whining that he had to wait outside, while I got to see the town."

    Isuha laughed as well after hearing that. "Well, when do you have to leave Cinran?"

    "Tomorrow morning, before dawn I think," he replied. "But I have to get back to others now. This marketplace is huge and searching this shop took longer than I thought. I had only gotten permission to leave for half an hour but it has already been longer than that."

    "But we only just met..." Isuha spoke, her eyes glistening again.

    "I would have liked to stay longer as well, but duty calls." Tesyb added, "But on the bright side, I might be back again after a week, if I''m selected for escort duty again."

    "What? Really?" she asked happily.

    "Yup! The baron has planned for two trips to Cinran to buy grain, before the route to Tiranat closes due to snow. I can''t promise it yet, but I will try to get selected again for escorting the caravan. And if I am indeed chosen, then I''ll try to meet you again that day in around a week." He continued regretfully, "I really should return back now."

    Isuha gave a reluctant nod, wiping her face with her sleeves again. "Well, go on then. I don''t want you to get fired as a guard."

    Tesyb didn''t want to leave this soon as well, but if Feroy returned to others before he had reached back, he would get a scolding for sure. After another quick hug, he watched as Isuha walked towards the shop and stood near the door, looking at him sadly.

    He waved at her again, and turned back, not wanting her to see his own tears. She was already living alone in such a big town, and he didn''t want her to worry about him as well. Walking back through the vast marketplace towards the alley where the wagons were parked, he wiped his eyes. Even though it was a short meeting, now he would be able to tell their worried parents that she was doing okay here.

    As he made his way back through the crowded market, a small procession caught his attention. A knight, fully clad in iron armor, slowly rode down the market square, his horse''s hooves clattering on the cobblestones. Behind him, a trio of liveried guards escorted a group of filthy, manacled prisoners, their faces etched with despair. They must be a group of slaves, probably being taken for an auction. He had only heard tales in the past of such things happening regularly in big towns and cities, but seeing humans being taken to be sold like animals was a sobering experience in person.

    He shook his head, and continued walking towards the alley where the grain wagons were parked. He was probably already late, and he couldn''t afford to worry about anyone else.

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall after breakfast with others.

    Gorsazo remarked, "The caravan has been out for four days now."

    Hudan nodded. "If everything went well, they would be leaving Cinran today."

    The door opened, and a servant walked inside. "Milord, Pinoto is here to talk to you."

    "Let him in," Kivamus ordered the servant.

    Soon, Pinoto, the ex-farmer, came inside. For a moment, he seemed to be lost in looking around the plush comfort of the manor hall, before he gazed at Kivamus and said, "Milord, I would like to get your permission for something before I proceed."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked him with curiosity.

    "Since yesterday," Pinoto began, "the laborers working in the south of the village have been provided new axes, and they have started cutting trees there as well. But the tree-stumps are still standing there, and we need to remove them to clear the area for making new fields for farming there. However, we don''t have any horses there to pull out the stumps."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "We should still have two horses remaining in the manor, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord," the majordomo replied. "Would you like me to provide those horses to Pinoto?"

    However, before Kivamus could respond, Hudan spoke up. "I would advise against that, my Lord. Those are the last two horses we have here, and I would like at least one of them to remain in the manor, so that a pair of guards could be quickly sent to the location of any beast attack on the villagers."

    Kivamus nodded. Until the caravan returned with eight of their horses, they would remain short on them. "What about the two horses in the north? Can we send them to the south to help Pinoto?"

    Duvas shook his head. "Those horses are already being used there all day to pull the log-mover, so that they can clear the area for the longhouses. But we could still keep one of the horses in the manor, like Hudan suggested, and send the other one to help Pinoto. A single horse wouldn''t be enough to pull out the stumps, but it should still help them in moving the logs, until the second log-mover is built by Taniok."

    "Okay, do it then," Kivamus said to Duvas.

    "Even a single horse would be helpful, milord," Pinoto remarked with a grateful nod. He continued, "But there is another way to remove the stumps. That is what I wanted to get your permission for."

    *******

    *******

 61. Ecological Reserve

    Pinoto continued, "After we move the logs away from the stump, we could simply burn them to clear the area faster.""That may be a good idea," Kivamus said. He added after a moment of thought, "Okay, you can do that, but be sure that you have removed any other flammable wood away from the stumps before putting them on fire. I don''t want to see a forest fire in the south."

    Pinoto gave a nod. "Leave that to me, milord. I have done that in the past, when I used to work as a farmer. Although in that farm, we usually waited for a year or more for the stump and remaining roots to rot so we could clear the area, but we cannot do that here because we need to start farming in the spring." He added, "However, while it is difficult to fully burn a stump, I will tell the workers to split the stump from a few places, so that it can burn easily. Once the stump has fully burned away in a day or two, it would be easy enough to remove the remaining big roots by pulling them with even a single horse. After that, only the very small roots will be remaining, and those shouldn''t cause any problems in plowing the fields later."

    "You seem to know what you are doing," Kivamus gave an appreciative nod. Thinking about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said, "However, don''t start burning each tree immediately after cutting it. Once all the trees in an area - let''s say a dozen or maybe even two dozen trees have been cut and the logs have been removed from there, then move all the workers to another place - maybe a hundred yards away, and put them to work on clearing the forest there. This way, there would be no danger of the workers breathing in any poisonous fumes from the burning stumps nearby."

    Pinoto thought about it for a moment. "That seems like a good idea, milord. Usually we have to cover our mouth with a cloth if we are working close to smoke. As an added benefit, since all the trees in the area we are going to burn would already be cut before we put the stumps on fire, there would be less danger of the fire spreading to other trees."

    Kivamus said, "After you have some ash from the burnt stumps, you can also mix it into the ground, which will reduce the acidity of the soil and it should improve the yield of the wheat crop in the future."

    Pinoto gave a nod. "I don''t know what this acidity of soil is, but I do know from experience that occasionally mixing some ash into the ground before sowing does help the yield if we are growing wheat."

    Kivamus said, "If you already know that mixing ash would be helpful, it is good enough for now. I will explain what soil acidity is, some other time." He looked at Duvas, "Have you designated someone as the foreman for the southern area as well?"

    "Not yet, my Lord," Duvas replied.

    "In that case," Kivamus began, "Pinoto can be the foreman for the villagers working in the south. Unlike the north and other sides, our primary reason for clearing the forest in the south is to start farming there, and with his farming experience, Pinoto seems like our best choice to oversee everything there." He looked at the ex-farmer, "Can you do that? You will also be paid the same wages as other foremen - of course, in grain and coal for now."

    Pinoto was surprised for a moment, but then he smiled and gave a respectful nod. "Of course, milord. I was already spending most of my time there, so I can work as the foreman there as well."

    Kivamus smiled as well. "Alright. You can leave then."

    With a bow, the ex-farmer left the manor hall.

    Standing up, Kivamus said to others, "Let''s take another look in the north of the village."

    Gorsazo nodded and stood up as well to follow him, while Hudan asked him to wait until he could gather a few guards to accompany them. Duvas again told them that he would stay back to take care of everything here.

    With a nod, Kivamus walked to the gates of the manor, and soon Hudan was back with another three guards.

    "Let''s go, my Lord," Hudan said.

    They started walking through the village towards the north, and before long, they exited the last row of houses. However, unlike the last time he had come here, when there were towering trees not far from the houses of the village, there was a decent amount of cleared land in front of them now. Kivamus estimated that the workers had cleared the forest for nearly thirty to forty meters ahead, and for nearly the same width as well. However, the stumps of the cut trees were still standing in that area.

    The bigger logs had been kept on a few piles on their left, while the twisted branches had been gathered in a heap on their right. The carpenter Taniok was hard at work near the log piles making planks from the straight logs, along with a few other workers. There was also a small pile of already cut planks kept near them, which Kivamus only noticed now.

    In front of them, dozens of workers were hard at work putting all their might to cut the trees with axes, while a few were sawing the base of trees in pairs using a two-man saw. Some other workers were using the newly made machetes to cut off the smaller branches from the felled trees to make logs from them. He also saw the log-mover in use nearby, while it was being used to pull another log to the growing pile.

    Yeden was standing near the workers cutting the trees as well, while shouting at them and pointing at something. When he noticed Kivamus, he immediately walked towards the baron, and gave a bow in respect.

    "How is it going?" Kivamus asked the bald foreman.

    "The logging has been going well, milord," Yeden replied, "especially with the new tools we are getting every day."

    Looking at the stumps of the trees, Kivamus said, "What about those?"

    Yeden gave a shrug. "I know we have to remove those, but I am waiting for more trees to be cut from this area before I assign workers to do that."

    "What about just burning them, like we are going to do in the south?" Gorsazo asked.

    "That''s not a good idea here," Kivamus commented. "Unlike the farms, where we still have a few months before we need the land cleared, we need this area cleared faster. So we cannot afford to move the workers a hundred meters away while the stumps burn here for a few days. We need to clear this area as soon as possible to start the construction of the longhouses. And there are already a couple of horses here to pull out the stumps."

    Yeden said, "That is true, my lord. By tomorrow, I will tell a few workers to cut out the bigger roots from the stumps, and then we can just use the horses to pull the stumps out."

    "That would work," Gorsazo remarked. "We don''t need to do any plowing here in the future, so there is no problem in leaving some roots in the ground which would otherwise cause the plows to get stuck or even break. That should be good enough for all the regions where we don''t need to do any plowing."

    "I''ll do that, then," Yeden said. "I''ll also put all the stumps aside and if needed we can split those and other smaller branches to use as firewood in the longhouses." Moving his hand over his bald head, he added, "I''d say pulling out all these stumps will take another two or three days, and after that we can start digging the foundations for the longhouses."

    "That''s very good," Kivamus said. As he looked at the forest surrounding them, he realized that some of the branches which had grown in a slanted direction reminded him of the cranes used for construction on Earth. That gave him an idea. He said to the foreman, "You know what? Don''t cut every single tree here. While constructing the longhouses, we will need an easy way to lift the heavy wooden beams and columns into place. So, in this area, if you see a tree which has sturdy horizontal branches - maybe uh... fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, just leave them in place. We don''t need too many of those, but even having three or four such trees here would help a lot in lifting those beams."

    "You mean by putting a rope around that branch to lift it in place?" Yeden asked.

    "Something like that," Kivamus said. When they reached that stage of construction, he could devise a simple pulley system to help with that. "Leave a few such trees in those areas as well where we are going to build the new village walls, which will help us in pulling up the logs and stakes for them. And once the new village walls have been built, we can cut those trees after that for safety purposes. Although we can still leave those trees near the longhouses, to give a place for people to sit under in the summer."

    "I don''t think we have ropes that long though," Gorsazo stated.

    "That could be a problem," Kivamus muttered. "In that case, add it to the list of things we will send Pydas to buy on the next trip to Cinran."

    Gorsazo nodded. "Of course, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at Yeden again. "I had planned to keep some trees here for shade in the summer anyway, instead of making the land completely barren and without any trees for hundreds of meters. I have already told Madam Helga to look for shrubs and plants which provide good herbs around this area. So wherever she tells you about any such herbs being found, mark that area and tell the workers not to cut anything within ten meters or so of that area. We will call it an... ecological reserve - which means a natural location which we have preserved for some reason. When we have enough ropes in the future, we will surround that area with a few ropes as well. This way we will have a good supply of those herbs in the future, and we wouldn''t have to send people to search again for it in the surrounding forests every time we need such herbs."

    Yeden gave an understanding nod. "I will do as you say, my Lord. I can see how that would help the village in the future."

    Remembering the conversation about village walls earlier, he asked, "Did you send workers to dig holes for the new walls?"

    *******

    *******

    S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 62. Longhouse Blocks

    "Indeed, my lord." Yeden pointed further ahead of the workers who were cutting trees, and said, "You can see them digging there. But instead of making individual holes for every single stake of the wall, I''ve told them to make a narrow trench, where we can stack the logs one by one."Kivamus nodded. Looking at the guard captain, he asked, "Do we also have to buy ropes for tying those logs together? That might get costly though."

    "No, my Lord. We don''t really need any ropes for that," Hudan replied. "Ropes are usually helpful for building smaller walls, but the stakes which we will make from these huge trees, would themselves be sturdy enough to stand under their own weight, along with the support they get from the stakes on each side of them. Apart from that, we will also put in place horizontal logs, which will support the walls from inside. Those horizontal logs will themselves be supported by other slanted logs from the ground. That will make the walls strong enough to even resist a cavalry charge." He added, "Of course, once the walls have been completed, we can add some other defensive structures later."

    "You seem to have a good idea about this. Make sure to find some time to regularly talk with the workers who will be making the walls."

    Hudan gave a nod. "I''ll do that, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter cutting new planks on the left. "Bring Taniok here as well."

    Immediately, one of the guards who had come with them jogged towards the carpenter and returned with him.

    Taniok gave a bow as well, when he reached there. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "What about the second log mover?" Kivamus asked him.

    Taniok looked nervous for a moment, and looked down at the ground. "It won''t take long, milord," he mumbled. He looked up at Kivamus and continued, "I am waiting for my apprentice to finish making a few parts at my workshop before I can assemble it. It should be completed by tomorrow."

    Kivamus didn''t know the cause of the carpenter''s nervousness, but chose not to ask about it for now. "Okay, that''s good." He looked at the bald foreman, and said, "Now that there is enough space cleared here, we can finalize the locations of the longhouses."

    "That''s a good idea, milord," Yeden said. "It would be difficult for you to find enough time to visit here every time I need to make such a decision, so if we finalize at least a general location, then I can put the workers to start digging the foundations after the stumps have been removed in a couple of days."

    "Let''s do it then." Picking up a sharp stick of wood from nearby, Kivamus squatted down and started drawing on the ground, while others gathered around the drawing in the light of the late morning sun. He drew a simple rectangle and started explaining while pointing at its sides. "From what I have told you all earlier, the longhouse should be twenty-five meters long, and around five meters wide." He drew more lines inside the rectangle, and continued, "There will be twin bunk beds on both sides of the longer walls, so that we can accommodate forty-eight people inside."

    He looked at others, "But since we have more homeless villagers than we anticipated earlier, we need another longhouse just for them. And there are many villagers whose houses are quite damaged, even if they are still standing - so that those villagers aren''t considered homeless, but they will still be shivering all winter long if they live in those houses. So I want to make more longhouses to accommodate everyone who wants to move there, even if it''s just for the winter."

    Taniok looked at the drawing with observant eyes. "In that case, we can make the longhouses one after another in parallel, with each one maybe five meters away from the others."

    Gorsazo gave his opinion as well. "But Lord Kivamus said that he wants to make wide roads around the longhouses - ten meters wide each, and not just five. So a lot of space would be wasted on roads, if we make longhouses like that." He pointed at the shorter sides of the rectangle Kivamus had drawn. "I''d say, we make the longhouses right next to each other, with their doors on the shorter sides here. We could give a gap of a few feet between the houses for ventilation, and a single wide road around the full group of longhouses would be enough in this case."

    Kivamus heard their opinions, as he thought more about it. He recalled some of the square-shaped housing blocks in some cities on earth. That idea could work well here much better than what others were suggesting. He started drawing again, and drew another rectangle in parallel, to represent another longhouse. "I think this is a better idea. We can make two longhouses like this in parallel, but we will keep around fifteen meters of gap between them."

    As Gorsazo started to speak again, he said, "Let me finish first. I know it seems even more wasteful in terms of space, but by doing this, we can make a third longhouse right next to the first two longhouses," he added, while drawing a third rectangle below the earlier two rectangles, "which would complete three sides of the new design, with some empty space in the middle. We can call this group of three buildings a longhouse-block."

    Gorsazo looked at it for a moment, and said, "But there is still wasted space in the middle. And what about the fourth side?"

    Kivamus gave a knowing smile and said, "Now, tell me, how would the villagers cook their food, once they shift to these long houses? Usually every family cooks their food in their own home by themselves. But that is not practical here, is it?" Seeing others give a nod, he continued, "That is why, we will do this."

    He drew two smaller rectangles on the fourth side of the longhouse-block to connect the first and third rectangles, leaving a small empty space between them. "Now, these will be two extra rooms for the people of that longhouse block to use, each of which will be five meters wide and maybe six meters long, which would leave a small gap of around three meters between these rooms as the entryway. One of these rooms can be made into a dedicated communal kitchen for all the residents of this longhouse block."

    He stood up, and looking at others'' faces, he added, "This way some of the women who are not working as manual laborers, mainly those who are staying back to take care of children and the elderly, can cook food for all the people there."

    After hearing the full explanation, others gave understanding nods. Taniok said, "I understand the purpose of one of the smaller rooms now, but what about the other one?"

    "It is for storage, of course," Kivamus said with a smile. "After people leave their own homes and move to the longhouses they will need a place to keep their belongings. Also, while some of the grain can be kept in the communal kitchen itself, this storage room can also be used to keep some extra sacks of grains and vegetables. This way, the villagers wouldn''t have to go to the manor or the grain merchants very frequently to get grain from there. They can buy as much grain as they will need for a month or more in a single trip with a cart. Or for now, we can provide them enough grain for a month at a time, which would save a lot of time that would otherwise have been wasted in transporting the grain."

    Gorsazo suggested, "In that case, we don''t need to make the gate exactly in the middle of the fourth side. Since the kitchen will be used for preparing food for more than a hundred people, it would need to be bigger. I think, in the fifteen meters of free space on the fourth side, we can make the kitchen around eight and a half meters long, while the storage room can be just four meters long, which would leave around two and a half meters for the gates."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered. "That makes sense. Taniok, you have the new measurements now."

    Hudan said, "This design would also make it easier for the villagers to defend themselves in case the village walls are breached, or in case there is a bandit raid before the village walls are even completed. We can make a strong and easily-defensible gate connecting these two smaller rooms, and if needed, the villagers can shut it securely from inside, while the guards deal with the bandits outside the longhouse blocks."

    "Exactly," Kivamus said. "That was my intention as well. And if the bandits do try to attack at those gates, only a few strong villagers with machetes - which we can provide them to keep in the storage room - can hold many bandits at the gates. That is much easier for even two or three villagers to do, compared to defending a few dozen separate houses by themselves - like they had to do till now."

    "It is indeed a good design, my Lord, with many benefits," Gorsazo said appreciatively.

    Taniok asked, "If we are making the longhouses in this arrangement, then can''t we just make a single building in that square shape, instead of making three separate longhouses? That would be easier to build, and it''ll be more structurally strong, since the buildings will be connected to each other with beams at each corner of the block."

    "That''s... actually a good idea," Kivamus said after a moment. "Okay, let''s do it this way. Instead of the two sides of the block being twenty-five meters long, while the other two sides being thirty meters long, we can make a square shaped block with all sides being twenty-five meters long. That is a good idea for any future expansion as well, if we keep the longhouse blocks in a square shape." He added, "But this change in design would mean that the total capacity of three longhouses will be a little lower than what it would have been if we had made three separate longhouses."

    Taniok nodded. "That is true, milord. But the difference shouldn''t be too much." He gazed into the distance, as he calculated, "We will be losing the living space equal to two squares of five meters in each corner of the third longhouse. From the internal design that you have told us milord, that would leave the third longhouse with a length of only fifteen meters, which is just enough for seven bunks next to each other, or a total of twenty-eight bunks there."

    Kivamus did the mental calculations as well. "That sounds about right. But I would still say the benefits of keeping each block in a square-shape are going to be worth it in the long term planning of any growing town. This means that instead of one hundred and forty-eight people being housed in three separate longhouses, we would be able to accommodate one hundred and twenty-four people in each longhouse block - including forty-eight each in two longhouses, and twenty-eight in the third one. That is still good enough, since even completing a single such block would be able to accommodate all the homeless villagers."

    Kivamus added, "That central courtyard within each longhouse block would give safe spaces for children to play there, with older villagers watching over them, when adults go to work in daytime. Also, those women and elderly villagers who will be staying in the longhouses instead of going for manual work, can make vegetable gardens in the empty space within the blocks. It wouldn''t be enough to feed them completely, but it would still add variety to their diets, while giving them a way to contribute to the village and feel helpful."

    "True enough, my Lord," Gorsazo said. "That means, we would have to build another such longhouse block to provide warm living spaces to all the remaining villagers who want to shift there."

    Kivamus nodded. "And as I told you all earlier, we will be making ten-meter-wide roads everywhere we are doing any construction, so each longhouse block would be surrounded by such a road." He pointed at the area right next to the original houses of the village, "So we will leave space for making a ten-meter-wide road running parallel to these houses."

    *******

    *******

 63. Night Watch Duty

    Kivamus pointed at the newly cleared area around them. "Ahead of that will be the first longhouse block, which will take twenty-five meters of space. Then there will be another road of ten meters width, and after that, the second longhouse block will take another twenty-five meters. That is a total of seventy meters. Now, the new village walls will be a hundred yards, that is, around ninety meters away from the rest of the village. That gives us enough space for another ten meters for the periphery road, which will run all around the village just inside the new walls. We can leave the last ten meters between the road and the village wall empty for now." S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.Hudan said, "Those ten meters would also help to keep the longhouses farther in case the bandits shoot arrows from outside the wall. And as I mentioned earlier, my Lord, we would need to use slanted logs from the inside of the new walls to give them extra support. That ten meters of empty ground will be quite helpful in that."

    "Excellent!" Kivamus exclaimed. He looked at Taniok and Yeden. "That gives you the plans for how to use all the space here, and where to dig the foundations for the longhouses in the northern region."

    Yeden gave a nod. "Certainly, milord. I will put the workers to dig accordingly, after making the measurements."

    Kivamus said, "I have also told Gorsazo about the design of drains we will need to make on both sides of the roads, so you can talk with him about that. You are supervising the workers here, so you will be in charge of making the roads and drains as well. Of course, for the drains to work properly, the longhouses need to be at a small height from the surrounding roads."

    He looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, make sure that the floor of each longhouse as well as the central courtyard of each longhouse-block is a little higher than the surrounding roads, so that the rainwater will flow towards the gates, and will fall into the drains running on the sides of those roads."

    Taniok nodded. "I''ll keep it in mind, milord."

    "Later on, we will connect these drains to other such drains which we will dig in the village, so that the extra water flows towards the south or southwest into a new pond that we will dig near the new farms, to use for irrigating them." Kivamus looked at others. "I also want to connect the market square of the village to this new housing region with ten meter wide roads, but that can''t be done until we have shifted the villagers from their burnt houses to the new longhouses."

    He added, "Apart from that, even two longhouse blocks wouldn''t be enough to shift the whole population of the village to those, even though we might not need to do that anyway. But in case we do need to shift everyone, then by using such a planned grid design, we can easily make more longhouse blocks, here in the north. Again, that is for the future."

    Gazing again for a minute at all the projects being undertaken around the place, Kivamus gave an appreciative nod. There was still a lot of work to be done in the village, but at least they were on the right path now. "Alright then, let''s return now." He looked at Taniok and Yeden. "Keep up the good work!"

    The carpenter and the foreman were surprised for a moment on hearing the praise, but they smiled and gave successive nods. "We will do our best, milord."

    With that, Kivamus and Hudan, along with the other guards, turned back to return to the manor, while Gorsazo stayed back to tell the foreman about the design of the drains.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Near Helga''s Inn ~

    After another night spent under the wagons at the same inn in Cinran yesterday, they had left the town before dawn today. Picking up the waiting guards at the thicket outside Cinran, they had traveled the whole day to reach the same clearing near Helga''s Inn.

    The journey had thankfully been uneventful, and after a quick check of the surroundings, they had made their camp in the same clearing again. Then, after a quick meal of their remaining bread - which was stale by now, along with some watery porridge they had to make because they were unable to hunt anything in the evening, most of the guards had turned in for the night under the wagons. The wagons themselves had been arranged in a circle again, leaving nearly no space between them, so that they had to climb over the wagons to get in the middle. Although the merchant, Mr Pydas had also gone to sleep, he had looked worried enough since they left Cinran that it didn''t seem likely that he would be able to get any sleep.

    A little while ago, another guard had woken up Tesyb for his turn on watch duty, and he had been sitting on a log towards the south of the camp. He estimated that it must be around midnight now. Soon, Yufim, who had gone to relieve himself after waking up, walked near him and sat down on the same log. The campfire had been stamped out with only a few burning embers remaining in the middle of the circle of wagons. The half moon was just visible in the sky, but its light barely penetrated into the canopy of the dense forest. Without any wind, the forest was completely quiet as well, devoid of any sounds of birds or leaves.

    Yufim gave a big yawn while stretching his hands above himself. "I am so tired, man. Why did they have to give us watch duty in the middle of the night?"

    Tesyb shrugged in the near-darkness. "You can''t be lucky every time, can you? Last time we had gotten the first watch, so we were bound to draw the short straw at some point."

    "I do know that..." Yufim spoke with another yawn. He looked at Tesyb. "We were sitting in different wagons the whole day, so you never told me how the town was."

    Tesyb gave a laugh. "Even in the darkness I can tell that you are still sulking about that."

    "But I really wanted to see the town..." Yufim whined. "Come on! The least you can do is tell me stories about the place!"

    "What stories? You know that I was on guard duty the whole time, and we slept under the wagons there as well. It''s not like I had time to visit a tavern there."

    "Well, what about your sister?" Yufim asked. "Didn''t you say that you wanted to meet her there?"

    Tesyb smiled fondly thinking of Isuha. "I did meet her. She is doing okay but things are getting worse in Cinran. The shortage of grain, and the rising grain prices are taking a toll on everything. I heard from some passersby that the marketplace there used to be even more vibrant, even though it was still the biggest market I have ever seen in my life." He added, "Isuha even told me that they don''t get many new orders now."

    "She works as a seamstress, doesn''t she?" Yufim asked curiously.

    "She is only a helper to the seamstress there, from what she told me."

    "Even so, she gets to live in such a big town!" Yufim said wistfully, "I wish I lived in such a place."

    Tesyb scoffed. "And if you can''t pay back a loan, the Count''s men will happily auction you off into slavery. I would rather stay safe in our own village." He asked with a smirk, even if the young archer couldn''t see it in the darkness, "How was your stay in the grand thicket? Did you finally get to swim?"

    "Shut up! It was a thicket, not a town. Don''t try to make me even more jealous!" Yefim retorted. "And it was so... boring..." he whined. "I even tried to sneak to the Kal river yesterday, but Nurobo caught me right before I was going to leave, dammit!"

    Tesyb laughed. "It''s not like you could even swim. Still you can..."

    Yufim interrupted, "Did you hear that?"

    "Hear what?" Tesyb asked while looking around himself, even though he could barely make out the trees in the darkness.

    They waited for a few minutes to hear something, but it was silent after that.

    "Must have been my imagination," Yufim muttered. "Well, what were you saying?"

    Right before he was going to reply, Tesyb clearly heard the crunching of leaves nearby. He whispered, "Wait! There is something out there." He picked up his sword, which he had kept on the log next to him. Slowly, trying not to make any sound, he rose up on his feet. "Do you have your bow with you?"

    "Why would I?" Yufim replied in a low voice, while getting up slowly as well. "It''s not like I could hit anything in this darkness. I do have a dagger with me though."

    "Why the heck did they even put you on watch duty in the night!" Tesyb retorted while trying to listen for any other sounds.

    "Hell if I know!" Yufim muttered. "I''d rather have slept soundly instead of feeling useless like this. Ask Nurobo why he put me on watch duty!"

    "That''s actually a good idea," Tesyb said, thinking quickly. "There must be two other guards awake right now, on the other side of the camp. Go back slowly and let them know that there is at least one wild animal out here, and then wake up Feroy as well. He''ll know what to do. And tell someone to light up the fire again, so we can actually see something in this Goddess damned darkness!"

    Without saying anything in reply, Yufim slowly walked back towards the camp, trying not to make too much sound.

    Tesyb kept trying to listen, but didn''t hear anything else for a while. He knew that lighting up a fire in the middle of the night would make it more likely to attract any animals here, but at least they would be able to fight back in the firelight, instead of attacking blindly. Soon he heard some commotion in the camp, and taking a quick look, he saw that someone was using the embers to light up some wood again.

    Keeping his drawn sword in front of him, he slowly took steps backwards, to get closer to others. Reaching the circle of wagons, he saw that the whole camp was buzzing with activity, even though he had still not found the source of that sound. Suddenly, it came into his mind that there could even be bandits trying to attack the camp right now, and he hadn''t even thought about that. But at least Feroy was awake now, and he would be able to take care of things now.

    In the light of the newly lit fire, he saw that Yufim and Nurobo had climbed on top of two wagons on opposite sides, while they had their bows and arrows ready in their hands.

    The tranquility of the campsite was shattered by a sudden shout from the edge of the clearing on the other side. "Out there!" a guard warned, his voice filled with urgency. Tesyb, standing amidst the circle of wagons, turned his gaze towards the source of the commotion. Between two towering trees, a young boar emerged, its beady eyes darting around as it surveyed its surroundings. It was a small creature, but its wildness was undeniable.

    Dammit! They had not thought about such young animals when they put the wagons close to each other. That boar might just be able to squeeze between the wagons. Tesyb quickly took the opportunity to climb over the wagons to reach inside the circle.

    The boar slowly moved towards the circle of wagons, exploring the place when Nurobo let out an arrow towards it, but he missed the boar completely. Immediately, Yufim shot it as well and he heard the sound of the boar squealing in pain. But then it charged towards the closest wagon, as Feroy and another guard moved closer to that wagon as well. Luckily, that wagon was parked quite close to the next one, and the boar wouldn''t be able to run between them. As the boar came closer, Nurobo shot another arrow, and this time his arrow did find the target, making the boar crash to the ground in pain just before reaching the wagons. Immediately, Feroy and the other guard climbed over the wagons, and jumped off on the other side to finish it off.

    Nurobo shouted from the top of his wagon, "The rest of you, stay sharp. There can be more of them out there."

    Mr Pydas seemed to be completely scared and had climbed on the top of another wagon, and was sitting hunched while seemingly shaking in fear. Soon, Tesyb heard another growl behind him. He turned around and in the light of the now-roaring fire, he saw another small boar charging towards the wagons on his side, and he just froze.

 64. A Clash With Beasts

    Immediately another guard ran towards him and slapped him on his back. "Wake up, you moron! Don''t freeze now, or you will be dead within a moment."Tesyb shook his head to clear his mind, and put his sword in front of him, while staying in the cover of the wagons and readied himself to fight the approaching boar. He thanked the Goddess that this one was also a young boar. It was charging into the empty space between two wagons, while the remaining guards were standing within the circle of wagons. These two wagons had enough space between them that such a young boar would be able to run between that space easily.

    As the archers noticed it, both of them shot arrows towards it, and this time, none of them missed, making the boar squeal in pain, immediately slowing it down. At this point the boar was hobbling, and it slowly entered the circle of wagons. As it crossed the gap between two wagons, a guard who was staying behind the cover of a wagon, slashed the young boar on its side, making it screech in pain again. The boar shook its head wildly and gave a roar, before it tried to charge towards that guard, who rolled to the side to get away from it. However, the boar was unable to run fast because of its earlier leg injury and it nearly fell down on the ground while trying to turn its body towards that guard.

    Tesyb took the opportunity to move behind the struggling boar and tried to stick his sword straight into it, but he underestimated the strength of the boar''s hide, and his sword skidded away over the boar. The other guard shouted at him, "Keep your grip strong, and don''t lose your sword at any cost."

    However, the archers shot again at it from its side and while one of the arrows missed it, Yufim''s arrow hit the boar directly on its neck, making it completely fall down on the ground. Immediately, another guard slashed it again on its legs, making the boar unable to get up from the ground. Tesyb quickly ran towards the boar, and this time he stabbed his sword into the neck of the boar with all his power. The small boar thrashed a little for a moment as he pulled out his sword, before another guard struck the fallen boar again, until it became quiet.

    Feroy jogged towards them, and said, "If two young boars were here, there would likely be a fully grown boar as well nearby. Stay sharp everyone." He shouted towards the archers, "Nurobo, Yufim, stay up there and keep an eye around us."

    Tesyb asked, "Wouldn''t having a spear helped us here? It would have been much safer than fighting them head on. Why didn''t we take any of those from the manor?"

    An experienced guard answered, "The previous baron''s guards had taken the best weapons - including all the spears with them on that unfortunate trip, and we don''t have any other spears left in the manor now. Do you think we came without any spears by choice?" S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We got lucky here," Feroy muttered, while poking at the dead boar. "If it was a fully grown boar, it would have been much more difficult to kill it, even though we would have had the advantage of staying inside the circle of wagons, which it might not have been able to cross."

    "Certainly," the other guard said. "It was a good idea to arrange the wagons like that."

    "The first thing I am doing after we reach back, is to petition Lord Kivamus to have some spears built for us," Feroy said. "It''s too risky to fight such dangerous beasts without them."

    All the guards kept waiting for a while, but no boar or any other wild beast came to attack them. At the same time, Mr Pydas seemed to be wiping his forehead with his sleeves, again and again, even in the chill of the night.

    Feroy said, "It seems like we will be safe for now, but I will still put half of us on watch duty during the night, including an archer in each shift, just to be on the safer side." He said to the other guards, "Keep the fire burning all night, so we can see if something is coming to attack."

    Another guard looked at the dead boar next to them, and asked, "Pity we can''t take them with us, or the blood would spoil the grain on the way."

    Feroy nodded. "Two of you, pick up the boars one at a time and throw the carcasses far away from the camp. We can''t risk other bigger predators smelling blood and coming here. Another four guards will go with them, in case something is still out there, while the rest of us will stay here to protect the camp. Take a burning torch with you for light as well."

    Tesyb looked at the boar wistfully. "Can''t we even get some of it to eat?"

    Feroy sighed. "I''d have loved that as well, but without better weapons like spears and with half of the guards barely knowing how to fight, we were barely able to kill even these young boars. Dressing these animals would take time - time in which a bear, or Goddess forbid, an adzee can come here from the smell of blood, and we just can''t take that risk." He looked at the other guards. "Now go before the boars lose too much blood here and attract any predators from the smell. Throw it at least a few hundred yards away from the camp."

    Soon, half of the guards picked up the dead boar and carried it away. The rest of the guards remained vigilant, since there were only seven of them there at this point, until the other guards came back. Before long, the group of guards returned, and picked up the other boar and took it away as well. It was a difficult time, since they wouldn''t be able to fight another boar until the guards returned.

    As they kept waiting, the guards didn''t return for a while. Tesyb spoke to Yufim, who was still standing on top of a wagon, "Can you see them? It''s been quite a bit longer than they took to throw away the first boar."

    Yufim stood up on his toes, and gazed in the direction the guards had gone for a moment, before replying, "I can''t see anyone there. Maybe they just got lost?"

    "That''s the best we can hope for," Feroy muttered.

    Suddenly, Nurobo, who was standing on a wagon on the other side of the circle, gave a shout, "I see them! They are coming from this side."

    As Tesyb turned around to look there, he saw three of the guards walking back, with one of them holding the burning torch they had taken with them. For a moment, he thought they had lost the other guards, before he saw that behind the first three guards, one of the new recruits, who seemed to be hobbling, was being supported on his shoulders by two guards walking next to him. When they reached the circle of wagons, Feroy asked, "What happened there? You had gone in the opposite direction."

    One of the guards spoke up, "Someone suggested that we should throw the second boar a little distance away from the first one, just in case some other beast had already started munching on the first boar." He wiped his forehead, which was shining in the light of the campfire with sweat, and continued, "Everything went fine initially. We found another place to throw it away, and were returning from there, when we heard something nearby. I couldn''t see what it was, but it was something big for sure, and it was coming close to us."

    Another guard continued in his place, "Not knowing what it was, we started running in another direction, so that we wouldn''t lead it to the camp. It could have been a Goddess damned adzee for all we knew!" He shook his head as he recalled the events, "We didn''t have to run for too long, before we stopped hearing the sound of that beast. Maybe he found the smell of the second boar by then, I don''t know..." He pointed at the guard who had been hobbling, "But this idiot lost his footing and twisted his ankle, I think. So we had to slow down after that."

    Tesyb looked at the sky, feeling exhausted after everything that had happened. "Thank the Goddess you weren''t chased back here. I don''t know if I could have fought something again right now."

    Feroy grunted and patted his back. "Don''t worry, you did okay in the fight earlier." He looked at the others who were supporting the injured guard. "Check in the firelight if his skin was cut open as well. We should have something to tie his ankle in one of the wagons. Make sure to bandage it well in the proper position. Nurobo will help you with that."

    ***********

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Approaching Tiranat ~

    With no serious injuries in yesterday''s fight other than the twisted ankle of a recruit, the night had passed uneventfully, and they were able to leave the camp around dawn today. It was evening now, and finally, after nearly a week of being outside his home-village, they were getting close to Tiranat now. Their week-long journey had gone well, and they were able to fulfill their mission of bringing a lot of grain back to the village. This haul of grain would go a long way towards ensuring the villagers had enough to eat in the coming winter.

    Soon, Tesyb was able to see the houses at the northern edge of the village in the distance, and he thanked the Goddess that everyone had returned back to the village in one piece. This time, he was sitting in the leading wagon, and he was the first to notice something was different. Usually, whenever he reached the village after returning from the coal mines, the houses were visible right next to the tree line. But this time he could easily see a lot of empty area between the approaching tree line and the first houses of the village.

    "Whoa there..." The guard sitting next to him pulled the reins of the horses to slow them. Tesyb tried to look around him for the reason, and soon he saw that there was a narrow trench dug right next to the road on each side. Although there was enough space for the wagons to pass easily, it was unexpected, and he couldn''t think of a reason for that. The other guard shouted towards the trailing wagons, "Keep an eye on the trenches here!"

    As their wagon moved further, they exited the tree line, and here, he could easily see all the differences. A lot of trees had been cut, with some of the stumps still standing, while a few others had been uprooted completely and had been gathered together on the left. A lot of newly cut logs had been piled up on the right, with a smaller stack of planks kept nearby. There was also something quite unexpected. It was a large wooden contraption of two huge wheels with a thick axle between them. With a log kept under it, while still loosely tied to the axle, it wasn''t difficult to guess the use of it, but he was surprised to see such an unusual thing in Tiranat.

    Closer to the village, he saw that in one particular area, all the stumps had already been removed, and the ground there was in the process of being cleared completely. He also saw a small trench dug in straight lines there. He guessed that it must be the place where the new longhouses were going to be built.

    A lot had happened in a week here, but he was glad that it was finally a change for the better. As their caravan reached the first houses, he thanked the goddess for sending the new baron here. He would have to make sure to visit the temple tomorrow.

 65. Return

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor ~

    Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall in the evening, along with Duvas and Gorsazo. The guard captain had recently finished today''s training session with the new guards, and he was also sitting nearby. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace, and Lucem, Clarisa and Syryne were sitting on the armchairs there, talking amongst themselves, while Madam Helga was busy preparing their evening meal in the kitchen of the manor house. Clarisa, the young maid had slowly become habitual of spending time with Helga''s kids, and he didn''t see any reason to prevent her from coming into the manor house. She needed new friends to help her forget about the past, especially after going through such a difficult ordeal earlier.

    "It''s been a week since the caravan left, hasn''t it?" he mentioned.

    "It has, my Lord," Hudan replied. "If everything went well with them, they should return to the village by tonight."

    "Let''s hope the Goddess smiles upon us this time, and we get all the grain we sent them for," Duvas said, while gazing upwards with both of his hands clasped together.

    As they talked about other things, the sun slowly set in the west, and the yellowish-orange light from the western windows of the manor hall dwindled to nothing. Kivamus was starting to get worried about the caravan by now, but the door opened and a newly recruited guard came inside, with a big smile on his face.

    "Milord! There is good news! The caravan is back!" the guard exclaimed happily.

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus said. "Is everyone okay in the caravan?"

    "They are fine, milord," the guard reported with a grin. "And they have brought a lot of grain with them!" sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus smiled seeing the guard''s enthusiasm, as he stood up. He looked at others sitting in the hall. "Come on! Let''s take a look."

    As he exited the hall with anticipation, others followed him outside as well.

    Coming out of the manor house, he saw a commotion near the gates of the manor. It seemed that the guard had already told him the news in excitement before the caravan had even entered inside the gates. He started walking towards the gates as well, where most of the servants and maids of the manor were gathered in the light of a few burning torches there.

    Reaching close to the gates, he saw that there was also a small crowd of villagers gathered outside the gates, which was still growing. "That''s a lot of people who have assembled here," he observed.

    Duvas chuckled. "And it''s still only a small crowd. I thought there''d be even more people here."

    "Why is that?" Kivamus couldn''t help but ask.

    "News travels fast in this village, my Lord," Duvas said. "Someone must have informed the villagers about this, and any new caravan coming to the village is always a sight to see for the people here, especially the return of such a highly anticipated caravan."

    "This is not a big city like Ulriga, my Lord," Gorsazo remarked, "where a lot of things are happening all the time. People in such big cities are habitual of new caravans and horse mounted knights coming and going all the time."

    He continued, "For the nobles, there are feasts, banquets, and drama theaters, apart from the regular hunting expeditions. Even for the commoners, Ulriga has a lot of places for people to entertain themselves - taverns and alehouses are present of course, along with regular street plays, wandering minstrels and traveling circuses, apart from the yearly jousts of knights. But in a small village like this, with hardly any sources of entertainment, people will flock to see any incoming caravan - since that''s the only new thing they see for weeks."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said. He did remember that the original Kivamus spent most of his time in the library to get away from his brothers, so he didn''t have too many memories of such things.

    Gorsazo added wistfully, "In the small village north of Ulriga where I was born, I too have fond memories of running to the edge of the village everytime a new caravan came to our village."

    Before they could talk further, he saw the first wagon led by two horses emerging between two houses nearby, and entering the empty ground in front of the manor gates, with others following behind it. As the villagers standing there watched the wagons, one of the guards lifted the oilcloth covering the wagon-beds to show the stacked sacks of grain there. As soon as the villagers realized what the wagons were carrying, there was a huge cheer from the crowd.

    Noticing what the guard on the leading wagon was doing, the guards on the wagons following behind started to do the same. Kivamus remembered that many of those guards were common villagers just a week ago, and their families would likely be standing within that crowd, so it was understandable that they wanted to show off the grain to reassure their families.

    "We are saved!" one of the villagers cheered. "Thank the goddess!

    "Thank the new baron!" a woman shouted. "The village won''t starve now!"

    The cheers from the villagers continued for a while, as all the wagons exited the street and slowly began to enter the gates of the manor.

    That happiness was contagious, and he could see the residents of the manor also sharing the enthusiasm of the villagers. The maids, servants and the guards standing near the gates with huge smiles on their faces were clapping and cheering as well to welcome the return of the caravan. It must have been a long time since they had seen so many sacks of grain in the manor. Lucem and Clarisa seemed to be jumping in joy nearby, while Syryne and Madam Helga half-heartedly tried to calm down the kids, with happiness easily visible on their faces.

    As the wagons slowed to a stop inside the manor, their drivers slowly parked them in a column, and immediately, a flurry of activity started in the light of the burning torches nearby. The grooms unhitched the tired horses and led them towards the animal shed for feeding and watering them. The creaking sound of maids drawing water from the well and the enthusiastic whinnies of the horses filled the air as the grooms went about their work.

    Noticing that the baron was also standing amongst the onlookers, the young guard in the leading wagon jumped out of the wagon seat and gave a bow to Kivamus. The rest of the guards climbed down from the wagons as well after the long journey, and many of them stretched their hands above their heads after time spent sitting for so long. It was the first time most of them had been out of the village and they seemed quite happy to be back in the familiar surroundings of the manor.

    "What''s your name?" Kivamus asked the well-built guard who had bowed to him.

    The guard seemed quite surprised to be addressed directly by the baron. He stood even more straight. "I''m... I''m Tesyb, milord!" he stammered. "I... The journey..."

    "It''s okay. Take a moment to breathe first," Kivamus said with a gentle smile. "There is no need to be nervous."

    Nodding quickly, Tesyb took a few deep breaths, before he spoke again. "Thank you milord." He continued, while standing straight at attention, "I want to report that the journey went well, and we have returned with all the grain we could carry with us."

    "That''s indeed good news. Where are Feroy and Pydas?"

    Tesyb looked towards one of the wagons at the end of the line. "They were in one of the trailing wagons, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay. Bring them to me, and then you all can go to rest in the servants'' hall after your meal. I''ve heard that Madam Nerida has prepared fresh bread and soup for you all."

    "Thank you, milord! I''ll bring them immediately, milord!" Tesyb replied with a big smile while still keeping a stiff posture, and jogged off towards the trailing wagons.

    Kivamus smiled at the enthusiasm of the young guard. "He''s the son of Pinoto, isn''t he?"

    Duvas replied, "He is, my Lord. He used to be a miner in the past, before we selected him as a guard."

    "He is one of the two recruits who were already good in a fight, even though he needs more training to actually fight well with a sword," Hudan remarked. "The other one is that archer, Yufim, who had also gone on this trip."

    "That reminds me," Kivamus said, "how is the training coming for the other recruits?"

    "It will take some time until they are as good as the experienced guards," Hudan replied, "but they are still much better than they were a week ago. For the next trip to Cinran, I''ll rotate the guards who''ll stay here, and send those recruits who have gotten a week of training, so that I can hold back the new guards who went on the first trip to train them now." He added, "I''ll still send Yufim and Tesyb with the caravan since they are nearly at the same level as trained guards already."

    "That seems like a good idea," Kivamus commented. "It would be good to give some experience to every new guard."

    Soon, he saw Feroy and Pydas walking towards them. While the ex-mercenary looked the same as always - if a little muddied, Pydas seemed exhausted.

    Reaching there, Feroy started to speak, but the merchant interrupted him with a bow, "I apologize milord, but if it''s alright with you, I''ll be back tomorrow morning to talk about all the details of the journey with you. I need a drink. Or a dozen." Pydas added, "I''ll leave all my wagons here for the night. Feroy can give you the general idea of everything for now," and then he looked at Kivamus'' face in expectation of getting the permission.

    Kivamus looked at the merchant in surprise. He was curious about the details of the trip but looking at the weary face of the merchant, he relented. "That''s alright, Pydas. It''s been a long journey for you, since you''ve been traveling for a while now, before we even met you outside the gates of Cinran. You can leave, but remember to meet with me tomorrow."

    "Thank you, milord. I''ll be here before eight bells in the morning." And with a grateful nod, the merchant called up his own guard, and walked away with hurried steps towards the manor gates, likely to get wasted in the village alehouse.

    Kivamus gazed at the leaving merchant for a moment, then asked Feroy, "What''s up with him? Was there any problem on the trip?"

    Feroy gave a shrug. "Nothing to get worried about, milord. There was a wild boar attack on our camp near Helga''s inn yesterday, but we came out just fine. But Pydas has been troubled since then."

    Kivamus was worried to hear about the boar attack. "Is everyone okay then?"

    "Sure, sure, milord. They''re all just fine, other than a twisted ankle for a newbie. I''ve told the guards to rest now, and we''ll unload the wagons tomorrow in the daylight." Feroy looked at Kivamus with a smirk. "But if it''s all the same with you milord, I''d rather talk more over a mug of ale, you know?"

    Kivamus gave a laugh, shaking his head. It seemed like both Feroy and the merchant really liked the taste of ale. "Come on inside, then. We''ll talk more in the manor hall."

    They turned back to walk, as Hudan gave a good natured slap on the back of Feroy. He asked with a laugh, "You and your drinking... That''s the first thing you think of when you return?"

    Feroy shrugged and gave a smirk as they walked, "What do you even mean? I couldn''t drink anything at all in the past week, so I''ve gotta catch up, don''t I?"

    Hudan laughed loudly and patted Feroy''s back again in reply as they reached the door of the manor hall.

    Kivamus gave a laugh as well. It felt good to see the camaraderie of Hudan and Feroy. They had known each other for years while living at Helga''s Inn, and seemed like long-time friends now.

    Reaching inside, they settled on the armchairs near the fireplace, while Feroy requested madam Helga for a mug of ale. Taking his lead, Hudan and Gorsazo asked for a mug as well.

    They waited for a few minutes while Madam Helga brought the mugs to those who had asked for it, before taking a seat nearby as well.

    "Well, were you able to buy everything then?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary.

 66. Shortfall

    Feroy took a big gulp of ale from his mug, and gave a contented sigh. "Ahhhh... that hits the spot." He began, "Not everything, milord. But we got most of what we wanted." He explained, "We weren''t able to secure another wagon on such a short notice, you know? But we''ve still brought fifty-seven sacks of wheat in our six wagons. We could have added a few more sacks, but I decided not to, since we needed some space for the other items on the list.""Getting enough grain is more important than anything else, Feroy," Gorsazo observed. "Don''t you realize that?"

    "Of course I realize that," Feroy grumbled as he took another swig. "I did it because I was able to give the damaged wagon to a wainwright there. He said that he didn''t get many orders these days, so he''d return it to us in less than a week. So we''ll be able to get that wagon back on our next trip, you know? That means, this time we''ll have at least seven wagons to load grain on, even if we can''t secure another wagon. That would allow us to bring seventy sacks on the next trip."

    "Hmm... That''s only a hundred and forty nine sacks from these two trips, including the twenty-two sacks we had bought from Pydas a week ago," Kivamus said. "But from our estimates for feeding three meals a day to the whole village for four months, we needed a total of hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain. That means we will be short by twenty-six sacks!"

    Duvas said, "We also need some grain to use as seeds in the coming spring as well."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly. "Earlier, when I had talked with Pinoto, we had made an estimate that we need sixty sacks to use as seeds every year. I had thought that we would be able to use the spare grain from these two trips as seeds. But that doesn''t seem possible now." The flames continued to crackle in the fireplace, as the daunting challenge made itself apparent to everyone.

    "We still have an option to buy those seeds after the snow melts in the spring though," Gorsazo said. "From what we had planned at that time, a hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain was for four months, but Pydas told us that the roads would open again within three months, unless the winter is particularly harsh this year. An extra month of grain was just to be on the safer side."

    "Yes, but what if the winter does last longer?" Kivamus asked the unsettling question. "The villagers would go back to starving in that case..." He added after a moment, "Buying more grain after the winter seems like the only option for us though."

    Feroy said, "I''d have advised against buying the grain after the winter, milord, if only we had any choice in the matter."

    "Why do you say that?" Kivamus asked, as he adjusted himself in the armchair to get closer to the warmth of the fireplace.

    "I mean," Feroy began, "Pydas guaranteed us only two trips to Cinran, so it is likely that we won''t be able to buy more grain before the winter, you know?" He gazed into his mug of ale for a while, before he continued. "But the thing is, the food situation in Cinran is already not good, and it''s likely going to get worse. With two successive poor harvests, the price of grain is already much higher than last year, and my guess is that it will keep rising in the coming months. So if we are going to buy more grain after the winter, we''d likely have to pay an even higher price than what we are paying now."

    "That doesn''t sound good..." Duvas remarked. "Pydas already charged us unreasonably high prices for the wheat."

    Feroy took another big gulp of ale. He frowned at the mug, and seeing that it was empty, he upturned it over his mouth to drain the last few drops of ale. He looked around, and seeing both of Helga''s kids and Clarisa sitting on the long dining table nearby, he said, "Hey, Syryne, refill my mug, would ya?"

    Syryne looked at her mother sitting near the fireplace with others, who gave a small nod to her. "Sure, Feroy," she said, and walked over to take the mug from the ex-mercenary, and exited the hall towards an inner storage room.

    Feroy scratched at his small beard. "While we were in Cinran, I took some time to ask around about the grain prices in the market there, just in case Pydas was padding up his prices too much. But the merchant wasn''t wrong about the prices, you know? While it varied a little between different shops, the prices there were still similar to what he''d told us, if not a little higher."

    Feroy continued, "Being unable to pay such prices for food, I heard that people from nearby places are being brought into Cinran everyday to be sold into slavery after they couldn''t pay back the debts they took to feed themselves. The situation is still not that bad right now, but by the time the winter ends, there would be a lot more people who would willingly agree to become slaves so they can just get something to eat."

    Kivamus thought for a moment about the harsh realities of the world he had found himself in. He had done what he could to improve the life of slaves within his own domain, but this was a merciless world and there were a lot of people here who must be going to sleep on empty stomachs every night.

    Adjusting to a life as a Baron in a strange medieval world was difficult enough for him, and he couldn''t even imagine what it would have been like if he had found himself as a commoner when he woke up in this world. In the future, he would keep trying to do what he could for the underprivileged, even though he had no idea how he could do anything to help them. But for now, he had to focus on his own village, and ensuring that at least everyone under his own rule had enough to eat every day.

    "We can''t really afford to do anything about people outside Tiranat," he said, "when we are barely able to feed everyone here. If it stays like this, we''ll already be short on grain by the end of winter." He sighed. "If only we could send Pydas on another trip to Cinran before the snow blocks the road..."

    Duvas said, "It is not impossible, my Lord, even if it is unlikely. Although Pydas still has to return back towards Ulriga after his last trip, so he would have to leave Tiranat before there is a chance of the road to Cinran being blocked. However, from what he told us, there is still a small possibility of squeezing in a third trip before that. We''ll have to wait and see for another week until the caravan returns from Cinran again, and then we will talk with Pydas and see if he is willing to go for a third trip."

    He added, "As it is right now, the weather is getting colder every day, but we still haven''t seen any snow so far. So a third trip might just be possible if the Goddess smiles upon us. We can only hope that she won''t leave us hungry now, after she has already sent Lord Kivamus as a baron here to help us."

    "I hope so too, you know," Feroy interrupted, "but you do realize that there is a reason why people can still live in Tiranat even in the winter, while the road to Cinran gets enough snow that even travel becomes impossible there?"

    Duvas looked at him in surprise, before he shook his head in chagrin. "How could that have slipped my mind!" He looked at Kivamus in apology, "It seems my age is catching up to me."

    Getting confused by now, Kivamus asked, "What do you both mean?"

    Feroy gave the answer, "The road to Cinran passes much closer to the Arakin Mountains than Tiranat itself, you know? I had noticed that immediately when we first came to this village, but I wasn''t completely sure about it, so I kept an eye on the Arakin Mountains on this trip to Cinran as well." He added, "This time, when we were around halfway on the road ahead of Madam Helga''s Inn while returning to Tiranat, I noticed that the road slowly started to turn towards west, and the mountain range kept getting further away from us."

    He continued, "What it means is that the road to Cinran goes much closer to the mountains, and so it gets a lot more snow than Tiranat itself. That''s why, while there is enough snowfall on the road to completely block travel on it for more than a month, Tiranat itself doesn''t get nearly that much snow. That''s the reason there is still a village here in the winters, otherwise it would be buried under many feet of snow in the winters - like that road itself." He added, "What I mean by this, is that even if we don''t see any snow in this village in the coming week, it is still possible that it might already be snowing on that road. That''s why Pydas could still refuse to go on the third trip even if there isn''t any snow in Tiranat at the time."

    "We''ll have to wait and see, then." Kivamus tried to visualize the region in his mind, but having access to good maps would have made it much easier. It wasn''t like he had access to any online maps here, so he could easily get more information about the region. Even though he realized that the quality of maps in this world would be quite inaccurate to say the least, he asked, "Don''t we have any map of this region here? That would make it easier to see the terrain here."

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. And I even tried asking about it in the past in Cinran, but there weren''t any maps for sale there as well. But there would certainly be some maps of the whole Duchy available in Ulriga. But you have to know that this region was completely unexplored before we found coal here, so any maps of the Duchy wouldn''t show this area in any detail."

    Gorsazo remarked, "Even then, it''s not like we can even buy something from Ulriga right now."

    "Didn''t Pydas say that he lived in a village near Ulriga?" Kivamus asked. "We can tell him to buy a good quality map from the city when he returns to his home, and he can bring it to us when he comes to Tiranat next time, after the winter. As for the level of detail of the map, we can''t really help it, so I''ll buy whatever map he brings for us. Having even a poor quality map would still be better than not having any map at all."

    "It''s a good idea, my Lord," Duvas replied, "I''ll tell Pydas about that. But I have to say that even a simple map wouldn''t come cheap."

    "That''s alright, Duvas, I believe it would still be worth it. Consider it an investment for our future. That being said," Kivamus asked, "why did they even build the road so close to the mountains? If they had built it a little more towards the west, we would have had all year connectivity to Cinran."

    Duvas replied, "The workers at that time just cleared a road through the forests wherever they found it easiest to do so. Since this was a previously unexplored area before they found coal here, I don''t think anyone expected that the roads would get blocked in the winter. And once the road was already completed, the Count and the Baron didn''t see any reason to build a new one."

    "It does make sense," Kivamus commented.

    Gorsazo said, "There is one thing I wanted to ask though. Would it be better to negotiate the prices directly with the grain merchants on the next trip to Cinran?"

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 67. Safety In Anonymity

    Feroy gave a shrug. "It wouldn''t really make a difference, I''d say. We are also using the three wagons from Pydas along with the horses to pull them. If we decided to do everything ourselves, we would need to rent at least three more wagons from Cinran. And that is unlikely - believe me, I asked around a lot in the town. And even if we were able to get enough wagons, we''d have to pay for them and their horses which would also raise our cost. And like I told earlier, the grain prices are rising as well. So even if we buy everything ourselves, the cost would be similar, if not a little higher than what Pydas promised us.""Let it be for now," Kivamus said. "Winter is coming soon, and we don''t have time to take any risk here. With Pydas, at least we are assured of getting the grain in a week, otherwise we might not even be able to hire more wagons in time anyway." He added, "And there is another reason I was thinking about earlier, for us to buy the grain through a merchant instead of doing it ourselves - even if we had to pay a little more for it."

    Seeing the curious looks of others, he explained, "We are buying a very large quantity of grain, and from what Feroy reported, Pydas even had to buy the grain from a few different shops, because no single shop had that big an amount ready to sell. That kind of purchase is quite noticeable and if we bought it in the name of Tiranat, or even in my name, the news would travel around. With Pydas, it is different because he is a known merchant in Cinran, and it is normal and perhaps even expected for him to buy wagon loads of grain just before winter - to sell wherever he wants to make a quick profit before he returns home towards Ulriga for the winter. That wouldn''t be very unusual for any onlookers - and they would forget about it soon enough." He gave a smirk, "After all, it''s just a merchant trying to make profit."

    He looked at Feroy. "You made a good decision there to enter the town with only a single guard per wagon. This way any onlookers or scouts there wouldn''t consider it to be very noticeable - every wagon needs a driver after all. So, all they would see is that a merchant hired a few extra wagons and bought a lot of grain to make a quick profit before winter."

    He continued, "We still don''t know who it was that tried to kill me twice, and while they would eventually realize that they were unsuccessful - even if the news would travel slowly in the winter - they might just give up after a failed attempt. But if a small, poor village like Tiranat makes such a big purchase itself, that kind of news could easily reach the ears of such dangerous people. That''s why we shouldn''t buy such a big amount ourselves. Purchasing everything through a middleman like Pydas gives us some anonymity here - and that anonymity would go a long way to keep the village safe in these dangerous times."

    "That does make sense," Gorsazo said after a moment.

    Kivamus nodded. "You know well enough that it''s not a good idea for us to be noticed by such people any time soon. As it stands right now, the village is basically indefensible - we don''t even have a village wall right now! And of the barely two dozen guards we have - half of them had probably never picked up a sword before this week."

    "True enough, my Lord," Hudan said. "While I''m doing everything to get them up to shape, it will still take time. The village lost most of its stored grain and a third of its houses in a small attack by less than a dozen bandits. As it stands, the village is completely unprepared to defend against another attack right now, so we really cannot afford to make any new enemies right now."

    "Certainly. That''s why we will continue to buy everything through Pydas for now," Kivamus said.

    An inner door opened, and Syryne returned with a mug of ale. After giving it to Feroy, who gave a nod of thanks, she returned to sit at the long dining table with Lucem and Clarisa, who seemed to be playing a word game amongst themselves verbally.

    Feroy took a long sip of the ale, and swirled the mug in his hands for a while. "There is also another thing, milord. We need spears, and quickly." He explained, "We had an attack by two wild boars on the way. Thankfully the boars were younglings, otherwise it could have ended badly. But without any spear with us, we were barely able to deal with them, especially with half of our guards being newbies. Would it be possible for the blacksmith to make some spears for us before we leave? If we are attacked by such wild beasts again, having some spears with us would be very helpful."

    "Why didn''t you take any spears with you on the first trip?" Kivamus asked.

    Duvas gave the reply in Feroy''s place. "We don''t have any more of them in the manor, my Lord. We lost a lot of our weapons in that ambush on the previous baron. And until now, with only a dozen guards in the manor before you arrived here, along with a serious shortage of money, I didn''t see the need to have more spears made."

    "That''s alright, we can do it now," Kivamus said. He looked at Feroy. "How many spears do you need? Tell me the minimum number that you absolutely need."

    Feroy didn''t take long to reply. "While having a spear for each of the dozen guards would be perfect, I know the blacksmith might not be able to make that many of them." He added, "Giving a sword to the new recruits helps our deception to show them as being well-trained guards to any bandit scouts on the roads, but they aren''t actually trained at all. So even if we gave all of them new spears, they still wouldn''t be able to do anything with those spears in an actual attack with a wild beast, you know? I''d say if we could get just six spears - for the trained guards who already have some experience with it, it should be good enough for now."

    Kivamus nodded. "Earlier you said that you weren''t able to buy everything. Did you at least get some iron ingots?"

    Feroy replied, "We got everything milord, everything but iron-nails. No blacksmith there had enough stock of them on such a short notice. So I told Pydas to buy what little amount of it was available there, and we bought more iron-ingots with the remaining money. That''s why I had to reduce the number of grain sacks by three - to accommodate those ingots while remaining within the limits of what the wagons could carry."

    Kivamus exhaled. "A shortage of iron nails too, huh? And we are already late in cutting up planks for the longhouses." He shook his head in frustration, "Well, we''ll discuss more about that tomorrow after Pydas comes here to tell us how many iron nails he brought. For now," he looked at Duvas, "go and send a servant to the blacksmith right now to tell him about this, so that he''d know that he needs to start working to make six spears first thing in the morning. He has all of tomorrow to finish it, since the caravan will leave the day after tomorrow. Tell him that he just needs to make the spearheads - which shouldn''t be that difficult if he has made anything like that in the past, and we will take care of finding six good enough shafts for them."

    Duvas got up from his armchair. "I will send a runner to Cedoron immediately, my Lord," he said and exited the manor hall.

    Kivamus looked at the guard captain, "Hudan, you must have experience with spears, so it is your responsibility to find enough good shafts for the spears tomorrow. You can use any servants or workers to send them around the village to look for such straight wooden sticks."

    Feroy drawled between his sips of ale, while hunched up on his chair, "I could do that as well, milord..."

    Kivamus smiled. "You look like you need some rest, Feroy. You can take tomorrow off to get a breather, since you''ll have to lead the guards again on the next trip. Of course, I won''t stop you if you feel up to it and want to help Hudan in that, since he also has to train the guards as well. And one of you should visit Cedoron take a look at the design of the spearheads."

    As Feroy was going to speak again, Hudan stared at him, making the ex-mercenary shut up. "I''ll do that, my Lord." He tilted his head towards Feroy. "This guy doesn''t know that he can depend on others sometimes."

    "Shut up..." Feroy chided. "I''d like to see you survive for long while living between mercenaries if you have a habit of depending on others."

    "You aren''t between mercenaries right now, are you?" Hudan asked with raised eyebrows and a smile.

    Feroy just stared into his mug of ale, without giving a reply.

    *******

    The next day, Kivamus was up early, and after his breakfast with others, he left the manor hall to take a look at everything. Coming outside, he saw that the sun was just rising above the Arakin mountains in the east, but it didn''t do anything to help the morning chill he felt.

    "Damn! It''s getting cold now," he muttered after reaching the courtyard, while rubbing his hands together. He could even see his breath in front of him, and he estimated that outside the warmth of the fireplace in the manor house, it must surely be under ten degrees celsius now in Tiranat.

    "That it is, my Lord, although today seems to be particularly cold," Duvas said, while tightening up his own fur-coat around himself. "At least it isn''t windy these days."

    "I have to say, after my whole life spent in or near Ulriga, I am not accustomed to winters this cold," Gorsazo said while blowing onto his hands to warm them up. "And the real winter hasn''t even started here."

    "This is our home now, Gorsazo, we have to adjust to life in Tiranat now. It should still warm up when the sun rises higher in a few hours, since the weather seems to be clear these days." Kivamus looked at Hudan. "Where is Feroy? He didn''t come for breakfast either."

    Hudan snorted. "Must be sleeping off yesterday''s binge somewhere."

    Kivamus frowned. It wasn''t a good thing if the guard who was responsible for keeping the whole caravan safe was such a big drinker. "Are you sure we should send him to lead the caravan if he has a habit of getting drunk like that?"

    S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 68. The Icy Breath Of Winter

    Hudan looked surprised for a moment, before he said, "There is nothing to worry about, my lord. He never drinks when on duty - you can trust Feroy about that. I have known him for years now, and he is a responsible person - at least when he needs to be. Yesterday''s drinking was more of an exception, after a week of abstinence.""That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "I was worried that he''d be like that even when we were entrusting him with the safety of the caravan."

    "Don''t worry, my lord." Hudan continued, "Like he told us yesterday, Feroy didn''t have a drop of ale while on the journey, so he needed a few drinks yesterday to uh... catch up, but he will be fine to leave tomorrow. He''s not even a big drinker, and while he is a few years older than me, he can hold his ale better than anyone else I''ve known." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Of course he can, he used to be a mercenary, after all," Duvas derided. "Drinking is all they do, if they are not out plundering and killing people. I still can''t bring myself to trust him."

    Hudan frowned at the majordomo. "He is not like that, Mr Duvas, not anymore. I will gladly trust him with my life any time." He continued, "It is difficult for him to trust anyone after half his life spent between cutthroat mercenaries, so it is very rare for him to drink that much. In the past few years when we lived at Madam Helga''s Inn, there were only the two of us to ensure the safety of the inn and Madam Helga''s family, so we had to be alert all the time."

    He added, "I don''t think he has ever lived in a place like this." Hudan gestured with his hands around the manor, "Within the safety of the manor, with palisade walls around us, I think he feels like he can finally let go a little and relax once in a while. And unlike the rest of us, he was sent out to escort the caravan the very next day after we arrived at Tiranat, and he''s been out for the whole week since then. So yesterday was the first time he must have felt that he could ease up a little. Don''t count just a single night of drinking against him, Mr Duvas."

    Duvas harrumphed and was going to say something again, but Kivamus interrupted him. "Let it go, Duvas. If Hudan says we can trust him, then I believe him. We can talk about it in the future if Feroy does it again. Until then, we have other things to worry about."

    "As you say, my Lord," Duvas acknowledged.

    They walked further and saw that the wagons, which had been moved to a wooden shed near the stables on the left side of the manor, perhaps yesterday itself, were already abuzz with activity. A group of servants were hard at work there to unload the precious sacks of grain from the wagon to smaller carts, which could only carry two sacks at a time. A couple of them were hauling a full cart towards the grain barn on the right side of the manor. A guard with an iron gray mane of hair was there to oversee the process.

    Noticing Kivamus'' gaze, Duvas said, "Yesterday, I told the servants to start unloading the wagons from the early morning itself. Kerel is there to keep an eye on everything." He added, "The unloading should be completed in a few hours, and after that they will start filling the wagons with coal from the barns, to finish it before evening."

    As Kivamus watched the process with quiet satisfaction, he remembered the dwindling finances of the manor. Buying even this much grain had cost a lot, and he was already dreading the coming conversation with Pydas to settle the prices with him, as well as to provide him the advance for the next trip. However, as he walked closer, he noticed something else as well. While the servants looked quite happy to see that much grain in the manor, which was probably for the first time in months, they seemed to be shivering in the chill of the early morning air. Their clothing didn''t seem warm enough for this weather either.

    "Duvas," he began, "the servants have to work in such cold weather here. Why haven''t you done something to make the place warmer? Putting a couple of coal braziers under the wagon-shed would keep the place warm enough for the servants. Don''t we have any of those here?"

    Duvas looked at him in surprise for a moment, before he shook his head. "I apologize, my Lord, it was my fault. I should have anticipated your request." He explained, "The previous baron did not like to waste coal unless it was really necessary. So while he allowed the servants and maids to use coal for heating inside the servants hall - at least when it was snowing outside, he didn''t like it when they burned coal outside, saying that it was a waste to try to heat the air outside."

    Kivamus just grimaced thinking about that miserly bastard. "No need to apologize, Duvas. But from now on, tell the servants that they are allowed to use as much coal as they need for heating. We can always dig more coal from the mines, but we can''t replace a life! It''d be ridiculous if we allow someone to get sick or even die from the cold when our barns are overflowing with coal! Do we have any braziers or not?"

    Duvas nodded apologetically. "We do have a few of them kept in storage to use inside the buildings. I will tell someone to bring them out and light them up wherever needed." Then he walked towards the servants and started giving them orders.

    As the servants understood what the new orders were, they couldn''t help but look at Kivamus in surprise. There was an undeniable happiness on their faces, and after Duvas turned back, they seemed to start working with renewed enthusiasm.

    Soon, Duvas returned towards Kivamus and others, and said with a smile, "I have ordered them to bring the braziers here. They told me to thank you for this kindness as well."

    Kivamus just gave a nod. "It''s the least we can do for them if they are out working in the cold without even proper clothing. Do we have any extra fur coats?"

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. The ones we did have are already being used by those living in the manor house."

    "Okay. We will think of what we can do to provide proper clothing to them in the future," Kivamus added. "Now that it is already getting cold, the situation must be the same in the village, isn''t it? It may be fine when the sun is up, but at least in the mornings and evenings, we need to provide some braziers for the villagers working in the northern and the southern areas. Maybe a brazier for the market square in the village as well. We need to prevent anyone from getting sick, if we want them to keep working."

    Gorsazo looked at him quietly for a moment. "That... is a good idea. It would further delay the construction of everything if the workers fall sick in this weather."

    "I have to say, my Lord, I''m really glad that you are thinking about everyone in the village," Duvas said with a smile. He recalled, "In the previous winters, it wasn''t unusual to hear the news of someone dying because of the cold every few days. Those were people I had known for years, but I couldn''t go against the Baron''s orders myself to provide coal to them for heating... or he would have..." he trailed off and shook his head with a grimace.

    Kivamus scowled after hearing about the previous baron''s penny-pinching. He couldn''t imagine how a person could be so cold-blooded to let the villagers who depended on him freeze to death, when the barns were overflowing with coal. This was a coal mining village, dammit! How could the previous baron be greedy about coal in a coal mining village, especially when people''s lives depended on it? At least he could take solace in the fact that the world was rid of such a person now! Hah! Thank the bandits, or whoever it was who killed the greedy bastard.

    He began, "We can''t do anything about the past, but I won''t let anyone freeze in the village from now on if there is anything I can do about it! Now that we have managed to provide temporary housing for every homeless person, along with enough grain and coal for them, people freezing to death shouldn''t be a problem this year. But we still need to do something for the villagers who are working in this cold."

    "We only have a few braziers here though," Duvas said, "and I have told the servants to put those at both the gates of the manor, as well as at this wooden shed. We don''t have more of them to provide to the villagers."

    "Braziers are a necessary thing in this weather if we want the villagers to keep working in this cold." Kivamus added, "Cedoron should be busy making spearheads for today, but once he''s done with that, let him know that I want half a dozen braziers from him. Nothing elaborate, just a simple iron stand which does the task. Now that Pydas is back, he will have more than enough iron for it. He should be able to make them within a day, so it shouldn''t push back the production of tools too much."

    "I''ll let him know, my Lord," Duvas replied with a nod.

    "Good. That reminds me, what about the second log mover?" Kivamus asked. "When will it be finished?

    "Oh," Duvas exclaimed, "I forgot to tell you in the hustle and bustle of the return of the caravan. The second log mover was completed yesterday evening as well."

    "That''s great to hear," Kivamus said with a smile. "Send it to the southern area, since the workers have started cutting trees there as well. Once enough narrow trenches for the village walls have been dug up, we will send one of the log movers to move the stakes there. Although our focus has to remain on digging as much of those trenches as we can, before the ground freezes over."

    Hudan said, "The workers know about that, milord. I had a conversation with the foreman Yeden regarding that earlier."

    "That''s good," Kivamus commended.

    Soon, they started to return towards the warmth of the manor hall, but the gates of the manor opened, and a young servant came running inside towards them.

    Reaching there, the servant took a moment to catch his breath, and said, "Milord! I had been sent to let the blacksmith know about the new orders for today. Cedoron told me to tell you that if he is provided with the shafts, he should be able to make seven or eight spears by evening, but that would mean no new axes or other tools for today. He also apologized that he couldn''t come here himself, since making the spears needed to be done today itself, so he didn''t want to waste his time going back and forth to the manor."

    "That''s okay," Kivamus reassured the servant. "Hudan, would making more than six spears be any helpful right now? If not, we can just let Cedoron finish the six spears, and he can use the remaining time to work on something else."

    Hudan took a moment to think about it, and said, "I''d say that since we are only sending six experienced guards with the caravan, and only those would be able to use those spears properly, so just making six spears should have been enough, like Feroy told us yesterday. However, since he is working on making spearheads anyway for today, I''d like him to make a few more spears if possible, so I can use them to start training the remaining recruits who''ll remain in the manor in the usage of spears."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a good idea." He looked at the servant, "Let Cedoron know that he should make as many spears as he can for today, and then from tomorrow he can start working to make braziers. Duvas will tell you the details about it." Before dismissing the servant, he asked, "Was that all he said?"

    The servant thought for a moment. "Oh... there was another thing that Cedoron mentioned, milord!"

 69. Spearheads

    The young servant continued, "He said that while the spearheads wouldn''t be top notch, since he would be focusing on quantity, they would still work well enough." Seeing Kivamus nod at that, he continued, "He also mentioned that based on what you had told him earlier, something about uh... special-zation, or uh... speciali-zition or something." He scratched the side of his head for a moment. "I''m sorry, milord, I can''t remember the word properly. He said that he''ll put one worker just to sharpen the spearheads after he had made them, and another one to focus on fitting the spearhead into shafts, and so on, based on the logic of that... special-zation, so that he can produce things faster.""The word is specialization." Kivamus smiled on hearing that Cedoron had already seen the benefits of specializing workers in particular tasks on his advice.

    The servant was rubbing his arms to stay warm now. He added, "He also wanted someone from the manor to go to his workshop soon, to tell him what kind of spearheads were needed, since he said that the design varies based on its use. That was everything, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay. You seem cold now, so go and warm yourself up in the servant hall and send someone else here. You don''t need to go out in the cold again immediately."

    "Thank you, milord," the young servant said happily. "I will send someone right now." And then he quickly jogged away, seeking the warmth of the servants hall.

    "Duvas, when the other servant comes here, send him to Cedoron to tell him about the spears and braziers." Kivamus asked, "Hudan, what do you think about that question of the type of spearheads?"

    "Well, the spears can be made in different lengths and weights, based on their use," Hudan explained. "For example, there are throwing spears, or javelins, which are lighter. There are also pikes used by formation of foot soldiers in pike-squares, as well as the heavier lances used by mounted knights. You know that the primary source of danger here in the village, as well as on any escorting journeys comes from wild beasts instead of opposing armies. But we don''t have any mounted armored-knights here to use any lances, nor can we throw javelins at any attacking beasts when fighting them from close, so what we need here is half a dozen pikes - which are long enough to keep any beasts away from the guards."

    He added, "I''ll also have to tell Cedoron to add two lugs on both sides of the spearhead, which are like uh... cross guards on a sword, which will prevent boars and other such wild beasts from working their way up the shaft to attack the person - even after they have been stuck with that spear. Those boars can be quite strong, and they have been known to gore the defender to death that way before dying themselves. However, we would still have to compromise on the quality of the shafts for the next trip of the caravan, since we can''t make good quality shafts this quickly. For now, I''ll search for strong but thin sticks like you said, which can be used as temporary shafts for a few weeks, and after the caravan returns, we can just remove the spearheads from them, and we can make proper pikes when we get the opportunity."

    "That will work, I guess," Kivamus said, being glad that Hudan knew a lot about the subject of medieval weapons.

    "I''ll send a trained guard along with the servant to let Cedoron know about which type of spearhead he has to make," Hudan said. He looked at the rising sun for a moment. "I should go and start training the recruits now, and then I will take a few people to look for straight pieces of wood which we can use as shafts for now."

    "Okay, you can leave, then," Kivamus said to the guard captain. He looked at others with him, "Let''s return back to the manor hall now, it''s so cold outside."

    Duvas nodded. "I will return after I send the servant and the guard to the blacksmith."

    "Alright." With his arms pulling his fur coat tighter around him, Kivamus and Gorsazo started walking back towards the inviting warmth of the manor hall.

    *******

    While they were sitting inside the manor hall, a servant announced the arrival of Pydas. The merchant entered the hall on Kivamus'' invitation, and sat on one of the armchairs near the fire.

    "Thank you, Milord," Pydas said. "It''s a cold morning today."

    ''That it is. So, how did the trip go?" Kivamus asked.

    "Well enough, milord," Pydas replied, while leaning towards the fireplace for warmth. "I was able to buy nearly everything you asked for, although I couldn''t buy enough iron nails at a short notice. No blacksmith had such a big stock ready for sale."

    "Yeah, Feroy told me about that yesterday," Kivamus commented. "A shortage of nails is going to be a problem for us, but I''ll have to find a way to deal with it."

    Pydas added, "I thought about giving them advanced orders to make more nails to buy on our second trip, but the prices they were asking were astronomical, so I decided not to give the orders without asking your permission to spend that kind of money."

    Kivamus shuddered for a moment, thinking about paying too much money again, with their already dwindling finances. They barely had enough money to buy grain for the villagers, so he couldn''t afford to splurge on iron nails. He would have to think of an alternative for it. "That was a good decision. I''m not sure I would have bought them from you if the prices were not reasonable. Let''s skip the purchase of any more iron nails then."

    Pydas explained after a nod, "Because of the rising prices of grain, the demand for clothing, nails and most other non-essential things has gone down in Cinran, so the blacksmith there didn''t even have their usual stock of nails with them, since some of them had to lay off their apprentices recently. I still managed to buy a small amount of iron nails, although it''s far from the quantity you asked for." He added, "However, they did have enough of a stock of iron ingots, so I was able to buy more than enough of them. And because the blacksmiths didn''t have much use for those ingots these days, they were happy to sell them at a decent enough price."

    "That''s very good. That extra stock of iron will certainly be helpful for us. For now, let''s finalize the payments for you." Kivamus continued, "For the fifty-seven sacks of grain that you have brought, the total price at a rate of four gold crowns and five silver coins will be uh..."

    "Two hundred and fifty-six gold crowns, and five silvers," Duvas answered after scribbling for a moment on a parchment. "Let''s call it an even two hundred and fifty-six crowns, shall we?" S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Pydas sighed looking at the majordomo, seemingly exhausted by his penny pinching. "Alright, so be it," the merchant said. "Apart from that, I also spent forty-seven gold crowns to buy the salt, iron ingots, as well as the small quantity of iron nails which I could find." Looking at Duvas, he added, "And I cannot give any discount on that since I already spent that money. So, the total amount would be three hundred and three gold crowns."

    Kivamus gave a nod, after mentally adding the numbers. "Alright, we already paid you a hundred and fifty crowns in advance a week ago, so Duvas will pay you the difference today." He continued, "Now, for the coming trip, Feroy has told me that you will be able to get the repaired wagon when you go to Cinran this time. So that means you can bring back grain in seven wagons, or around seventy sacks of grain, the prices for which would be something above three hundred gold crowns. Let''s also assume that you will have to spend up to a hundred crowns more on the other things I''m going to ask you for. So after subtracting the sixty-nine gold crowns for six wagon loads of coal which you will take with you this time, the total should be something around three hundred and thirty crowns. We will pay you half of that in advance this time as well."

    Pydas nodded, "That will be very helpful, milord."

    Kivamus began, "This time, I want you to buy some thick ropes as well. Duvas will give you an estimate of the quantity later. Some salt would be needed as well, I think. Duvas, talk with Madam Nerida about that, and let Pydas know if we need to buy more salt."

    Apart from the grain and salt they were buying, he did remember that they needed other things to provide a balanced diet to the villagers, or at least as close to a balanced diet as they were going to get here. He asked the merchant, "Would it be possible for you to buy some vegetables too, like potatoes, carrots, onions, or cabbages?"

    Pydas took a minute to think about it. "Well, I can''t guarantee you what I can buy there, but I should still be able to buy most of those, except for cabbages. Those are only grown in the warmer coastal climate of Ulriga, but they spoil fast - within a week usually. So those aren''t available for sale in Cinran. Apart from that, if you want pickled fruits, I can certainly buy some of that for you, but their prices are usually double of the fruits themselves, if not higher..."

    Hearing that it would be that costly, Duvas immediately winced and said, "Let''s leave any fruits for now, since you''ll already have a shortage of space on those wagons."

    Pydas nodded. "That will certainly be a problem, but I''ll see what I can do about that."

    Hearing that the price of iron ingots was low right now, Kivamus saw it as a good opportunity to stock up on them. They needed the iron to make a lot of tools to clear the forests and start farming, not to mention using the iron for making some new weapons like more swords, spearheads, arrowheads and so on. He could also think of many other things which he could get the blacksmith to make to improve the life of the villagers.

    He spoke after a moment of thought, "You said that the prices of iron ingots are low right now, so make sure to buy more of that as well. When you have bought everything else, fill up any remaining space in the wagons with iron ingots." Finally, he asked, "By the way, do you think you might be able to go on a third trip to Cinran?"

    Pydas shook his head slowly. "I can only give you the final answer to that after I return from the second trip, but looking at the cold weather today, I don''t think that it would be possible. I do have to return back to my home before the roads are blocked."

    Kivamus gave a reluctant nod. "Well, we can still hope that the weather holds for a third trip, otherwise we would be really short on grain towards the end of winter. I don''t even want to think about what would happen if the winter lasts longer this year..."

    It was already costly enough to buy enough grain for the village, and of the twenty-five hundred gold crowns they had started with, they had already spent above three hundred crowns of it on just the first trip, not to mention what they were paying to the blacksmith and the carpenter. And that was only the beginning... He gave a sigh. There was no other choice anyway if he wanted the village to survive the winter.

    He looked at the merchant. "Well, that will be all for this trip. Take the advance from Duvas and then you can leave for today."

    "I''ll do that milord. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to trade here," Pydas said with a contented smile and stood up to wait for the majordomo.

    Kivamus gave a nod to him, but remembered something else. He asked the merchant, "I heard that you were quite agitated on the recent journey when the wild boars had attacked the caravan."

    Pydas grimaced. "I have had a few run-ins with bandits on the road, but they are usually after your coins, not your life itself. They don''t scare me much, since you can always earn more coins as long as you are still alive. But the worst incident I remember was when a wild boar nearly killed me in the past when I was just a child. I still have the scars on my arm from those huge tusks. And that night near madam Helga''s Inn... seeing those boars charging towards me... " He seemed to shiver for a moment from the memories. "I''d prefer not to talk about it any more, if that''s okay with you. Thinking about that time still gives me nightmares."

    Kivamus nodded in sympathy. "That''s alright, I''m just glad you are okay. Duvas will give you the advance now." He looked at the majordomo, "That reminds me, ask Feroy what will be the payment for the wainwright for repairing our wagon, and give him the required amount before he leaves."

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas replied as he got up from his own chair to provide the advance to the merchant from their limited stockpile of coins, which seemed to be dwindling by the day.

 70. New Ideas

    A few hours later, around noon, when Kivamus was talking with others, a servant entered the manor hall."Milord, the unloading of wagons has been completed," the servant announced excitedly. "We are going to load coal into the wagons now."

    "That''s very good, well done!" Kivamus said.

    "Thank you, milord!" the servant said happily. "Also, the carpenter Taniok is here to talk about something."

    "Let him inside," Kivamus ordered.

    Taniok entered inside the hall, and stood near Kivamus with an anxious face.

    "Take a seat, Taniok. What did you want to talk about?"

    Taniok nervously took a seat near the fireplace as well, and kept gazing downwards. When he didn''t say anything for a few minutes, Kivamus asked, "What is it?"

    The balding carpenter suddenly looked at him with a surprised face, as if he had forgotten the baron was sitting here. He seemed to be gathering his courage for a moment, before he hesitatingly spoke, "I would like to report something. Please forgive me for saying this, milord."

    Kivamus could guess that the carpenter was not habitual of talking to nobles, but his nervousness seemed to extend beyond just the usual hesitation of others, and it was not the first time he had noticed it in Taniok. "It is okay, Taniok. Whatever it is, we will find a way to deal with it. You can tell me about it."

    Taniok looked at his face for a moment, as if thinking something from his past, then took a deep breath and started speaking. "Forgive me for saying this, milord, but at the current pace we... we might not get enough planks to make even a single longhouse before the snowfall. I had already anticipated this when you were telling me about the longhouses for the first time, but I couldn''t gather the courage to mention it at that time." Looking at Kivamus'' surprised expression, he nervously added with a bow of his head, "Please forgive me, milord."

    Today was not a good day for them, Kivamus thought with disappointment. Firstly he got the news that Pydas was barely able to bring any iron nails, and now the carpenter told him that they can''t even make enough planks for the longhouses...

    It was already going to be difficult to think of a way to make the longhouses without iron nails, but without even planks? How was he going to provide housing to the villagers for the coming winter like this? For a moment he didn''t know how to reply to this unwelcome news, but he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. It was hardly the first challenge he had been given after arriving in this world. He would just have to find some way to deal with it, like he said earlier.

    He observed the carpenter, who seemed to be looking at him apprehensively with fear in his eyes. Finally, Kivamus said, "There is no need to ask for forgiveness, Taniok. But this is the kind of information that I need to be told immediately, and not after we have already made further plans based on the earlier estimates." He asked, "Why didn''t you say anything when I was talking about building the longhouses using planks?"

    Taniok looked down and mumbled, "All the manor''s buildings are made of double-planked walls, and I... I thought you''d want the same for the longhouses as well." S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "But you should still have mentioned it, Taniok! And if you thought you couldn''t cut enough planks in time, you should have told me that at the very beginning."

    Taniok gazed at his face for a moment, judging his expression, then said in a low voice, "I can''t just say no to the baron when I am ordered to do something... If I am told to make longhouses with planks, then it is my duty to follow the orders of the baron. I can''t just disobey the baron''s orders... I had... I had said no to the previous baron once, and I still have the scars to show for the whipping I got that day..." He looked downwards again. "Forgive me milord, but I just couldn''t bring myself to speak out in front of you that day."

    Once again, Kivamus didn''t know what to say to that. This wasn''t even the first time he had found out that the previous baron used to beat people for barely any reason. How was the barony even standing to this day, if that kind of a person was leading it... Although, it could certainly be said that barony was barely surviving before he came here, with the mines shut and the villagers nearly starving. He took a deep breath to calm his mind, and looked at the carpenter who had gone through so much in his life because of that bastard who was leading this barony before him, and now he was too scared to even give his opinions.

    "Taniok, look at me," he ordered. Once the carpenter looked up, he began, "Like I said earlier, you don''t need to ask for forgiveness, but you do need to be more frank with me from now on. I give you my word that you will never be punished for speaking your mind. The village is barely standing right now, and I cannot make any plans to improve the life of the villagers if I don''t get the correct estimates from you and others."

    It took a minute for Taniok to realize that he was serious about it, before he finally gave an uncertain nod. "Thank you, milord. I''ll... I''ll try to do that from now on." He added, "I had hoped that day that I might still be able to cut enough planks, especially with the new tools coming in every day, but after I got the new orders to build the two log-movers, I had to give many days to complete those in time. And today I made a new estimate with my apprentice about how many planks would be required, and based on the current pace of making new planks, I just had to tell you about this."

    He continued, "It also means that we wouldn''t be able to add wooden floors inside the longhouse, since we already have a shortage of planks to even build the walls."

    Duvas spoke up, "That''s not the only problem, Taniok. Pydas was unable to buy enough iron nails from Cinran, and he can''t buy any more in the next trip either. That means even if you had made enough planks, we still wouldn''t have enough iron nails to connect the planks - whether for the walls or the floors."

    Kivamus thought about what other solutions they had now. Maybe... if they had sheets of iron available here, they could even have made cut-nails from them, which would have served the purpose just as well as forged nails. But all they had here were ingots, and they couldn''t afford to waste the blacksmith''s time to firstly hammer out a sheet from those ingots and then to make cut-nails from them, which might take even longer than forging them directly. They needed Cedoron to spend all his time making new tools.

    "You are right," he said, "without having enough planks, and with a shortage of iron nails as well, it''s not feasible to make the longhouses in time."

    For a while, nobody said anything as they thought about the implications of it. However, Hudan spoke up soon, "Why can''t we use the logs themselves as the walls of the longhouses. I have seen some military camps made like that in the past. We will still need some planks for the internal divisions between the bunks and for the bunks themselves, along with the doors, but by making all the walls from the logs, we would save a lot of time. I would have suggested that in the first place, but I wasn''t present for that discussion about making longhouses with planks."

    Kivamus was so surprised to hear that suggestion, that he didn''t know what to say for a moment. How could he have not thought of it himself? It was true that when living in the modern city of London, he certainly hadn''t seen any primitive houses made from logs there, so the idea of using logs directly as the walls didn''t come into his mind earlier. Apart from that, his first day here was very hectic, and he had to take care of a lot of other things that day, other than discussing the idea about longhouses. But he still should have thought of it...

    Duvas muttered, "Using the logs themselves as the walls... The idea has merit, my Lord."

    "That it certainly does," Kivamus said. "I should have thought of it myself." He looked at the carpenter, "What do you think about that? Can you make it?"

    "I certainly can, milord, and it will take much less time as well," Taniok replied with a smile. "I''ve made such a building in the past as well before I arrived in Tiranat." He shook his head and continued, "I didn''t suggest it myself because the previous baron had ordered me to use planks in all the buildings within the manor. He used to live in Cinran before this village was founded and as you know, none of the houses there are made using logs. So, he had told me that while his village may be located in the backwoods, his manor should still be of the same quality as the best houses in Cinran, and it should be made with planks so that it''d look good to anyone who visited him from Cinran."

    He added, "I had heard that you are from Ulriga, which is an even bigger place than Cinran. So I thought you''d want the same for the longhouses, even though I realized that it would be difficult to make them from planks. I would have told you about it on that day itself, if only I had the courage for that..."

    "That''s okay, we can''t do anything about the past," Kivamus reassured him. "And I am not so unreasonable a person that I''d focus on how something looks to any rare visitors from outside, instead of worrying about how to actually house the villagers before the winter. However, from now on, you should never hesitate to give me any new suggestions." He looked at others sitting there. "That goes for all of you. If there is a better way to do something that we are planning to do, then you should tell me about it immediately."

    Duvas and Hudan gave a nod, while Gorsazo just observed him quietly with appraising eyes.

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter again. "Let''s do it then. Using the logs themselves as the walls is the best idea for us right now. It will save a lot of time, and we might just be able to finish a longhouse before the snowfall. Although, now that we have managed to provide temporary housing to all the homeless villagers, we can afford to wait a few more days to complete the whole longhouse block before shifting them there, so that the villagers would have the facility to cook their food there as well."

    He added, "There is also a safety factor in that. If we shift the villagers and their children to them, when only one side of that block is completed, then they would be at risk of attacks from wild beasts in the night, and with the longhouse blocks being located outside of the village, we wouldn''t be able to respond in time. So let''s focus on finishing a full longhouse block first, before we start shifting anyone there."

    "As you say, milord," Taniok nodded.

    Thinking about something he had read in the past on Earth, Kivamus asked, "Now that we have decided to build the longhouses with logs themselves, I have to ask you something Taniok, since you would know a lot more about this. The logs we have here are freshly cut green wood, so is it a good idea to construct anything from them?"

 71. Unseasoned Logs

    Taniok gave a thoughtful nod. "I realize that, milord. Ideally, we should have left the logs to season them for at least a year, so that they would dry properly and thus they''d last much longer. But we don''t have that kind of time right now, so we''ll just have to use the unseasoned logs themselves for the construction of longhouses. Of course, everything will still be done after debarking the logs, which prevents insects and bugs hiding under the bark, along with preventing moisture under the bark which could cause mold.""But how long will these buildings last?" Gorsazo asked with concern. "Is it even safe to use them for construction like this?"

    "No, no, there''s no need to worry," Taniok reassured them. "What I mean is that, if we had made the longhouses from well-seasoned logs, then the buildings would have easily lasted for decades. But even when made with freshly cut green wood, the buildings will be just as safe for a few years at least. However, they likely wouldn''t last much longer than that, and we would need to rebuild the longhouses after that." He continued, "But until then, the buildings should be just fine, since the majority of shrinkage in a green log happens across the width of a log, instead of along its length. That''s why I will not stack up the logs horizontally above each other - which could cause the walls to become warped and tilted, depending on where each log shrinks the most."

    He added, "So I''m planning to put the logs as vertical posts next to each other - just like in a palisade wall, and since there isn''t much shrinkage in them vertically, so the building stability wouldn''t be put at risk this way. However, in the coming months, as the width of the log posts would decrease because of shrinkage, small gaps might emerge between the posts. To counter that, I''ll stagger the logs a little when making the walls - instead of putting them in a completely straight line, so that even after they shrink, there wouldn''t be too much of a gap. And if needed, we can just seal the gaps with mud to protect the residents from wind."

    Kivamus was surprised to hear that the carpenter knew that much about it. He hadn''t expected that Taniok would even take the shrinkage of logs into account. "How do you know that much about it? You certainly haven''t constructed any buildings directly from logs in this village."

    Taniok gave a satisfied smile. "My master was one of the best carpenters I''d known, so he taught me about a lot of things. I still remember most of that, even if I couldn''t use that knowledge here in Tiranat."

    Kivamus nodded appreciatively. "I''m glad to hear that you already know about making buildings with logs. You seem to have thought of all the expected problems in constructing the longhouses from unseasoned timber as well. It''s always a good thing to anticipate any future problems in advance and to plan accordingly."

    Taniok, who seemed to have overcome his earlier bout of nervousness, smiled happily at the praise.

    Kivamus looked at everyone sitting there. "Okay then. We will use the green logs directly for construction. Although it''s not like we even have a choice at this point," he snorted. "We can reconsider what to do with the longhouses after a few years. We have some time until then."

    "As you say, milord." Taniok added after a moment, "If I may suggest another thing?" Seeing Kivamus give a nod, he continued, "Since we are clearing a huge area of the forests, we will get a lot more logs than we need, even after we finish building the new village wall. So, once we are done with the construction, we can stock up the remaining logs in loose piles after debarking them, so that the air will dry the logs in a year or so. That way, we will have a good supply of well-seasoned timber in the coming years for any construction we might start in the future."

    "That''s a good idea, and we''ll do that," Kivamus agreed. "But we still have a lot of construction which we need to complete before we start to worry about it. After the first longhouse block is completed to relocate the homeless villagers, we will make a second block to house those villagers whose homes are still standing but are not good enough to insulate them properly in the winter." He added, "That will give us enough living space to house around two hundred and fifty people. That is still not enough for everyone in the village, so after we have completed the other higher priority projects, we can make a third block to house them as well."

    He continued, "Apart from the longhouses and the new village wall, we also need to make new barns in the south to keep all the grain which we will harvest next year. It would be a big amount - six hundred and sixty sacks, so we will need more than one barn for that. Once that is done, we can start to tear down the damaged houses - maybe even most of the houses of the villagers, since none of them seem to be in particularly good condition, and then we can make new housing in that place."

    "That would certainly be helpful, my Lord," Duvas said. "I don''t want to see any villagers freeze to death in the future." He said with a grimace, "It''s... not a pretty sight..."

    "Don''t worry about it," Kivamus reassured him, "we will make sure that it doesn''t happen ever again."

    Gorsazo observed, "By making the longhouses with logs, we''ll also get another benefit. Even without a double layer of planks in the walls, the longhouses will still be insulated well enough with the logs. Of course, we will also be saving a lot of time which would have been spent in cutting the logs into planks." He scratched his beard. "Although, we will still need a small number of planks for the bunk beds inside, and for the partitions between them, like Hudan said, which will need time to finish. Apart from that, more planks will be needed to make a wooden floor instead of just using dirt." S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "The planks that have already been cut will be useful there," Duvas said, "but we will still need more of them. Will you be able to do it in time, Taniok?"

    The carpenter gave a nod. "Just by making the walls from logs, the requirement of planks will already be much lower than what it would have been otherwise. I should be able to cut the remaining planks easily enough with the help of the new saws we are getting now."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "Although we still might not be able to finish even a single longhouse before the snow falls, we have already managed to arrange temporary housing for the villagers, so a small delay shouldn''t be a big problem. So Taniok, you just focus on constructing a full longhouse block, since we need the kitchen and storage there before we ask people to move into them."

    He continued, "Make sure that the longhouses themselves are built on a raised mud embankment - maybe a foot high, so that there is no water logging during heavy rains. That will also allow the excess water to easily flow into the drains surrounding the houses. And wherever needed, you can use the stone rubble from the coal mines in the foundations, which will also help in the drainage of water into the surrounding soil."

    "I''ll keep it in mind, milord," Taniok said with a nod. "We will have to wait for the wagons to become free until we can transport any stone rubble from the coal mines to the construction sites, although I will use a few small carts until then." He added, "That reminds me, it''s a really good thing that we don''t have to transport the logs too far, since we are making the longhouses right where the forest is being cleared in the north. Although the new log-movers would have made it easier, it would still have been difficult and time-consuming to transport that many logs too far."

    "That is true enough," Duvas said.

    Kivamus remembered something else and said, "I have noticed that while we have outhouses inside the manor, most of the people living in the village go to the forests to relieve themselves. But that is neither hygienic nor safe - with wild beasts prowling in the forest. So, tell Yeden to make narrow ditches which we will cover using planks with holes in them - to use as communal toilets for the villagers. They should be located a good distance away from where people live, so let''s say... next to the village wall in the south-east. We will also make walls for the toilets using planks or even logs to provide some privacy, after we have completed the first longhouse block."

    He was already worried about sanitation in the village in their current situation, but until he could devise a better solution, this primitive solution would have to do. Although... he realized that there were some simple ideas he could implement there to improve the hygiene. But it would still have to wait until after the more important buildings had been completed.

    "I''ll let Yeden know," Taniok said with a nod, and stood up from his chair. "I should return now, milord. I have to tell the workers to start debarking the logs now, so that I can start the construction soon. Since even untrained workers can do that, I will use this time to cut a few more planks to use later."

    "Alright then, you can leave now," Kivamus said.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Servant''s Hall ~

    "Ah... That was some tasty food..." Yufim said as he slowly lay down on a straw mattress, while rubbing his stomach.

    Tesyb looked at the archer with raised eyebrows as he sat at another straw mattress nearby. "You ate too much again, didn''t you?"

    "Shut up!" Yufim retorted. "I was hungry!"

    Tesyb snorted. "How is a lazy-ass like you hungry all the time anyway?"

    "How would I know?" Yufim retorted. "And stop calling me a lazy-ass! I will let you know that I am a very active person!"

    Tesyb gave a big laugh. "If you are an active person, then I am an adzee!!" Hearing that, other new guards who were sitting near them started to laugh at the archer as well, who just sulked in response.

    Once he managed to stop laughing, Tesyb shook his head to clear his mind. It was just so amusing to make fun of the archer though.

    It was late evening now, and they had finished their meal of warm porridge recently. Today, it had a few vegetables mixed in as well, which Madam Nerida had harvested from the vegetable patches in the manor. Usually those vegetables were reserved for those living in the manor house, but once in a while they got to taste it as well. And now they were resting inside the servants hall.

    Yesterday, he had been quite surprised to be addressed directly by the baron. For a moment, he was really nervous based on the stories of the previous baron, who treated commoners like they were shit stuck on his boots. On his various trips to the manor to deliver coal in the past, Tesyb had often seen the previous baron have someone flogged if he thought that the person had disrespected him. But thankfully, Lord Kivamus wasn''t like that at all. The new baron even spent a moment to ask his name, even though he was just a common guard! He was really glad that Lord Kivamus was the new baron of the village. After all, he was even sending them to Cinran to buy grain for the villagers from his own coffers!

    Tesyb smiled as he thought of meeting Isuha in the town. He didn''t know whether he would be selected for escorting the caravan tomorrow, but he was still glad that he managed to meet her once before the winter set in. Earlier in the day, when he had gone to meet his parents to tell them about his journey to Cinran, they had been overjoyed to hear that Isuha was doing okay in the town. Although his parents knew about the rising grain prices in Cinran, he hadn''t told them too much about that, otherwise they would just get worried about Isuha.

    He had also found out earlier from others that his father had been advising the baron about farming these days, but that was just some unpaid work, even though he was glad that his father would get to use his farming skills which should bring back a spark of life in his eyes. However, his father had told him that he had also been hired as the foreman for the new farming area in the south, so he would be paid as well! That news had certainly made him overjoyed. Any extra source of income was always welcome for his family, even if it was in the form of grain and coal for now. And now he really wanted to be selected to go to Cinran again, so he could give this good news to his sister there.

    The outer door of the servants hall opened, and Hudan walked inside. He looked at everyone inside the hall for a moment, then walked towards the resting guards.

 72. Quarry

    The guard captain announced, "Those recruits who had been selected to escort the caravan last time will stay here this time, and the rest of the new guards will accompany the caravan on the second trip."Tesyb was upset to hear that now he wouldn''t be able to tell Isuha about his father becoming a foreman, but the guard captain looked at him and spoke again.

    "Tesyb and Yufim, the two of you will go this time as well since you both are decent enough in your own fields of combat, and we need to protect the caravan the best we can." Hudan continued, "So, those of you who are leaving tomorrow should rest now, so that you''ll be ready to leave when the caravan leaves before dawn." He grinned at the other recruits who were staying back, "As for the rest of you, from tomorrow onwards it''s your turn to get some much-needed training! Be ready to get your bones aching after the drills. And you also have to start guard duty from tonight itself so that those who are leaving tomorrow can rest for the night. Report to Kerel within the hour for that."

    "We''ll be ready to leave!" Yufim said excitedly.

    After Hudan went back, Tesyb turned to the archer. "Why are you so happy?"

    "This time I will go inside the Cinran town, for sure!" Yufim muttered, while tying up his long flaxen hair into a knot. "And you can''t stop me from taking a swim in the Kal river this time!"

    "I wasn''t the one who stopped you, you idiot!" Tesyb retorted.

    Ignoring him, Yufim kept muttering to himself, "And I will eat a lot of food inside the market place! There must be so many pretty girls in the town as well! And I will also visit the taverns there! And I will..."

    Tesyb just chuckled and let the archer continue to daydream. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests southwest of Cinran ~

    The chilly wind in the night howled through the crevices of the limestone quarry, carrying with it the scent of rotten eggs and decaying leaves. The huge quarry, which had been flooded after that spate of heavy rains and thunderstorms a month ago, now looked more like a pond than a quarry. It used to produce limestone blocks, which were transported to the towns and cities on wagons to be sold to the rich landowners and other nobles for construction of their mansions and walls, but since that flooding, nothing was being mined here. Their camp, nestled on a ledge within the cavernous hollow, was a makeshift affair of a few crude huts. With the ledge being lower than the surrounding ground, the towering trees of the vast forests surrounding them seemed to be reaching the skies from here.

    After the heavy rains had flooded the quarry, which had led to the huts of the stonecutters on the pit of the quarry being submerged in water, they had to build makeshift huts on the narrow path which ran around the sides of the quarry sloping downwards in a circle. That collection of crude huts huddled together on a wide ledge on that slanting path was their only shelter in this desolate place. That is where the stonecutters, who were slaves owned by the chief of the quarry, along with the other guards had been living for the past month since the quarry pit was flooded. Although calling them guards might be too much, Calubo thought, since they were bandits in all but name, and so others had taken to calling them bandits when they weren''t listening.

    There was still a danger of wild beasts coming there in the night, but that ledge was only connected to the forest floor outside through that path connecting the forest to the pit of the quarry. Although they had barricaded that inclined path with fallen trees and branches, making it difficult for any animals to come down there, it was hardly reassuring when living in this vast forest full of dangerous beasts.

    A flickering fire cast dancing shadows on the faces of the bandits sitting around it, their bawdy jokes and crude stories echoing through the night, while Calubo and the stonecutters sat huddled around another fire burning nearby. The night air was crisp and cold, but the fire provided at least some warmth in this weather, although their threadbare clothes certainly didn''t help.

    A deer, its carcass partially charred, was being cooked over the bandit''s fire, the aroma of roasting meat mingling with the smoke. It was a rare meal of fresh meat for the hungry band, a luxury in the harsh reality of their lives. Usually, they all survived on fruits, berries and the small critters found in the vast forests surrounding them, which a few bandits and some stonecutters went to gather and catch every day. But today, they had been lucky to hunt a deer after many weeks, not that he thought that the stonecutters or him would get more than scraps, if that.

    As he gazed at the quivering flames, Calubo''s mind wandered to the past. Just a few weeks ago, he had been a guard in the baron''s manor in Tiranat, his life a predictable routine of patrols and watch duties. But on that fateful day, when Mr Duvas had sent him to buy some grain from Cinran after the manor''s grain stores had started to run dangerously low, a few bandits had surrounded him on the road. After telling him to hand over his dagger, sword and what little amount of gold crowns he had been given by the majordomo for the purchase, their grizzled leader Nokozal had given him two choices: to come with them quietly, or die.

    As much as he hated bandits and slavers, it wasn''t a difficult choice to make when he was heavily outnumbered. And so he had found himself with the rest of the stonecutters in this quarry, thus becoming the latest slave to be brought to the quarry by Nokozal. That greedy bastard didn''t have a drop of noble blood in him, but he still called himself Lord Nokozal, though he was a bandit chief in all but name.

    Life here was not easy. Nokozal kept gloating about his greatness any chance he got, and didn''t trust the stonecutters one bit, while making them work like dogs everyday. But it wasn''t like Calubo could do anything about it without access to any weapons himself. He had already tried running away once, but he had been caught within an hour by the bandits searching for him on their horses, along with a good beating to go with it. He had been warned that the next time he tried it, he would get a brand to mark him as a slave. Since then, he had been biding his time for a good chance to run away, or better yet, to put a dagger into the bastard''s neck.

    During his time here, he had found out more about this crew of bandits which ran the quarry, which was owned by a Baron named Zoricus. In fact, he had heard from others that Baron Zoricus owned huge tracts of lands in the west of Cinran, including a lot of these forests, and the land around this quarry was also owned by him. He had also found out that Nokozal was a known slaver in Cinran, and he used to go there regularly to buy new slaves whenever he needed more stonecutters here.

    But due to the rising grain prices everywhere, the demand for limestone had dwindled to a trickle since the past year, and these days the quarry was barely able to sell any limestone at all. For the stonecutters, it meant that what little grain rations Nokozal used to bring for them from Cinran on his return trips after selling the stone blocks, had also stopped completely. And now the bandit chief sent a few bandits and stonecutters everyday to the forests to gather fruits and berries, and to hunt for small birds and rodents. That was their only source of food right now.

    In the past few months Nokozal and his lackeys had also started to kidnap lone travelers from nearby roads so he wouldn''t have to spend gold on buying new slaves, after every time that a stonecutter died due to illness or from an accident, which he had found to be fairly common here. And that was how Calubo had become a new slave in the limestone quarry run by Nokozal, after living nearly all his life as a guard in the baron''s manor in Tiranat.

    Since the quarry had been flooded a month ago, the other stonecutters, and now Calubo too, had been spending all their days hauling water from the quarry pit to the forest outside, bucket by bucket. It was slow going, with the filled buckets needing to be stocked up on a wagon, and then pulled by the bandits'' horses and two nodors to the forest outside, through the sloping path which ran along the sides of the quarry pit. Now the quarry was nearly dry again, and they would have to start cutting limestone blocks again soon.

    Hyola, a young woman, who was probably the same age as his own early-twenties, also used to work as a stonecutter here, and she was one of the five women amongst them, out of the nearly two dozen slave stonecutters working here now. While the bandits numbered nearly a dozen, and they leered at the women every chance they got, at least the stonecutters were still numerous enough to prevent anything bad from happening to the women.

    Hyola was sitting next to him on a log now, around the flickering fire of the stonecutters, as they ate parts of a small fruit they had been given today. She asked in a low voice, "Why do you think Nokozal''s men have stopped going to raid any places these days? Isn''t that what bandits like them are supposed to be doing? But other than his trip to Cinran every few weeks, they haven''t been leaving this place at all."

    "Who knows...," Calubo muttered. "They certainly know that we wouldn''t miss an opportunity to run away from this Goddess-forsaken quarry if we get a chance, especially now that we are barely being fed these days. Maybe Nokozal is worried about that, so he doesn''t want to leave this place with only a few men to watch over the rest of us."

    "I don''t know how a bastard like him wheedled his way into running a quarry," Hyola grumbled. She looked wistfully at the small fruit in her hands. "As much as I hated it, at least we used to get some grain and bread earlier, even if they were supplies stolen by these bastards from other people. But now that they have stopped going on raids, we barely get anything to eat."

    Calubo shrugged. "It could very well be that any nearby farms located north of the forests have already been raided in the past few months. This quarry is located in the middle of these vast forests, you know, so it''s not like he has easy pickings anywhere nearby. Certainly not these days, when nobody seems to have enough to eat."

    He added, "I tried asking discreetly about it to one of his lackeys one day, but he never spoke anything about it. But it''s true that Nokozal is not earning anything these days, so I''d say he has to be thinking of a raid soon."

 73. Recollections

    "What would he even sell right now to earn more gold?" Hyola snorted. "We have only been trying to remove the water from the quarry for the past month, and haven''t actually been able to cut any stone. So he doesn''t even have any limestone to sell right now, even if there was any demand for it these days.""And guess what?" she added sarcastically, "It doesn''t even cost anything to him to keep the stonecutters here even if we aren''t doing any mining, since it''s not like they have to spend coins to pay us! Or to even feed us!"

    Calubo shook his head, "You really should have taken that chance to escape in the past. You might have been living a good life today if you had left." She had told him earlier about a good opportunity a few months ago to run away from this place, when there were only a few bandits guarding the stonecutters that day.

    Hyola looked with hateful eyes at the group of bandits sitting around the other fire nearby, while putting her hand on the small dagger hidden on her waist. "I do realize that! I don''t even have any slave branding on me, so if I had left this Goddess-forsaken place at that time, I might even have found work in Kirnos or Cinran by now, instead of having to deal with the lecherous stares of those bastards every damned day. "

    She turned her gaze towards some of the older stonecutters sitting around their fire, and looked at them fondly. "But they have been taking care of me since I was sold by my parents as a slave when I was just a child. These people are my real family now. That day, it wasn''t possible for all of us to run away, and I couldn''t just escape from this place by myself, only to leave them here to their own fates."

    Hyola had told him in the past that many of the stonecutters here had been working in this place for decades, and most of them had been branded as slaves at one point or another, just like cattle. So even if they managed to escape to another town, it would be easily found out that they were escaped slaves and the consequences would be harsh, including cutting the limbs of some of them to set an example.

    For many of the stonecutters here, it had been so long since they had been living at this quarry, that they had no other place to go anyway even if they managed to escape. All they could hope for was that, some day the situation would normalize, and the quarry would be able to sell limestone normally, and Nokozal would bring grains for them again.

    Yet, Calubo didn''t know how long the current state of the high grain prices would last, and if the quarry would be able to sell any limestone at all in the near future. Proper food had already become rare to everyone here in the past few months. What little they managed to gather and hunt from the forests was hardly enough to keep everyone fed, as the bandits took the biggest share of the food for themselves. And with the winter nearly here, the situation wasn''t going to get any better.

    Thinking about family, his thoughts drifted to Nurobo, his rotund cousin who had also been a guard in Tiranat. The thought of Nurobo, a gentle soul with his love for food and helping others who got injured, brought a wave of sadness to his heart. As he watched the fire, his mind was occupied with thoughts of his past life. He missed the security of the village, the familiar faces, the routine of his duties in the manor. How was little Clarisa now? Did the slave maid Leah get to meet with Cedoron again? Did everyone in the manor have enough food these days, or were they also close to starvation like the stonecutters here? He didn''t know, and he had no way of finding out either...

    He didn''t belong in this quarry, he knew that. But escape seemed impossible from this place. Nokozal was ruthless, quick to dole out punishment if he suspected anyone of trying to escape. He had already seen Nokozal nearly beat to death one of the other stonecutters, when he thought that the man wasn''t working hard enough to remove water from the quarry. He gave a sigh, while longing for the days when he wore the leather armor and sword of a manor guard, when his life had a sense of purpose and direction. He could only hope that one day, he would find a way to escape this dark world and return to a life of honesty and dignity.

    The night was chilly, a harbinger of the approaching winter, and the constant wind in the cavernous hollow of the quarry didn''t help. The stars were twinkling overhead, casting an ethereal glow on the forest. But despite the beauty of the night, he couldn''t shake the feeling of dread that had settled in his heart. He was a prisoner in this place, even though he wasn''t bound by chains. And he knew that his days were numbered here if he couldn''t find a way to escape... whether he died by starvation or at the hands of bandits if he tried to escape again, it was only a small detail.

    "What are you thinking of?" Hyola asked.

    "Nothing really..." Calubo muttered. "Just random thoughts about life in Tiranat."

    One of the bandits was cutting up the roasted meat of the deer now, to give it to other bandits sitting there. Once all of the bandits had more than enough meat in their bowls, they put a small portion of the deer in a bigger wooden plate, and gave it to a young stonecutter to share with the others... all two dozen of them, from that single plate. When the young stonecutter who had gone to take the bowl from the bandits protested about it, he got punched in his stomach for his troubles. Immediately, others started to get up to defend him, but Nokozal told the bandit to stop, and let the man leave with that bowl, while warning the stonecutters not to complain about it or they wouldn''t get even that much.

    Slowly, others helped the young stonecutter to walk to their own fire, where they divided up the meat amongst themselves, and started to eat it. It was just a small portion for everyone, but even getting this much meat was a rare luxury for them. A few weeks ago, the stonecutters had tried to bring a rabbit for themselves while hiding it from the bandits, but somehow Nokozal had still found out, and he had beaten one of them enough that he still had trouble walking properly. After that time, the stonecutters had learned their lesson, and rarely complained about their small portions of food, as much as they hated it.

    Even though winter was nearly here, none of the stonecutters had good enough clothing for the oncoming cold weather. The few crude fur coats that they had made from the animals killed in the past years, had only gone to the bandits. Now the bandits draped those blankets above their regular leather armor in the cold, along with their swords and daggers which they carried everywhere. The stonecutters had to make do with threadbare tunics, with just the fire to warm them. At least they had no shortage of wood here to burn for heating, or they would have frozen to death soon enough.

    He looked at Hyola. "It''s a strange thing, you know?"

    "What do you mean?" she asked curiously, as she ate her own portion of meat.

    "When I lived in Tiranat, I never really liked the place. We never had enough to eat there, and I often had to pull double shifts because of a shortage of guards in the past few months. Those days I was always dreaming of finding work as a guard in Cinran, so I could live in the big town instead of that poor village," he snorted, while looking at the little amount of meat in his bowl. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He gazed at the bandits merrily laughing around their own fire, and telling bawdy stories while getting second and third helpings of the well-roasted deer meat. "But now that I am here in this Goddess-forsaken place, I would do anything to go back to my life in Tiranat. I had friends there... I had family there too, if you count the fatso. And after the previous baron was killed, at least Mr Duvas made sure that everyone in the manor got a fair portion of the limited food we had. It wasn''t like this place, where the bandits take everything we hunt and gather, and throw us the scraps."

    "It must be a nice place," Hyola said wistfully. She had told him that she didn''t even remember how a normal life as a free person used to be, since she had been a slave for nearly as long as she could remember.

    "Truth be told," he mumbled while looking down at the ground, "and I am not proud to admit it, but when I was going to Cinran that day, I had thought about running away with the gold I had. I don''t think I would have acted on that urge even if the bandits hadn''t found me that day, but I can''t deny that the thought did come in my mind. I guess the Goddess is punishing me for thinking about trying to abandon others in the manor who were depending on the grain I''d have brought... And after all, I couldn''t return with the grain anyway..."

    Hyola gazed at him for a moment, and put a hand above his own. "It''s not like that, Calubo. The Goddess is forgiving, and she wouldn''t punish you for just thinking about something bad." She continued, while looking at the other stonecutters, "Everyone has such thoughts, you know. Even though I consider some of the people here as my family, many times I have thought of running away to Kirnos or Cinran to find new work." She looked at him again. "But what matters is your real actions, and not just the thoughts you have. You didn''t actually run away with the gold by your own choice. Getting captured by bandits wasn''t something in your own control. The Goddess wouldn''t punish you for that."

    "What do you call this, then?" he muttered. "We barely get enough to eat here, and one of us is beaten nearly every day. If this isn''t Goddess'' punishment, then what is?"

    "I don''t know, Calubo, I don''t know..." Hyola muttered. "All I can say is that she must have some plans for us. It is not for us mortals to know about that in advance. We can just pray to her that she wouldn''t leave us in our current situation."

 74. Raiding Plans

    Calubo gave a reluctant nod, but didn''t say anything while he ate what little remained of the meat.Soon, he heard some heated voices from the bandits. They seemed to be arguing furiously amongst themselves, their voices raised in a fierce debate about something. Nokozal, a huge grizzled man with a scar that ran from his temple to his chin and a big beard which was starting to get streaks of gray in it, seemed to be staring at the fire, while the other bandits bickered agitatedly.

    Calubo tried to listen to what they were arguing about, but only caught snippets of it. As he strained his ears, he heard one of the bandits protesting, "But the baron told us to...", but Nokozal immediately glared towards that man and hissed, "Shut up! This is my decision and it''s final." The other bandits grumbled for a while after that, but eventually became quiet.

    Once Nokozal saw that none of the other bandits was opposing him, he stood up along with the other bandits and walked towards the stonecutters, who had been looking towards them in curiosity. He put his hands on his waist, while the other bandits stood next to him, and announced, "Listen up, you freeloaders. On my previous trip to Cinran, I met someone from Torhan''s group in an alehouse, and guess what he told me?" Without waiting for any response, he continued, "Once he was drunk enough, he told me that they raided the village of Tiranat a couple of weeks ago, which means they..."

    Calubo stood up in surprise, and immediately asked, "What do you mean the village was raided?"

    Nokozal laughed loudly. "I meant exactly what I said. Once Torhan''s group heard that the village was unprotected, with its baron and many of his guards dead in an ambush a while ago, they went on a raid all that way across the forest, and stole all the grain from the village and burned half the houses when escaping."

    "There are children in that village, you bastard!" Calubo yelled with outrage on hearing that half the village was burnt. With many of their guards dead, it had hardly any protection right now, and lowlifes like these bandits wouldn''t hesitate once about killing anyone. He wondered if Nurobo and others were okay now.

    Nokozal laughed again. "And what am I supposed to do about it?" The bandit leader looked at him with mirth in his eyes. "Why? Do you wanna try running to that village again?"

    Calubo stared at him with hate, and started to retort but the bandit chief interrupted him.

    "Now shut up! I have listened to your whining long enough," Nokozal growled. "At least that sleazy bastard Torhan has a clay mine to get an income, while you bastards do nothing and are just freeloading."

    One of the women spoke up in response. "We still work all day! But we can''t cut any limestone before we empty the quarry from its water logging, you know that!"

    Nokozal glared at her. "Quiet, you old crone! I''m not here to listen to your excuses." He looked at all of the stone cutters gathered around the fire. "It''s been a couple of weeks since that raid, so more merchants will likely be visiting Tiranat soon once they hear that the village needs more grain to survive the winter. Although..." he scratched at his long beard, "I have heard that merchants are rarely traveling to that cursed village these days, because of a fear of getting ambushed, so I think it''s more likely that Tiranat itself might send a caravan to Cinran. Either way, it''s a good opportunity for us to get some grain for free."

    Calubo was seething inside to hear that this cheap bastard wanted to steal grain from those who really needed it, instead of spending any coin to buy it. But he really should have expected it, knowing how Nokozal had already turned to kidnapping to get more stone cutters, instead of buying slaves by spending gold crowns. However, he tried his best not to show his anger at this plan on his face, or he would get another beating for sure.

    Hearing that news seemed to bring some relief into some of the stonecutters, even though they knew what it meant. But when you didn''t get enough to eat, stealing from others didn''t seem as bad to those who were starving. However, he noticed that some of them, including Hyola, had clenched their fists in anger, even though nobody had the courage to oppose the bandit chief. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Nokozal tilted his head and continued, "That means some of us will be away from here for at least a few days. I am telling you all about this to warn you that if even one of you thinks that it''s a good opportunity to run away because of a shortage of guards and tries to escape from here, I''ll break that person''s leg and give a beating to every single one of you, even if others didn''t try to run. So it is up to you all to prevent any fools from getting any silly ideas in their minds and getting you all beaten in return."

    He turned to the bandits around him, and pointed with both hands to himself as he gloated. "This is where the brilliance of Lord Nokozal shines. Since we don''t know from where the village will buy grain from, I''ll make two groups, one to scout on the road connecting Tiranat to Cinran, and the other on the road connecting Tiranat to Kirnos."

    "But milord," another bandit said, "Kirnos might not even have enough grain to sell to Tiranat, while Cinran - which is a big town - certainly would. Shouldn''t we just send scouts on that road?"

    "And what if the road connecting Tiranat to Cinran is already blocked by snow?" Nokozal grunted. "That road is quite close to the mountains, as you know well, while the other road is always open, so Kirnos might be the only option for them if the road to Cinran is blocked by now."

    The other bandits nodded in acceptance of the logic.

    Calubo really wanted an opportunity to escape from this place and warn the village, but the consequences of getting caught were dire. He kept his face calm despite the anger he was feeling, and listened as the bandit chief continued, not caring that the rest of the stonecutters were also listening.

    One of the other bandits asked, "Lord Nokozal, can we take horses with us? We can reach there faster with them. Otherwise it will take us at least a day of travel, or maybe even longer to reach those roads."

    Nokozal put his arms on his waist as he seemed to think about it. "We only have three horses with us, so both of the groups can''t possibly get two horses to ride there. That means you will have to walk to the scouting locations anyway. So I''ll keep one horse here, to keep it fresh, and each group will get one horse. If either of the group finds any tracks of any caravan passing recently, then one of you will ride hard here to the quarry to report to me. Then I''ll send someone on that fresh horse to bring the other scout group back and then we''ll ambush the caravan. With most of their guards already dead with their baron, I''d say they can only afford to send a couple of guards out of the village to escort the caravan at most, which means they should be easy pickings for us, as long as we can spot them in time."

    One of the other bandits asked, "Lord Nokozal, what if any tracks we see are those of a caravan having already returned back? What If they don''t travel again?"

    Nokozal grunted, "That''s a big village with hundreds of people, so they will need more than one trip to get enough grain to feed them through the winter, assuming they have money left at all for multiple trips. And any caravan that travels in one direction will have to return back to the village. So we should get our chance. Even though we were late in getting this news, it''s still our best hope of getting enough grain before the winter." He pointed at three of the bandits and said, "You all will go to the road in the south going to Kirnos." He pointed at two others, "And you both will go east on the road connecting that village to Cinran. "

    Calubo was simmering inside, and quickly tried to think of something to sidetrack Nokozal''s plans, "I don''t think the village has enough coin left to send a caravan to buy grain anyway. I was going to Cinran with the last of our coin when you kidnapped me. You are just wasting your time by doing this."

    Nokozal turned around and glared at him. "Shut up! You have been using that mouth of yours too much and not doing enough work here." He stared at him for a moment before speaking, "You know what, you have been lazing around here for long enough. Now you need to earn your keep as well, so you will also go with others to the eastern road and keep an eye for any tracks of a caravan." He gloated, "This will be a good lesson for you to see what the mighty Nokozal can do to your former village."

    He turned to the other guards who were going to the road connecting the village to Cinran, and said smugly, "If Calubo tries to escape at all, you have my permission to beat him thoroughly and break an arm of his." The other bandits smirked while looking at him.

    Calubo was seething inside, but he still kept his mouth shut, otherwise he would get that beating right now. He was worried about Tiranat losing what little hope they had of getting enough grain to survive the winter. He didn''t know if Mr Duvas even had enough gold crowns remaining to send a caravan. For a moment a thought came in his mind that Nokozal had given him a good opportunity to escape, but then he crushed that thought immediately. Those bandits were ruthless and they would be keeping an eye on him continuously.

    And even if he somehow managed to escape from them, the retribution that Nokozal would give to the other stone cutters would be fierce. He didn''t want to see Hyola and others getting beaten up in retaliation, which Nokozal was sure to do in response to anyone running away. The people here were already malnourished and barely got anything to eat. If any of them got injured or sick on top of that, they likely wouldn''t survive the winter.

    Calubo prayed that the bandits wouldn''t find the caravan in time - if there was such a caravan at all. He also hoped that it would be well protected enough so that even if the bandits somehow managed to find it, it would be safe enough. Or at least he prayed to the Goddess that it would be, since he already knew how few guards were left in the manor to send with any caravan.

    Nokozal gave the final order, "Be ready to leave before dawn tomorrow."

    The five bandits nodded at the bandit chief and walked back towards their burning fire.

 75. Perpendicular Lines

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day around dawn, Kivamus was standing outside the manor house with others while looking at the caravan getting ready to leave. Even without any wind, the air was chilly, and the warmth of the flickering fire in the brazier kept next to them was very much welcome. There was another brazier kept on the side of the caravan, where some of the guards were warming their hands, before they left the manor to brave the cold of the journey. This time only six wagons were leaving the manor, but Hudan had still provided twelve guards with them, not including Pydaso and his own guard, so that the repaired wagon would also have two guards on it on their return journey. The wagons were covered with an oilcloth, with each wagon driver having a spear next to him.

    Yesterday, Cedoron had come through on his promises to make the spears, and they had been able to provide seven spears to the escorting guards this time - one for each wagon on the return journey, even though their shafts would need to be replaced in the future with better quality wood. The blacksmith had actually made two more spears, but Hudan had told him that he was going to use them to train the rest of the new guards.

    Soon, Pydaso and Feroy walked towards him. The ex-mercenary looked alert and ready for the coming journey, with no trace of his binge drinking two nights ago on his face. Hudan seemed to be correct about Feroy when he said that the ex-mercenary was a trustworthy guard, and only drank when he was sure that his fighting skills wouldn''t be needed. That was good enough for now.

    "We are ready to leave, milord," Feroy said. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Good. May you have a safe and successful journey," Kivamus wished them.

    "I hope so, milord," Pydaso said. He looked up at the early morning sky. "With the weather already getting so cold, it won''t be long before it starts to snow." He added, "Because of a shortage of time before the road gets blocked, we have been pushing the horses very hard, since we have been completing the journey from here to Cinran within two days every time, even though it''s normally a three day journey at a relaxed pace. I just hope there is no injury to any horses because of that, since a delay would cause difficulty for me when I return back towards my home."

    Kivamus nodded. Without access to any satellite providing live weather updates, they had no way to know when the snowfall would actually start. He still hoped that they might be able to squeeze in a third trip before Pydaso had to return back, but it seemed increasingly unlikely now. Giving an inward sigh, he said, "We can only hope that everything goes well."

    Pydaso gave a nod in reply, and with a quick bow, returned back towards the caravan along with Feroy. Soon, the horses started to move after a quick whip, and the caravan lurched into motion. The sound of creaking axles and leaves crunching under the wheels filled the air as the wagons exited the gates of the manor one by one.

    Kivamus looked at the servants who were moving the brazier towards the shed, before they returned to their duties. He pointed at the brazier burning next to them. "Tell one of the servants to move this brazier to the north of the village, for the workers to use there. Cedoron should provide us with more braziers by evening, so we can put them in the places we discussed earlier."

    With a nod, Duvas gave the orders to the servants, and they returned back to the warmth of the manor house.

    *******

    A few hours later, Kivamus decided to take a look in the north of the village again to see how everything was going there. Something had been nagging him since yesterday, and he wanted to talk with the carpenter about that. With Hudan and other guards accompanying them, he and Gorsazo walked to the northern area. Reaching there, he saw that a good amount of space had been cleared there by now, and now the workers were hard at work cutting the trees further away from the village. Many of them were digging the trench for a new village wall, while Taniok was overseeing the debarking of logs nearby. He saw that the trenches for the foundations for the first longhouse block were already in the process of being dug.

    He sent a servant to call over the carpenter. Once Taniok was there, he asked, "I was curious about something. How are you making sure that the walls of the longhouse block would be perpendicular to each other?"

    Taniok looked at the workers digging the trenches. "Oh, that?" He said, "Give me a moment, milord," and he jogged towards where he had been cutting the planks on the left earlier. Soon he returned with something in his hands.

    ''''I use this try-square, milord," Taniok said, and handed him a small wooden tool, which had two pieces of wood connected to each other at a right angle. Although this tool was still used on Earth sometimes, the try-square that Taniok had given him was made completely of wood, with a small hole at the end of each piece of wood.

    "I can see its use when you are making tables, chairs and such things," Kivamus said, "but how are you using this to keep the foundations of the block perpendicular?"

    Taniok shrugged. "It''s easy enough. I just tie a thin string or a rope on these holes, and put the try-square at one corner, and then I tell someone else to pull the ropes straight. This way I get two long ropes which are more or less perpendicular to each other. Then I make marks on the ground along these ropes, and we get perpendicular walls."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered. "That would work, more or less, but the people who are pulling the ropes straight could easily move away from the proper angle when they walk further to make the rope taut. It would still be close enough to a right angle, but there can certainly be errors."

    "Well... I don''t know of any other way to do this, milord," Taniok said curiously.

    Kivamus thought about it for a minute, and remembered a primitive way by which the Romans used to project right angles and straight lines on the ground. He told the guards who had come with him to bring to him one long stick of wood, and a few smaller ones, which were as straight as they could find them. Then he sent another guard to bring a small length of thin rope, and four small stones. "Call Yeden here too."

    It took a few minutes, but soon, the foreman, Yeden and the guards returned with straight wooden sticks and the other things in their hands. He told a guard to untwist the rope into separate strings. Then, he held the long stick in his hands, and told one of the guards to tie the stones with strings, and another to tie two small sticks together while making sure they were more or less perpendicular to each other.

    Gorsazo observed him carefully, as he started to explain.

    "Okay, here is a better way to do this," Kivamus began. "I am showing you the concept of how it would work, but you will need to make the same thing with completely straight pieces of wood to make it work properly." He took the long stick and tried to firmly insert it into the ground like a pole. It didn''t really go into the ground far enough to make it stand under its own weight though, so he told a guard to hold it vertically. "This vertical staff will allow the actual mechanism to be put above it. It needs to be made strong enough, but it only needs to be around five or six feet tall. The bottom of this staff also needs to be made sharp enough to be easily inserted into the ground."

    Seeing Taniok''s nod, he explained, "Then every time when you want to make sure that you are making foundations accurately at right angles, you should insert this staff around a foot away from the actual point where you want the corner to be. Now above this," he continued as he held a small stick above the staff horizontally, "you will join a small piece of wood which connects to the top of the staff on one side, and the wooden cross on the other side." He told another guard to hold it like he had described, while he tied one end of it to the top of the staff.

    "Now, this is the main mechanism," he said, as he pointed to the two sticks which had been tied together into a cross. He took the stones which had been tied to strings which were around a meter long, and tied the other end of those strings at the four ends of that cross, so that each stone was hung at nearly the same length from the cross.

    Finally, he took that cross, with four stones hung on a string on each of its corners, and put it at the other end of the small piece of wood that was connected to the top of the staff. He looked at another guard who was holding a piece of string in his hands, and then took that string to tie the center of the cross with the end of the horizontal piece of wood. It was shoddy work, but it should work well enough to demonstrate the purpose.

    He explained, "This is a very rough approximation, but you can see how it works right now. He told others to move back to one side, and then he told Taniok to look at two strings on the opposite ends of the cross, in a way that they were completely aligned with each other. "Now the line on the ground which is shown by these strings gives you one side of your square."

    "I can see that," Taniok nodded.

    "Good, now move to this place," Kivamus said as he pointed to the other two strings. "Try looking from here. Again, the line on the ground which is covered by these two strings is the other side of the square. As long as the wooden cross is made properly with right angles between both of its arms, this line and the line you saw earlier will be perpendicular to each other. The walls of a building will be along these lines and at the reference point - where these two lines intersect, you can make the corner of a building. This way you can tell a worker to mark places on the ground - while you observe through these strings to ensure that the marks are made correctly along them, and so you will get an accurate set of perpendicular lines, where you can dig the foundations later."

    It took a moment for Taniok to think about it, but Yeden spoke first while running a hand on his bald pate. "That''s... that''s really clever, milord!"

    Taniok stood up and shook his head slowly. "It would certainly work. But... but it''s so simple... I don''t know how I never thought of it myself!"

    Kivamus smiled, and said, "That''s alright. You know about it now."

    "But what is this tool called?" Taniok asked.

 76. Groma

    "This tool is called a groma," Kivamus replied.Gorsazo had tilted his head a little, while he observed him with a frown, but didn''t say anything.

    Kivamus added, "Ideally we should use pointed pieces of iron instead of these round stones, for it to be more accurate. In our case here, where you only need to make a single building at a time, you can make these strings from which the stones are hanging to be a little longer, so that they nearly touch the ground. That way, you can put a mark on the places where all four stones touch the ground, and then you can easily tell workers to hold a string straight, and align the string with these marks. That will easily give you the corner as well as the location of the two walls for a new building."

    He pointed at the small piece of wood connecting the cross with the vertical staff. "And if you want, you can make this piece in a way that it pivots around the top of the staff, so that you can move the cross to another side of the staff if you need to. You can also make another pivot at the other side of this piece of wood, so that the cross itself can be rotated to align the lines with the desired directions."

    "That I can understand, milord," Taniok said with a nod. "But why didn''t you just put the cross right on top of the staff? That would also have worked and would be easier to make."

    "You are right, but this design does have its uses," Kivamus replied. "Let''s say you need to put the reference point - which is the center of the two lines - above a sturdy object, like a rock where you cannot insert the staff easily. In that case, setting the center of the cross away from the staff is helpful, because you can just insert the staff into the ground a little away from that rock, and you would still be able to put the reference point, that is, the corner of the walls, above that rock."

    Taniok nodded. "That makes sense."

    Kivamus added, "Apart from that, while making marks on the ground just under the stones would work well enough for a single set of perpendicular lines, but if you need to do planning for nearby areas at the same time, then offsetting the cross from the staff allows you to look in a straight line through the two strings, like you did just now. That way you can tell someone else to mark a distant point on the ground which lies along that same line. That allows you to ensure that even a distant point lies on the same line. This way you can ensure that a long wall, for example the new village walls lie in a straight line. For another example, if we are making a series of houses next to each other, then by using the groma, we ensure that they lie along the same line."

    "That would certainly be helpful for the village walls," Yeden said.

    Kivamus continued, "As you can guess, a groma can also be used to make a grid. You can mark the perpendicular lines at one intersection, and then you can move the groma further to each intersection, and you can draw perpendicular lines again using this. That will be useful when you clear the ground to make the roads as well."

    Yeden gave a nod. "Certainly, milord."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, you should make one of these so that we can be sure that the longhouse walls will be made in proper alignments. You can ask Cedoron for him to give you small pointed pieces of iron, into which he has made a hole at the top, so that you can tie the strings into it. That piece of iron is called a plumb bob."

    Taniok nodded excitedly. "That I know, milord. I use a similar plumb bob whenever I''m making the walls of a building to ensure that the walls are standing straight, and are not tilted to one side. And this groma is easy enough to make. I can make one of it within an hour using a few such sticks kept in my workshop. I don''t know why I didn''t think of it myself in the past! But it will be really helpful here."

    "Certainly," Kivamus said. "It wouldn''t work well when there is a wind, but otherwise it would be a good idea to use it everywhere you need to make perpendicular lines on the ground. So, after our conversation you should go and make a groma first, before more trenches are dug."

    Taniok gave a nod. "I''ll do that, milord."

    Kivamus looked at the foreman. "How are the log movers working?"

    Taniok happily pointed at the machines nearby towards the north. "They''ve been very helpful, milord! Usually I keep both of them here in the north, but every few days I send one of them to the southern clearing area for Pinoto to use there." He gazed at the log mover for a moment, before he added, "There is a small problem though. Those wooden axles aren''t exactly smooth, so because of the friction between the axle and the ropes used to pull it, those ropes keep breaking again and again. While we have some extra ropes for now to make a new loop around the axle again, it will cause a shortage of ropes soon enough if it keeps going on like this."

    "That''s concerning..." Kivamus muttered. He thought about the problem for a minute. "You know what? Now that we have some spare iron, since we bought some extra iron ingots from Cinran, there is an easy solution for this. We can make a thin, but wide enough sheet of iron, and loop it around the axle to reduce the friction." He continued, "We can fix that sheet on the axle with some nails, along with some tallow rubbed on the iron sheet as well. This way, the ropes would last much longer - because that sheet of iron rubbed with tallow would be much smoother than the wooden axle."

    Yeden nodded. "That''s... a good idea." He frowned, "But are you sure we can spare that much iron for this? Iron doesn''t come cheap at all, I know that much." S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "This is an important thing," Kivamus began, "and since we cannot produce new ropes here, buying new ropes costs money as well. We only need to make two such sheets for the log movers, and they would easily last for years." He ordered, "Make the measurements around the axle, for how long and how wide that sheet needs to be, so that it can be fully curled around that axle, then send someone to Cedoron today with those measurements to give him a new order for two such sheets. Once he has made those braziers today, he should still have time to hammer two such sheets."

    Yeden gave a nod. "I''ll send someone soon. And I want to thank you again, milord, for making new braziers for us." He pointed at an extinguished brazier kept nearby. "Although we extinguished it soon after the sun came out to save on coal, even having that single brazier here allowed us to easily warm up our hands before we started to work in the morning today. Having a few more of them here and in other places where the villagers are working would be very helpful to us, and will prevent the workers from falling ill in the coming winter."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said. "And you can use as much coal as you need for that. While it may be fine these days to extinguish it in the daytime when the sun is out, you know that the sunlight will become rare in the winter, so you should use the braziers all day wherever you are working." He smiled, "Consider it a part of the job benefits."

    He added, "Most of you don''t have good enough clothing for the winter anyway. I''ll try to do something about that soon, but you still need a way to warm up your bodies when working in the winter. So every day in the morning when you are coming for work here, send a worker to the manor to haul some coal here in a cart to use in those braziers all day. We have more than enough coal in the barns, so you don''t need to worry about saving it. You can tell other places where the villagers are working to do the same with braziers."

    "I will, milord!" Yeden nodded with a smile. "Thank you!"

    "There is another thing I was thinking of," Kivamus said. "Since the ground will freeze in the winter, it would become much harder to dig. So once the trenches for the first longhouse block are completed, you should dig them for the second and third block as well. Of course, we won''t start the construction of those blocks until the first longhouse block is fully finished, but having all the trenches dug in advance will help a lot to construct the other blocks even after the snow starts falling."

    He added, "In fact, since snowfall will start soon, you should divert most of the workers to dig everything that is needed, including the trenches for the village walls and the gutters next to the new roads here, since it would become more difficult to dig after the snow starts falling. Of course, even then you should still keep some workers to keep cutting more trees so that we wouldn''t have any shortage of logs for building the longhouse blocks, but since we already have many logs stacked here, most of the workers should be diverted to digging for now. A simple way for that is to put the workers to cut those trees first which stand in the location of the trenches for the village walls. That will keep Taniok supplied with a small number of new logs, and you can easily clear the locations where you need to dig the trenches. Once the digging is completed, all the workers can resume cutting more trees."

    Yeden nodded. "I''ll make sure of it, milord. I was already thinking about doing that."

    "Good. Also, let Pinoto know that he should put his workers to start digging the small reservoir in the south that we talked about earlier. Let him know that it should be located around four hundred yards away from the village, so that it would be close to the farms there, and we can use that water to irrigate the farms in the future. Like here, he can resume the cutting once that is completed." Kivamus continued, "You should also tell your workers to dig a small trench to connect the gutters in the north here to that reservoir. This trench - which will be a bigger gutter, should pass close to the village on its west, so that we can connect more gutters to it later, when we rebuild the houses of the village in the future. This way, when the snow melts after the winter, all the excess water will flow into those gutters, and then it will gather into the reservoir in the south, which would prevent any flooding in the village itself. Now that we have a lot more new tools coming everyday, it should be feasible to dig all the trenches before the snow falls if you put most of the workers on that."

    "Of course, and I will let Pinoto know about it," Yeden said with a nod.

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, once you have made the groma, use it to mark out all the places today, so that Yeden can tell other workers to start digging there. Their locations will be the same as we discussed earlier. The first longhouse block right here after a ten meter gap from the rest of the houses to make a road, with the block being twenty-five meters on each side. Then a gap of ten meters for another road, and then the second block of twenty-five meters will be located after that. Since there isn''t any space for a third block before the village walls, two such new blocks will be made to our left, parallel to the first two blocks, that is, on the west of the first two blocks."

    He added, "Among those two blocks, we will leave the space empty for the twenty-five meter block which would be closer to the village, so that we can make a new market square there in the future. The third longhouse block will be made on the other twenty-five meter block - the one closer to the walls."

    Taniok gave a nod, "It will be as you say, milord."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "That gives you enough work for now." He added after a moment of thought, "But there was something I was curious about. How are you going to measure the length of a meter? In fact, how do you even measure the length of a yard?"

    "Oh, I had made a measuring stick in the past which is as long as a yard, milord," Taniok replied.

    "Yes, but how do you even know that that is exactly how long a yard is supposed to be?" Kivamus asked.

 77. Yard To Meter

    Taniok answered, "There is a marker in front of most temples of the goddess - or at least those temples which are made from stone whose walls would last a long time - which tells us the length of a yard. However, the local temple here is only a wooden building, so there was no point in adding such a marker on it when we were constructing it in the past. So, to get a proper length of a yard for use in the future, I had bought a straight wooden stick in Cinran, and after comparing it to the temple''s yard mark in Cinran, I made two marks on it at a yard''s width and cut that stick at those marks - so that I would get a stick which is the same length as a yard. Cedoron also has such a stick.""Alright." Kivamus asked, "Tell me, how long is that stick? Do you have it here?"

    "No, milord. My apprentice is using it at my workshop right now." Taniok spread his hands wide, and said, "But I would say that stick is around this long."

    Kivamus looked at the gap between his hands, and made an estimate that it was more or less similar to the length of the yard he knew on Earth, or maybe a little smaller. He asked, "Is that yard divided into smaller measurements? For when you need to measure something small, like the width of a plank?"

    Gorsazo looked at him sharply but didn''t say anything.

    "It certainly is, milord," the carpenter replied. "One yard is divided into two feet and seven inches."

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. That would make it very difficult to calculate anything at all. "Right... And how many inches are in a foot?"

    "Eleven, of course!" Taniok replied with bewilderment.

    Wow... Those are some strange numbers, Kivamus thought. He couldn''t imagine how the locals even got anything built from such quirky divisions of length.

    Taniok added with a confused frown, "It has always been that way, milord. You must already have known about those divisions. I don''t understand why you are asking me about this."

    Immediately, Kivamus realized that any normal person in this world, especially a well-read noble like he was claiming to be, would know about that. That must have been why Gorsazo looked surprised earlier. He scrambled to give an explanation. "Well... as you can guess, I never had a need to do any carpentry in my life, so I never thought much about those divisions. Even then, those divisions can vary between different regions, so I had to make sure before I changed anything."

    Taniok gave a slow nod. "That makes sense, milord. I apologize for questioning you."

    Kivamus waved a hand. "Don''t worry about it. Being curious is always a good thing, so you never need to hesitate to ask me any questions."

    Thinking about the divisions of a yard, it was so complex that even someone like him would have difficulty in calculating anything from those - especially without access to something as basic as a calculator. Using a meter instead of a yard would make it much easier to calculate things for Taniok and others, especially if they were going to build anything in the future which was even a little bit more complex than a longhouse.

    He turned to his guards. "Go on and bring me a few straight wooden sticks, around one and a half yards long. Just look around this place, you should be able to find something like that." As the guards jogged away, he looked at the carpenter. "How were you going to measure the dimensions of the longhouse in meters, like I have been telling you to, when you only have a way to measure a yard, and don''t even know how long a meter is supposed to be?"

    Taniok looked at the ground, and mumbled, "I was going to ask you about it soon..."

    Kivamus gave a sigh. "This just won''t do, Taniok! Like I told you earlier, I am not going to beat you, or even scold you for asking any questions to me. But you have to be open with me, and you have to ask questions when you don''t understand something! Otherwise we won''t get anything built in this place!"

    Taniok gave a slow nod. "I apologize, milord. I''ll try to do better in the future."

    "You certainly have to, Taniok. Never hesitate to ask me anything whenever you need more explanation about something." Seeing the carpenter nod again, Kivamus gave a deep sigh and thought about the problem again.

    Being able to successfully divide the length of a meter into ten smaller divisions, which would also make the calculation much easier, would be very helpful to them in the future. Apart from that, everything he remembered from Earth was based on formulas and constants which were based on the length of a meter which he was familiar with. While they had to think of immediate concerns of survival for now, in the future he wanted to make some machines to help them in dealing with all the problems in this place, as well as to ensure their future prosperity. And for that, he just couldn''t use this yard measurement with its unreasonable divisions.

    So even if they had to estimate the length of a meter for now, the closer they were to the length of the meter he was familiar with - instead of a yard which was smaller, the easier it would be to adapt things in the future when he was able to find the length of a meter accurately based on some universal constant. However, the problem remained about how to find how long a meter was supposed to be when he didn''t have any way to compare it to a standard measurement on Earth right now.

    If... if he made a seconds-pendulum, which was just a simple pendulum with a period of one second, couldn''t he find out the length of a meter easily enough? No, that would depend on the gravity of this place being exactly the same as on Earth, which was unlikely. Not that he had any way of accurately measuring the duration of a second here right now... It wouldn''t work... He shook his head again in frustration. It was such a simple thing, and yet without access to any modern instruments, it was not feasible for them to calculate the length of a meter or the duration of a second from scratch.

    He sighed. Just making a good estimate would have to do for now until they could get an accurate measurement.

    The guards returned back, and he took one of the sticks from them. He put his left hand on one end of that stick, and told the carpenter to tell again how long a yard was. After Taniok showed it on that stick, Kivamus gave a nod. He slowly moved his right hand further on that stick, until he reached a distance between his two hands which looked like the same length as a meter on Earth. He realized that this was the body of Kivamus, and not Steven, so his estimate might still be wrong, but this was still the best he could think of right now. He moved his right hand a little to both sides to check again, and tried to ensure that the gap between his hands was as close to a meter as he could estimate.

    Once he was satisfied, he told Hudan to take another stick and break it off at the same length as that between his hands. Hudan gave a nod, and after making a comparison, he easily broke off that stick to the same length. Kivamus took that smaller stick in his hands, and taking a long look at it, he felt that this length should be nearly the same as a meter. He told the guards to break the other sticks to that same length as well after measuring it. Once they had done it, he ensured that all of the sticks were of the same length, and said, "Alright, since I don''t have a way to measure it accurately right now, I have made my best estimate that this is as long as a meter."

    He gave a wooden stick to everyone standing there, and said, "The beauty of metric measurements is that you can just divide the length into ten parts to get the smaller measurements. That applies for basically everything in metric, including weights, but that is for the future."

    He looked at the carpenter, "Now instead of dividing each yard into two feet and seven inches, and a foot into eleven inches, you can simply divide a meter into ten parts, to get a decimeter, which is one-tenth of a meter. Each of those decimeters can be divided into ten centimeters, which are one-hundredth of a meter, and each centimeter can also be divided into ten millimeters, which is as long as one-thousandth of a meter."

    Before Taniok got more confused, based on his expression, he said, "For now, you only need to remember that one meter can be divided into a hundred centimeters, that''s all. And one centimeter is nearly the same length as the width of the end of your little finger on your hands."

    He added, "I understand that it will take some time to think in terms of a meter, but the benefits of it will be worth it in the long-term, particularly since there is a lot of construction that will be happening here in the future. Once you have started using meters and centimeters regularly, you will see the benefits easily." Kivamus added, "It would certainly make it much easier to calculate any lengths and their divisions. Do you know about decimals?"

    Taniok nodded.

    "Good. Now, for a quick example, let''s say you have a plank of four meters length, which is four times hundred, that is, four hundred centimeters long. Then if you want to divide it into ten equal parts to make seats of chairs from them, you can just shift the decimal by one place to the left. So, by doing that in four hundred centimeters, you will get forty centimeters as the required length you need to cut. In the yard measurements, dividing something into ten equal parts would have taken much longer."

    Taniok looked at him for a moment with surprise, "That was very fast, milord!" He added, "It would certainly make it much easier if I don''t have to do long calculations every time to divide a length into feet and inches. Usually I have to spend a few hours calculating the lengths before I start to construct something. This metric does sound simple for sure."

    "It certainly is," Kivamus agreed. "From now on, I want you all to use a meter as the basic measurement of length." He looked at the foreman. "I will tell Cedoron to make a few iron sticks of this length so they won''t break easily. He will also need to divide it into a hundred equal parts, but I will explain that to him later on. Once that is done, you all should use that iron measuring scale to measure anything. Apart from the ease in calculating smaller divisions of it, you will see other benefits in due time."

    "Of course, milord," Taniok nodded.

    Yeden agreed as well. "I will do as you say." sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus gave a nod. "Alright then, you have your orders. You can get back to work now."

    After a quick bow, Taniok and Yeden started walking back while talking about the new metric measurements.

    He looked at Gorsazo for a moment, who was gazing into the distance. Shaking his head at his mistake, he said to others, "Well, let''s return now."

 78. Food Sources

    In the evening, Kivamus and others were sitting in the manor hall near the fireplace, when a guard entered.He said, "Milord, the blacksmith has provided us what he forged today - eleven braziers and two iron sheets to wrap around the axles of the log movers. Taniok told us that he would attach the sheets on the axles tomorrow using a few iron nails."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus replied. "Eleven braziers is more than what I was expecting." He looked at the majordomo. "Give the braziers to the workers when they go for work from tomorrow morning, like we discussed earlier. Also, send someone to put one of them in the marketplace tonight itself, which should still leave us with a couple of extra braziers. You can put them up outside the manor gates whenever you are distributing the food, so that those elderly villagers and children won''t get too cold while waiting there."

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas said. "I''ll make sure of it personally. And now that we have enough braziers, I will also tell the servants to use them regularly within the manor as well, wherever they are going to be working in the cold."

    "Certainly," Kivamus nodded. "Also, put a servant on a regular duty to refill all the braziers in the village twice a day. A guard can go with him each time to escort the cart of coal."

    Duvas gave a nod. "I''ll do that, my Lord." He gestured for the servant to leave.

    Kivamus began after a minute, "We also have to think of something soon to get more food, or we would start to have a food shortage again by the end of winter."

    Gorsazo said, "I have heard that the hunters have been bringing in a small amount of meat, but we can organize bigger hunting groups ourselves. Sending more of them out there while escorting them with guards would allow them to kill and bring in bigger animals, and that meat would be very helpful to add to ours as well as the villagers'' diets."

    Kivamus replied, "That''s a good idea. I have been thinking about that as well. But do we even have that many trained hunters in the village?"

    "Not really, milord," Duvas said. "We do have a few, but two of them are working as our guards now - Yufim and another new recruit, whose name I can''t remember right now. I think there should still be one or two other hunters in the village who have regularly been bringing in some small game, but as you know, nobody likes to go too deep into these forests. But if we send trained guards with them, that would make it much safer for them to go further."

    Hudan interrupted, "We will have to wait for that. As of now, we can''t afford to send our limited number of guards outside the village, at least until all the guards are back from the escorting trip to Cinran."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s true enough. But once they are back, we will have two dozen guards with us, not including the ones you are training with machetes. After that we can certainly send a few of them out to hunt in the forest every day." He added, "We can make groups of four people, two of whom will be good swordsmen from our guards, and they can also carry spears with them if needed. The other two should be archers. We can also send our own guards who are archers along with the hunters in the village if needed. That way the archers can hit an animal from far away and if required, the spearmen can go closer to finish them off. If we just send out two or three such groups out to hunt every day, they should be able to provide us with a steady supply of meat."

    "That''s a good idea, my Lord," Hudan agreed. "Four trained men in each group would be large enough that they can take on all but the most dangerous beasts - from which they should be running away anyway - and yet, it''s a small enough group that they will be able to move fast enough. I will try to add one recruit in each group - the ones who are showing the most promise - so that they can get some real fighting experience as well."

    "Good," Kivamus nodded. "But how will they carry the meat? Especially if they are going deep into the forests?"

    "We never really had to think about that until now," Duvas replied. "Usually, the hunters only bring in small game to the village market, like rabbits or pheasants. The previous Baron never liked to send his guards away from the manor, so we could never organize bigger hunting groups in the past, to bring in deer or boar. Of course, even with hunting groups of four men, they will still have to be careful of the much more dangerous beasts like bears and packs of wolves, not to mention adzees and other such top predators."

    "True enough," Kivamus said. "But even then, we need to send them to the forests, because we really need that meat. Now that it seems unlikely that the caravan might be able to go for a third trip, we need every source of food we can get to supplement our diets in the winter. Apart from that meat, the fur we will get from many animals can be used to make more fur coats as well." He added, "Since they can''t carry four-wheeled carts into the forests, I will look into having a few wheelbarrows made, which is similar to a cart but only has a single wheel, which makes it much easier to move it in difficult terrain. And having a few sledges would also help in the winter for the hunters to carry the bigger animals they hunt. Once Taniok gets some free time, I will tell him about that."

    "We did have a sledge here in the past," Duvas said, "but it was damaged a few years ago. The baron didn''t see much need to have it rebuilt, since there wasn''t much use for it, since we never sent big hunting groups into the forests."

    The outer door of the manor hall opened again, and Helga walked inside.

    "Oh, you are already here, my lord," she said with a little surprise. "I was looking for you around the manor. I need to talk to you about something."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked with curiosity.

    Helga sat at one of the armchairs near the fire, and took a movement to warm her hands by the fire. "You had told me earlier to look around for edible berries and other usable shrubs outside the village." Seeing Kivamus nod at that, she continued, "That''s how I was spending the last few days, and finally I found something of use. In the northwest of the village, maybe four hundred yards away from the last of the houses, I found a small puddle of water, and there were edible Rizako mushrooms growing there under the trees. I have brought a few of them with me, and I will cook Rizako stew for dinner tonight!"

    "Sounds wonderful!" Kivamus said with a smile. "How many mushrooms were there?" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Not that many..." Helga replied. "Maybe a few dozen at most. But I don''t know why nobody in the village ever ate them..."

    Duvas gave the answer. "It is very difficult to identify which mushroom is edible, and which is poisonous. A few months ago, when we were getting short on grains, one of the guards found some mushrooms in the forests, and not knowing better, we cooked it for lunch that day. Thankfully, nobody died from eating those mushrooms, but let''s just say, the next few days were not a pleasant experience for those who had eaten it. There was an unending line in front of the outhouses that day."

    "That makes sense," Helga said with a grimace.

    Duvas added, "That was the reason why I was unable to accompany the previous baron on his last trip to Cinran. In a way, eating those mushrooms saved my life."

    Helga began after a moment of silence, "Unless you know for sure that a particular mushroom is edible, you really shouldn''t try to eat them. Even if you don''t die from it, it can have serious side-effects like blindness and such." She gave a confident smile. "But that won''t be a problem now! While I was living at the inn, I got a lot of experience finding edible mushrooms. So I know for sure that the ones I brought with me today are edible, and tasty as well! Rizako stew is actually one of Lucem''s favorite dishes. Feroy really likes them too. You all will get to see how good it is tonight itself!"

    Others praised Helga after hearing that they would get something different to eat today, since their diet didn''t really have much variety these days. However, Kivamus was thinking ahead of tonight''s dinner. Mushrooms could be a decent source of nutrition for them if they could successfully grow a good amount of them here. They wouldn''t just add variety to their diets and make it more balanced, but they would also allow them to keep providing food to the villagers without starting food rationing if they couldn''t buy enough grain before the winter.

    He looked at others, and said, "If there were mushrooms in that place, that means they can grow in this climate, so can''t we try to cultivate them ourselves? Those few dozen mushrooms wouldn''t be enough to even feed the whole manor for a single day, but if we could grow them at a bigger scale, it would be really helpful for us in the winter. Although I''m not sure if they would even grow in snowy conditions." He looked at Helga. "Do you have any experience with that?"

    "As a matter of fact, I do, my Lord," Helga replied. "Like I had told you in the past, we didn''t get much income in that inn, so a few years ago I tried cultivating a batch of these Rizako mushrooms so that we would have something to eat in lean times. The first few tries were a complete waste. But I kept trying, and eventually I was able to successfully grow them in a closed barn there." She continued, "While it''s true that they can''t really grow in the snow, they can still survive in freezing conditions, although they will only start fruiting once the weather becomes warmer."

    She added, "In our case, since we can maintain warmer conditions indoors by burning braziers nearby, we should still be able to grow them indoors throughout the winter. I had no idea that I would be able to find them here! But now that I have already seen that they can grow here, we really should try to cultivate them." She thought for a moment before she continued, "I can use the help of some maids in this, and I would need a dedicated barn for that - since they only grow in the shade. That barn should be away from where people live - otherwise they can cause sickness if you stay close to them for too long. I learned it the hard way. Now, I always tie a piece of thick cloth to cover my nose and mouth so that I wouldn''t have to directly breathe the air when working close to them. Apart from that, some sawdust and small logs would be needed to provide a surface for them to grow. If you provide me with those things, I will do my best to cultivate them here."

    "That''s very good to hear!" Kivamus said with a smile. "As for closed rooms, we don''t have any empty rooms in the manor, but once the longhouse blocks have been built for the villagers, we can build more such buildings specially to grow these mushrooms. With more than enough coal to heat the buildings, we can maintain a good temperature for them as well." He asked, "You said that they were growing close to a puddle of water, and from what I remember, mushrooms need a good amount of humidity in the air to grow. So you will also need to make some water troughs in those rooms - maybe even metal troughs near the fire, which would make sure that some of the water would keep evaporating continuously and the air wouldn''t get dry there."

    "Certainly, I was already thinking of that," Helga said with a nod. "But it would take time for the longhouse blocks to be completed, and by that time these mushrooms might not survive in the cold."

    "That''s true enough..." Kivamus muttered. "Is there anything we can do about it?"

 79. Levalas

    "What about using the wood from the damaged houses of the villagers?" Hudan suggested. "Since many such villagers are living temporarily with others now, we have many such damaged wooden houses in the village which are empty. We cannot grow any mushrooms there - since the villagers still live nearby, but we can still use the wood from those houses to build a temporary shed easily enough - maybe somewhere outside the walls of the manor, but still close enough that madam Helga doesn''t have to walk too far for that.""That''s a very good suggestion, Hudan!" Kivamus said. "We can make it south of the manor walls. There are no people living there, so it wouldn''t be a problem to cultivate them in that place. Duvas, do it tomorrow itself. Tell a few workers to tear down the houses which are completely damaged, after telling the villagers to remove any belongings from them. Ask Taniok to send one of his new apprentices to help and tell him to use that wood to make a temporary shed in the South outside the manor walls, maybe two hundred yards away from the walls. They should be able to make something by evening. It doesn''t need to be anything sturdy, but it should be able to last a month or two, so that we can cultivate the mushrooms there temporarily, until we can make a dedicated wooden building for them."

    He looked at Helga. "Once they have done that tomorrow, use the workers to bring in any small logs and the sawdust which would be easily available where Taniok was cutting the wood into planks. Think about what kind of water trough you need there, and send someone to the blacksmith to get a few such troughs made. Once everything is ready, you can transplant the mushrooms from that puddle along with some of the nearby soil inside that shed. This is an important project, and if we are successful with this it would really help to feed the villagers through the winter. So use any resources that you need for this."

    Helga gave a confident nod. "Leave it to me, my lord. I have experience with this, and it will give me something important to do when I am not cooking meals for us. I will still leave some mushrooms in the puddle there, so that they can provide us with more of them after the winter, in case we are not successful with the cultivation."

    "Good idea. Once we have made the longhouse blocks, I will put Taniok on this, so that he can make a big barn in the south in place of that shed. Assuming the mushrooms have survived in the shed until then, we will try to do mushroom cultivation at a larger scale, so that it can be an important source of food for us even after the winter." Kivamus added, "You should still keep looking around in the area we are clearing around the village in your free time, in case there are more such mushrooms or any usable shrubs."

    "Of course, my Lord," Helga nodded. "But all that comes tomorrow. For now, I am going to cook an excellent Rizako stew for you all!"

    There were cheers in the manor hall after hearing that, as Helga went further inside the manor house to start cooking the dinner.

    *******

    ~ Levalas ~

    ~ Count Ebirtas'' Mansion, Cinran ~

    Levalas, his clothes tattered and muddy, entered the gates of the grand stone mansion of Count Cinran and stepped into the courtyard. It was dusk now, and the fallen leaves on the cobblestone path crunched beneath his feet as he made his way towards the stables. The past week had been a long and difficult journey for him. After running away from the baron''s manor in Tiranat, he had been walking north through the dense forest in the chill of the coming winter, while trying to survive from dangerous beasts and poisonous plants all the way. After surviving on just a few fruits he had found along the way in the forest, he had finally reached Cinran in the evening after more than a week of walking.

    The Count''s mansion, where he was born nearly two decades ago, and which had been his home for all his life, was a formidable structure, its stone walls thick and imposing. A large, horse-drawn carriage stood in the courtyard, its polished wood gleaming in the fading light. Probably a baron had come here to visit the count today.

    He walked towards the western stables, which was one of the three stables in the mansion of the count. He had been working there as a stablehand for nearly all his life, since that dreadful day his destiny had been stolen from him by Count Ebirtas. Now once again he was back to the place he hated with all his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been doing unsavory jobs for Baron Zoricus in the past few years, not limited to stealing and putting a competitor''s warehouse on fire, and he had been adding up his coins one by one to save them. This was supposed to be his final task before he could finally leave this wretched life behind. But his luck had deserted him that day when he tried to poison the Baron of Tiranat, and the faint hope of leaving this place had now flown away from him. He shook his head with a sigh. Dwelling in his past wasn''t going to help him right now.

    Looking inside the stables, he saw that two stablehands he knew quite well were tending to the horses, their movements rhythmic and efficient while they fed the horses with hay. A small well, its water lapping gently against the stone sides, stood near the stables. A young maid, her face framed by a simple headscarf, was drawing a bucket of water from the depths. Once she had gone, he made his way towards it. He knelt beside the well, the axle creaking as he dipped the bucket into the cool, refreshing water. He pulled it up with a grunt of effort, his weary arms protesting all the way. Finally, he poured the water over his face and hands, the cool liquid washing away the dirt and grime of the past week, revealing his pale, gaunt features beneath. As he dried his hands on his tattered tunic, he saw two of the stablehands walking towards him with a smirk.

    "Oh! Master Levalas is here!" The taller one of them sniggered.

    The other stablehand asked with a smirk, "Were you out for a leisurely trip, your highness? We didn''t see you here for more than a week, and we had to do all the work since then!"

    "Shut up..." Levalas grumbled. "I had an errand to run for Baron Zoricus."

    "But you stink, Levalo! Have you been crawling through a muddy ditch?" the taller stablehand asked smugly. "I didn''t know highborns like you did that as a pastime these days."

    Levalas didn''t deign to give an answer to that, and used the water to begin washing his feet as well.

    The other one added with a sigh, "Come on Levalo, and help us with the horses. It''s been difficult to handle all the work with just the two of us." He paused, while pinching his nose with his fingers. "But you know, maybe get a little cleaned up first, or the horses would run away from your stench."

    Immediately both of the stablehands started sniggering at the joke, and turned away to walk back towards the stables.

    Levalas called out, "Hey, do you know if Baron Zoricus is in Cinran right now? I need to report to him first. I will come back to help after that."

    The taller stablehand pointed at the large carriage standing nearby. "Oh, that''s his carriage. He is here today to meet with the count."

    Levalas gave a nod in thanks, and continued washing himself to get rid of some of the stink before he went to the baron, while grumbling under his breath. Damn that greedy bastard Zoricus, he was already the richest baron under the Count of Cinran, but he was still not satisfied even now. He already had huge land holdings in the west of Cinran, what would he even do with even more land in the south? These money-grubbing bastards had no limits on their greed.

    The baron was a frequent visitor in the Count''s mansion, though he didn''t always come by the same carriage, since he probably owned a dozen such carriages, which is why Levalas didn''t recognise that carriage. This is where Levalas had gotten acquainted with him in the past, and started doing disreputable jobs for him so that he could finally get enough coin to leave his wretched life behind.

    Once he considered himself a little more presentable, he dried himself with a rag kept nearby and walked towards the Count''s residence. His stomach was rumbling with hunger, but if the baron found out that he had gone to eat instead of reporting to him immediately, the outcome wouldn''t be pretty for him.

    Entering inside, he asked another servant there about Baron Zoricus, and he was pointed towards a room ahead. He walked there, and spoke to the three guards standing outside the room. "I''m here to meet the baron."

    One of the guards looked at him with raised eyebrows, while the older one glared at him. "Scoot off, lad, before we make you. The likes of you have no business meeting with a noble."

    Levalas sighed and looked at his tattered clothes. Of course the guards wouldn''t allow an unknown servant to meet the baron. "Just let the baron know that Levalas is here to talk to him. If he still doesn''t want to meet with me, I will leave without making any ruckus."

    Hearing his name, the guards looked surprised for a moment, before one of them opened the door and entered inside on the older guard''s order. Soon, the guard returned and whispered something to the others. The older guard stared at him for a moment, before he said, "Alright, you can enter. But we''ll be watching you. Don''t try any funny business, or you won''t leave in one piece." Seeing Levalas nod in reply, the first guard gestured at him to come along.

    As he followed the first guard, he heard the other guards muttering something about a servant having a noble''s name. He snorted at that, and entered inside, and found himself in a luxurious room. It was an elaborately decorated place, with many ornate paintings hung on the walls. The floor had pelts of a variety of animals, while there was a fire burning in the fireplace, keeping the room at a pleasant temperature, unlike the chilly weather outside.

    Baron Zoricus, a rotund man in his mid-forties with a huge pot belly, was sitting on a chair at one edge of a long dining table, while eating a lavish meal. A servant was standing nearby, with a carafe of what was probably some very expensive wine, ready to pour more into the baron''s glass. Levalas followed the guard and stood near the table with both of his hands behind his back.

    As he watched, the baron cut up a huge piece of meat with a sharp iron knife, and used his plump fingers to put the delicious looking meat into his mouth with a fork. Levalas'' stomach was making sounds in protest on seeing the feast laid out on the baron''s table, but he tried to keep his eyes on the wall in front of him.

    The baron''s keen eyes seemed to be looking into his soul, as he stared at Levalas while chewing the meat slowly. Zoricus looked at the guard and the servant. "Leave us."

    The guard looked quite surprised. "Are you sure milord? He is..."

    The baron glared at the guard and growled in a low voice, "Do I need to repeat myself? Clear the room and close the door. Now!"

    Immediately, the guard and the servant scrambled outside, closing the door of the large room behind them.

    The baron took a long sip from his glass of wine and looked at him. "Where have you been for so long, Levalo?" S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 80. Baron Zoricus

    The ease with which Zoricus called him Levalo, and the way he spoke his name like it was simply the truth, enraged him thoroughly. If the other stablehands called him that, Levalas tolerated it, because other than occasionally making some fun of his name, they didn''t hold any malice towards him, not when they all had been working together in those stables for nearly two decades. But when a noble like Zoricus said it, he felt that it was said only to show him his place. That he wasn''t a noble anymore, and would never be a noble in this life either.Levalas simmered inside, but managed to hold any anger from his voice. "I only call myself Levalo among the commoners. My name is Levalas, you know that." sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Zoricus scoffed. "Shut up. You aren''t a noble, not anymore. It''s in the past, and you should have learned your place by now." He took another bite of that meat, and added with a full mouth, "When Count Ebirtas finally keels over, his son will become the next count, not you. You don''t deserve to give yourself a noble name like Levalas anymore."

    Levalas clenched his fists. "I didn''t give that name to myself! My grandfather gave me that name!"

    The baron gave a big laugh, while he licked some gravy from his fingers. "Like I give a shit about that. You are a stablehand for the count now, and nothing more. Know your place, and be glad that he didn''t just execute you when you were a toddler." Zoricus glared at him. "But that''s enough chit chat. Now tell me, were you successful in your task? You should have returned a week ago."

    Levalas took a deep breath to calm himself. If he pushed his luck any further, it wouldn''t end well for him, but he''d be damned if he ever called this lowlife a lord. Not in this lifetime.

    Finally, he began recalling the events of the past week, "It''s not easy to assassinate a baron, you know that much. I had to travel all the way to that village to get a good chance to kill him. Later on, I was captured by the baron''s guards and I barely managed to run away from that village to save my life, so I have been walking through the forest for more than a week to reach here. I had to deal with all kinds of beasts on the way as well." Seeing that Zoricus'' face was getting red with anger since he was taking so long to get to the point, he added with a tinge of satisfaction, "And no, I wasn''t successful."

    Zoricus slammed his fist on the table, and some of the cutlery went flying away from the table. "Dammit, you useless cretin! How could you fail after I went through so much trouble to get rid of the previous baron of that damned village...!" He glared at Levalas. "All the nobles in Count Ebirtas'' court have been vying for those coal mines! Do you have any idea how difficult it was to prevent the Count from allotting the southern lands to a new baron for so long?" He muttered in a low voice, "Who knows what Goddess-damned reason made the Duke send his own son there as a baron, overriding the Count''s authority! This was my only chance to get those coal mines to my name, dammit!"

    Levalas enjoyed the expression on the fat baron''s face after he realized that his plot to capture the huge coalfields of Tiranat wasn''t going to be successful anytime soon. He felt a great deal of satisfaction on unintentionally foiling the baron''s plans, but somehow he still managed not to show any outward reaction. If he had known that this wasn''t just a usual shady job from Zoricus but something more personal - a way to add to his ever growing hoard of land holdings, then perhaps he would have just pretended that he had done his best to assassinate the new baron of Tiranat, without actually doing anything for this greedy bastard!

    Zoricus held his head in both his hands. "Where did I go wrong... I had planned everything..." he mumbled with a frustrated voice.

    Eventually, Zoricus woke up from his musings and glared hard at him. "How could you be so incompetent? I had heard from my sources that he was only traveling with a grand retinue of just one middle-aged advisor! It should have been so simple to put a knife into his neck. How could you have failed in doing even that?"

    Levalas thought about the day he met Baron Kivamus outside Cinran. The young man had already looked so confused and miserable, that he couldn''t think of any reason at that time about why Baron Zoricus wanted to kill the new baron of Tiranat.

    In hindsight, Baron Kivamus'' behavior was quite unlike what he would have expected from a son of the Duke. So he couldn''t bring himself to even try to kill him until they reached that village, in case he was mistaken about the man''s identity. Not to mention that Baron Kivamus was a noble, and he had never killed someone of that station! In fact, he had never killed anyone other than to save his own life - like in situations where someone else was trying to kill him when he was on one of Zoricus'' errands, but he couldn''t let the fat baron know about that little fact. He also had no idea at the time that Lord Kivamus was a son of the duke, or he would have never agreed to take this job in the first place! If the Duke ever found out about this... he shivered just thinking about it...

    For now, to cover up the reasons for his failure, he answered, "Your sources were wrong. Baron Kivamus had two other guards with him other than that advisor, and I didn''t get any chance to get close enough to him to kill him until we reached Tiranat. But once we arrived there, I found an excuse to stay within the baron''s manor in the village, and I managed to get an opportunity to mix some crushed Jocinaq leaves into his soup."

    Zoricus looked interested now, as he took another bite of that still delicious looking meat. "Oh! How did you even get access to Jocinaq leaves? They don''t come cheap at all." Zoricus lifted his left hand which was still dripping with gravy, and said, "You know what, leave it. I don''t care. Just tell me what happened after that. People rarely survive if they eat even a few Jocinaq leaves."

    Levalas nodded. "I thought I would be successful in killing him through that, but there was a problem. After I put the poison into his soup, a young maid who was taking it to the Baron was so hungry that she drank some of that soup herself, and immediately began foaming at the mouth, right in front of the baron. That''s why Baron Kivamus found out that someone was trying to kill him before he even got to drink that soup, and since I was one of the very few people new to the baron''s manor, the guards soon found out that I was the one to poison him and they captured me."

    Zoricus slammed his face on the table again. "Damn those greedy peasants! No matter how much you feed them, they are always hungry for more. The audacity of those peasants!" He took a deep breath, but kept cursing afterwards. "To think of drinking from the same bowl as a noble! Damn her!"

    While Zoricus cursed nearly everyone in existence in that village, Levalas kept waiting calmly until the baron''s temper simmered down. It would be better for him if he didn''t become the target of that wrath. Once he saw that Zoricus had calmed down, he added, "There was a reason for that. I found out later that most of the people were nearly starving in that village. That''s why that maid couldn''t resist drinking from that soup." Of course, even though he didn''t say it out loud, Levalas hoped that the maid was okay. He had no intention of killing an innocent child.

    "I don''t give a damn if that whole village starves," Zoricus scoffed. He glared at Levalas again. "All you had to do was feed him that soup, but you couldn''t even do that much!"

    Levalas shrugged, "It''s not my fault that someone drank that soup on the way. I could hardly have given the soup to the baron with my own hands. No sane noble would accept food directly from some unknown commoner."

    Zoricus gave a disgruntled nod. "But if you were unsuccessful in poisoning him, and he caught you soon after that, he would have executed you on the spot." He squinted his eyes as he looked at Levalas. "How are you still alive?"

    "I got lucky," Levalas replied. "Right after I was presented to the baron after the guards had caught me, I made up a story so that the baron wouldn''t execute me immediately. Since they were still trying to save that young maid, in that rush they tied me up in a barn for the time. But I managed to make the ropes loose enough after a thoughtless guard took me outside to take a leak. And later in the night, I freed myself and luckily found a loose plank in that old barn, and ran away from that village. But I had to walk through the forests for more than a week before I reached here." He didn''t think that mentioning Baron Kivamus didn''t want to kill him in the first place would be a good idea right now, otherwise Zoricus might start to doubt his whole story. He was still confused about how a noble could be so forgiving.

    Zoricus grunted. "That makes sense. But he must still have made his guards interrogate you for information. Did you tell them who sent you? If he knows that I was the one who tried to kill him, it would make life difficult for me in the future. And that means it would be the same for you."

    "I''m not an idiot," Levalas scoffed. "Of course I didn''t tell them anything else." However, what he didn''t say out loud was that he did make his false story close enough to the truth, and if Baron Kivamus was smart, he would get the hint. And anything that created more problems for Zoricus in the future, without implicating Levalas himself in it, gave him a whole lot of satisfaction.

    Zoricus pointed at him with his thick fingers, "You''re still good for nothing, if you couldn''t do such a simple task."

    Levalas didn''t say anything to that. He dithered for a moment about whether to tell him anything more, but decided that it would be a good idea to give a small amount of good news to the fat bastard, so that he wouldn''t take his anger out on him. "There is something else you should know about, which should make you happier. While we were on the road to Tiranat, there was another attack on Baron Kivamus."

    "Interesting..." Zoricus drawled. "They were obviously unsuccessful. Did you find out who sent them?"

 81. Village Walls

    "I''m not certain, since they were killed by the baron''s guards," Levalas replied, "but they were very likely mercenaries sent by someone."Zoricus frowned. "Are you sure they weren''t just local bandits? Those forests are full of them these days."

    "I don''t know who sent them, but they weren''t just bandits." Levalas added, "I saw the leader of those mercenaries pointing directly at Baron Kivamus before telling the other mercenaries to target him first."

    Zoricus gave a slow nod. "That''s very interesting... It means someone else is already trying to kill him." He gave a booming laugh. "It seems the Goddess is on my side after all! Who knows, Baron Kivamus might die soon enough even though you failed to kill him, and I wouldn''t even have to get my hands dirty." He looked at Levalas Again. "Alright, you can leave now."

    Levalas thought this was a good opportunity to ask for his rewards. "But what about my payment? You promised me a hundred gold crowns for this."

    Zoricus looked at him for a moment and laughed loudly again. "A hundred gold? Are you insane? That was if you were successful. And even then, did you really think that I would give you a hundred gold crowns just like that? If you can''t do a task you wouldn''t even get a copper from me. Now get out of my sight!"

    And then Zoricus dug into his mound of food again.

    Levalas simmered inside as he walked back to the doors, while thinking he should have expected it. All the nobles were like this. What did he even expect from this greedy bastard?

    He had lived all his life under the thumb of Count Ebirtas and Baron Zoricus, after those two colluded to rob him of his destiny. He had been saving up for a long time to get out of Cinran and buy a new life under a new name somewhere else, and getting a hundred gold from this job would have allowed him to leave his pitiful life behind and finally move on to someplace else. That was why he had even thought of taking such a huge risk to try to assassinate a noble.

    But as he walked back outside, the same thought which had kept swirling in his mind for the past week took over again. Why did Baron Kivamus spare his life? As much as he thought about it, he couldn''t find an answer to it. No noble was that forgiving. And if a noble found out that you were trying to kill them, they would have executed him on the spot. But why did the baron spare his life?

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, late in the afternoon Kivamus was walking in the manor grounds with others. The weather was getting colder every day, while the sun was nowhere to be seen even in the afternoon. Although because of an absence of wind, the weather was still tolerable. Even so, those servants and maids in the manor who had to work outside were using a burning brazier next to them.

    Gorsazo began, "Yesterday, Yeden had asked for our help in marking out the areas where the trees needed to be cut first so that all the trenches could be dug before the ground freezes. So Hudan and I had taken a few workers who carried a bunch of sticks, and then we walked around the village at a distance of around hundred yards and we planted those sticks in a straight line where the trenches needed to be dug. We also put a mark on those trees, which were in the way, so that they could be cut first. Of course, the trenches for the northern side of the walls are nearly completed already, but we still had to do it for the other sides."

    "It was a good decision to put most of the workers to dig the trenches first," Hudan said. "It would only take a few more days to finish all the trenches at this rate, since nearly a hundred workers are doing that now."

    Gorsazo added, "Yeden also told me to let you know that the new iron sheets which Taniok has wrapped and nailed around the axle have been very helpful. The first rope which he used after that is still working without any damage at all. That will really reduce the number of new ropes that he needs to use for them."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s good to hear." he asked, "How''s the progress in the south now?"

    Duvas replied, "I met Pinoto in the morning today, and he told me that they have also cleared a decent sized area in the South by now. Burning the stumps has been helpful as well, since it has allowed the workers to continue cutting new trees. Now they also have a growing pile of logs, which they have been stacking up in a crisscrossed way, while leaving space between the logs to let them dry easily. Although the coming winter means that they won''t really start drying until the spring, the summer months should be helpful to dry them well, and in a year we should start to get seasoned logs."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said. "Although we will still have to use most of the logs to build the village walls first. But it''s good to start thinking of the future from now itself."

    "That reminds me to talk with you about the walls, my Lord," Hudan said. "Most of the stakes we have will be around two feet wide. But we still have to decide how tall those walls have to be."

    Kivamus looked at the walls of the manor nearby. "How tall are those walls?"

    Duvas replied, "Those stakes are around ten feet high above the ground."

    Hudan spoke after a moment, "I would suggest making the village walls higher, maybe around fifteen feet high above the ground."

    "Well, we certainly have long enough logs to make taller walls," Kivamus observed, "and that seems like a good height to deter any bandits who want to raid the village. Fifteen feet high above the ground... that means we will need to dig around five feet into the ground for those stakes to be stable."

    "That was my guess as well," Hudan said. "That''s why I had already told Yeden to tell the workers to dig around five feet deep trenches, although I still had to confirm it with you."

    "Don''t worry, that''s a good depth," Kivamus commended. "It should keep the walls strong enough."

    Hudan nodded. "Certainly, my Lord. Of course, we will add more defensive measures in the future, like digging a shallow trench outside the walls and filling it with small sharpened sticks - but that is something we should do only after the walls have been completed."

    Kivamus gave a nod in reply. "When all the trenches are completed and we start the actual wall construction, we should try to complete one side of the walls first, instead of constructing the walls all around the village at the same time. Let''s say, we can complete the northern side of the walls first, since that''s where most of the workers are working anyway, and it will help to protect the longhouses in the north. The workers can work simultaneously on the northern walls at a few different places, which will allow the walls to be completed faster."

    "That''s good thinking, my lord," Hudan said. "If we have even one side of the walls completed, that will give me one less side to worry about when defending the village in case of an attack. But what about the gates? Should we make a gate in the north as well? And where should they be located?"

    Kivamus didn''t reply for a minute as he thought about it. "While it''s true that making fewer gates would make it easier for a smaller number of guards to be put on duty there, we don''t know where an attack might come from. So it is always a good idea to have other gates to exit from, in case we need to evacuate the villagers while guards deal with an attack. And we do need a gate in the north for the northern road, and in the west for the road going to Kirnos. We also need to keep a gate in the South so that the farmers wouldn''t have to walk too far to reach the farms. That just leaves the east, where a new training ground will be built in the future just inside the village walls. We should keep a gate there as well, so that those guards can easily exit the village walls from there in case they need to flank any attackers in the west or on other sides."

    "It does make sense." Duvas added, "That means four gates, one on each side of the village walls."

    Kivamus nodded. "But there is another thing I was thinking about. It would be a good idea to make a few watchtowers as well, just inside the walls. It''s a different fact that we will be short on guards to man all the watchtowers, as well as all the gates, even if we put them on longer shifts, but that is something we can deal with in the future. But we need to plan thoroughly in advance. Although I am not yet sure how many watchtowers we will need." He looked at Duvas, "How long are the new walls going to be on each side? From what I understand, the shape of the new village walls would be like a rectangle, with longer sides on the north and the south."

    Duvas replied, "That shape is correct, my lord. As for the lengths, I can''t tell you about that myself. But Gorsazo, couldn''t you give an estimate, since you and Hudan went around the village to mark the locations for the trenches yesterday?" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s not like I had a way to measure the lengths of the trenches," Gorsazo answered, "but I can still give an estimate for sure." He gazed into the distance for a moment as he thought about it. "I''d say... the walls should be somewhere between two hundred fifty and three hundred meters long on the shorter sides. That is, on the eastern and the western sides."

    "As for the north and south," he continued, "I think those are maybe a third longer. So perhaps around three hundred and fifty meters on the northern and southern sides. It''s only an estimate though."

    "That''s alright, it still gives us a basic idea," Kivamus said. A sudden gust of wind made him shiver, and he missed the warmth of the manor hall. "Let''s return inside first, shall we? It''s getting cold here."

    "I was going to suggest the same, my lord," Duvas said with his arms around himself. "These old bones cannot tolerate cold too much."

    As they turned back towards the manor hall, Kivamus looked at the majordomo, who must be pushing sixty years now. He certainly would be feeling the cold much more than him. Well, at least the fireplace would be burning inside the hall.

    He looked at the guard captain. "How many watchtowers do you think we need to cover the whole wall?"

 82. Unconventional Ideas - Part I

    Hudan gave it a minute of thought before he replied. "I''d say we need one watchtower at each corner for sure. Although, in the future, maybe we can add another watchtower in the middle of each of the longer sides, and if we are able to muster enough guards to man all the watchtower properly, we could even make a watchtower at every hundred meters, but we can''t possibly man that many watchtowers at this point.""So we need a minimum of four watchtowers then," Kivamus said. "Let''s keep it at that number for now, and we can consider adding more in the future. I was also thinking about making the gates next to the watchtowers, so that the gates will be well covered by the archers from the watchtowers. That''s why instead of making the gates right in the middle of the walls spanning from one corner to another, we should keep the gates at the corners of the walls. For example, the northern gate can actually be at the northeastern corner of the village wall." He added after a moment of thought, "Actually, that idea would allow us to get by with just three gates."

    He explained, "The first gate will be at the north-eastern corner, facing north, and the second gate will be at the south-eastern corner, facing south. That will allow easy access to the northern road, as well as to the farms in the south from their respective gates, and unless we are sieged by an attacking army from all sides, which is highly unlikely anyway, those opposite gates will allow the guards to flank any bandits who are attacking any of the other gates. And finally, the third gate will be in the western walls, near the southwestern corner, which will allow easy access to the road going southwest towards Kirnos as well."

    Slowly, they reached the manor house and entered inside, and took seats on the comfortable armchairs near the fireplace, welcoming the warmth of the burning fire.

    "Hmm..." Hudan muttered as he put his hands near the fire to warm them. "It should work, I think. Having one fewer gate to worry about would certainly make it easier to man them, especially since all the gates will be close to a watchtower as well."

    "indeed," Kivamus said. "Now, as for the height of the watchtowers, we need to make them high enough that it would allow the guards to keep an eye on a good amount of distance. We have decided the walls to be fifteen feet high, which is nearly five meters. So... the towers should be at least double of that height, shouldn''t they?"

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "Ten meters high watchtowers should be good enough, although I would have preferred them to be taller, since the guards don''t just have to keep an eye on the walls. We are clearing five hundred yards of ground all around the village, so the towers should be high enough that the guards can easily keep an eye that far. Even so, keeping in mind our other limitations of manpower, a height of ten meters would do for now."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "Ten meters it is. We will also need a lot more bows and arrows to arm the guards in the future, but that is something we can think about only after the immediate concerns are taken care of." He continued, "Also, we will only start the construction of the watchtowers after all the walls and the gates have been completed. Let Yeden know that the trenches for the stakes should be five feet deep, like you have told him earlier, and the stakes themselves should be cut at length of twenty feet, so that they will be fifteen feet high above the ground. Once all the trenches have been dug, he should put a dozen or so workers to start sharpening one side of those stakes so that the top of the walls will be sharp."

    "I''ll let him know, my Lord," Hudan nodded.

    Kivamus thought about the limitation of guards which would prevent them from manning all the watchtowers and the gates properly. It was true that they really did have a shortage of manpower, since they needed the able-bodied men to keep working as laborers, for all the things that needed to be done in the village. They couldn''t afford to take one or even two dozen more men out of the workforce to keep them as guards, which wouldn''t be productive for the village. However... While it was true that this was the medieval era, and the people here were habitual in thinking in orthodox ways, he wasn''t bound by such limitations himself. Even though they were short of able-bodied men by now, they weren''t short of working age women at all.

    While it was true that women still did have to work in this world, including a few who were working as manual laborers in the village, but those were the exceptions, and they were mainly those women who didn''t have anyone else they could depend on. Without any education and with the only jobs available in this era being those which required physical power had easily outcasted most of the women from the workforce, since they couldn''t carry logs or push carts full of coal as well as men could. That had relegated them to jobs like sewing, cooking and taking care of the children, which didn''t require as much physical prowess as a coal miner or a logger did. However, there were still many more things which they could be taught to do in this world, even without access to any modern machines like tractors or cars, which anyone could drive with proper instruction.

    He looked at others sitting near the fireplace before he broached this topic. While Duvas was educated well enough for the standards of this world, he had been living most of his life in the middle of nowhere, with the local customs deciding his mindset as well, not that people were any more progressive thinking in the bigger cities. Hudan was born in a commoner''s family and his values would be the same as others as well, and while Gorsazo was well educated and served as a teacher for a son of the duke, none of these people would be easily receptive to his unorthodox idea, but he still had to try.

    He began, "Like you said earlier Hudan, we are short on manpower, and we can''t easily man all the gates and the watchtowers. Even as a rough estimate, if we put just two men at each gate and each watchtower for eight hour shifts, we need a total of fourteen men for each shift, or forty-two men to cover all shifts. That doesn''t include any guards which we will still need in the manor itself, not to mention any men who might be sick or injured and might not be able to pull guard duty temporarily. Even if we extended the shifts to twelve hours, which we might need to do anyway, we will still need twenty-eight men just to man all the gates and watchtowers - again, that doesn''t include those we need in the manor. So as it stands right now, it wouldn''t be feasible for us to man all the guard posts with our current complement of twenty-four guards."

    Hudan gave a sigh. "I realize that, my Lord. I was already thinking about that problem. Feroy and I would have to pull guard shifts as well, which would give us two more men, but even then we would still be short of trained guards."

    "Exactly," Kivamus nodded. "That is why I want to suggest something new." As others looked at him in curiosity, he added, "We are short on man-power, of course, but we aren''t really short on woman-power, are we?"

    While Gorsazo frowned at him, Duvas asked, "What do you mean by that, my Lord?" S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I mean, while it is true that we can''t ask women to climb trees to cut the branches, or to carry the logs from place to place, we can recruit a few of them as guards, can''t we?" Kivamus added, seeing the uncertain expressions on others'' faces, "I know that they might not be able to fight hand to hand with a sword against a bandit, but we can still use them as archers, right? That way, they can be the ones to be stationed on the watchtowers, from where they can rain arrows on any enemy without needing to fight with them face-to-face where they might be easily overpowered by men."

    While Gorsazo kept frowning at him, he didn''t say anything at all. Hudan started to speak something, but the old majordomo interrupted him with an offended voice, "My lord, woman as guards? As warriors? That''s... that''s... shameful, my lord! With all due respect to you, it''s completely disgraceful for you to even suggest something like that!"

    Before Kivamus could reply, Duvas stood up from his chair in anger and continued speaking with an outraged voice, "If we have to let our women fight for us, we might as well submit to the bandits ourselves! What is the point of all this, if we can''t even protect women, and have to ask them to fight in our place?"

    Kivamus had expected that reaction, but for a moment he was so surprised with Duvas'' wrath that he didn''t know what to say. Once Duvas was done speaking, he sat down on his armchair again and stared at him with anger. Taking a deep breath, Kivamus began, "We are not asking women to fight in our place, Duvas. We are asking them to fight along with us! There is a difference in that."

    "I might be getting old now, my Lord," Duvas huffed, "but my ears are working just fine. I heard exactly what you said earlier. It doesn''t make what you suggested any more palatable." He looked at Gorsazo and asked, "What do you think? Do you support this outrageous proposal?"

    Gorsazo stared at Kivamus for a while before he shook his head slowly. "Not really, Duvas. I know that some of the knights have a woman or two in their retinue when they go to fight, but they are usually for doing tasks like cooking and sewing, not for fighting. I don''t think I have ever heard of any women being forced to fight as warriors anywhere."

    Duvas snorted, and glared at Kivamus. "See, even Gorsazo doesn''t agree to it, and he is from a big city! I don''t mean any disrespect, but I just can''t agree to it. You should stop thinking about such a half-witted idea, and the Goddess will make sure to protect us."

    By this point, Kivamus was getting annoyed after hearing their orthodox but naive views, even when their own survival was at stake here. He stared back at Duvas and Gorsazo and asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "Really? Just like she protected the previous baron from that ambush? Or like she protected the village in the previous bandit raid? I don''t want to criticize the Goddess, but I don''t think any deity would protect someone who was acting as stupidly as you all!"

 83. Unconventional Ideas - Part II

    Duvas, who had always seemed quite religious to him, looked even more angry now and started to retort back, but Kivamus raised his voice and spoke over him, "Well, what do you propose then? Should we keep those watchtowers empty? Or should we not make those watchtowers at all? Because as you very well know, we need all the able-bodied men to keep working as laborers to finish those longhouses and the village walls soon, and then we''d need them to work as farmers from the next year, so we can''t afford to recruit any more men to work as guards."He tilted his head as he stared at Duvas. "Or, you know... we can just put the guards on twenty-hour shifts or something! Although we might not be able to properly man all the gates and the watchtowers even when using insanely long shifts, which still wouldn''t work anyway - since that will make the guards so tired that they wouldn''t be able to fight any bandits in the first place!"

    Duvas crossed his arms, and looked away. "I don''t know the solution, or I would have suggested it myself! But that doesn''t mean that we should force women to fight against bandits and risk their lives!"

    Kivamus nodded. "Exactly. Neither of us wants the women to risk their lives. But what do you think will happen if the bandits come on another raid here? I have no idea how many bandits are in these forests, but the news would certainly get around that we lost many guards in that ambush on the previous baron, and we also couldn''t defend the village in the previous raid. That leaves the door wide open for many more raids in the village. There will certainly be bandit attacks here in the future, you can be sure of that!"

    He added with sarcasm, "There is always an option to hire a few dozen more men as guards, which would mean the longhouses would be finished even later, leaving a few people to freeze in the winter. And in that case, the village walls might not be finished for months - and without village walls, the bandits would easily be able to raid us again and burn half the village while they run away. Is that what you prefer?" S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas gazed away again and didn''t give an answer.

    "No, don''t just look away now!" Kivamus asked the majordomo again, "Tell me, what do you think will happen if the bandits raid again? Since we do not have enough guards, we cannot possibly protect the whole village as it stands right now. So if the bandits do come here, and we keep the remaining guards just to protect the manor like the last time, what would happen to those women?"

    He added heatedly, "By now, the bandits would also know that we can''t afford to go out of the manor to fight them - based on their wonderful experience last time when they raided the village without any repercussions at all. So do you think this time those bandits would politely ask the women in the village to hand over their coins and stored grain and then they''d leave with a thank you? Or would they kidnap those women and children and take them away to sell them as slaves in Cinran, or maybe some fate even worse? Tell me which is the more likely outcome."

    Duvas gave a deep sigh. "I don''t know, my Lord, I don''t know! I do realize that we can''t protect the whole village if we are raided by bandits right now. And I know just as well what would happen to any women who are kidnapped by them. But... but to ask the women to fight for us...? It is completely unheard of... Even Gorsazo has never heard of women being forced to fight as guards anywhere. How am I supposed to agree to such a bizarre thing?"

    "I understand where you are coming from," Kivamus said after taking a deep breath to calm himself, "but desperate times call for desperate measures. I wouldn''t suggest this if we had any other option, but we cannot keep half the workforce idle just because they are women - especially when doing that risks their lives just as much as not asking them to fight, in case a bandit raid does happen soon in the future."

    "I do understand our situation... my lord," Duvas muttered after a while. "And like I have told you in the past, I will follow your decisions and orders, even if they go against what I stand for." He sighed. "But I still have to say... I don''t like it one bit."

    "That''s alright, Duvas," Kivamus said, with his expression hardened. "Sometimes, there are things in life that we might not prefer to do... but we still need to do them if they are necessary enough."

    Gorsazo still wasn''t saying anything, so he didn''t ask him again, knowing by now that he wouldn''t get any support from him in this matter. He gave some time to Duvas to come around to the idea, while he looked at the guard captain. "What do you think, Hudan? You have been very quiet so far."

    Hudan grunted, "I know just as well as others here that women don''t work as guards or in armies anywhere, and for good reason. And if you had asked me this question before I met Feroy, I would have given you the same answer as others. But talking with him in the past few years has opened my eyes to what happens to those women who are kidnapped by bandits or mercenaries. I would rather not speak of such things here, but it is usually a fate much worse than death, let me say that much," he answered with a grimace. "That was the kind of behavior which made Feroy start to loathe those mercenaries and forced him to leave that life behind."

    He continued, "Since we arrived in Tiranat and I saw the state of the village, I started to think of ways to protect the manor and the village better. And knowing all that Feroy has told me, the concept of asking women to fight as guards had certainly come to my mind in the recent weeks. So I do believe that as unusual as it may be, it is a better fate for women to die fighting with bandits while trying to protect their families and home than to be captured by them."

    The guard captain continued, "But I still never mentioned hiring women as guards to you, because the practical reasons which prevent them from working as warriors in the first place still stand true. The fact remains that even a moderately trained bandit can simply overpower women with brute force, so the vast majority of women cannot work as swordsmen or even spearmen. The same stands for bows. While I have seen a woman I knew shoot an arrow accurately enough in the past, but most often, women don''t have the immense physical power needed to pull the string of a warbow - especially the poorly fed women in this village."

    Kivamus nodded. "I do realize that, but that doesn''t mean that they would be completely useless in the defense of the village. That''s why I even thought of making watchtowers - so that we could employ women as guards. They wouldn''t have to fight face-to-face with any bandits if they are standing on top of the watchtowers. And I am not asking you to start training them in swordsmanship, since that is not what we need right now anyway. But if we could make something which allows women to shoot just as well as any man, and then place them on those watchtowers, then we could easily increase our guard force without slowing down the construction of longhouses and the walls."

    The first thing that came in his mind after that was guns - which could be operated by women just as well as any man, but he realized that making such advanced things in Tiranat wouldn''t be feasible anytime soon. However, if they could get even a few crossbows made in the village, those would still work just as well for them. However, an even more important outcome would be to get the villagers into the mindset that women can work just as well as men in basically everything. And that mindset would be very, very important for any future progress of this village.

    Hudan looked at him curiously. "What do you mean by that, my Lord? How could the women in this village suddenly become as strong as men to pull the string of those warbows? It''s a different fact that while we have around half a dozen lighter hunting bows, we only have two heavy warbows - which we have provided to the caravan. Even so, I can''t see any way that it would be possible for women to use them here." He continued, "But more importantly, even if we had some incredible way to do that, the families of the women here wouldn''t allow them to fight and risk their lives in the first place."

    "That''s... very concerning..." Kivamus muttered. "But don''t the villagers realize the risks if the bandits come and we are not able to fight them off? What if they kidnap the women? No family would prefer that, would they?"

    Duvas answered this time with a sigh. "The thing is, my Lord, that the locals here are not habitual of raids. Before the grain prices rose so high over the past two years, we didn''t have that big of a bandit problem here. But in the past year, a lot of people have lost their livelihood in the whole duchy of Ulriga, and not knowing of any other way to feed themselves, many have turned to banditry. There is also the fact that while the villagers did lose a lot of coins and stored grains in the recent raid, nobody was kidnapped or killed, since the bandits probably didn''t realize how short on trained guards we were at that time."

    He continued, "Thankfully, you arrived here soon after that raid, and now we are actively trying to do our best to protect the village, because as you said earlier, the next raid wouldn''t be so forgiving for the villagers. But from the villagers'' perspective, they likely would not realize the danger of people being kidnapped or killed, until it has already happened here."

    "That does make sense," Kivamus said. "But we cannot take the risk of letting people die or women getting kidnapped before the villagers come to their senses."

    Duvas added with a grimace, "Truthfully, even I hadn''t thought about it that much before you opened my eyes to the risks. But now I do think that it would be better to do our best to protect the village, even if we have to ask women to fight, instead of letting the bandits kidnap them. However it would take some really good convincing to the villagers for them to allow the women in their families to work as guards."

    Kivamus nodded, feeling glad that the majordomo was coming around to the idea. "I understand that. But even so, there would still be a few women in the village who would be willing to become guards so that they could earn good wages by themselves - maybe those who don''t have anyone else in their family, or those whose male family members are injured or sick - where the women would be the only bread earners in that family. You should ask them first, and see if they are willing to join as guards."

    Duvas gave a slow nod, as if he had to swallow a bitter pill - something necessary but completely unpalatable. "I will try to make them understand the risks of not doing that. It won''t be easy, but they already know that I try my best to help the villagers - even when the previous baron was here, so if such an unusual idea is coming from me - instead of from Hudan or other guards, it would lend it some more weight. Hopefully, we would be able to get some good candidates for Hudan to recruit."

    He asked after a moment, "We are only paying the workers and guards in grain right now, which costs only around half of their usual wages, but when we do return to paying them in coins, it would be very costly if we recruit too many guards. So how many women do you plan to recruit?"

 84. Better Than A Bow

    "Let''s think about it," Kivamus said. He looked at the guard captain. "What is your opinion about this? Once we have the village walls ready, we can afford to keep only a small number of guards in the manor, while the rest of our current guards can be put on duty at the village gates and the watchtowers. Since most of the off-duty guards also stay in the manor in their free time, we would still have enough guards in the manor in case of an emergency."Hudan thought about it for a while before he answered. "Like you said earlier, my Lord, if we put just two men, or even women, at each watchtower and each gate, we''ll still need fourteen men for each shift, or forty-two in total. And in any case, even if the off duty guards would stay here in the manor, we would still need a few guards here on active duty in each shift, but that would add up to too high a number."

    He continued, "What we can do here to reduce the number is that, since three of the watchtowers would be built right next to the gates, we can put just one man on each watch tower in each shift, while the gates would still have two guards. Usually, it wouldn''t be safe to keep just two men at each gate, but since there would be someone keeping an eye on the surroundings from the height of the watchtower, they should be able to notify the manor quickly in case of an attack, especially if they are provided some sort of horn to signal emergencies like a bandit raid or an attack by some wild beast."

    Duvas said, "We do have a few ?old animal horn?s in the manor, even though we rarely used them. We can provide them to the guards in those watchtowers, so that they can sound an alarm in case of such an attack."

    "That will be very helpful," Hudan said. He continued, "The fourth watchtower in the north-west would still need to have two men in all shifts though, just in case an attacker shoots the guard there with an arrow from a distance. This way the other guard would still be able to notify the manor of an imminent attack. That would add up to..."

    "Eleven men in each shift," Kivamus answered, "or a total of thirty three men. That''s not including those in the manor, so it''s still too high." He added, "For now, until we are able to properly man every gate, we can just keep the gate in the south-east barred permanently from inside, so that the villagers can use the gates in the north-east and the south-west, which would still allow easy enough access to the workplaces outside the walls. However, that watchtower would still have a guard there in each shift, to keep an eye outside in that direction."

    He continued, "Ideally, we should have put two guards in the southeastern watchtower as well, just like the one in the northwest - because there wouldn''t be any gate guards there, but we can make do with only a single guard in the south-eastern watchtower for now, since it is close to the manor itself, where all the off duty guards will be resting, which means we can immediately respond to an attack from that direction. That leads us to two guards at those two village-gates each, and one guard at all the watchtowers except the one in the Northwest - which will have two guards. That adds up to nine guards in each shift, or a total of twenty-seven guards in total." He nodded to himself, "That''s doable, I think."

    "It seems so," Hudan agreed. "Since Feroy and I will be here in the manor most of the time anyway along with the off-duty guards, we can get by with just two guards on active duty at each of the two manor gates, which is a total of twelve guards for all three shifts. That means we need thirty-nine guards to be able to man all the gates and the watchtower, along with the gates of the manor. Since we have twenty-four guards right now, we would need to hire fifteen more men or women."

    "Right," Kivamus nodded. "Since we can put the women on guard duty at the watchtowers, we need five women in each shift, for a total of fifteen. That adds up nicely with the number of new guards we need to recruit." He looked at Duvas, "That means you need to try to recruit fifteen women in total. Let them know that they would get the same wages as the male guards. Of course, the payment will be in grain and coal for now, and coins in the future."

    "I will do my best to recruit them, my Lord," Duvas nodded. "I don''t know if we would be able to get that many women to work as guards though."

    "Just give it a try," Kivamus said, "you never know. And if we are unable to get enough women as guards, we will think of something else in the future."

    Duvas nodded. "But do we need to pay them the same wages as the men? Usually women are only paid a smaller amount than men, even when they were working as laborers in the mines, since they couldn''t do as much physical work as a man."

    Kivamus grimaced. Of course the orthodox thinking in the medieval ages would include blatant discrimination like that. He answered, "They are risking their lives just as much as men by working as guards, and unless you value their lives less than men, I see no reason to pay them a smaller amount. So let them know that their wages would be the same as male guards."

    "As you say, my Lord," Duvas grumbled.

    "However," Hudan began, "all that would work out only if the women could be just as good guards as men. So, even if we only plan to use the women as archers and not swordsmen, I am still curious about how we can make them shoot arrows just as well as trained male archers. Usually they need years of practice, and excellent muscle strength."

    "I was getting to that," Kivamus said with a smile. "Have you ever heard of something called crossbows? I read about that in a book in the Ulriga palace, and those could be very helpful to us here."

    "Cross...bows...?" Hudan muttered. "What does that even mean?" He raised his eyebrows. "Two bows which are built crossed to each other?"

    Kivamus laughed. "No, no, nothing like that." He looked at others. "Have none of you heard about it?"

    Duvas just shrugged, and didn''t say anything, while Gorsazo seemed to be looking far into the distance, as if lost in thought.

    Shaking his head, Kivamus explained to the guard captain, "What I mean is a device which is usually smaller than a bow, but instead of pulling a string to release the arrow - which requires a lot of physical power, it uses a mechanism which doesn''t take too much effort, and it would allow even women to easily reload it. More importantly, unlike bows, you don''t need to reload crossbows immediately before shooting them, since you can prepare them in advance, so that they would be ready to shoot immediately when needed. That allows the person using them to target and aim accurately, taking as much time as they need for that, unlike bows - where the archer needs immense physical power to hold a fully drawn bow even for a short time."

    Hudan looked intrigued. "That... sounds incredible... my Lord." He scratched his head, and muttered, "Although it seems similar to something I have heard in the past, I''m not sure..."

    He frowned for a moment, as if trying to remember something, then suddenly he said, "Right! Now I remember it. A while ago, when Feroy was telling me about his time with mercenaries, he mentioned that in an attack somewhere in Girnalica, his group had seen something called... Right, an arbalest! That''s what it was called. He told me that instead of normal arrows used in a bow, it used bolts, and while it took much longer to load it and shoot, it could be kept ready to shoot for a long while in case you already knew that you were going to need it."

    He added, "However, from what I remember, Feroy told me that those arbalests were even bigger than bows, and took a lot of strength to reload. But on the bright side, the bolts which those arbalests shot were powerful enough to easily take down a charging warhorse."

    Kivamus nodded, remembering reading something about it in his past life on earth, when he used to spend his free time reading all kinds of things on the internet. "Yes, crossbows use the same concept as them, but are smaller than them, and can be considered a more advanced version of that. Also, it''s good to hear about arbalests, since it means there are artisans who can already build them in the kingdom. Do you think we might be able to buy a few of them from Cinran, or Kirnos?"

    Hudan shook his head in reluctance. "There is basically no possibility of that, my Lord. From what Feroy told me, the only place in the whole kingdom where they are only built is in the capital Dorastiz. And from what I think, nobody would possess any arbalests outside the guards of the royal family in Dorastiz. Maybe the guards of the Dukes might have a few, but they are very rarely seen. I have never seen one of those myself in all my life."

    Kivamus thought about it from the memories of the original Kivamus. "I don''t think I ever saw something like that in the Ulriga Palace." He looked at Gorsazo, who was still lost and thought and asked, "What do you think?"

    Gorsazo blinked, as if he had forgotten he was sitting here. "Uh... What did you ask, my Lord?

    Kivamus repeated his question.

    "I don''t think I''ve seen something like that either..." Gorsazo replied after a while. "Maybe the Duke''s knights in Fort Aragosa might have a few of them, but I wouldn''t know about that since I''ve never been there. Truthfully, I''m not even sure what this arbalest is, since I''ve never seen such a thing."

    "That''s alright." Kivamus continued, "But it still means that we can''t easily buy them, if at all. However, we could still try to make them ourselves. I think I can sketch the design of it well enough."

    Hudan looked surprised. "You can, my Lord?" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus smiled, "The concept isn''t that difficult, and I can certainly describe the design of it to Taniok and Cedoron, but they would need to make the necessary parts for it very precisely. It is up to them whether they can successfully build it based on my designs. Of course, there is no point in telling them about it until the longhouse blocks and the village wall is completed. But I think we should still be able to build them after that."

    Hudan said, "From what Feroy had described, it seemed like a very effective weapon if used properly. If we could even make a few of them here... it would really help in the defense of the village. And if we had enough of them to provide them to every guard, any attacking bandits wouldn''t know what hit them!"

    "True enough!" Kivamus explained, "In our case, if we put a few loaded crossbows on each watchtower, then in case of an attack, the women there can easily use those crossbows to shoot the bandits one by one, without needing to reload them again immediately. Of course, even then, those crossbows would need to be reloaded before they can be used again, but even those initial few bolts - which crossbows use in place of arrows, would allow even a single woman to take down three or four bandits just by herself, and without even getting injured."

    He continued, "In the future, if we are able to put two or even three guards on each watchtower, then the guard who has better accuracy, can keep shooting the attacking bandits with those crossbows, while the others can use that time to reload them. This would allow them to keep shooting continuously as long as they have enough bolts. This is something which cannot be done with a bow and arrow, since the person who is shooting them is the one who has to load the arrow. However, having crossbows would allow a woman to keep shooting at the pace of three or four trained archers with others providing her with loaded crossbows, or even faster if more people are assisting her." He added with a smile. "It''s a different fact that unlike a bow, it is much easier to use a crossbow, so it doesn''t even need much training for even an untrained person to use them!"

    "But it can''t all be good, my Lord," Hudan said with a frown. "There have to be a few shortcomings of arbalests or even crossbows when compared to a bow and arrow, otherwise everyone would be using them in place of bows, isn''t it so?

 85. Crossbows

    "You are right," Kivamus replied. "Those arbalests are much heavier, and they are slower to reload as well when compared to a bow, which would make them undesirable weapons for most people. That means it would be very costly if a noble wants to produce them in bulk to equip his whole army with them."He continued, "However, what I have in my mind is something much lighter than arbalests, so that even women can use it. While it would still take longer to load than a bow, the crossbows would work just as well in the defense of the village, especially when shooting their bolts from the height of a watchtower." He added, "Also, while I think a well trained archer can probably shoot arrows at nearly double the pace of someone shooting with a crossbow, that limitation can be reduced by having others nearby to help load the crossbow."

    Duvas gave his opinion as well. "I think most nobles would still prefer every archer to shoot a bow himself, instead of letting a single person shoot with a crossbow while others are just helping him. Of course, it''s a different fact that it must be very difficult and time-consuming to make those arbalests, which would make their costs much higher compared to a bow - which can be made much more easily and cheaply. That must be why I haven''t ever heard of their use."

    Kivamus nodded. "That is true as well, but if we can produce them ourselves instead of buying them from another city, the prices should still be manageable for us. Cedoron seems like a well trained blacksmith. It will certainly take him a few tries to get all the iron parts right, but he should still be able to produce a working crossbow with the help of Taniok. And after we have worked out any problems in it, producing more of them would become much easier."

    He added, "Pydaso told us that the price of iron ingots was cheap right now, so that will also help to keep the costs low. But, even with their higher costs, we need the advantage of those crossbows to properly defend the village, especially with our limited number of guards - half of whom haven''t picked up a sword in their lives before we recruited them. With those crossbows, we can even use women to defend the village, while still letting the men work at other necessary tasks in the village - that''s something which wouldn''t be possible with a bow."

    Hudan nodded. "From what I understand now, a bow would still be a better weapon for an attacking army - since they can shoot faster and an army can be equipped much more cheaply with bows. But for those who are defending a fortified place - like Tiranat will be, after we have completed the walls and the watchtowers - a crossbow would work just as well. They might even be more useful than bows when we are defending against a big attack if we get other civilians to help the trained crossbowmen to reload the crossbows, while they stay below the side walls on the platform of a watchtower. That is not possible for an attacking army to do in the field, otherwise those civilians would be sitting ducks for our arrows."

    "You seem to have understood the uses very well," Kivamus commended him.

    Duvas asked, "But it will take time until Taniok gets enough free time to make those crossbows, so do you want me to postpone telling the villagers that we are hiring women as guards? Otherwise, we would unnecessarily be paying the women guards, since they wouldn''t be able to do anything without those crossbows."

    "No, you should tell them about that as soon as you can," Kivamus replied. "It wouldn''t be easy for the villagers to believe that women can be guards too, so it would take time until they can come around to the idea. Telling them about this in advance would help us in getting a trickle of volunteers regularly, since we very likely wouldn''t get as many women as we are hiring immediately. Also, most likely those women wouldn''t have fought even once in their life, and even if we gave fully loaded crossbows to them, it would take time for them to get into the proper mindset to be ready to shoot down a charging bandit, or even a knight in the future. So even though it will take time before we can make any crossbows, Hudan can use that time to give them the very basics of training. For example, he can start giving them physical training by making them run around the manor regularly, and they can still get very basic training with a wooden sword."

    Seeing that Duvas was going to interrupt him, he spoke over his voice, "I know what you are going to say. And I am not saying that women are going to become expert swordsmen anytime soon, but unless they learn to keep a cool mind even when someone stronger than them is coming at them with a sword in their hands with an intention to kill them, they wouldn''t be able to shoot a crossbow properly anyway. I know we are only going to put the woman on duty at the watchtower, but you can never know what will happen in an attack, so letting them get familiarized with other guards with whom they would be fighting together, and getting them in the proper mindset to be ready to shoot a charging bandit is just as important - just in case they have to use the crossbows while on the ground."

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, once we begin to get volunteers, you should start giving them basic training like I mentioned. In fact, you should do that with other guards as well. Any off duty guards which get sword training from you, should also be trained to become extremely fit physically. We have already talked about making a dedicated training ground in the east of the manor, but you should start on that from now itself."

    Hudan nodded. "I do make them run a little to get their bodies warmed up before I start to train them, but it is true that I can do better in that. I will start doing that from now on, and I''ll include more such exercises like sprinting, and jumping, along with making them run more to build their stamina. When we start to get women as guards, I will include them in the physical training as well."

    "Good," Kivamus said. Looking at his slightly protruding belly, courtesy of the lazy habits of the original Kivamus and his copious drinking - just like all nobles in this era, he said, "Actually, I will join you too."

    "Uh..." Hudan hesitated. "Are you sure my Lord?"

    "Yeah, yeah, I''m quite sure about this," he replied. He needed to get a lot more fit if he was going to endure life in a medieval place. His backside still remembered the pain of sitting on a bumpy carriage seat for nearly a week while on the journey from Ulriga to Tiranat. "Just let me know when you start physical training for the guards in the morning, and I''ll join you as well."

    Remembering from the memories of the original Kivamus, he said, "In the past I never focused on remaining fit and learning even the very basics of using a sword, since I spent all my time in the library. While I don''t think that I am going to become an expert swordsman, nor do I think I will have enough time for it, but even so, in the future, once I have gained some better physical fitness, I will join you for the basic training of using a sword as well. I know you and other guards will come with me to defend me wherever I go, but it''s not a bad idea to know enough swordsmanship to at least be able to hold on against someone who wants to kill me until the guards arrive. It has already happened twice, and I''m pretty sure it''s not the last time that someone tries to kill me."

    "It does make sense, I think." Hudan grinned. "But don''t think for a moment that I will go easy on you milord, just because you are the baron! If you are going to join other guards in training, you will have to go through all the same exercises as them."

    Kivamus laughed as well. "That''s fine, I wouldn''t expect anything else."

    *******

    In the evening, Kivamus'' talk about other things with Duvas and Hudan was interrupted by the arrival of madam Helga in the manor hall. Gorsazo seemed to be quite distant to him for the past few days, and he hadn''t come to the manor hall again. He wasn''t sure what was up with him, but hopefully he would come and talk with him if there was any problem he was having.

    "It is done, my lord," Helga announced with a smile. "The temporary shed was completed in the south of the manor, and I have transferred the first batch of mushrooms there as well, after placing a few old logs and sawdust there. A brazier will be burning there continuously to keep the air inside the shed warm all the time. Also, while I did send a servant to tell the blacksmith to make a few water troughs, he told me that it would take time, since he''s already behind in making other tools, but he should still be able to give us two such iron troughs by evening tomorrow. For now, I have kept a few buckets of water there near the fire, which should work fine until then."

    "That''s good to hear!" Kivamus praised. "Yesterday''s Rizako stew was delicious, and I can''t wait to have it again. Eating such warm and tasty stew in the winter would be very nice for us and for the villagers as well. It''s a pity that Feroy wasn''t able to have that stew, since you said that he really likes it. And since we are using the remaining mushrooms for replanting, he wouldn''t be able to eat that stew any time soon unless we are able to cultivate them successfully."

    "That''s true enough, but he wouldn''t really mind if there is a good chance of getting Rizako stew regularly in the coming months," Helga replied with a smile. "We will know within a few days if the replanting was successful or not. And if it is successful, we will start to get the first crop of Rizako mushrooms in six to eight weeks. At that point, if the dedicated barn is ready for them, we can use those mushrooms to replant them again inside the barn at a larger scale, which would allow us to harvest a good amount of mushrooms in the coming months. That means, if everything goes well, then we should be able to provide those mushrooms to the villagers by the end of winter, at which point our grain stores would be getting low as well."

    Kivamus nodded. "Let''s hope for the best then. And good work!

    "Thank you milord," Helga replied with a smile. "I have to go and prepare dinner now."

    Kivamus gave another nod, and madam Helga went further inside the manor towards the kitchen.

    He looked at Duvas. "How is it going with the blacksmith? Has he taken on more apprentices? I thought he would be able to complete the water troughs by today." S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 86. A Fishy Trade

    "Everything is fine with him and he is providing us with tools every day," Duvas answered. "However not everyone is suited for blacksmithing work. By now Cedoron has found two men who are able to do the work properly, and he has now taken them as regular apprentices. But I did have to send a few new workers to him a few days ago, since some of the earlier workers were clumsy, and kept getting injured.""It''s true enough that blacksmithing is a risky work, and you can''t have someone close to the forge who is clumsy," Kivamus said.

    Remembering about the caravan, he added, "Hopefully, the caravan won''t have any problems on the road, and they will reach Cinran tonight."

    Duvas nodded. "Pydaso told us earlier that they were pushing the horses very hard to make this journey in two days, since it is normally a three day journey for wagons. I hope no horses get injured on the road, otherwise even this caravan might get stuck on the way, in case snow has already started on that road. Even if it doesn''t seem likely that we would be able to send the caravan on a third trip, we still need all the grain they will bring back on this trip." He continued, "Also, for now I have kept providing the free meals to the villagers - the children and the elderly - just twice a day, instead of the three times a day we promised them earlier."

    Kivamus frowned. In the winter weather people needed more calories than normal, not less. But it was also true that providing them three meals a day until the middle of winter, and then being unable to provide them even a single meal because they ran out of grain by then wasn''t a good idea either. He said, "I don''t like it, but it seems necessary. We might be able to provide them three meals if the caravan is able to go on a third trip, but for now, let''s keep it at two meals a day."

    Duvas nodded. "Like Madam Helga told us, if she is able to cultivate those mushrooms successfully, then those mushrooms will be helpful to add to the villagers'' diets by the end of winter. But even so, we still need enough wheat as seeds to start planting in the spring, so we are not going to get an abundance of foodgrains this winter for sure, even if the caravan is able to go for a third trip. Some meal rationing would still be necessary by the end of winter in any case."

    "Hmm... Rationing meals is certainly better than having people starve late in the winter, but we should have been able to do better," Kivamus muttered. "Isn''t there any other way to feed them?"

    Duvas thought about it for a moment, and said, "Well the northern stream does have a small amount of fish, which are sold regularly in the market square in the village. And that stream doesn''t usually freeze in the winter, so that does provide a steady but small source of food. Other than that, a lot would depend on how successful are the hunting groups we make after the caravan returns."

    Hudan said, "I will do my best to make sure it goes well, even though I certainly cannot guarantee anything. Yufim and Nurobo are very good archers, and an escort of swordsmen like we talked earlier, should allow them to bring some meat regularly. But there is always a chance that they are not able to find much in the snow, which would still leave us short on food."

    Kivamus thought about the problem for a while, and remembered that they didn''t buy anything from the only other nearby village.

    "You told me that the road to Kirnos is open even in the winter, so couldn''t we still buy something from there?" Kivamus asked. "Even a small amount of extra grain would be helpful to us."

    "It is still not really feasible, my Lord," Duvas answered. "Like I told you earlier, I did send a guard there before you arrived here, but the prices he mentioned for wheat were astronomical. And even then, Kirnos is a small village - only a little larger than Tiranat - so it wouldn''t have enough surplus grain to feed our village as well. The few farms that are located close to the coast near Kirnos are only enough to provide wheat to Kirnos itself. They don''t get enough surplus of grain to sell to us even in the years of good harvest. So they certainly wouldn''t have much these days when the harvest has been bad everywhere."

    "I remember that, but isn''t Kirnos located on the coast?" Kivamus asked. Seeing Duvas nod in reply, he said, "Then can''t we buy fish from them? They should have fishermen there, right?"

    "Of course they do, but they only catch enough to feed their own village," Duvas answered. "There has never been any trade of fish between Tiranat and Kirnos, since transporting a large amount of fish is very difficult between the two villages. Any merchant has to keep those fish in buckets of water on his wagon, which limits the amount of fish he can bring, and it also takes around a day and a half for a wagon to travel between the villages. Apart from that, it doesn''t help that the baron of Kirnos has always been a greedy person."

    Kivamus gave a laugh. "Isn''t it the same with all nobles?"

    Duvas gave a grin, "I never said anything like that, my Lord!" He added, "But there must be some truth in it, if you are saying so yourself." S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus laughed loudly in reply.

    Hudan gave a laugh as well. "Never mind that, Mr Duvas. Lord Kivamus knows we mean no disrespect. And it is certainly the truth." He asked, "So did our previous Baron never try to buy fish from Kirnos?"

    "It wasn''t exactly like that," Duvas replied. "Baron of Kirnos'' taxes on any merchant coming to sell anything to us are just as high as our previous baron''s taxes on any merchant coming here to sell anything. Overall it added up, and the prices became too high. As you can guess, our previous baron didn''t care about the village as long as his own meals were plentiful. As for the rest of the village, there is a merchant in Kirnos who occasionally comes here with a wagon to transport coal back to Kirnos. And often, he brings a small amount of fish on his wagon, although he hasn''t come here even once since our previous Baron died in that ambush."

    He continued, "However, it''s never a large amount, since that merchant only has a single wagon, and the villagers here cannot afford to buy such costly fish anyway. Also, just like the grain the merchants brought from Cinran, those fish also cost much higher than they should have because of the taxes which the baron of Kirnos as well as the previous baron of Tiranat put on every trade. That''s why, usually a few villagers go to the northern stream to catch some fish, and sell them in the market square. It''s never enough, but it did provide a small variety to the diet of the villagers."

    "That makes sense," Kivamus replied. "However, now our situation is not great in terms of the availability of grain, so we really need every other source of food that we can get. While we can be reasonably sure that the villagers won''t starve over this winter, but the amount of grains we have would only allow them to barely survive, and it would never be enough to make them feel full, especially if they have to keep working hard over the winter - which we certainly need them to do."

    He added, "So what I am thinking about is, can''t we start a regular fish trade between the two villages? Since the road to Kirnos stays open throughout the winter, it would help us a lot in feeding our village if we were able to buy even a small amount of fish regularly. What do you think it would cost us? I know we are already getting short on coin, but if it''s even somewhat feasible, I would like to do it."

    Duvas thought for a moment before he replied. "I really cannot give you an estimate on how much it would cost us, since just like the prices of grains have gone up, it would be similar for fish as well. Even though you are not levying any taxes on it since we would have to send a wagon there ourselves, Baron Kirnos'' taxes would still add further to the already high costs. There is also the fact that we cannot transport as much fish on a single wagon compared to the number of grain sacks we could carry."

    "How is that?" Hudan asked.

    Duvas explained, "See it this way. When we carry grain sacks, the weight of the sacks used to carry the grain is nearly nothing compared to the grain itself, which means nearly the whole load of cargo that the horses are pulling is of the grain itself. However, in case of fish, we would have to keep a lot of water buckets on the wagon to allow those fish to survive the journey, and the weight of the water and the buckets would add up to a lot, which means the actual amount of fish we would be able to transport in a wagon would be very small - when compared to the amount of grain we can transport in it. That''s why it costs too much to transport even a small amount of fish from there, even before the taxes."

    Hudan nodded. "It does make sense. If we could just put the fish directly into the wagons like coal, we would be able to carry a much larger amount, but even in this weather those fish would become rotten soon enough if we transport them without any water."

    Duvas added, "We also don''t have a place here to store even the live fish, so unless we are going to eat those fish immediately after receiving them, buying a large amount of those fish would be a waste anyway."

    Kivamus nodded. "In that case, can''t we buy salted fish from Kirnos?"

    "Salted fish...?" Duvas asked with his eyebrows raised. "I know that they are a delicacy for nobles, but preparing them requires a very large amount of salt - which doesn''t come cheap at all! While it may be fine to buy salted fish in a very small amount if you want it just for yourself, we cannot possibly afford to buy enough salted fish to feed the whole village. It would just cost too much... Also, Kirnos simply doesn''t have a need to salt those fish anyway, since it is located on the coast, and they can just catch more fresh fish whenever they need."

    "Okay, but what if..." Kivamus asked, "What if we bought even that small amount of live fish in a wagon inside those buckets, and then stored them in water here until we need to use them as food?"

 87. Scouting

    Duvas shrugged. "We could certainly keep the fish in those buckets themselves, but it would be a very small amount anyway, and a single wagon of fish transported in those buckets would probably not be enough to feed even the whole manor for a day."Immediately, Kivamus thought of an interesting idea. "That was till now, but we are digging a new pond in the south of the village, aren''t we? I know we only thought of digging a small pond, but what if we expanded it further? Wouldn''t that allow us to put those fish in that pond? In time, and if the pond is big enough, those fish would start to breed there, and we would be able to get a steady supply of fish here itself." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The guard captain gave a slow nod. "Hmm... That is a good idea... but digging the pond to be that big would take time." He added, "More importantly, if we just want a small number of fish for them to start reproducing in that pond, we can just transfer some fish from the northern stream to that pond. That would work just as well."

    "Oh! That''s right! Let''s do it then," Kivamus said.

    Duvas observed, "It wouldn''t be easy, but it certainly can be done."

    Kivamus nodded. "Of course. Digging the pond to be that big is a longer term project, and we cannot afford to put any workers on that right now, but once other things of more importance are done, we can certainly do it. And like Hudan said, we can just use the fish from the stream for that. Or, like I was thinking a few days ago, since we do need to fill that pond with water for irrigation, and it cannot be done bucket by bucket, so we will need to connect that pond with the stream anyway. And that way, some of the fish would migrate to the pond by themselves, and in due time, the village would have a steady source of fish right next to us."

    "I''ll let Pinoto know about this, so that he can plan the pond''s location well in advance," Duvas said. "We have already told him to dig a small pond, but work on that would only start after the trees have been cleared for a decent amount of area."

    Kivamus said, "Also, since we will have our three... no... four wagons back once the caravan returns from Cinran, so after that small pond is dug and filled with water in a month or two, we can still send a couple of wagons to Kirnos to buy some fish. By that time our grain stores would start to get low, so getting those fish into the pond would help them to reproduce faster so that we can start getting at least some fish by the end of winter." He added, "I realize that those fish are habitual of surviving in moving streams, but since that pond will still be connected to the stream, the water inside that pond wouldn''t be completely stagnant, especially since the farmers will be drawing water from it to irrigate the farms. It is far from ideal, but it should still allow us to keep fish there."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    It had taken them more than two days of walking but they had finally reached the road going from Tiranat to Cinran. He and the two other bandits, whom he had named the fatso and the runt based on how they looked, had walked all the way through the dense forest, along with the single horse that Nokozal had given them. It was a very cloudy day, and the weather was getting really cold now, with their breaths visible in front of them.

    The fatso spoke, while pointing at a small bluff at the edge of the forest right next to the road, "This seems like a good place to keep watch."

    The runt gave a nod and pushed Calubo''s back to keep him walking. Initially, they had tied both his hands behind him with a rope, but when that had led to him falling continuously, thus slowing them down further, the fatso had untied him with a warning that if he ran it wouldn''t end well for the stonecutters back at the quarry. However, the runt had suggested a better solution - better for him maybe! After that, the fatso had tied one of his own hands with one end of the rope, and Calubo''s hand with the other end of the rope. That still left the possibility open of Calubo untying the knot, but he didn''t want anything bad to happen to Hyola, so he hadn''t even tried to run. The bandits knew that fact just as well as him, so they were satisfied with that arrangement for now.

    As they walked towards that bluff, the runt said, "I think I recognize this place. I''d say that we are a few hours south of where the forest starts on this road when going southwards from Cinran."

    The fatso replied, "Then this should be a good place to plan an ambush, since any caravan coming south would be alert after they enter the forest, but by the time they reach here, they would have let their guard down. And from what you said about how far we are, any caravan going south would reach here around evening, which would be a good time for an ambush, since our shadows would mix with those of the forest, which would give us more time before they realize that there is an attack."

    The runt grumbled, "If the chief had given us another horse we would have reached here much faster, but we had to waste more than two days just walking to this place! Who knows if a caravan is still coming..."

    "You know why he had to do that," the fatso replied. "We don''t know for sure where that village will send the caravan, so he had to give a horse to the other scout group on the road going to Kirnos." He looked around for a moment while rubbing his arms around himself to warm his body.

    The ease with which they talked about looting a caravan, taking food from those who would be nearly starving if they didn''t get that grain, thoroughly enraged Calubo. And yet, there was nothing he could do about it, at least for now.

    The runt gestured towards the top of the bluff, while he tied the horse to one of the trees. "I''m so tired, man... I have traveled on this road in the past once, and from what I remember, this is a three day journey for any wagon or a caravan, which means we should have enough time to plan an ambush as long as they go on just one more trip. Come on, let''s go and lie down for a while."

    "I am just as tired as you are," the fatso replied while pointing towards the Arakin mountains in the east, "but it seems like it will start snowing within a few days here, especially this close to those mountains. So I think the caravan would likely be riding those horses hard, and they would try to complete the journey within two days for each side, which would shave off an extra two days from a full round trip. That means they might have already returned back."

    "Stop trying to jinx us!" The runt grunted, "Why are you even thinking of such a thing?"

    The fatso snorted. "Anyway, we should still take a look at the road to see if there are any recent tracks. We can rest after that." He pulled the rope tying him to Calubo. "Walk!"

    They started walking around the bluff and reached the road. For a moment they just looked around the road to see if someone was coming. Seeing nobody else was nearby for quite a distance, the runt squatted down and gazed at the ground for a while. "There are no tracks here, since it seems the ground has been dry for a while. Let me look around a little more."

    Then he walked away further on the road and kept looking at the road carefully. Suddenly, he started to shout, "Come here, I found something!"

    As the fatso tugged Calubo towards that place, the runt started speaking quickly as he pointed at the ground. "There was a caravan here! I''m sure of it. You can easily see from these marks that a horse has passed here, along with a wagon wheel. One of us should return back immediately to tell Nokozal about it!"

    "Are you an idiot?" The fatso scowled. "I can see that, but look at how dry the ground is. There certainly was a wagon which passed from here - but we can''t say for sure if those tracks are a few days old or a few months old! If we are wrong about this, and Nokozal brings everyone here for an ambush while the real caravan goes on the other road, he will tan our hides! I think we should wait for a day or two to see if there really is a caravan passing in front of us before telling him."

    The runt shivered for a moment, and Calubo thought it was more likely from the fear of getting beaten by Nokozal instead of the cold. "It would waste another day though..."

    The fatso muttered, "Eh... who cares... I am fine with it as long as the chief doesn''t give us a beating."

    "Come on then, let''s go back to that bluff," the runt grumbled towards them.

    The fatso nodded and Calubo joined them without any protest. Making them think that he had completely accepted his current situation would only help him in the future if he did find a way to escape without the stonecutters getting any retribution for it.

    Finally, they started walking back and reached the top of the bluff and lied down at the edge to keep watch on the road, while still keeping themselves hidden. They might as well get some rest. It was going to be a long wait anyway.

 88. Difficult Questions

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall with his arms splayed over the armchair.

    The caravan must be in Cinran today, he realized. Hopefully they would be able to buy everything they wanted, without any problems on the way.

    Today was also the first day he had joined Hudan and other guards in doing some running around the walls of the manor. He had also done other physical exercises, including some squats, push-ups, and short sprints, and he was feeling the full effects of that now. Not being accustomed to anything like that, especially in this thoroughly sedentary noble''s body, he felt completely exhausted right now. He might not have enough time to become as fit as the guards, but he still wanted to do something to get rid of his potbelly. Hopefully, he would soon be able to get to the level of fitness he wanted.

    At the moment, there was nobody else in the manor hall other than Lucem and Clarisa playing some word games on the long dining table, while he was the only one sitting near the fire. Looking at them, he couldn''t help but smile. With the financial troubles that Madam Helga had while running her inn, mostly because of a shortage of travelers due to the threat of bandits on that road, Lucem had barely been getting enough to eat at that inn. But at least here he got three full meals a day, like all adolescents his age should.

    The same went for Clarisa as well. By now, she seemed to have gotten over the horrifying experience of being poisoned, and appeared to be quite cheerful these days, especially since she had gotten a playmate in Lucem, who was maybe only a year older than her. Since that poisoning attempt, she had been spending most of her time here with Lucem and Syryne instead of working in the servants hall. However, Madam Nerida, who was always a stickler for rules, hadn''t liked her spending so much time playing instead of working, saying that Clarisa was still a maid of the manor after all. She had even complained to him a few days ago about it, to order Clarisa to work with the other maids in the kitchen in the servants'' hall.

    But he had immediately denied her. Clarisa had only been poisoned because he had arrived here, and such an experience could easily scar a person for life - especially someone as young as her. He considered himself responsible for that happening to her, so he felt a duty to make sure that she was still okay.

    When Madam Nerida had protested again about unfair treatment - since other maids had to work more because Clarisa didn''t work there, he had finally relented and said that since Madam Helga still had to make food for half a dozen people here in the kitchen of the manor house itself, she needed some help as well. So he had asked Madam Helga to let Clarisa work in the kitchen here, and she had immediately accepted, since she had also taken a liking to the young girl. That had satisfied Madam Nerida as well, and since then Clarisa had been helping Madam Helga in the kitchen here, even though she still lived with the other maids in the servant hall.

    Later on, he had asked Duvas about why Clarisa had been hired as a maid at all, especially since she was still so young. Duvas had told him that Clarisa was actually the daughter of a coal miner who used to live in the village here. However, a few years ago, her father died of a fever in a particularly harsh winter, and Clarisa had become an orphan with nobody to look after her. Duvas had told him that Clarisa must have been around eight years old at that time.

    However, when Duvas had found out about it, he had asked Madam Nerida to take Clarisa in, and to let her live with the other maids in the manor. Madam Nerida had immediately protested that they couldn''t afford to feed someone else, especially someone who wouldn''t even work for their meals. After some discussion they had come to the agreement that Clarisa would be hired as a new maid - even though she was so young at that time. The previous Baron had easily allowed that - he was getting another servant for free after all, since he usually had to buy new slaves from Cinran for that.

    Kivamus scoffed. That miserly bastard. If he had provided enough coal to the villagers in the past, Clarisa wouldn''t have become an orphan in the first place! Shaking his head slowly, he looked at Lucem and Clarisa, who were still playing that word game, ignorant of anything else going on in the world. He smiled sadly. He certainly couldn''t bring back her parents, but the least he could do was to make sure that she was taken care of.

    And now, Clarisa had started to do some simple work in the kitchen of the manor house, which had also eased the burden on Madam Helga and Syryne.

    For a while, he just gazed at the burning fire, while thinking odd thoughts. This wasn''t an easy world to survive in, and Clarisa becoming an orphan at such a young age was only one example of that. He certainly couldn''t do anything to help everyone in this world, or even in the kingdom. But he would certainly make sure that everyone in this village - his village - had enough food to eat and a roof over their head, with sufficient coal to keep their homes warm.

    *******

    After some time, Gorsazo entered the manor hall with an uncertain expression on his face.

    "My Lord, we need to talk," Gorsazo said in a low voice, making sure that the kids didn''t hear him. "It''s important."

    "Sure. What is it?" Kivamus asked.

    Gorsazo hesitated for a moment, and looked at the kids sitting nearby. "It''s better if we talk alone."

    Kivamus was a little confused now. Usually those two kids were sitting there most of the time while playing one thing or another, while Syryne kept an eye on them. However, Gorsazo had never requested to send them outside before. What was so sensitive that they wouldn''t let others hear about it? Giving a nod, he called out to the kids, "Hey, Lucem! Clarisa! Why don''t you both go and help madam Helga with the lunch? Who knows, maybe she will let you both taste the lunch in advance!" Lucem was always hungry these days, so that should do the trick of sending them away without making him curious enough that he stood to listen to their conversation from outside the door. It certainly wouldn''t be the first time that had happened. If Gorsazo thought that the coming conversation was delicate enough that he didn''t want any other listeners nearby, then so be it.

    Lucem looked surprised for a moment at the unusual request, but on the mention of food, he grinned. "As you wish, milord. I was getting hungry anyway!" Getting up from their seats, he and Clarisa went running through an inner door towards the kitchen.

    "Hey! Close the door before you leave!" he called out after them but they had already run away.

    Gorsazo just sighed and walked towards that door and pulled it close carefully, locking it from inside, and then he checked that the outer door was locked as well. The windows were also closed at this time of the day to keep the hall warm. Finally, he slowly walked back towards the fireplace, and sat on an armchair next to him. While Kivamus kept waiting for him to speak, Gorsazo seemed to be lost in thought, and kept gazing at the fire for a while.

    "What is it, Gorsazo?" Kivamus asked when his long-time teacher and mentor hadn''t spoken anything for a few minutes. "You can talk to me, you know. Whatever the problem is, we can find a solution."

    Gorsazo sighed, and after a while, he started speaking while still looking at the fire. "Something has been bothering me for a while, my lord. Initially, I wasn''t sure and thought it was only in my head, but at this point, I don''t have any doubts about it, not anymore."

    "What are you even talking about?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    Finally, Gorsazo looked directly at him. "Your behavior has been completely different since that day when you stopped your binge drinking while we were traveling from Ulriga to Tiranat. Again and again, you kept doing something, or saying something which didn''t match with the behavior of the boy I have known since he was a toddler. Every time I kept explaining to myself that such a thing wasn''t even possible, but again and again, you kept doing things which were completely different from what I would have expected from you in the past. It wasn''t just the mention of previously unheard things. Your whole behavior has been different from what I would have expected." He shook his head slowly. "Your behavior is not even like a noble in so many ways, and it is certainly unlike the Kivamus I''ve known since his childhood."

    At this point, Kivamus realized what his childhood teacher was talking about. But instead of saying anything in reply, he kept listening. He had no idea what to say to that in the first place.

    Gorsazo continued. "Most of the unfamiliar things you have told everyone, could still be explained away as the obscure knowledge of a well-educated noble. And if it was anyone else other than me, they probably wouldn''t even have questioned it. But I have known you for nearly as long as you have been alive. So you can''t fool me, not anymore."

    Kivamus gave a nervous smile. "What do you even mean, Gorsazo? I''m not trying to fool you, or anyone else for that matter..."

    Gorsazo tilted his head. "When you mentioned that metric system for the first time, while you were telling us about those longhouses, that''s when I started to have serious doubts about you. I do realize that there is a restricted section of the library in Ulriga palace, which only the family of the Duke has access to, but even then, I have lived there for long enough that I do have an idea about what kind of books are kept there. Nearly all of them are about the ancestors of the current duke. Some of those books have a list of the birth records of those who have been born in his line, while others tell about the exploits of his ancestors - mainly about the battles they won, and in some cases, about the skirmishes they lost against Binpaaz for control of those damned Tolasi Hills!"

    Gorsazo was starting to look quite angry now, as he continued, while still looking at him carefully. "Again, it is possible that there are a few other books there explaining some of the things you have mentioned in the recent past - I haven''t even been to that section after all, but I do know that that section of the library is quite small and has barely two dozen books. So it is just not possible that there are enough books there to contain so many completely unheard fields of studies in them!" He continued with outrage, "You might have spent more time in the library than me, but you couldn''t possibly have learnt so many things which I haven''t even heard of previously! Especially if there aren''t enough books in that section of the library in the first place!" sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo''s eyes burned with anger, as he spoke with his fists clenched, "I am also a very well educated person, damn it! And it wasn''t like you mentioned just a single unfamiliar topic - somehow you seem to have a whole host of such things in your mind! That so-called metric measurement, the seed drill you mentioned a while ago, the concept of longhouses and many other such things were so extraordinary that even if I didn''t know about them in detail, I would have at least known about their existence!"

    He glared at him. "And yet, I''ve never even heard about them! So the only possibility that is left is that those books you mentioned in that restricted section of the library - which supposedly contain all that obscure knowledge - they don''t exist in the first place! And that means, you have been lying about them and who knows what else from that very day you stopped trying to drink yourself to death!"

    Kivamus didn''t know what he could say at this point to explain away everything. His mind felt completely blank, even though he kept trying to think of another excuse. He had been weaving a web of lies since his arrival in this world... He had kept giving fabricated excuses about how he had the knowledge of such extraordinary things - things which were completely unheard of in this place, but he didn''t know that it would all come crashing down so soon... In a single conversation, his childhood mentor had unraveled every last thread of that web, one after another, until he knew there was no possible way he could still claim that he was the original Kivamus.

    He had no idea how this conversation would end, and whether he would still be the Baron of Tiranat come tomorrow morning. He didn''t know what was done to those people in this world who were accused of experimenting with black magic or witchcraft - because that might be the only explanation for his knowledge that would make sense to the people here. He certainly hoped the punishment for it was not like that in medieval earth, where they burned such people alive, although that might be too much to hope for at this point, since all his lies had been proven to be exactly that - lies. He just kept listening as Gorsazo delivered one punch after another, while continuously trying and failing to keep his mind calm.

    Finally, Gorsazo pointed directly at him. "That means you certainly are not the Kivamus that I have known for the past two decades. So the only question that remains is that if you are not Kivamus Ralokaar, then who are you?"

 89. Confession

    Kivamus knew that at this point he couldn''t just bluff his way anymore. At least there was the consolation that Gorsazo had come to him to talk about this privately, instead of directly gathering the villagers to burn him at a stake or something.He sighed, and making sure that the doors were still closed, he took a deep breath and continued, "I knew that you were the only one who could have guessed that. But, I don''t want to lie anymore, not to you. But I am indeed Kivamus, the same person you have always known."

    Seeing that Gorsazo was going to interrupt him, he put up a hand to stop him from speaking. He pulled up his tunic, and pointed at a scar on his left bicep. "I remember when you bandaged my arm after my brothers pushed me into a thorny shrub in the palace. I still have that scar as you can see. I also remember when my brothers locked me and my sister in a small storage room in the palace, and you were the one to find us, while both of us were crying. I still remember all the times my brothers have made fun of me, or tormented me. I am the same Kivamus as you have always known!" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo frowned, and looked at his face carefully for a while, as if searching for something in his eyes. "It is true that only you could have known about those things, since there was no one else nearby when those things happened. But what about those unfamiliar things you mentioned, like the seed drill, the metric measurements and other such extraordinary things? I am still completely sure that those books do not exist in the library."

    He gave a deep sigh while gazing at the fire. "But you also reminded me of those incidents which I had nearly forgotten - things which no one else could have known. And yet..." He looked back at Kivamus. "I don''t know what to believe anymore... But you still do not seem like the person I have known for nearly two decades."

    Kivamus gave a sigh with a sad smile. "You are not wrong, Gorsazo, but I am still speaking the truth. I don''t know how to explain it."

    Gorsazo gazed at him for a moment, before he said, "Try me!"

    Kivamus replied, "You said that you know me better than anyone else here - which is true. But that also means that I know you very well as well. You are the only person that I can genuinely trust in this place, especially when people have already tried to kill me twice. I have known you for long enough to be completely sure that you had nothing to do with the assassination attempts. Not to mention, you even tried to shield me with your own body when those mercenaries had attacked us at Helga''s inn." He added in a low voice, "But I am worried that you will not believe me even if I did try to explain... I just don''t want to say too much and lose you."

    Gorsazo snorted. "I have brought you up since you were a toddler. After your mother died, it can even be said that I was the one who raised you. Even though I might not be related to you by blood, you know that I have always treated you as my own son. Why do you think I came with you to this village from Ulriga, when only you were ordered to leave? So tell me, is it possible that a parent would ever abandon his child?"

    Before Kivamus could say anything in reply, Gorsazo added, "I do realize that it was your father, the Duke, who exiled you here, but we both know that he hasn''t really been running the duchy for many years now. Everyone knows that his health has been declining for the past few years. In light of that, whether it was Sarzolus or Tarilus who came up with the bright idea to banish their youngest brother far away from Ulriga, we might never know. Apart from your sister, none of them have ever really treated you like family anyway. But I have raised you like my own son!"

    He continued with a smile, "Trust me, even if you have grown up now, I am here for you and I am not going anywhere. I know that at least one person is trying to kill you, but I would give my life to protect you before I let any harm come to you. But you have to tell me something, dammit! Everything you have done in the past few weeks doesn''t make any sense at all! I am going insane just trying to think of an explanation!"

    "Alright then, so be it," Kivamus muttered. "And I am trusting you that you will not let another soul know about what I am going to say." Seeing Gorsazo nod in reply, he added, "Like I have said many times, I am Kivamus - the same person that you have known for so long, and that''s completely true. However, I also have memories of living a life as another person in another world, named Steven."

    Gorsazo looked confused. "I don''t understand. What do you even mean by that? How can anyone be two people?"

    "I remember two lives," he tried to explain, "one of Kivamus, and one of Steven. I have no idea how such a thing is possible any more than you do, and yet, that''s how it is. I remember drinking too much that night on the road we were coming here hoping I''d never wake up because I had been sent to a no-name village by my father, while my brothers were going to be the Duke and the Commander of Fort Aragosa. And yet, I also remember celebrating with my friends on the planet called Earth after I had gotten a promotion in my job. And then I woke up the next day here in that carriage, as Kivamus, with the memories of both of them. As implausible as it might seem, that''s the simple and complete truth." He gave a shrug. "Maybe it''s as the villagers say, that the Goddess sent me here to help them, or maybe it was aliens doing weird shit, I have no idea..."

    "Aliens?" Gorsazo asked with a frown. "What is that?"

    "It''s a word on Earth - which means living beings from another world," Kivamus replied. "The point is, I have no better explanation about how I have memories of two people in my head, any more than you do. I don''t know if I am Kivamus, or if I am Steven. Or maybe, I am both of them. I have no idea..."

    Gorsazo didn''t say anything for a while. He seemed to be lost in thought after the unexpected revelations. Finally, he asked, "Tell me about that place, the one you mentioned earlier - Earth."

    "It was a wonderful place," Kivamus began. "Truthfully," he snorted, "I never thought so while I lived there, but now that I am here in a medieval world, I realize how wonderful that place was compared to Reslinor." He continued, "That world where Steven lived his life was completely different from this place. We had huge machines there - called trains - which we used to transport people and other things at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, or hundreds of miles per hour in the local measurements."

    Seeing Gorsazo''s eyebrows shooting up in astonishment, he added with a laugh, "We also had highly advanced machines called airplanes there - which flew in the air, and transported people thousands of kilometers in a single day. We had rockets, which had taken people to space - which means outside the planet and its atmosphere, tens of thousands of kilometers above the ground. We even managed to take people in one such rocket to the moon itself - which was hundreds of thousands of kilometers above the ground." He snorted, "Or so they claimed."

    Shaking his head, he continued, "We had very advanced machines there - called computers, that stored more information than all the libraries combined in all this world in something which was only a few feet big. We had things called phones and the internet, which allowed people to talk to someone on the other side of the planet in real time. There were so, so many things and advanced technologies there...", he said wistfully, his eyes getting wet with an intense yearning for his lifelong friends, his parents, and the familiarity of his past life. He had knowingly made himself busy with trying to manage everything in the past few weeks so that he wouldn''t have to think about London. He never had anyone else in this world with whom he could talk about it anyway. But finally being able to talk about his life on Earth with someone had opened the floodgates of memories.

    He added after a moment, blinking repeatedly, "Most of those things are not feasible here, not yet anyway, but I was a very well educated person on that planet. So I do remember the concept of how a lot of such things worked. And now that I am here, I believe the villagers to be my people, and I want to do everything to help them by using the ideas and technologies from that world. That''s how I know about those concepts - about the metric measurements, the seed drills and so on."

    He continued, "So, yes, I am Steven! But I am also Kivamus! In this world, I miss my sister Astela, as much as I dislike both my brothers, and yet I also miss my parents and friends from Earth..." At this point he was crying openly. "I really want to return back to Earth... I really, really want to... even if I have no idea if such a thing is even possible. And yet, I do not want to leave the villagers in Tiranat to starve at the whims of the nobles - not when there is so much I can do to help them!"

    Gorsazo looked at him carefully but didn''t say anything for a while. Finally, he gave a small smile and said, "Come here," and leaned towards him to hug him, while patting his back slowly. "I have no idea how any of those things you mentioned are possible. It seems incredible that you could talk to a person on the other side of the world! Or that humans could fly! And yet, I believe that everything you have told me is the truth in your own opinion. I have known you for long enough that I would have found out immediately if you were trying to make things up, even though that''s exactly what it seemed like for a moment." He added, "I still don''t know if any of those things are really possible or not, but I am convinced that you completely believe in all those fantastical things you told me."

    As Kivamus sat up straight again, and wiped his eyes with his sleeves, Gorsazo continued, "For a while I thought that there was a small possibility that you had gone completely insane, or maybe some cult-sorcerer had put a hex on you and taken over your mind! But what had reassured me, and prevented me from raising this topic with you earlier, was the time a few weeks ago when you said that you would use your own savings to buy food for the villagers. As different as you have always been from your brothers, you would have never done that earlier." He laughed. "Knowing you, you would either have drunk it away, or saved those coins as a miser - like most nobles like to do. I do know that the Duke barely gave you any allowance after all, especially compared to what your brothers got."

    Kivamus gave a laugh in reply as well, remembering the drinking habits of the original Kivamus, as well as his tendency to save what little money he had. Well, little money for a noble - it was still a fortune for any commoner.

    Gorsazo continued, "But after seeing that you were willing to do that much - that you were willing to use your carefully saved coins for the villagers - people who were commoners, not even nobles - people whom you had never even met before, I felt reassured that whatever had happened to you, whether it was a cult-sorcerer putting a hex on you, or something else, it was certainly a change for the better. That''s why I didn''t say anything before today."

    Saying that Kivamus still had tears in his eyes, Gorsazo patted his back again and said, "Don''t cry now. Even if you have the memories of someone from another world, you are still the Kivamus I have raised for nearly all your life. We will find a way to get through this. And I will have your back, as always! Even though I have no idea how you got those memories, I know that we can''t let anyone else know about it, so don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone else about it."

    Once Kivamus had calmed down, he wiped his eyes again and asked, "Do sorcerers really exist in this world? Can they do magic, or things like shooting fire or making ice from their hands?"

    Gorsazo looked at him for a moment in surprise and then burst into laughter. "Of course not! Where did you even get such an absurd idea? Those so-called sorcerers are charlatans and swindlers who prey on the gullible. There is no such thing as magic in this world!" And then he continued laughing loudly for a while.

    Kivamus didn''t know what the future held for him and if there would be more people trying to assassinate him or if he would even survive a full year in this world, but for now, he would have to be satisfied by the fact that at least he wasn''t going to be burned at the stakes anytime soon. He just shook his head slowly after the mentally exhausting conversation, and joined freely in that laughter, relieved that it had gone much better than he could have hoped for.

 90. Surveillance

    ~ Calubo ~~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    They had been waiting on that bluff for more than a day by now but there was still no sight of any caravan coming or going on the road. The weather kept getting colder but they couldn''t even light a fire here since it could be seen from far away in the darkness. He cursed Nokozal for kidnapping him, he cursed the weather for being so cold, and he cursed the runt and the fatso for keeping him here. He cursed his inability to run away, because of the consequences it would lead to for Hyola and others at the quarry. He even started to curse himself for starting to care about her, but then stopped himself. Even before he had been captured by the bandits, his life hadn''t been easy back in Tiranat, and meeting her had been a beacon of hope for him in his dreary life. And yet, he couldn''t stop blaming Nokozal for everything. Damn it all!

    It was late evening, and it was starting to get a little dark now. All of them had been lying at the top of the bluff, with just the top of their heads visible from outside while keeping an eye on the desolate road. It was hardly a road though. Maybe calling it a path going through the forest would be more accurate. All it had was a track of flattened grass.

    "Do you think there is a caravan coming at all?" The runt asked the fatso while scratching his back.

    "Hell if I know," the fatso shrugged, as he turned a little to get more comfortable at the top of the bluff. "I can''t just wish for a caravan to appear out of nowhere."

    "Still, we haven''t seen even a single rider coming or going from here," the runt replied. "At this rate we would have to return empty handed, and I don''t want to be the one to give bad news to the chief." He turned his head towards Calubo. "Hey, you have been far too quiet. What do you think? Is a caravan coming any time soon?"

    "How the hell would I know!" Calubo retorted. "You know that I haven''t left the quarry for weeks now." He pointed at one of his hands which was still tied with a rope connected to a hand of the fatso. "It''s not like I can go to the village to get any information."

    "But you must still know something!" the runt asked again, his breath visible in front of him in the cold.

    Calubo shrugged. "Like I told Nokozal the last time he asked, I don''t think the village has any coin left at all after that raid from uh... Torhan''s group." He added, "If they still had any coin... I''d say they would be able to send a single rider at most, not a full caravan."

    The runt squinted at him for a moment. "You don''t seem to be lying, but that''s a whole village. They have to have something left. Hmm... I still think..."

    Suddenly the fatso hissed, "Shut up, both of you! I see something."

    "What? Where?" The runt asked in a low voice.

    The fatso pointed towards the north. "There!" he whispered. "It is getting dark now, but there is still enough light to see it."

    "I don''t see anything..." the runt squinted as he looked towards the north, while Calubo did the same.

    "Just stay quiet and keep watching," the fatso rebuked him. "We don''t want them to get even a hint that we are here." After the runt nodded, the fatso looked at Calubo. "You! Don''t you even think about shouting for help, or you know what the chief will do to the stonecutters and that girl you fancy!"

    Calubo seethed inside but managed to hold his tongue somehow. Gritting his teeth, he gave a reluctant nod and they hunkered down further to keep an eye on the road without being visible from outside.

    Soon, Calubo saw it as well. At first it looked like a single wagon with two horses pulling it. But slowly as the wagon came closer, he saw another wagon behind it, and another behind that one and so on. Slowly the wagons kept coming closer, and he counted a total of eight wagons in the caravan! He was surprised that there was even a single wagon coming here, but a whole caravan? And a caravan this big at that? As he kept looking, he saw that all of the wagons had an oil cloth covering them, so he didn''t know what they were carrying, but knowing everything, that had to be grain - and a lot of it!

    "Damn!" the runt grunted. "That''s a really big loot!" He glared at Calubo. "So you were lying, after all!"

    "Shut up," Calubo retorted back. "I told you I''ve been out of the village for weeks now. How would I know anything about it?"

    "Be quiet, dammit!" The fatso said angrily. "Not one more word until they are far away!"

    As the wagons started to pass in front of them, their axles creaking on the otherwise silent road, he counted the wagon drivers - and there were a total of fourteen of them driving the eight wagons. No, they weren''t just drivers! Except a portly man, all of the rest of them had a sword with them. Some even had spears and bows! They looked like well trained guards, not just hired wagon drivers! The last he remembered, the manor barely had a dozen guards left at the time he had left to buy grain from Cinran. Where did that many guards even come from? S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Damn... Did the village really have that many trained guards with them?" the runt whispered.

    "Of course they did," Calubo replied with a faked grin. He had no idea how a dozen guards were out of the village to escort a caravan, since Mr Duvas couldn''t possibly have left the village undefended. Even so, he didn''t want to give any reason to these bastards to ambush the caravan.

    However, in the dying light of the recently set sun, he gazed at them carefully and slowly, he began to recognize some of them. There! Nurobo was there as well! He thanked the Goddess that he was still okay. And looking at his ever-bulging belly, it seemed that the manor wasn''t quite at the brink of starvation yet. There were also other guards of the manor whom he recognized easily. However, there were many others who weren''t guards at all! There was Tesyb, who was one of the young miners in the coal mines. He also recognized some others who were either miners or other common people from the village!

    He frowned. Why would those people be here pretending to be guards? None of them had any training at all, and wouldn''t last a minute in a fight with a bandit. However, as the runt cursed the presence of that many swordsmen in the caravan, he immediately realized that this was the exact reason those villagers were here dressed up as guards! It was a ruse to fool anyone who would want to ambush the caravan! They had even given leather armor and swords to those miners, even though they might not have held a sword in their lives ever before!

    He laughed inwardly with nervousness. He had no idea who had thought of something so audacious, something so... so reckless! He was just glad that these bandits had no idea if those were real guards or just pretenders. He would also have to do his best to talk up the defenses of the village - so that these bandits would give up on this plan to steal grain from the nearly starving villagers. It was bad enough that he couldn''t return back with any grain and lost the gold coins to the bandits. But he still had to try his best, so the bandits wouldn''t steal what little grain remained with the villagers.

    Even so, he didn''t think such a scheme could have been thought of by Mr Duvas. He wasn''t a person who''d ever do something so reckless. And with the previous baron already dead, there was nobody else in the manor to give orders to him anyway. So who had thought of this elaborate ruse? And where did they even get the coin to hire that many wagons and buy that much grain?

    Something must have changed in the village... He had no idea what it could be, but the village wouldn''t be the same now - not anymore. Especially since they had someone there who had the coin as well as the audacity to do something like this! Moreover, all this couldn''t have happened without the consent of Mr Duvas, and only the baron could give such orders to him. Did that mean Tiranat finally had a new Baron now...? It had to be! Who else could give such orders to Mr Duvas! He was getting very curious now. Was it someone from the court of Count Cinran?

    Seeing that the new baron was spending so much of his coin to buy food for the villagers, he couldn''t be a bad person, could he? This made him want to return back to the village even more! He smiled inwardly, making sure not to let his face show anything from outside. Let the bandits think that the caravan had a dozen swordsmen escorting it, and that the village had that many trained guards to send outside! Nokozal couldn''t possibly think of ambushing that caravan now, even though Calubo himself had no idea if the caravan would go back for another journey to Cinran.

    Slowly all the wagons moved ahead, and before long, they were out of their sights in the south.

    The runt sat up finally, and glared at him. "You knew that the village had this many guards didn''t you?"

    Calubo grinned. "Indeed, like I have been telling Nokozal so many times! But it''s not like any of you ever listened to me. It''s pointless to try to attack them."

    The fatso stared at him as well as he stood up, while pulling Calubo up as well using the rope. "I don''t believe you. I don''t think a small village would have that many guards. Did you even recognize anyone?"

    "Of course I did," Calubo replied with a grin. "There was Nurobo the archer, and Tesyb the expert swordsman." To make the village seem even stronger, he added, "I have trained with those guards for years, even though I could never actually defeat them."

    "Of course you couldn''t defeat them, you can''t fight for shit!" The runt snorted.

    Calubo shrugged and looked away. He could hardly have defeated any of the bandits when they were trying to beat him in a group after the time he had tried to run away, when he had his own hands tied and without any weapon in his hands. Give him a good sword, and he would easily take on Nokozal one on one! However, he chose to keep his mouth shut. There was no point in trying to claim that he could fight better. All it would do was to get him another similar beating.

    The fatso shook his head slowly. "I still don''t believe you. Nokozal said that the village couldn''t have that many guards."

    The runt added, "Doesn''t matter if they were guards of the village. Both of us saw that there were more than a dozen swordsmen guarding that caravan. They might very well be hired mercenaries, but in any case that village has a lot of men to defend themselves." He swore, "Damn it! I don''t want to be the one to give Nokozal the bad news."

    "But we still have to tell the chief about the caravan," the fatso said, and gestured at Calubo. "It''s not like we can send him with the horse."

    "I have to be the one to ride back, don''t I?" The runt muttered. He looked up and down at the fatso. "The horse would die if you rode it that far anyway."

    The fatso snorted. "Off you go, then. I will keep an eye on Calubo here." He scowled, "Don''t know why Nokozal even sent him with us. He is a deadweight at best."

    Calubo frowned, but kept his mouth shut.

    The fatso continued while looking at the runt, "Try to ride fast. The earlier you report, the sooner the chief can decide what to do. We can''t be sure if the caravan would go for another journey - especially since it seems like it would snow soon here, but if the village had enough coin to buy that much grain and hire so many wagons, they might just have the coin for another trip. Still, even though I don''t think the chief would want to ambush this caravan anymore, it is not our call. We have to give him the news as soon as we can, or it''s our hides on the line."

    The runt gave a reluctant nod, and moved to untie the horse which had been grazing on some grass nearby.

    Soon, Calubo watched him ride away, as he returned back towards the top of the bluff along with the fatso. He didn''t know what the future held for him, but at least those in the manor and other villagers wouldn''t starve now, with that much grain going to Tiranat.

    He just wished that he was back in his village, instead of with these damned bandits. He gazed at the fatso with the corner of his eyes. Could he...?

 91. Status

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    In the morning, Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall near the fireplace, after they were done with their breakfast. It was a simple meal of fresh bread, a couple of eggs along with some cheese that Madam Nerida had made a while ago from the small amount of milk that they got from the two cows remaining in the manor, and yet it felt quite fulfilling in the current times.

    "That was nice..." Hudan breathed. "Thank you for regularly including us in the meals as well, my lord. It has been awhile since I ate good food like that."

    Kivamus waved him away. "Think nothing of it. We still can''t afford to feed eggs and cheese to everyone in the manor after all. We have a lot of work left to do."

    Since he had started training with the guards for the past three days - even though it was only for a short duration, he was starting to feel the effects of it, and his whole body was still aching. He couldn''t possibly keep up with other guards or Hudan, but at least he had started trying to become more fit.

    Looking at Gorsazo he smiled internally. His conversation with him two days ago had gone much better than he had expected, and even though Gorsazo knew a lot about him by now - including how he had the knowledge of such unheard-of things - he had seemed fine after it, unlike how distant he had seemed before that conversation.

    As Syryne started to pick up their wooden plates, he asked, "Any luck with trying to preserve Losuvil leaves after plucking them from that vine?"

    "Not yet, my Lord," she answered. "I have been trying every day, but without access to more Losuvil leaves for experimenting on them, it would be difficult anyway. That vine we had found only had a few leaves left anyway, and I already used half of them. Unless we find more Losuvil vines, that is our only source, so I have left the remaining leaves there."

    Kivamus nodded. "I''ll see what can be done about that soon. We do need to locate more sources of Losuvil vines." S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That will help a lot," she said, before taking the plates to the kitchen of the manor house.

    Duvas began, "It has been around a week since the caravan has been out. If everything goes well, they should return by this evening."

    Gorsazo nodded. "Looking at the weather outside, it doesn''t seem like we would be able to send the caravan for a third trip."

    "Seems like it," Hudan said. "Although I did see the sun peeking from behind clouds early in the morning today, even though we haven''t seen the sun for nearly a week now. Eh... doesn''t really mean anything, since the clouds covered the sky completely soon after that."

    "What is the progress with the work in the north?" Kivamus asked.

    Duvas replied, "Yeden had reported in the evening yesterday that all the trenches in the village have been dug completely by now. That includes those for the walls, and for the foundations for the three longhouse blocks. It was a good idea to do that for three of them, since it gives us the option to continue the construction even in the winter."

    Kivamus nodded. "What about the trenches for the drains in the north of the village?"

    "Those too have been completed," Duvas said. "Yeden has dug the drains around the location of the three longhouse blocks, and then he has connected them to a bigger drain which passes from the west of the village to the southern area. Of course, since the pond still hasn''t been dug, that drain ends abruptly in the South for now. But Pinoto should be starting the digging of that pond soon.

    "That''s good to hear." Kivamus asked, "What about the village walls? What is their progress?"

    Hudan replied this time. "Since all the trenches have been dug by yesterday, Yeden has told me that he will put some workers to start cutting the logs into stakes of twenty feet length from today. I have also told him to put a few workers to sharpen one end of those logs, so that those stakes will be pointed at the top end before we start to put them into the trenches to make the walls." He added, "Also, unlike the logs we are using in the walls of the longhouses, we are not removing the bark from the stakes for the village walls, so that will save some time as well."

    "That''s true." Thinking about the cold weather, Kivamus said to the majordomo, "Although we have provided enough braziers to the workers by now, you should tell them to build a temporary shed in the northern area where they are working and also in the south. They can put a brazier inside that, so that the workers can occasionally go and sit inside it to warm up their bodies." He added after a moment, "You know what, make that shed a little bigger in the northern area, so that Taniok doesn''t have to work in the open. He is the only carpenter we have, and cutting logs into planks can be done just as well inside those sheds."

    Duvas gave a nod. "I''ll let them know, my Lord. Putting up such a temporary shed doesn''t take long. The workers can put it up in a few hours. However, Taniok has now started overseeing the workers to build the walls of the longhouse, so he has stopped cutting more planks for now."

    "Oh! It''s good to know that he has already started the walls." Kivamus added, "Even so, he will still need to cut more planks for the other things like the door, the bunks and the roof. So it will still be a good idea to provide a shed for him to work inside."

    Duvas replied, "He does have a good stack of planks by now to use in the first longhouse block. But you are right, he will still have to continue cutting more planks at some point. I will let the workers know to make the northern shed bigger."

    "Good," Kivamus commended.

    Talking with Syryne earlier about the Losuvil vines had reminded him about something else. He said, "While the guards would have to go deeper into the eastern hills to see if there are more Losuvil vines found there, I would like to take a look in that area today, at least till the coal mines, to see what the condition of flooding is inside them, as well as to the stream. I also need to know what is the slope of the ground from that stream to the area where we will build the pond - to see how feasible it is to transfer water between them."

    "That will need me to bring along half a dozen guards at least," Hudan replied. "Unlike when we visited to the north of the village, which were still very close to the village, we would have to go much further to visit the stream and the coal mines, so I will have to take more guards this time. But we already have a shortage of guards in the manor and if we take half a dozen guards for that visit - which will take a few hours at least, then it will only leave five or six guards to defend the manor as well as the whole village during that time. That is way too risky."

    "Hmm... It does make sense," Kivamus said.

    Hudan nodded. "I think it''s a better idea to wait until the caravan has returned from its second trip. After that, we will have more than enough guards to spare a few for that visit. By that time, I will also have trained them even more, so that in case of an attack - even if by a wild beast, they wouldn''t just run away at the first sign of danger, leaving you alone."

    "Okay. Let''s postpone it for now." Kivamus added, "But in that case, I still want to visit the northern area today."

    "That is doable," Hudan replied while standing up. "Just give me a moment to gather a few guards to accompany us, and I will meet you at the gates of the manor."

    "Alright then." Kivamus stood up as well. "Gorsazo you should come along as well, Duvas can stay back in the manor to keep an eye on everything here."

    With a nod, Gorsazo got up as well and they left the manor house. Coming outside, Kivamus looked at the sky, but it was very cloudy again. It seemed that the slight clearing of the sky earlier in the morning was only a blip. He sighed. There was nothing they could do about it.

    Reaching the gates of the manor, he saw that the guards on gate duty stood even straighter when they saw him coming there. He waited for a while, and soon Hudan returned with a few guards and they left for the north of the village. While walking there he remembered that the conditions of most of the houses were not good enough to keep the people inside safe from the freezing weather. It was a good idea to dig the foundations for more longhouse blocks, since it would allow them to shift most of the villagers into them - not just those who were homeless, which would be much warmer for them than these shabby houses.

    Soon they reached the northern area where a lot of work was in progress. The first thing he realized was that the trees had been cleared for quite some distance now. Although, to be fair, the cleared area was only around a hundred meters at most, and that too only for a small width of land - but it still felt good to see even that much progress. Without access to any modern machines, it would take quite a while until they could clear the planned five hundred meters of area all around the village, not to mention the land needed for the farms in the south, which had to be located ahead of that cleared land. He could also see that the trenches for the three longhouse blocks had been completed by now.

    Looking at the location of the first longhouse block, he saw that the wall on one side of it was already in the process of being constructed using the unbarked logs. The workers were using a long and sturdy rope thrown around a horizontal branch of a tree which was still standing in the area which would become the courtyard of the block in the future, as a leverage to lift the logs into place. A couple of horses were also standing there to help the workers in that. It was a slow process, but finally the actual construction of the longhouse block had started.

    When Taniok, who was overseeing that process, realized that he was there, he told the workers to continue working in the same way, and walked towards him.

    When Kivamus looked closely at that tree - which was completely devoid of any leaves by now, he noticed that it looked different from the common fedarus trees here. For one thing, it wasn''t nearly that tall, and it had more horizontal branches than were common on the fedarus trees. Its bark also looked a little different from them. As the carpenter reached closer, he asked, "Which tree is that? It doesn''t look like a fedarus tree to me."

 92. Bilona Nuts

    Hudan gave a shrug. "I''m not completely sure. But now that I notice it, it does look a little different to me as well.""Oh, that''s a Bilona tree," Taniok answered as he reached there. "It is one of the few fruit trees found near the village. You surely must have eaten bilona nuts in the past, my Lord?"

    "So that''s what it was!" Hudan exclaimed. "I knew it looked a little familiar."

    Searching his memories for it, Kivamus realized that he, or at least the original Kivamus had indeed eaten them in the past. It was a delicacy for the nobles - who liked to snack on them while they drank their precious wines. It was kind of similar to cashew nuts in taste - though it was curved on only one side and was brownish in color. "I do remember eating the nuts, but I didn''t know what their trees looked like." Pointing at the empty branches of the tree, he asked, "But I don''t see any fruits on the tree right now."

    "Oh, it gives fruits in the summer," Taniok replied. "They sell for quite a lot of money too, so in the summers, some of the younger villagers usually went into the forests - not too deep of course, and brought those nuts to sell to the manor to the previous Baron or any visiting merchants."

    He continued, "When I realized that the longhouses were going to be built in this area, I made sure to tell the workers not to cut this tree, even though it is quite close to one of the inner walls of the block." Taniok added while moving his hand over his balding head, "I hope that was okay, my Lord..."

    "Of course, it''s fine," Kivamus reassured him. "It seems like you needed a tree in the middle of the block anyway for help in putting up the walls."

    "That''s true enough," Taniok replied with a satisfied smile. "Since bilona trees have many branches, their wide leaves give good shade in the summer as well. That was another reason to keep a tree in the middle of the longhouse blocks. I have thought of keeping a tree in the middle of the other blocks as well, wherever it is feasible."

    "That''s a good idea." Kivamus asked, "But are there other bilona trees nearby?"

    "Not here in the north," Taniok replied. "I''m not completely sure about it, but I think there are another few in the west of the village."

    Kivamus nodded. "Tell Yeden to make sure that they are not cut at any cost. If something gives us food in this place - no matter how small in quantity, we need to take good care of that source."

    "I''ll let Yeden know about it," Taniok agreed. Pointing at the first longhouse block, he said, "Now that we are using the logs as the walls instead of planks, these buildings will be made much faster." He added, "Looking at the current weather there is no way we can finish even the first longhouse block before the snow starts falling, but that decision will still save a lot of time."

    "That is true." Kivamus added, "While there is still some time before the walls and roof are completed, I want to remind you that you have to make a wooden floor with planks as well, since it would get quite cold on the ground otherwise."

    "I remember that, my Lord," Taniok replied.

    "What about heating the longhouse blocks?" Hudan asked. "Shouldn''t we also plan for a stone fireplace inside them?"

    "No, no, there is no need for that," Kivamus immediately said. "We simply don''t have the time to make a permanent stone fireplace inside them - especially since these longhouses will only last a few years at most. These walls are not being made from seasoned wood after all." He continued, "But when the first longhouse is close to completion, I will ask the blacksmith to make a few new braziers for use here."

    Taniok looked surprised. "I can''t deny that those will work well enough, but can you even spare that much iron, milord? Usually the previous baron even prohibited me to use any iron nails in any houses of the villagers outside the manor. But do you really want to provide so many iron braziers to the villagers? We will need at least five or six to heat each longhouse block properly, or nearly twenty braziers for all three of them - whenever we are able to complete them."

    "Don''t worry about that," Kivamus reassured him. "We were able to buy a decent stock of iron ingots from Cinran, since the demand for non-essential goods has fallen quite a bit there because of the high grain prices. That includes iron ingots. So I''ve told Pydaso to buy more of it on the second trip. It still doesn''t come cheap, but it was a very good deal so I have decided to stock up on a good amount of iron ingots for use later. There wouldn''t be any problem in making more braziers."

    "I understand that, my lord," Taniok said. "But that''s not what I meant. Whether the price is a little lower or higher, you can certainly afford it. You are the baron of the village after all. I know that you have already provided a few braziers for use here and in the marketplace, and I am very thankful for it. But do you really want to spend so much iron for the villagers?"

    It was only now that Kivamus realized that the carpenter wasn''t really surprised about how he was able to get so much iron. Taniok seemed more surprised that the baron would do something like that for the villagers. He shook his head in exasperation. The previous baron had certainly set very low standards of administration and for taking care of his people, when the villagers seemed surprised that he would do everything that was possible to prevent his people from freezing to death in the winter.

    He replied, "You don''t have to worry about that, Taniok. Like I have said in the past, I will do everything in my power to make sure that nobody freezes or starves to death in this village ever again. And I do mean that." He continued, "You just do your best in all the construction work you are given. Leave any worries about procurement of raw materials and their costs to me. I will take care of all that."

    Gorsazo gave a knowing smile on hearing that.

    "As you wish, my Lord," Taniok said with a genuine smile. "And I have to thank you again for taking care of the villagers so well. It is just surprising for us commoners to be treated like actual human beings."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "I have certainly seen how nobles like to believe that they are above people of low birth." He scoffed, thinking about how someone - very likely a noble - was trying to murder him for a while now. He muttered... "Like they would be better than even a street thug if they behave like that."

    "Uh... what?" Taniok asked. "I couldn''t hear you, milord."

    "It''s nothing, forget about it." Kivamus continued, "We have already talked about the design and the dimensions of the inner part of the longhouse block, including for the communal kitchen and the storage room. I can also see that the walls of the longhouse will be quite strong with those logs as the walls. However, I also want to make sure that the gate is also strong enough. So when you are making that gate, make sure to consult with Hudan so that he can tell you more about the design of the gate - to make sure that it can withstand some force from outside."

    Taniok nodded. "I was thinking about making the gates just from some leftover planks - since the gate wouldn''t affect the heating of the inner area of longhouses, but I will do as you say."

    Hudan said, "Don''t worry about it, my Lord. I will make sure that the gate is built strong enough." He added, "However, one thing that I wanted to add in the design is that I would prefer there to be another gate in each longhouse block - preferably on the opposite side of the main gate. It''s fine even if the second gate is a small one, but I just want there to be another way out on the other side of the blocks, so that people have an option to exit from there as well - just in case there is a fire here - either due to any bandits who are attacking the main gate, or even from an accident in the kitchen."

    "That''s... a very good idea," Kivamus said with a nod. He looked at the carpenter. "Okay, then. You have to add a second gate into each longhouse block as well. It wouldn''t change much in the design - since those gates can be just around a meter wide - enough to allow people to exit from there, unlike the main gate which will be nearly three meters wide."

    He added, "Also, make sure to attach a few strong hooks on the inner walls on both sides of the second gate, so that the gates can be barred from the inside. Usually, the second gates will be kept closed from the inside, and only the main gate will be used, but in case of an emergency, it will allow people to exit from there as well, without making that gate a weak point in the walls."

    Taniok seemed to think about it for a moment. "I''ll make sure to do that, my lord. It wouldn''t be too difficult anyway."

    "Good!" Kivamus continued, "While we do have a well in the marketplace of the village, apart from the one in the manor, I also want to make a well here in the north in the future. That can be built in the area we have left empty for a new marketplace here in the future."

    He explained, "That way, if we have to build more longhouse blocks in the future, we can make two more such blocks in the west of the new marketplace - which will make it such that the central twenty-five meter square will be the new marketplace, while there will be five such twenty-five meter blocks surrounding it - where people will be living in the longhouses. That will allow them easy access to the new marketplace as well as to the new well for drawing water. Of course, we will only be able to dig that new well only after the winter."

    "That reminds me," Hudan said, "while we will certainly need a couple of buckets for that well, it will be a good idea to provide more such buckets which the villagers can keep inside the blocks after filling them with water. That will allow them to quickly put out any fire without running to the well to draw water - which will waste time and might allow the fire to grow further."

    Kivamus nodded. "Of course. That''s a good idea." He said to the carpenter, "Once the longhouse blocks have been completed, add that to your list of things that you need to make. Or you can just tell your apprentice to make the buckets - it''s a simple thing after all. He can ask the blacksmith to provide any iron strips needed for that. I will take care of any payments for the iron."

    With another nod, he turned back to return to the manor with others. The work was progressing well here. Now they just had to hope that the caravan returned back safely.

    S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 93. Return of the Caravan

    ~ Tesyb ~~ On the road to Tiranat ~

    They had been outside the village for a week now and finally they were approaching the village again. He was thankful to the goddess that the trip had gone without any trouble. This time they had been lucky that no wild beast had attacked them on the way. There was a small scare a few days ago after they had camped in the same clearing when going to Cinran, when one of the guards on watch duty had woken up everyone with a claim that he saw a young adzee between the trees late in the night. It was a spine chilling night for everyone since it was well known that adzees always moved in packs, and if an attack happened, it would be from a full pack of adzees, unless that young adzee had gotten separated from its pack.

    After that, all the guards had been wide awake and ready with weapons to fight against the adzees, knowing very well that without being fully covered in plate armor like a knight, their weapons might not do anything more than inconvenience the pack of adzees before they relished a hearty meal of freshly killed guards. But thankfully, no attack had happened, and nobody had even seen any other adzee after that. Even so, all the guards had been clutching their weapons with them all night long, with nobody getting any sleep that night.

    Back in Cinran, they were able to retrieve their wagon which they had given for repairs to the wainwright, and seemingly the Goddess was smiling upon them, since they were able to hire another wagon along with two horses to pull them. Feroy had told them that they certainly could not take the risk of any information about their caravan getting into the wrong hands, so they did not try to hire any other mercenaries for that wagon. With just fourteen of them in total including Mr Pydaso and his own guard - since they had not anticipated that they would be able to get another wagon to hire, it had led to two of the wagons having only a single guard with them. But thankfully they had been safe on the journey.

    Those extra two wagons had meant that this time they were able to carry a bigger amount of wheat with them to the village along with some other things. That grain would go a long way to feed the villagers in the coming winter.

    Based on the cloudy skies these days, along with the bone chilling cold they had braved on the journey, the harsh winter of Reslinor was nearly here now, so the caravan wouldn''t be able to go to Cinran again before the roads were blocked. They could still try, but there was a big possibility of the wagons getting stuck on the road on their return journey because of snow on the road.

    A lack of wind in the forest had prevented them from shivering too much, even though it was still very cold. For a while, it had seemed that it would already start snowing on that road - especially since it went much closer to the Arakin mountains than Cinran or even Tiranat.

    However, he still wished that the manor would be able to send the caravan again. He had no idea how much grain was needed to feed the whole village, and he had to trust that Lord Kivamus and Mr Duvas would do their best to keep the whole village fed. Even so, he did know that any extra grain wouldn''t hurt their grain stores. That he would be able to meet his sister once more in that case was certainly not the reason behind him wanting to go on another trip. Not at all!

    He shook his head to clear his mind as he saw the familiar trees of fedarus giving way to open ground a few hundred yards away in front of them. They were nearly back to the village now. He just hoped that the grain they had brought with them would be enough - since it didn''t seem likely that they would be able to go on another trip, as much as he wanted to.

    Looking at the wagon in front of him with bulging sacks of grain loaded on it, he couldn''t help but thank Lord Kivamus for doing so much for the villagers in the short time he had been here. A few weeks ago he couldn''t have imagined that even the homeless children and the elderly would be getting two meals a day - even if they had no coin to pay for it! At that time, even those with working age men in their families didn''t have enough to feed their children because of the persistent shortage of grain in the village, but the baron had been trying his best to make sure that nobody went to sleep on an empty stomach. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He didn''t know where the coin was coming from to buy all this grain - especially since the manor was barely able to sell any coal these days. The small amount of coal that Mr Pydaso took with him on these two trips was much less than the amount the village usually sold to Cinran in the past. Before leaving for Cinran this time, he could easily see the strain on Mr Duvas'' face when he was talking to the Baron on their resting day. He had been too far to hear any of that conversation, but it had to be about the limited coin the village had. They weren''t able to buy anything before the new baron came here, after all. Even so, there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He would let his betters worry about the finances.

    Although it had been a few weeks since that last bandit raid, he couldn''t help but worry about another such raid. Even though the baron had recruited a dozen more guards - they were barely trained as of now, and in the face of a serious bandit attack, he didn''t fancy the chances of the village too much. Still, he had to do his best in what he was tasked with - and that was to protect the caravan on the journey and the manor after that.

    Back in Cinran, after much pleading, Feroy had allowed him to visit his sister as long as he didn''t take too much time. But he had been happy for however long he got. Isuha was living alone in such a big town, and any visit from her family would make her happy. And as expected, she had been overjoyed to see him again. Once he had given her the news that their father had now been employed as a foreman in the village - one of only two such supervisors in the village for now, she hadn''t been able to stop her tears of happiness from flowing. Since his father had gotten injured a few years ago he hadn''t been able to work at all. So finding out that he could still contribute to the village, while earning some coin as well was a very welcome news for her.

    Just in case, he had asked her if she had told anybody about him and the caravan before leaving. However, that had gotten him an immediate whack on his head, along with a scolding that she wasn''t an idiot to let that information out and risk her brother''s safety! He rubbed his head thinking about that. She had hit him hard and it still hurt a little!

    As they came closer to the tree line, he saw that narrow trench across both sides of the road again. He still didn''t know what their purpose was going to be, especially since they were more than a hundred yards away from the last of the houses. As they crossed that trench, he and the other guard on his wagon kept a sharp eye on their surroundings - since this was the time when caravans lowered their caution and were easy to ambush, even though they were right next to the village now. This time his wagon was in the middle of the caravan so he couldn''t see the village very clearly yet, but he was certainly very happy to be back to the village now.

    As their wagon crossed the tree line - which was much farther from the village now, he saw that a lot of laborers were doing a variety of tasks here and there. In fact there was a worker doing something anywhere he looked around him.

    It was evening now, and it was soon after sunset, with only a small amount of daylight remaining. But he could see the zeal with which all the villagers were working even in that small amount of light available at this time. Seeing everyone hard at work gave a good deal of satisfaction to him. He still couldn''t forget the droopy eyes and spiritless walking of the villagers a few weeks ago. At that time nobody had anything to do, and the whole village felt like it was just wasting away. However, today it seemed like everyone was doing their best to make sure all the tasks the baron had given them were completed on time. Everywhere he looked, there was some kind of construction or other work going on.

    Closer to the houses, he saw that many workers were hard at work pulling up debarked logs one by one using a rope to make another wall of a longhouse, while one side of those walls was already completed. He wasn''t sure how a longhouse was supposed to look - but however it was shaped, it was certainly going to be very large, looking at the square shaped arrangement of the trench which went around those hard working villagers.

    There were two such square shaped trenches, one inside the other. However, the outer one had to be above twenty-five yards on each side! Assuming that would be the outer wall of the longhouse, just how big was that longhouse going to be? He could easily see a hundred villagers living inside that building! A normal house in the village outside the manor was usually around five to eight yards on the longer side. Even the largest houses in the village were not bigger than ten yards on a side! He shook his head again with a smile. He did know that there were nearly a hundred villagers who were homeless before other villages had taken them in temporarily, but even so, Lord Kivamus certainly didn''t do things at a small scale, did he?

    Looking around, he saw that there were many other trenches as well. Further away from the village - towards the tree line, there were two other such pairs of square shaped trenches. He could guess that those were also going to be longhouses in the future. However, there were many other smaller trenches there as well, and those seem to be interconnected to each other and to a bigger trench going towards the west of the village. He couldn''t guess what those trenches were for. Well, no matter, he would find out soon enough anyway now that he was back in the village.

    More importantly, he was happy to be back home! He wasn''t sure if he could have said that a few weeks ago - he had hated his inability to do anything to provide food for his half-starved parents at that time. But their situation had changed so much in the last few weeks. Now he was a guard in the baron''s manor, and his father was a foreman - both of them with a regular income! Very good income, in fact, since guards and foremen were paid more than coal miners, after all. So today, it couldn''t be truer to say that he really was happy to be back home!

 94. Maisy And Elsie

    ~ Maisy ~Ten-year-old Maisy was smiling today, as she waited outside the baron''s manor along with many other villagers for the caravan to come back. Someone had seen the caravan coming from the north, and before long the news had spread throughout the village like wildfire. So she and Elsie had been waiting in the empty area here for the caravan to pass in front of them, along with Mr Kigeir.

    She had heard from others that the villagers had also gathered here when the caravan had arrived a week ago as well, but she hadn''t found out about it in time that day. But today she didn''t want to miss it! It wasn''t every day that a caravan came to the village, after all.

    So when she had asked Mr Kigeir that she wanted to go there, he had agreed easily, and Elsie - his daughter and her new best friend now - had tagged along as well. Timmy had wanted to come as well, but his own new best friend - the younger son of Mr Kigeir - had wanted to play with some wooden toys again, so he had changed his mind before leaving.

    Unlike the first time when she had come here for the first free meal, when she and Timmy had been scared by such a big crowd, she didn''t feel scared today - at all! There was also a brazier burning close to them, since Mr Kigeir hadn''t wanted them to get sick in this cold, so he had asked a few other villagers to make some space for them near the brazier. Without that, it would be really, really cold! They were standing at the front of the crowd, so that she and Elsie would be able to see the caravan easily.

    Elsie was just as energetic as ever, and kept pointing out people she recognized here and there in that crowd. Looking at her and Mr Kigeir - who had put his arms on the shoulders of both kids protectively, she couldn''t help but smile. Living with his family in the past two weeks had probably been the happiest time of her life. She got three meals a day now! That was something which she couldn''t even have dreamt of in the past.

    Of course, two of those meals were provided to the children and the elderly outside the baron''s manor, but seeing the frail bodies of her and Timmy, Elsie''s mother had decided on the very first day that she would provide another meal to them at their home when she cooked for others. Maisy had thought of protesting, but when the rare smell of fresh bread that Elsie'' mother had bought from the baker wafted throughout the house, she had forgotten about denying that tasty, tasty bread!

    As she heard a commotion from nearby, she shook her head to stop thinking about food again. It was wonderful living with Mr Kigeir''s family, but she knew that it wouldn''t last very long. She had heard that the new longhouses that the baron was making for the homeless and orphans would be finished soon, and then she and Timmy would have to move there. Elsie still didn''t know that they would have to move away from Mr Kigeir''s house soon, and she already knew that Elsie would be sad to lose her new best friend, just like she would be. But at least Maisy would have very good memories of the time living with them.

    Giving a sigh completely unsuited for her ten year old life in this world, she looked as the first wagon exited the last row of houses and started to pass in front of the waiting crowd towards the gates of the manor. Two huge horses were pulling that wagon, along with two scary men with swords who were sitting on the wagon''s seat.

    But as they came into the light of the braziers and burning torches kept nearby, they slowed down the wagon, and one of those men stood up and pulled away the thick cloth covering the wagon, and pointed at the many sacks kept there with a roar. Immediately, the waiting crowd started cheering and clapping loudly as well. Elsie asked Mr Kigeir about those sacks, and he told them that they must contain grain!

    As more and more wagons kept coming, she tried to count them, but soon she forgot her counting as the enthusiasm of the crowd became too loud. All those wagon drivers were now standing on their seats, cheering just as loudly as the villagers. When Elsie started cheering, she couldn''t help but start clapping as well. It was rare to see everyone so happy in the village! She even saw the old Father Edric there, who was one of the few people to give some food to orphans like her and Timmy. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It felt really good to her to be a part of such a happy crowd. Also, all of those wagons had so many sacks kept on them! That was so much food! She hadn''t ever seen that much food in a single place in her whole life!

    The wagons kept moving slowly, and one by one, they started to enter the open gates of the manor. As the last wagon entered the manor, the cheers of the villagers died down slowly, and many of them began to return back. But she would still stay here, because soon she and Elsie would be getting their evening meal here, after all. As the crowd started thinning further, she saw a few maids of the manor along with a few guards coming out of the manor, and as always, they were pushing forward a couple of carts towards them! She couldn''t wait to eat the warm, tasty food again!

    In the beginning, even after she had gotten food for the first time here, she had sadly thought that it was only a one time thing. Although she had heard that the baron was the richest man in the village, how could even someone like him afford to feed so many people every day?

    But day after day, they kept getting food here two times a day, and slowly she had started to believe that it wasn''t just a lucky dream where she and her little brother got to eat warm food every day. Now it was a regular part of their lives.

    As Mr Kigeir pushed the two of them gently towards the children''s line forming in front of the gates, Elsie took her hand in her own, and started pulling her towards the carts.

    For the first few days, every child had to be present here to be given food, but slowly the maids had started recognizing them, so they had allowed younger children to stay at home in this cold weather if there was someone who could take the food to them. So Mr Kigeir would take two other bowls of food back to their home for his own younger son and Timmy.

    Usually they only got porridge or bread with plain soup, but sometimes they were given warm stew with vegetables! She had also heard from a maid a few days ago that there might even be something called cheese given to them in the future. She hadn''t ever heard about anything called cheese, but Elsie had assured her that it was very tasty! Elsie had said that she had even eaten some cheese in the past!

    Well, she would decide whether it was tasty or not, after she actually got to eat it! She couldn''t believe everything Elsie said after all, since she had still never seen any unicorn in the village, even though Elsie kept saying that they lived in the village too. And Maisy had even looked for them!

    She would try again to look for any unicorns which were hiding in the village, but that was for later. For now, she couldn''t wait to find out what they would get to eat today!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    It was morning now, and he was going to have breakfast with others soon. For now, he was standing outside the manor house looking around the place, while clutching his fur coat tightly around himself. Yesterday, the caravan had arrived back safely, and he had found out that they had even been able to hire an extra wagon. Everyone in the manor had been quite happy to know about it.

    However, the weather had remained overcast throughout the night, as usual, while it kept getting colder every day. Earlier, when he had gone to do some running along with other guards, he had felt that it must be around five degrees Celsius now. While they were still above freezing temperature for now, it wouldn''t be long before they would see snow here. Although Feroy had reported to him that they hadn''t seen any snow on the road either, when they were returning. And since that road was located closer to the Arakin mountains, it would take a few more days to start snowing in Tiranat after snowfall started there. However, he had again seen the sun shining for a short while in the morning, before the clouds covered it again.

    Of course, after giving him the basic report of the caravan''s journey, Feroy hadn''t wasted any time before he got... well, wasted. They only had a small amount of ale remaining in the manor now, but he had still allowed Feroy to drink, since it wasn''t likely that the caravan would be able to leave again after all. He had led the caravan safely through two journeys, so he deserved to have a night of rest anyway.

    Coming back to the present, he noticed that the servants of the manor were already hard at work unloading those sacks of grain into the waiting carts, before leading them to the growing stockpile of wheat in the grain barn. Thankfully, they had enough braziers now, so the servants were able to work in relatively warmer conditions under the wagon sheds. He had also gone to take a look inside the grain barn along with Madam Nerida earlier, and she couldn''t have been happier to see so much wheat being stored there. It was such a rare sight for them in the past few months, after all.

    Before leaving for the village alehouse yesterday, Pydaso had let him know that he would be back before noon today to finalize the payments for everything. Kivamus would have to wait until then to find out the full details of what they had been able to buy. Even so, having two extra wagons this time compared to the first trip would certainly have allowed them to bring more grain than last time.

    However, even with that, they would still be short on grain by the end of winter, and they wouldn''t be able to start planting seeds unless they bought more grain. The one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain that they had estimated to feed the village for four months hadn''t included any grain to use as seeds after all. That would need another sixty sacks of wheat. And from what Feroy had told him, the prices of grain would keep rising through the winter, and even if they bought more wheat after that, it would cost quite a bit more. Buying more grain now would have been much safer and cheaper for them. He sighed. If only they were able to go on another trip...

    Even though the weather kept getting worse every day, he would still try to convince Pydaso to go on another journey to Cinran, as unlikely as it seemed for him to agree to that. For now, he would have to wait for him to report back. Although even if the merchant didn''t agree, at least there was the consolation that with all their horses back, the construction of everything would speed up with their help.

    Soon, Syryne came outside the manor hall, and told him that the breakfast was ready, and others were waiting for him. Giving a nod, he started walking back to the warmth of the manor hall.

 95. Hyola

    ~ Hyola ~~ The Limestone Quarry, somewhere southwest of Cinran ~

    It was the morning of another cold day, and she and the other stonecutters were going to start today''s work. They were walking towards the pit of the quarry with buckets in their hands, to remove the small amount of water that still remained there. One of them was riding in a wagon with two nodors pulling it, so that they could put the buckets filled with water on that wagon before he took the buckets to throw the water outside in the forest.

    She gazed towards the east, even though all she could see was the towering leafless trees right now. It had already been a few days since the scouts of bandits had gone away from the quarry and without getting any more news, she was getting worried about Calubo now. Even though she had only known him for a few weeks, they had somehow become very good friends in that short time. She just prayed to the Goddess that some of the Count''s knights who patrolled the major roads didn''t get to them, since it wouldn''t end well for Calubo either, even if he was not there by choice.

    She sighed, and shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Thinking negatively wouldn''t make the outcome positive anyway. Nokozal, who was supervising them, started to shout at them to start working instead of wasting time, so she took her bucket and dipped it in the nearly freezing water, and took it to the waiting wagon. As she turned back after putting the full bucket on it and picking up another empty one, she heard a commotion towards the path which led from the quarry pit to the forest outside. Looking there, she saw that it was one of the bandits who had gone to scout the roads. He was riding his horse hard, and soon he reached near them to report to Nokozal.

    She slowed down her walk to listen to what they were saying.

    "Millord! We found it, we found a caravan on the road going from Tiranat to Cinran!" the bandit reported, out of breath. "I rode nearly all day yesterday to get this news as quickly as I could to you, although I still had to stop for the night since I couldn''t reach here before it got too dark to ride a horse in the forest."

    She scoffed on hearing the bandit address Nokozal as ''milord.'' Like he was some noble! But she continued hearing carefully, to see if there was any news of Calubo.

    "Doesn''t matter, since I was right!" Nokozal gloated at the other bandits who had gathered nearby. "See, that''s the genius of Lord Nokozal! I knew there was going to be a caravan after all!" He looked back at the bandit who had come on horse. "But why are you so late? I thought you would be back yesterday."

    "We did see some tracks on the road there, but the ground was very dry, so we couldn''t be sure if those were recent tracks," the bandit replied. "I didn''t want to report back unless we were sure, so we waited for another day to see if there really was a caravan, and we got lucky and saw a line of wagons going south."

    "Tell me the details," Nokozal grunted. "How many wagons? I hope there were many!"

    "It was a caravan of eight wagons going south towards that village," the bandit answered with a grin.

    "Eight wagons!" Nokozal exclaimed. "I can already see us getting rich! I don''t think they could have had more than a couple of guards though, right?"

    The bandit seemed to grimace for a moment, before he added, "Actually, we counted a total of fourteen men guarding the caravan."

    Hyola felt a quiet satisfaction on hearing that. The number of guards being that high would mean the bandits couldn''t try to ambush that caravan, which means Calubo should be safe now. She stayed nearby to keep hearing further, hoping Nokozal didn''t notice her dawdling.

    "What? That''s impossible!" Nokozal barked. "A small village like Tiranat couldn''t possibly have that many guards to spare to accompany a caravan, unless they leave the village completely undefended!" He growled as he glared at the bandit, "Can you even count to fourteen?"

    The bandit flinched. "I sure can, milord! And I counted them twice!" He added, "Apart from a portly middle aged man who didn''t have any visible weapons with him, the rest of the men all had swords. Some even had spears and bows! They all looked like experienced fighters to me."

    "I don''t believe it!" Nokozal snapped with a scowl. "I don''t think that village could even have that many swordsmen in total, otherwise Torhan''s group wouldn''t have had such an easy time raiding that village a few weeks ago."

    He added, "Eight hired drivers for eight wagons I could understand, but they are all well-armed men? And fourteen men at that, not just eight?" He glared at the bandit again. "Were you drunk? Or did you steal from my stash of ale again? Since that''s the only reason I can think - because you couldn''t even count properly! Because you were drunk again!"

    "We didn''t take any ale with us, milord, and I am not lying!" the bandit protested. "But I don''t know if they were guards of the village itself. They might very well be hired mercenaries from Cinran."

    Nokozal grunted. "I don''t think a small village would have enough coin to spare to hire a dozen mercenaries." After a moment of thought, he grinned. "I still don''t believe that number, but it''s good for us either way. If there is only a small number of guards with the caravan, we will ambush them on that road, and just in case you are right - which I still don''t believe at all - it would mean that the village still has a lot of coin stashed away if they spent money to hire those mercenaries. So once the mercenaries return back to Cinran, we can raid the village itself and get the grain directly from there, since they wouldn''t have enough guards to defend themselves if they had to hire mercenaries from outside to escort the caravan. It''s a win-win for us either way."

    The other bandit gave a nod. "I don''t know if they will go on another trip to buy more grain though. It looked like it was going to snow soon on that road - since it is much closer to the mountains."

    "You said they were going towards the village," Nokozal said, "which means most of the wagons and those mercenaries - if they really do exist - have to return back to Cinran anyway." He looked at the other bandits there. "So we will go there with all the men we can spare, and see it for ourselves. And depending on what we see, we will either raid that caravan - even if we just steal some horses from them, otherwise we will travel further to raid the village itself."

    Hyola felt worried to hear that they will raid anyway, which means they might make Calubo fight along with them too.

    Nokozal looked at another bandit. "You take the fresh horse, and ride fast to the south, and return back with the three men who are scouting there. They already have a horse with them, so the four of you can ride back on the two horses themselves, instead of walking here. It will take nearly a full day for you to reach there and another day back, so I expect all of you to return before tomorrow evening. We will leave immediately after that towards the eastern road on foot." He looked back to the bandit who had come back on the horse. "You rest for now, because you will have to come with us to show where the other two are staying on that eastern road. I will leave some other men here to keep an eye on the stonecutters while we are away."

    "We''d have reached the eastern road by tomorrow if we had all our men here," one of the bandits grumbled. "These two extra days while we wait for others to return back are a complete waste... Who knows if there will even be a caravan when we reach there..."

    "It''s because someone had decided to send scouts on both the roads..." another bandit muttered. "And we don''t even have enough men with us to ambush the caravan without them. It was a genius stroke of brilliance, milord!"

    "Shut up, unless you want a beating!" Nokozal said with a scowl. "If we had sent all of them in a single place, and a caravan had gone on the other road, we would never have found out about them. This way we should still be able to catch the caravan on their journey back to Cinran." He glared at the stonecutters who had been listening from nearby. "Get back to work, you freeloaders, or there would be no food for you tonight!"

    Grumbling under her breath, Hyola walked back towards the pit of the quarry with others, while dark thoughts about the safety of Calubo swirled in her mind. What if the bandits made him fight with them? Would he even agree to fight against the guards he had known for all his life? What if he denied Nokozal to fight the village guards? Wouldn''t that bastard Nokozal beat Calubo then?

    Or what if he did something worse? What if Nokozal just killed Calubo so that he wouldn''t side with the villagers? She shook her head to try to clear her mind. It didn''t work.

    As she walked with other stonecutters to the pit of the quarry to fill the bucket with water again, horrible thoughts came to her mind. What if Calubo was already bleeding away somewhere in the forest, as the other bandits who had gone with him just laughed at the dying man?

    She gazed back at the bandit chief with hatred in her eyes. What had she done to deserve this fate? Why did she have to be sold as a slave? Why did that bastard have to capture Calubo and bring him here, which only led to her caring so much about him? As a slave she couldn''t afford to care about anyone, when she didn''t even know how her own future would turn out to be... Couldn''t she have been born with the fate of living her life as a free person? Couldn''t she have been born in the Tiranat village, where she could have lived a happy life with Calubo?

    With watery eyes, she dipped her bucket in the water to fill it again before putting it on the waiting wagon, and then picked up another empty bucket from there. As she walked back towards the water, she looked at the cloudy sky. It wouldn''t be long before it started to snow. It was already so cold, and without the stonecutters getting much food, at least some of them would surely freeze to death in the winter. She blinked her eyes furiously to stop tears from flowing. What had she done to deserve this fate?

    She just stood there for a while, being unable to find the energy to start working again, when an older woman noticed her as she was bringing her own empty bucket. Walking towards Hyola she patted her back.

    "Don''t worry, child," the older woman said in a calming voice. "I know what must be going on in your mind - we have all been there at some point. But you have to trust the Goddess that she would take care of us. We wouldn''t have survived this long without her blessing after all." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Wiping her eyes, Hyola gave a slow nod. The older woman was right. She had to keep faith in the Goddess.

    It was the Goddess who had let her meet a kind soul like Calubo in this dreary place. She had to keep faith that the Goddess wouldn''t tear them apart so soon. Giving a weak smile, she used the nearly freezing water to wash her face and thanked the woman.

    She nodded to herself, trying to gather her courage. She had to keep faith in the Goddess, especially in these dark times. She didn''t know what the future held for her, but she would trust that the Goddess would give them a way out of this situation, somehow...

    With renewed vigor, she dipped the bucket into the water again, filling it to the brim, and started walking back towards the wagon.

 96. Shopping List

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Around noon, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall with others, as they waited for Pydaso to arrive. While the weather was still very cold, the sun had shone for nearly an hour before the clouds had covered it again. Until the morning, it had still seemed like it would start snowing any time, but somehow the weather had started clearing a little by now.

    "If the weather stays like this, couldn''t we try to send the caravan again?" Gorsazo asked. "While it is true that by now we have enough grain that the villagers shouldn''t starve over the winter, we will still be short on grain by the end of winter, not to mention the grain we need to start planting seeds after the winter ends."

    Duvas replied, "Although Feroy told us that it still hasn''t been snowing on that road, it won''t be long before snow starts here too you know. And what if the wagon gets stuck in the snow on the road? We wouldn''t get any grain in that case, and we might even lose a few horses and guards on the road!"

    "That''s true, but the weather has surprisingly been clearing up for a day now," Gorsazo mentioned.

    "Don''t jinx it, Mr Gorsazo!" Hudan chided with a smile.

    Kivamus said, "We don''t know how the condition will be on that road after a week, but if the weather improves further by evening, we will try to persuade Pydaso for another trip. He is the one who has traveled on this road the most times out of any of us, so his opinion will be the most important in this. So let''s wait for him before we talk about that further." He continued, "It depends on whether he is willing to brave the road for another trip. While we could still try to send our own wagons even if he doesn''t want to return here again - assuming the weather does get better, it might still not be worth it to risk the wagons getting stuck in the snow, when we will only be getting four wagon-loads of grain in return."

    Thinking about the shortage of grain everywhere, he asked, "There is something I was curious about. Even if the weather does get clear and we are able to send the caravan for another trip, would Cinran even have enough grain for us to buy again? We have been buying a big amount after all, so what if the caravan doesn''t even get enough grain to buy in the markets of Cinran?"

    Duvas gave the answer. "Don''t worry about that, my lord. There is no risk of that. The quantity of our purchases would certainly be noticeable in the markets there, but the harvest was only around a month ago, so the grain stores of the merchants there would still be quite full at this time."

    He explained, "From a very rough estimate, I''d say Cinran needs something like five to six thousand sacks of grain every year to feed the people who live there, and even with the third trip we would still be buying around two hundred sacks only. More importantly, since we don''t have any farms here, we buy all our grain from there every year. So in a way, you can say that the local merchants there would already have factored in our regular demand as well, when deciding how much grain to buy from the local farmers."

    He added, "It is still true that because of the bad harvest, they will have a shortage of grains for sure, but even so, they do have more than enough grain to sell to us."

    Kivamus nodded. "Alright, that removes another worry from my mind." S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Before long, a servant announced the arrival of Pydaso.

    The merchant entered the manor hall, and with a quick bow to the baron, he took an empty seat near the fireplace.

    After giving a minute for Pydaso to soak in the heat from the fireplace, Kivamus asked, "So were you able to buy everything this time?"

    Pydaso nodded. "Indeed, milord. We were lucky that we were able to hire another wagon, so we returned with eight wagons in total. I have brought sixty-six sacks of grain this time, along with twelve sacks of vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, onions and some salt as well. The rest of the space was taken by iron ingots and the ropes you had wanted me to buy."

    "Oh! You were able to buy vegetables too!" Kivamus replied with surprise. "That is very nice to hear." He added, "We had estimated that your total cost this time would be around three hundred and thirty gold crowns - half of which we had paid you in advance before you left for this trip. Duvas will pay you the remainder today after calculating the exact amount."

    "Thank you for that, milord," Pydaso said with a smile.

    With the amount of grain the merchant had brought this time, including the vegetables - which still counted as food, they had purchased a total of a hundred and fifty seven sacks of edible grain and vegetables. That still left them short of the one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain that they needed to feed the village for the four months, not to mention what they needed for use as seeds.

    They were also spending a lot of their limited amount of gold on buying the grain, with the total for these two trips easily rising to above seven hundred gold crowns. While this was certainly a necessary expense, he really had to hope that other traders would start coming to the village after the winter, otherwise it would become difficult to feed the village without selling more coal regularly. Pydaso alone couldn''t buy nearly enough coal by himself.

    He asked, "Would it be possible for you to go on another trip, Pydaso? You must have seen that the weather has seemed to be clearing up a little since yesterday. And in any case, it still hasn''t started snowing on that road."

    The merchant didn''t give a reply immediately. He seemed to be thinking about it for a while, before he answered, "I do understand that. Even so, it won''t be long before the snowfall starts, and there is a big chance of the caravan getting stuck on the return journey here, or when I return back towards home in case it does start snowing soon."

    He added after a moment, "However, it is still true that the snowfall hasn''t started yet. So that does leave a small possibility of going on another trip before I return back. But I would prefer not to take that risk."

    "So... What will it be then?" Kivamus asked. "Can you go for another trip or not?"

    Pydaso replied, "Tell you what, let''s leave the decision for tomorrow morning, since I can''t return back towards Cinran before then in any case. If the weather gets more clear by tomorrow morning, that should delay the snowfall another few days even on that road, which means we would be able to go on another trip. However, if the weather gets bad again before it is time to leave in the morning, then I will apologize for not being able to help you more, and I will return back to my home."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That''s understandable." Thinking more about it, he said, "Since you will be taking your four wagons back with you either way, we certainly have to fill them with coal for you. However, let''s do this. We will also fill the other four wagons of the manor with coal as well, and depending on your decision tomorrow morning, you can leave with either four wagons to go back to your home, or with eight wagons to buy more grain for us from Cinran. And in case you are unable to go for a third trip for us, we can just unload that coal from our wagons later on, so that wouldn''t cause any problems to us."

    "Oh, that''s a good idea, milord!" Hudan said.

    Kivamus continued, looking at the merchant, "So let''s also finalize the details right now in case you are able to go on another trip, since we wouldn''t want to waste any time tomorrow morning. Depending on your decision tomorrow, we will make another advance payment to you before you leave, instead of right now."

    "That works for me," Pydaso replied.

    "Alright then." Kivamus continued, "So in case you go for the third trip, I still want you to buy as much grain as you can. And of course, you should buy more vegetables too." Thinking about other edible things which could survive the winter, he said, "Add some butter and cheese to it if you can. Apart from that, buy as much iron as you can fit in the wagons."

    "Of course," Pydaso nodded.

    "If I may add something, milord," Hudan said with a grin, "Feroy saw how low we are on ale these days, so he was grumbling about how we could survive the winter without ale." He added with a snort, "He was even muttering today that this was why the goddess has held back the snow until now, to allow us to buy more ale!"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh at that. It was true that while they certainly couldn''t afford anything like wine with their dwindling finances, having some ale could be a good moral booster for the guards and villagers. He said with a nod, "Pydaso, add that to the list as well. Just one barrel would be more than enough."

    "Alright, I''ll make sure to buy it as well," Pydaso replied with a laugh. "Would that be all then?"

    "Let me think," Kivamus muttered. If they really were able to send the caravan on a third trip, it would really help them a lot in feeding everyone over the winter, even though they still might not have enough wheat to use as seeds after the winter. Apart from that, if they were successful in farming mushrooms at large scale, and breeding some fish in the southern pond later, that would also help in their food security. Although digging that pond would be a lot of work by itself.

    However, while they still had to clear a big area of the forests and finish a lot of construction over the winter, the villagers would still get some idle time late in the winter, since they couldn''t prepare the fields for farming until the ground started to thaw after winter. That would be the perfect time to do something else to help the village in the future. He wasn''t yet sure what else they could do, but he would certainly need to make a lot of notes and designs for that, for which he needed a way to write or draw.

    He asked the merchant, "Is there any slate or chalk available in Cinran? For writing?"

 97. Soaps

    "I''m not sure..." Pydaso muttered. "I have heard that slate is a type of rock, but I don''t know how you could write on a cliff... Not that I would be able to transport even small chunks of that rock here. I am not sure where to find chalk either... But can you really use them to write?""I don''t think it would be very difficult," Gorsazo said. "Isn''t chalk a type of limestone? Like the white cliffs found in some places?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed." Now that Gorsazo knew more about him, he was glad to see that he was supporting him instead of asking uncomfortable questions in front of others. He said to the merchant, "If it is not found nearby, let''s leave that for now. But you should still be able to buy some paper or parchment, along with quills and ink to write on them, right?"

    Pydaso gave a firm nod. "Those I can certainly buy, my lord. Paper doesn''t come cheap at all, but I will make sure to bring some parchment and ink for you."

    Kivamus nodded and began to think about what else they might need over the winter. Remembering the very crude version of soap that they used in the manor, he thought that if the caravan was able to go on a third trip, that would also be something they should stock up on, since they couldn''t manufacture it here - not yet anyway. Even that soap - a crudely made harsh soap with a really nasty smell - was a luxury here, but at least it did its task well enough. When he had arrived in the village, he had been gratified to see that at least there was some kind of soap here, otherwise he didn''t even want to imagine the kind of diseases which could spread in the blink of an eye.

    He began, "There is one last thing that I wanted to add. You should also buy a good amount of soap from Cinran if you are able to go for the third trip." He asked curiously, "How much does soap cost, anyway?"

    "Around four to five coppers for each large bar of soap," Pydaso replied, "which lasts around a month for a family - although people usually try to make it last at least twice as long." He added, "Of course, that''s the cheaper soap I bring here for the villagers. However, the previous baron preferred the luxury soap, which costs around one gold for each large bar, or around twenty times that of the commoners'' soap, so only nobles can afford it."

    "Twenty times as much!" Kivamus exclaimed with surprise. He looked at Duvas with raised eyebrows. "Did the previous baron really buy that? Even when the villagers didn''t have enough to eat?"

    Duvas gave a reluctant nod. "It''s true enough, my Lord."

    "Wow!" Kivamus just shook his head. What was wrong with the heads of these nobles!

    Duvas added, "However, all we had left with us when you arrived was the commoners soap, so we couldn''t provide the luxury soap to you."

    "No, no, forget about it. We can''t possibly afford something which costs that much!" Thinking from the memories of the original Kivamus, he realized that the soap he had been using in the Ulriga Palace must have been the luxury soap, but it wasn''t something he had focused on, so he didn''t know much about it. He looked at the merchant. "Why is it so costly anyway?"

    Pydaso explained, "While the cheaper soap is made in many places, including Cinran itself, but in the whole kingdom of Reslinor, the luxury soap is only produced in Plumron, which is quite a bit far away from here in the north. So although the luxury soap is quite costly even there, transporting that soap so far also adds to its price."

    He continued, "The soap guild of Plumron has kept the method of production of that luxury soap a secret, so nobody else can make it in the kingdom anyway, and believe me, people have tried." He added with a shrug, "I can''t really say what''s the actual difference between them for the luxury soap to cost that much, since I have only ever used the cheaper soap. But I have heard that the luxury soap is much softer on the skin and I can certainly attest that it has a very pleasant smell, so that must be why nobles prefer to use only that soap. Which one do you want me to buy, milord?"

    "Only the cheaper soap for now," Kivamus replied with a grimace. As much as he disliked using the harsh soap they had here, he couldn''t possibly splurge for something that costly right now. He was quite sure that the actual cost of that luxury soap wouldn''t be nearly that high, but medieval guilds were well known to jealously guard their secret techniques, which allowed them to charge a fortune for something that simple.

    He added, "We need enough of it to last the village for at least three months. At a rough estimate, if each large bar lasts a month for a family, we will need around two hundred and fifty such bars, which will cost around a thousand coppers, or ten gold crowns." He nodded to himself. "It''s affordable enough, and I don''t want a disease outbreak here because of a shortage of soap."

    Hudan asked, "But that sounds like it would take a lot of space on the wagons - space in which we could keep more grain."

    "No need to worry about that," Pydaso said. "Although that seems like a large amount, it would still take less space than a single sack of grain."

    Kivamus nodded. "We can afford to buy one less sack of grain to prevent a disease outbreak here. Make sure to buy it." After a moment of thought, he said, "That is all that I can think of right now to buy from Cinran. The cost of grain should be around three hundred gold crowns this time as well, along with another hundred gold for the remaining items. You will take coal worth around either forty or eighty gold with you, depending on whether you leave with four or eight wagons. So we can adjust that amount from the payment tomorrow morning before you leave."

    Glancing at the windows of the manor hall, he added, "Assuming the weather stays clear by tomorrow morning and you decide to go for the third trip, Duvas will provide you half of that amount as advance at that time." He continued, "Of course, after we have unloaded everything from the wagons, we will still be filling all the eight wagons with coal today in preparation for the third trip, even if it turns out that you cannot go for another trip."

    "That is fine with me, milord." Pydaso stood up from the chair. "I will take my leave then. I do hope that the weather stays clear, since the extra income would be very helpful for my family in the coming winter."

    Kivamus gave a nod in reply. "I hope so too." He looked at the majordomo. "Duvas, go and give him the remaining amount for the second trip now."

    Duvas nodded. "Of course, my Lord."

    *******

    In the evening, Kivamus was walking in the manor with others, happy to see that the weather was clearing further. The sun had been out for over an hour in the afternoon before the clouds covered it again. If it stayed like this by tomorrow, they really would be able to send the caravan for another trip.

    As he saw Madam Nerida hurrying towards the servant hall, he remembered that soon it would be time for the free evening meal for the elderly villagers and the children. He asked the majordomo who was walking next to him, "You are also regularly providing the grain to those villagers who have taken in the homeless people, right?"

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas replied. "Every week we give sufficient grain and coal to every worker, as well as to those people who have taken in the homeless villages, apart from the free meals twice daily. When we had started doing this, our grain stores only consisted of around twenty five sacks of wheat, so I was quite worried about distributing it so freely, but thankfully we have been able to buy above hundred and fifty sacks by now in total. So that helps a lot, even though we will still be short on grain by the end of winter at this rate."

    "Let''s just hope that the caravan is able to leave again," Gorsazo said. "If that trip is successful, we might even be able to provide three meals a day to the children and elderly." S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s true," Kivamus said with a nod. "Duvas, make sure to send a guard around the village every few days to check that all the homeless people are still living inside the homes of those people who had taken them in, and they haven''t just been thrown out. That will also make sure that nobody is left outside now."

    "I''ve already told Hudan to do that late in the night," Duvas replied, "so that if any of the villagers were trying to be too smart about that, then those guards would easily be able to tell me about them."

    "I have been doing it every day," Hudan said, "but that hasn''t been a problem so far.''''

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said.

    Hudan added, "I was thinking that if the caravan is able to leave tomorrow, then we should provide two more guards to them, so that every caravan will have two men on it. This time there were eight wagons, but only twelve guards of ours, not including Pydaso and his own guard, and that had led to two wagons having only a single guard with them, which made them a weak link."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus replied, as they reached the training grounds in the south-eastern part of the manor. Kerel was already there practicing with some new guards. He added after a moment, "But wouldn''t we be too short on guards here in that case?"

    "I realize that," Hudan said. "However, a few of the workers are showing good talent with a machete - the ones I have been giving some basic training to, in the northern area of the village. So I was thinking of getting your permission to hire them as temporary guards. I want to take on four more guards for one week, so that we can send more guards tomorrow in case the caravan is able to leave. I had already made sure with Mr Duvas that those men can be trusted, before I started giving them training, so their loyalty isn''t in any question. And once the caravan returns, we can just release those temporary guards so that they can work as laborers again."

    "Alright, you should do that," Kivamus replied after a moment of thought. "That third trip would be very important for us, so it is better if we don''t take any risk with it by not providing them enough guards."

    "That''s true, my Lord," Duvas said. "The success of this trip would decide how well we are able to start planting seeds after the winter. So the importance of this trip cannot be overstated."

    Hudan added, "In that case, I will take my leave now, so that I can talk to those workers in the north before they return back to their homes, or it would be too difficult to find each of them in the village at night."

    Kivamus waved him away. "Go on then. Let them know that while it''s temporary, for a week they will still get the higher amount of grain and coal which the manor guards get, which should give them enough of an incentive to join us as guards. Otherwise, they wouldn''t want to risk their lives when they can just keep working as laborers."

    "I''ll make sure to tell them about it," Hudan replied, before he turned back towards the gates of the manor.

    Kivamus looked at the partly cloudy sky, and hoped that the weather would stay clear for a few more days. If the weather became worse tomorrow, then it would hurt them a lot if the caravan was unable to leave again.

    Well, there was no point worrying about it any more, since it was out of his hands now. He would find out how it goes by tomorrow anyway. He had to be patient till then.

 98. Roofing

    The next morning Kivamus and others were standing near the gates of the manor, watching the caravan get ready for departure. The weather had cleared up further, and while the sun had just risen at this time, there were only sparse clouds in the sky, despite the chill in the air. The wagons had already been loaded with coal to the brim, before being covered with an oilcloth.Earlier in the morning, after looking at the clear weather, Duvas had said that the goddess had smiled on them after all. They had quickly sent a runner to Pydaso in the village alehouse, but they had found that the merchant was already on his way to the manor with a grin on his face. It wouldn''t just be the village which would be benefiting from another trip, after all. They had provided Pydaso with half the expected expenses for this trip in advance, so that there wouldn''t be any delay in purchasing anything. Since then he had been going over everything in the caravan to make sure that it was ready to leave.

    Hudan had also provided fourteen manor guards to escort the caravan this time - only half of whom were experienced ones - not including the merchant and his own guard. And finally, the caravan looked ready to go with two men on each wagon. Soon, he saw Pydaso and Feroy walking towards him. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We are ready to leave, milord," the merchant reported.

    "Good! Make sure that everything goes well."

    Feroy nodded with a grin. "Don''t worry about that, milord. With this many guards, we could even take on an adzee, you know?"

    Kivamus seriously doubted that, since by now he knew how dangerous those beasts could be, but he didn''t say anything. However, Hudan raised his eyebrows in response.

    Noticing that, Feroy quickly added, "You know what I mean!"

    "I didn''t say anything," Hudan grinned.

    "I know what you were going to say..." the ex-mercenary snorted. "Forget it, I don''t care." Then he gave a grin as well. "By your leave, milord, we should set out now. I''ll make sure that the trip goes well. This time, the caravan will be carrying ale after all!"

    Kivamus just laughed in reply, and waved them away.

    Before long, the guards climbed to their seats, and with the creaking of axles, the caravan rumbled ahead.

    As Kivamus watched the wagons leave the gates of the manor one by one, he thought that only the future will tell how the trip will go, but they had done everything in their hands to make sure of the caravan''s safety.

    Duvas looked at the sky, praying to the goddess. "I just hope that there are no problems on the road this time. May the goddess let us have just one more successful trip, then I wouldn''t wish for any more blessings this winter."

    Kivamus just watched the wagons leaving silently but didn''t say anything. After two attempts to kill him, it had been far too quiet after that. Although it was true that any news traveled really slowly in this medieval world, and the coming winter would slow down everything further, he just had a bad feeling about this trip. However, shaking his head, he chided himself for thinking like that. He had to hope for the best. Negative thoughts wouldn''t help them here anyway.

    *******

    In the afternoon, he was sitting inside the manor hall waiting for lunch, while talking about the progress of the longhouse blocks with the others. The fireplace was providing a good amount of heat to the manor hall, keeping the room warm enough, otherwise it was way too cold these days.

    Soon, Madam Helga brought a warm pot of vegetable stew to the long dining table, and began ladling out generous helpings of the stew into various bowls with Syryne''s help. Until now, they had only been eating meals which had been prepared using wheat, whether it was bread or porridge, apart from the one time that they had eaten the stew made from Rizako mushrooms. While they were still given a couple of eggs sometimes, it was rare enough that it rarely counted as a variety in food.

    However, with Pydaso bringing potatoes, carrots and even onions this time, Madam Helga had started making different types of meals now, instead of providing the same old food every day. While the quantity of vegetables was still not that much, he had told Madam Nerida to use those vegetables when making the free meals for the children and the elderly. They were the weakest part of society, and they needed good nutrition. Of course, once the caravan returned this time with more vegetables and grain, he had decided to allow those vegetables to be provided to the rest of the villagers as well, when they were given their weekly quota of grain rations.

    Duvas began, "Yesterday, one of the workers was asking me why aren''t we making the longhouse blocks to be two floors high, since that would mean even more people could be provided housing within a single longhouse block."

    "What did you tell him?" Kivamus asked, while taking a sip of the warm broth with a wooden spoon. It was certainly much better than the bland meals they had been having till now. With Madam Helga''s experience in cooking food in an inn, she certainly knew how to bring life to the meals, as long as she was provided with enough ingredients.

    Duvas replied, "I told him that it would require making a strong floor for the second story, which would take much longer than what we are doing now. It would require making a lot of strong beams from the logs to support the weight of the upper floor, which will increase the construction time by a lot."

    Hudan asked, "I was curious about that as well. How are we making the roof?"

    Kivamus replied, "I had talked with Taniok about that earlier. He will make simple wooden shingles for the roof, which will itself be slanted on both sides to prevent snow from gathering over it. And Duvas is correct in saying that it will take much longer and would be much more difficult to build a single two-story longhouse, instead of making two separate longhouses of one story each. And it''s not like we have any shortage of space here that we need to expand vertically instead of horizontally." He added, "But there is another reason for limiting the longhouses to a single story only."

    "Unlike the buildings within the manor, we aren''t making those longhouses to last for decades after all." He explained, "We all know that we are constructing the longhouses from unseasoned logs, so they are not going to last more than a few years. That is itself a good enough reason to keep the construction simple. But more importantly, while it may be fine to make walls from those logs, because the structure of the building would still be safe enough, it wouldn''t be the same if we make a floor for the second story from those unseasoned logs."

    He continued, "If we make the floor from them, they will easily warp in a year or two which would create weak points or even gaps in the floor of the second story - and that could lead to a young child falling through that space, or even an adult breaking their foot if it gets stuck there - in case the plank above that empty space gives way. I don''t see any reason we need to take such a risk, especially since that building wouldn''t even last too long, not to mention it would take even longer to finish a two story building."

    "It does make sense," Hudan said with a nod.

    Kivamus continued, "The planks on the first floor would still have the ground under them, so there is no such risk if we make a single story longhouse like we are doing now. That''s why we decided to keep the longhouses to a single story, and will be using wooden shingles as the roof. By the time we need to tear down those longhouse blocks in a few years, we can decide whether to make a two story building at that time. But for now, single story buildings will be good enough with our hurried pace of construction."

    *******

    It was evening now, and Kivamus and the others were watching the guards train in the manor, when a servant reported that the blacksmith was there to talk to him.

    Soon, he saw Cedoron walking towards him.

    "How is it going with you?" Kivamus asked.

    "There are no problems, milord," the blacksmith replied. "I found out that the caravan had brought more iron ingots this time, and that they have left for another trip. Are they buying more iron again?"

    Kivamus nodded. "The high grain prices have made the prices of non-essential goods much lower, so Pydaso is getting a very good deal on iron ingots. So I''ve told him to buy more so that we can stock up on them for further use in the winter."

    Cedoron said, "That is really nice to know, milord. With the way you are giving me new orders for making something every day, it''s good to know that I am not going to be short on iron at least." He added, "Today I came here to tell you that the initial order which you had given me for making two dozen axes, half a dozen machetes, and a dozen saws is nearly complete now, and I will be able to provide the remaining tools by tomorrow. Of course, I might have been finished with them sooner but making other things like braziers and the iron troughs you wanted for uh... growing mushrooms I think, made me take more time than I thought."

    "That''s not a problem," Kivamus replied. He continued, "You must have noticed that the construction of longhouse blocks has finally started. We are only putting up the walls right now, but after that Taniok will need quite a few hinges, some hammers, and of course, a lot of iron nails. So you should start working on forging them after you are done with the initial order of tools."

    "As you wish, milord," the blacksmith replied.

    Kivamus added, "Once you have made enough hinges and hammers, and after training your apprentices in making iron nails, there is another thing that I want you to start working on." Seeing Cedoron give a curious nod, he said, "But before that, I wanted to ask how was your experience with specialization of tool production?"

    "Oh! It was a wonderful idea, milord!" Cedoron shook his head slowly before adding, "I don''t know why I never thought of something so simple myself. It has really helped me speed up the production of everything. I will use the same method for making iron nails and other things as well."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "Now I want you to make something which is called a wheelbarrow. It is similar to a cart, but instead of four wheels, it only has a single one."

    "A cart with only a single wheel!" Duvas exclaimed with surprise. "How will it even balance itself...?"

    Seeing the surprise on the faces of the majordomo and Cedoron, as well as the knowing smile of Gorsazo, Kivamus said, "It is nothing complex, but here is a very basic diagram of it."

    He bent down and using a sharp stick, he began to make a crude drawing on the ground itself.

 99. Wheelbarrows

    Once he was done with the drawing, Kivamus pointed at the relevant parts of the drawing, and explained, "It will only have a single wooden wheel at the front, and a big iron tray in the middle where we can keep the load, as well as two strong wooden handles for pushing them - which will support the iron tray from the bottom as well. This design allows most of the weight to be transferred to the wheel when lifting the tray and pushing it, which makes it easy for even a single worker to lift and transport what would normally take two or three workers."Seeing others'' nod, he added, "Another benefit is that it can carry a variety of loads and can easily travel over uneven terrain. So it will be very helpful in many situations, such as when moving a small amount of coal - for example, when the servants are taking coal to refill all the braziers in the village. Using a wheelbarrow, a single servant can easily transport a full sack of grain as well, when taking it from the grain barns to the servants hall - which needs a cart and a horse right now. Later on, it''ll also be helpful in carrying seeds for sowing as well as the harvested grain when we start farming next year." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He continued, "For now, it will help in speeding up the construction of buildings, since a single worker can easily carry a lot of planks and other supplies like nails and hammers wherever needed in a single trip, instead of moving back and forth multiple times, or needing one of our limited number of horses to pull a cart."

    Duvas nodded slowly. "That does sound very helpful, if it can really work like that..." He asked, "Can''t we also give such a wheelbarrow to the guards when the hunting groups go into the forests? Because as you said, it will allow them to easily transport the animals over the uneven terrain in the forests."

    "That''s certainly another way it can be used," Kivamus replied, "and it does work like I said, trust me on that." He added, "We can also make a two-wheel version of it if needed later, which will be more stable on level ground. But for now, we will only make the one-wheel version, which will have better maneuverability on the uneven ground in the village. A one-wheel design also helps the workers to unload it accurately - in case of a bulk load like coal or grain, which wouldn''t be possible with a two wheel version."

    He looked at the blacksmith. "As for you, you just need to make half of the parts - namely the load tray in the middle - which will be quite similar to the water trough you made earlier, but a little bigger and deeper. Other than that," he added while pointing at the bottom of the drawing, "you only have to make the simple iron supports for the trough here, as well as for the wheel here. I will tell Taniok to tell his apprentice to make the wheel and the wooden handles, which are simple enough that he doesn''t have to work on them himself."

    Cedoron gazed at the simple drawing for a while before he nodded. "I can do it, since it looks simple enough. If I have any confusion about it, I will have to ask you again, but I don''t think that there would be any problem. But I still don''t see how it will allow the worker to lift thrice as much as he could normally lift."

    Kivamus gave a smile. "You''ll see it when it is completed. Try to work on it alongside your other tasks, so that we can get one such wheelbarrow up and running before Taniok starts working with planks in the longhouse blocks. I know it will take a lot of iron, but at least we don''t have any shortage of that right now." He added, "I think you will need to make around half a dozen such wheelbarrows eventually, but don''t start on the second one until we have tested the first one properly to see if there is any problem in it."

    Cedoron nodded. "Of course, milord."

    Remembering that all the tools here were just primitive iron tools instead of the long-lasting modern steel tools found on Earth, Kivamus continued, "It will take time for you to provide enough iron nails and make all the wheelbarrows, but once it''s done, I want you to keep making more axes and saws, since we have a lot of forest to clear and not nearly enough tools for that."

    He explained, "Once all the longhouse blocks are completed, I will put in those workers to clear the forests as well, for which we will need even more cutting tools. And with the amount of use that those tools are seeing everyday, even the new tools will start breaking down soon, so having a ready supply of more tools will keep the work ongoing instead of slowing it down because of a shortage of usable tools. At that point you will also have to work on repairing those tools which can still be repaired, while the rest might need to be reforged."

    "That''s true," the blacksmith said. "When the coal mines were working, I had to repair at least a few tools everyday, so I do realize that I will have to start work on repairing some of the tools soon."

    Kivamus asked with his eyebrows raised, "But will you be able to handle all that work by yourself?"

    Cedoron nodded. "It''s true that my workload is much higher now compared to those days, but I''m slowly training my new apprentices in everything related to blacksmithing, so they will soon be able to do most of the repairing work by themselves. So you don''t have to worry about our workload, milord, we can handle everything you throw at us."

    "Good!" Kivamus added, "Since digging isn''t feasible in winter anyway, we don''t need any more shovels and picks immediately. The ones we have left over from coal mining will do for now." He finished, "That''s all for today. Let me know as soon as the tray for the wheelbarrow is completed."

    "I will do as you say, milord," Cedoron replied. Giving a quick nod in respect, he said, "I will take my leave then."

    Kivamus nodded and waved him away.

    ********

    ~ Hyola ~

    ~ The Limestone Quarry, somewhere southwest of Cinran ~

    Finally, the pit of the quarry was nearly cleared of water, and from tomorrow they would have to start cutting limestone again. It was evening time now, and after working for the whole day, she was waiting for the bandit chief to tell all the stonecutters that today''s work was over, so that they could leave for resting now.

    As she kept another bucket of water on the waiting wagon, which was only half full this time, she noticed a commotion towards the sloping entrance of the quarry. Looking there, she saw that a few of the bandits were back. Once the guards at the makeshift barricade waved them inside, the two horses - each with two bandits on them - rode towards Nokozal, who was standing near the stonecutters while yelling at them to work harder.

    As the four bandits got down from the tired looking horses, one of them walked to the bandit chief and started to give a report. Being curious about it, she stayed nearby to listen.

    "Milord! All four of us are back from the southern road connecting Tiranat and Kirnos," the bandit reported.

    Nokozal growled at the bandit, "You are still late! You had left yesterday morning and it took you two full days! Why did you waste so much time!"

    The bandit cringed. "I wasn''t wasting time, milord! I know that I was on a horse, but it took me some time to search where others were hiding to scout any caravans on that road."

    "Forget it!" Nokozal growled.

    One of the other bandits who had come from the south asked curiously, "Is it really true that someone spotted a caravan? I couldn''t believe it when I heard about it!"

    "It is indeed true," Nokozal gloated with a grin. "That village has indeed managed to buy more grain after all! Good for us!"

    He gathered other bandits nearby, and once everyone was listening, he said, "We will leave immediately to the east where others have seen a caravan going to Tiranat village."

    Another bandit who had just arrived protested, "We have been riding for two days, milord! We don''t have enough horses for all of us to ride further, and we are in no position to walk all night!"

    "I didn''t ask for your opinion!" Nokozal barked.

    But another bandit added, "Milord, you will want to take the horses with us to scout that road further, but two of our three horses are also very tired right now, so they won''t be able to walk much either."

    Seeing Nokozal angry enough that it seemed like steam would start coming from his ear made Hyola hide a laugh, but she kept listening further.

    After a while, Nokozal grunted. "It does make sense, so we will leave at dawn tomorrow. There are fourteen of us including the two who have gone to scout on the eastern road, and we also have to leave some men here to keep an eye on all the slaves here. So the four men who just came from the south will stay back, and the rest of us will leave on foot."

    "Thank you, Lord Nokozal," one of those bandits who would be staying back replied.

    The bandit chief glared at those bandits who would be staying back and barked, "If I find out that even a single slave has escaped, it wouldn''t end well for you all." He added, "I will still take all the three horses with me, since you all don''t have a use for them here anyway." He looked back at the bandits who would be going to the east. "Our plan is to ambush the caravan on the road going from Cinran to Tiranat."

    One of the other bandits interrupted, while pointing at another of them, "But he reported that the caravan had a dozen swordsmen guarding it! Shouldn''t we take all of our men with us? It wouldn''t be easy even with fourteen of us against the twelve guards of the caravan, but at least we would still have an advantage since we are ambushing them. But if we leave four men here..." he trailed off at the end.

    Nokozal just laughed loudly. "It''s not possible that the caravan had a dozen guards! And I am not leaving my camp undefended for Torhan''s group to steal what little grain we have left as well as our slaves when we are out. Because that bastard will surely do it if he gets even a hint of it!"

    Another bandit gave a nod at that. "That''s true enough."

    "Now get some rest and make sure to water the horses," Nokozal ordered. "And be ready to leave at dawn tomorrow."

    After that, the bandits dispersed to their tasks and Nokozal told the slaves that they could stop working now since it was getting too dark for that.

    With a tired nod, Hyola and others kept the last of the buckets on the wagon, before some of them left with it to empty the buckets in the forest outside. As she walked back, she couldn''t help but worry about Calubo again. Earlier she had thought that Nokozal would give up on the plans to ambush the caravan after he heard that it had a dozen guards protecting it, but it seemed like he was more reckless than what she had expected.

    She just prayed to the goddess that the caravan would be really so well protected that Nokozal would give up on ambushing it, since it would mean Calubo would stay safe as well. And in case the bandits did attack the caravan, she prayed that those guards would put these lowlifes out of their misery.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day around noon, Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall. Lucem and Clarisa were playing something like a game of tag and seemed to be chasing each other all around the hall, while Syryne was trying to make them sit down for eating but to no avail. She looked at him for help, but he just gave a smile with a shrug. He saw no harm in letting the kids play for now. Soon they will stop anyway when they get bored of it or after they smell the food.

    Duvas began, "The caravan should reach Cinran by evening today. Hopefully this last trip can be uneventful as well. We have been quite lucky so far, but I don''t know how long that luck will last us."

    Hudan said, "I did tell Feroy to take it easy on the horses this time, since the horses have been completing that three day journey within two days for many times now. If one of those poor beasts breaks a leg because it was too tired to know where to put its feet, it wouldn''t feel good to any of us. So hopefully he will take the full duration of three days, at least for one side of the journey."

    Duvas replied, "I don''t think Pydaso would agree to that, since he is already in a hurry to leave for his home before the snow blocks the road. There is also the risk that if Feroy takes an extra day on each side, then the snow might block the road by the time they return here."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said, "but it hasn''t started snowing yet, and the weather is fine today as well. I don''t think there is much risk of that for now."

    "It''s true that the sun is still out, but I don''t know how long this clear weather will last," Hudan commented. "I just hope they don''t push the horses more than they can take it."

    Soon, madam Helga entered the hall, and said with a big smile, "My Lord, as you had told me, I have been looking for other edible mushrooms and berries near the village, and today I did find something."

 100. Toloraberries

    As Helga took a seat on one of the empty chairs, Kivamus said, "That''s really good to hear. What did you find?""It''s nothing too much, but I saw a few Bilona trees in the west of the village, maybe around five hundred yards away from the last houses," she replied. "They only give fruit in the summer, but it is good to know that there are such trees nearby."

    "I''ve already heard about them from Taniok, but they won''t be helpful to us right now," Kivamus said. He had been hopeful that she had found something else, but it was old news, and those trees wouldn''t give any more fruits in the winter anyway.

    "Oh, that''s not the only thing I found," Helga continued with a smile. "Those trees are growing right next to each other, and there are many toloraberry shrubs growing on the ground below those trees, and they are edible. Not too many of course, but there must still be a dozen such shrubs between those Bilona trees, and they still have some fruits on them." She looked at Duvas, "Did nobody here know about them? They are bright blue, for Goddess'' sake."

    "Of course we knew about them," Duvas snorted. "But you must also know how sour they are."

    "That''s true enough," Helga said with a grimace. "I''ve only tried eating them along with some honey, otherwise I can''t eat them at all."

    Duvas nodded. "People still eat them despite their sour taste, because eating something is better than starving, but nobody actually likes to eat them. When the village was short on grain a few weeks ago, some villagers regularly went there to pluck toloraberries to sell in the market square. But it''s not like we can afford any imported sugar here to make their taste better, and we rarely get any honey here to sweeten them."

    He continued, "However, since Lord Kivamus came here, people have started to get wheat again, which is much more preferable than eating those sour berries, not that there are enough of them to feed more than a few people. The fruits you saw there must have grown in the last few weeks, although they wouldn''t be giving any more fruits, now that winter is here."

    Kivamus nodded on hearing about them. These toloraberries sounded a lot like cranberries, which could usually only be eaten if you made some kind of sauce or jam with them using a lot of sugar - except for the fact that toloraberries were blue colored instead of red. But without access to a lot of cheap sugar or honey to sweeten them, they would be difficult to consume.

    He said, "It''s still good to know that those shrubs are found between those Bilona trees. I''ve already told Yeden to make sure those Bilona trees are not cut, but we have to preserve those toloraberry shrubs as well." He looked at Duvas, "We have already gotten a lot of rope from the caravan''s last trip, right?"

    Seeing Duvas give a nod, he said to Madam Helga, "Take a few workers with you along with some rope, and use them to surround that area. Tell them to tie those ropes around those Bilona trees while keeping a space of around five to ten meters on all sides of them. That will be our first ecological reserve." He added, "Duvas, tell the foreman Yeden and Pinoto to make sure nothing is cut in that area between those ropes even by mistake."

    "I''ll do that, my lord," the majordomo replied. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''ll also make sure to surround that area with ropes today itself," Helga said as well.

    "Good," Kivamus said. "We have to make sure to take care of anything that provides us with food. I haven''t seen those Bilona trees with leaves yet, but I was told that they provide good shade in the summer. So in the future, even after we have cleared the area around that place, it can be made into a small park, where people can sit under those trees in the summer."

    "That sounds like a good idea, milord," Helga said. "But I should leave now to take care of marking that area."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "You can leave now."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    They had been waiting for a few days by now, with no news from Nokozal. The fatso had still kept one of the hands of each of them tied with a rope, which was foolish in Calubo''s opinion, but he was reminded repeatedly that if he even tried to run away, it wouldn''t end well for Hyola, so he hadn''t even tried. It was also true that without a horse, it would take way too long for him to reach Tiranat anyway. For now, he was just biding his time instead of trying to run away. However he kept wondering if Hyola was okay now.

    Even with only the fatso remaining there other than him, their limited rations of dried meat had ended yesterday. After they had gotten too hungry, they had managed to catch a rabbit a few hours ago in the morning. Although there was a risk of any fire being seen from a distance, they had still made a small fire away from the road to cook it - since with the road being so rarely traveled, there was nobody to see it anyway.

    They were still lying on the top of that bluff, but soon he heard the creaking of wagon axles. As they kept their heads low, they saw that the caravan was going north again. This time they still had eight wagons, but there were sixteen men escorting it this time.

    "Damn it! There are two more swordsmen this time," the fatso muttered. "At least we are lucky that the caravan is going for another journey."

    "Speak for yourself!" Calubo retorted.

    "Shut up! Without more grain it will be you stonecutters who will starve first!" Fatso muttered under his breath, "Where the heck is Nokozal anyway? We missed a good chance!"

    Calubo could still recognize many of those guards as former miners, but at least the caravan looked well defended to any observers who didn''t know the truth. Either way, even if Nokozal reached here in time, at least he should give up trying to ambush the caravan now. The bandit chief couldn''t be so reckless that he would want to attack even now, could he? Even so, he had to do his best to discourage the bandits from an attack.

    "What good chance are you talking about?" he said to the fatso with a smug smile. "When I said earlier that they are village guards you didn''t agree with me, so that means they must be hired mercenaries right? And you already know how cruel those bastards are! Do you really want to fight against them?"

    He smirked as the fatso couldn''t think of any reply to that.

    *******

    They kept waiting for Nokozal to arrive the whole day, but there was still no sign of him. And without being able to light a fire for warmth in the night, they were shivering throughout the night. After all, making a small hidden fire for cooking a rabbit was a very different thing than a much bigger fire for heating themselves in this frigid weather - especially in the darkness of the night.

    The next day around noon, the clouds had covered the sky again, and it had started to become windy now. Snowfall couldn''t be more than a day or two away now, and there was still no sign of the bandits. At this time the fatso was himself getting itchy about returning back to the quarry.

    After a few hours, when Calubo was starting to become hopeful that maybe a pack of adzees got the bandits on their way, he heard the sound of people talking behind them in the forests. Soon he saw that Nokozal had arrived there along with many other bandits. Calubo counted that there were ten bandits in total, including the fatso here and the runt who had come back.

    Truth being told, since he knew that those were untrained men pretending to be guards in the caravan, so at most half of them would be experienced men - or maybe even less, which meant if the bandits really did attack the caravan, it wouldn''t go well for the village guards, since the bandits would have numbers as well as surprise on their side. But other than him, nobody knew that the caravan was not really escorted by that many trained swordsmen, so there was still some hope of Nokozal not actually attacking the caravan and killing his friends and his cousin.

    As the bandits started to settle down away from the bluff, the fatso moved towards them, dragging Calubo along with him, and said, "Milord, there is good news. I saw the caravan going north again with eight wagons, but I don''t know if it will go back to that village."

    Nokozal grinned, while rubbing the scar on his face. "Eight wagons again! It seems luck is really on our side this time. We are going to get a good haul, for sure!"

    Calubo interrupted, ''Don''t get too happy. You don''t know for sure if the caravan will return back to the village again. And while the caravan certainly had eight wagons, they also had sixteen men with them - and all but one of them were well-trained swordsmen. You cannot possibly want to attack them unless you are suicidal!"

    Nokozal glared at him. "That bullshit again!" He looked at the fatso. "I know Calubo has a reason to overstate the number of guards that he claims that he saw, so you tell me the real number of escorting guards."

    The fatso nodded reluctantly, looking at the bandits gathered there. "He is not lying, milord. We really can''t attack them with our numbers. We have just ten men here, but there really were sixteen men in the caravan. And he''s right that all but one of them looked like trained swordsmen." By this point Nokozal was getting red in the face with anger, so the fatso added in a low voice, "I know you said that the village couldn''t have that many guards, so perhaps they were mercenaries...?"

    "Again that nonsense!" Nokozal barked. "Can''t any of you even count?" He glared at the runt who had gone back to report to him. "You told me that the caravan had twelve guards, and now this fatso is saying that they had sixteen guards? Both of you are cowards and just don''t want to risk your lives in a fight! That''s why you both are exaggerating that number! Do you even know how costly it would be to hire even half that many mercenaries?"

 101. Scheming

    None of the other bandits said anything in reply to that question.The bandit chief stroked his long beard for a moment. "Actually, never mind that. It''s a fact that a poor village like Tiranat couldn''t possibly have that much money - not after that raid by Torhan''s group - which means they must have been the village guards in the caravan, however many there are. And that means it was the village which sent the whole caravan this time, and it''s not a merchant who is visiting there with his wagons." He grinned. "So we have been lucky after all, since the caravan has to return back to the village again! And we''ll still get a chance to ambush them!"

    As the fatso and the runt started to say something in protest, Nokozal made them shut up with a glare. "Be quiet for now! I already know the caravan couldn''t have even half that many guards! But we''ll find out for sure in a day or two. And if the actual number of guards is even one man lower than what you reported, then be ready to work as a stonecutter for the whole winter."

    The other bandits grimaced at that, and nobody said anything in response.

    *******

    The next morning, snow had finally started falling here, and it had become freezing cold, especially since they couldn''t even light a fire here, or the caravan would become aware of an ambush if they noticed the fire.

    Nokozal had gathered everyone in the forest a little further from the bluff to finalize his plans for the ambush, with one man still keeping watch on the road. Calubo was also with the others, with his hands still being tied to a rope. As the fatso pulled him with his rope towards others, Calubo looked wistfully at the dried meat the bandits had brought with them and hoped that they gave him something to eat as well. This continuous snow had made him feel even more hungry than usual.

    Soon, the bandit chief began, "As you can see, snowfall has started here already." He pointed at the runt and added, "And from what he said, this road would likely get blocked within a few days from the start of the snowfall, so the village cannot send any caravans again before winter. That means this is our one and only chance to get enough grain to survive the winter comfortably. So we have to make this work!"

    The other bandits nodded seriously, before Nokozal continued, "I can accept that there might be other civilians or merchants in that caravan - whom you might have mistaken as guards, but the village couldn''t possibly have sent more than one swordsman for each wagon. That means a total of eight guards, unless you idiots couldn''t even count the number of wagons properly!"

    "No, milord, we counted correctly..." the fatso mumbled.

    Nokozal just snorted in response. He spoke again, "Those eight guards - who also have to try to protect any merchants as well as the wagons - against the ten of us. It won''t be easy, but with good preparation, we should be able to kill or disable most, if not all of the guards - since they aren''t likely to surrender willingly into our hands."

    He continued, "We will leave the merchants alone in the attack, since they wouldn''t be any threat to us, so our priority will be to target the guards only. But if there are still any survivors amongst them, we will take them in as slaves along with the civilians."

    The runt who was rubbing his hands together to keep them warm in this bone-chillingly cold weather, pointed at Calubo. "What about him? Where will he be during the attack?"

    Nokozal stared at him for a moment. "Don''t know what I was thinking when I sent him here." He gestured towards the forest vaguely. "Just tie him properly to a tree and gag him so he can''t run away or warn the caravan." He smirked, "Actually, you know what, tie him in a place so that he can see the guards falling to the might of Lord Nokozal!"

    The other bandits grinned before giving nods of anticipation, as Calubo simmered in anger.

    Nokozal glared directly at Calubo. "But if you still try to warn them somehow, I will kill you where you are standing, and then I will kill that girl you like back at the quarry. And it will be your fault that many other stonecutters will die as well, because if we can''t get enough grain here, then whatever we catch in the forest will go to us first, even if the slaves are starving. So unless you want that to happen you will stay quiet."

    Calubo was seething at his treatment. If only he had a chance to put a knife in this bastard''s neck... But holding his tongue, he just gave a nod in reply. At least he had the consolation that this bastard would be up for a big surprise when he saw that there really were that many guards in the caravan!

    The bandit chief pointed at the nearby bluff. "I looked around this place earlier, and it seems that you idiots at least found a good place to ambush them. From what I have been told, any caravan traveling southwards on this road would reach this place around evening, so that will help us as well, since the sun will be on our back. Now we don''t know if the caravan will return by this evening or tomorrow, so we will be ready with the ambush by afternoon today, just in case."

    Seeing others nod, he continued, "We have two archers with us, so the both of you will stay on the top of that bluff, since it''s a high point and you can easily target the guards from there." After two of the bandits who were armed with bows and arrows gave understanding nods, Nokozal looked back at the remaining bandits. "Our strategy will be to attack the caravan from both sides simultaneously, while the archers will keep raining arrows on them."

    He pointed at the fatso, "You will take four swordsmen including yourself to the other side of the road. Don''t stay too close to the road, but you should still be in a position so that you can attack immediately on my signal."

    "Of course, milord," the fatso replied. "I will go along with you to take a look at good hiding positions on the other side of the road later."

    Nokozal nodded. "I will keep the remaining three swordsmen with me on this side, near the bottom of the bluff. This way we can attack the caravan with four men from each side, along with the archers'' support from the top. That should be more than enough to take out three or even four guards in the initial surprise attack. And after that, we will likely have double the number of men on our side compared to the guards who are still standing, so it will be easy to take out the rest of them - assuming they don''t run away after that."

    The bandit chief continued, "We cannot let the caravan get any hint that there is anyone else in the forest before we start the actual attack. So before my signal to charge at them, nobody will move a muscle!" After others nodded in acceptance, he said, "Now the signal will be me making the sounds of a bird whistling in the forest. It will be two short whistles, then a long one, and then another short whistle. And immediately at the last whistle, the two archers will shoot their arrows to take out the guards in the last wagon. And then the rest of us will fall upon them like devils from hell!"

    The bandits roared in anticipation before Nokozal added, "My target is to make the signal when more than half of the caravan is ahead of our position, and then we will attack them from behind. Our main target will be the last wagon, and if the archers have taken down the guards on that wagon in the initial attack, we will target the second last wagon." S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He continued, while giving a harsh stare at the fatso, "Since we will have numbers on our side over the two guards in the last two wagons, we should be able to kill them easily. And if we are successful in that, then we will target another wagon immediately after that. By that time the rest of the guards in the caravan should be heavily outnumbered, so they will likely be running away with their remaining wagons and horses. If all goes well, we should be able to get at least two wagon-loads of grain, which will last us for quite a long time."

    As others nodded in understanding, Nokozal said, "But remember, even if they have only eight guards, we are also just ten men. So unless we take out a few of them quickly in the first attempt, it will become very difficult for us. So we all have to attack at the same time. That means nobody will make any move unless I make that full signal!"

    The group of bandits nodded in acceptance with a chorus of ''of course, milord''.

    Finally, Nokozal gave a satisfied nod. "That is all for now. Let''s get something to eat first and then we will take our positions before noon. If the caravan doesn''t pass this evening, we will assemble again once night has fallen, and then we will take the same positions tomorrow as well." He balled his hands into fist, and raised them upwards before bellowing, "Let''s hope that the goddess allows us to get a good bounty this time! For food! For freedom! And for Lord Nokozal!"

    Immediately the other bandits gave a roar as well, and the bandit''s plan to ambush the caravan had begun.

    As they dispersed to their tasks, Calubo just hoped that Tiranat''s elaborate ruse of presenting the caravan as well-defended wasn''t found out by the bandits. He prayed to the goddess that she would bless his friends amongst the guards and his cousin to keep living. He also prayed that these bastards would die at the hands of the Count''s knights soon and he could be a free man once more. But he also knew that right now, he was only a deadweight for the bandits at best, and a possible enemy at worst - in case Nokozal thought that he might join the caravan guards to attack the bandits too.

    Only time would tell if he was going to survive even one more day between the bandits.

 102. Anticipation

    ~ Kivamus ~~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus was standing outside the manor house looking at the clouds covering the sky, along with the biting wind which was now blowing continuously in Tiranat. Until yesterday, it had still been sunny, although the clouds had started to cover the sun again. But overnight, the clouds had completely covered the sky, and now the weather had again gotten bitterly cold. He had no way to find out what temperature it was right now, but he guessed that it had to be only a few degrees above freezing point. It might probably already be snowing on that road, so it wouldn''t be long before the snow started here as well.

    Once he returned inside the manor hall, Helga came to talk to him.

    "The replanting of mushrooms has been somewhat successful, my Lord," she reported. "In the temporary shed we had made in the south of the manor, less than half of the mushrooms are still standing, while the remaining didn''t survive the replanting. It could have been much worse though."

    Kivamus nodded with a frown. "Will those remaining mushrooms survive then? What if they perish as well in the coming days?"

    "I am fairly sure that they''ll survive," Helga replied. "While that shed is far from windproof, the air inside the shed is fairly warm with two braziers burning inside it all the time within that small area. I''ve also told a maid to refill the water troughs there twice a day, so that the air inside that shed will remain moist. So I believe the rest of the mushrooms will be okay now. However, now that we know it is possible for mushrooms to survive the replanting there, I will transfer the remaining mushrooms from that puddle as well into that shed today. They are much more likely to survive there than in the open."

    "Do it," Kivamus said. "It will be some time before we can make another barn in the south for those mushrooms, but at least now there is some hope of getting edible mushrooms regularly in the future."

    Helga gave a nod before she exited the hall to go outside.

    Duvas, who was sitting near the fireplace, beckoned him over to sit there as well.

    Kivamus nodded, before he sat on an armchair near the fire. "The caravan should be in Cinran today, right?"

    "I believe so, assuming they didn''t have to spend three days on the road this time," Duvas replied.

    Kivamus nodded. "Hopefully the snow will hold back for a few more days. We don''t need the headache of finding out that the caravan has been stuck on the road." After a moment, he asked, "What is the progress of everything here?"

    Duvas began, "Taniok has completed all the walls of the longhouse now, and today he is cutting up the planks into smaller shingles to start making the roof. He told me that he has enough planks that he should be able to make the door, the roof, as well as the floor with them. From the remaining planks he might be able to make around half of the bunks as well, but he doesn''t have enough planks to make all the hundred and twenty-four bunks with them. Of course, once he has used up all the planks, he will cut more of them to make the bunks, but that will add another few days to make all the remaining bunks there, before we can call the first longhouse block to be completed."

    "That''s true, but I am glad to know that it is getting close to completion now. Even that first longhouse block will allow us to shift most of the previously homeless villagers there, which will take off the burden from those who are giving them shelter for now." Kivamus added, "What about the other things?"

    Duvas continued, "After cutting the logs into stakes of twenty feet, Yeden has already started putting them into the trenches for the village wall since a few days ago. He told me that he will start the construction of the gates after most of the wall has been put up. By today, he should have put up around a third of the wall in the north."

    "Good, good... Then it won''t be long before we have a strong village wall around us!" Kivamus added, "Once the walls and the gates have been completed, Yeden and Taniok can start work on the watchtowers. Of course, that will only be done after two longhouse blocks have been completed. Since the third longhouse block is not a big priority for us right now, we will leave it for later, until all the other important things have been completed."

    "Certainly," Duvas said. He continued, "In the South, Pinoto has been steadily clearing away the forests, and by now he has cleared up an area around two hundred meters wide and a hundred meters deep. There is still a long way until we have cleared enough of the forest for starting planting in the spring, but at least the work is under progress now. Also, I had told him to put a few workers to start digging the pond in the south a few days ago, so that there will at least be some place where the runoff water can gather when the snow starts to melt after the winter. Otherwise, there would have been no point in completing all the drainage trenches, when the water doesn''t even have any place to go. Of course, he will put those workers to cut trees again once a small part of the pond has been dug."

    Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. "That''s good thinking." He was glad to see that everything was going so well now. He was certainly overdue to get some good luck by now, after all.

    ******* sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    Yesterday had been a waste - at least for the bandits, since the caravan didn''t travel on the road by nightfall. The bandits had been crouching in a position to ambush the caravan for all that time, while he had been tied up to a tree for the whole duration, along with a gag on his mouth, so he was already in a bad mood since then. What had he even done to deserve this?

    He gave a deep sigh. There wasn''t anything he could do about it without risking Hyola''s safety.

    The bandits had rested in the night, and today the bandits had taken their positions again - which included his own position of being tied to a tree, along with a cloth tied over his mouth so he wouldn''t be able to warn the caravan. However, he had still been tied close to the bandits who were hiding near the bluff - to keep an eye on him just in case he managed to free himself, and in a position from where he could see the road clearly.

    The weather had kept getting worse and it had been snowing continuously since yesterday, and by now a small layer of snow had started to pile up on the road, which also meant that it was so damn cold right now, he thought while shivering. The bandits hadn''t lit any fire since yesterday morning to avoid the risk of the caravan guards spotting it, and by now he felt like his fingers had already started to freeze over.

    It didn''t help that he had been tied for most of the last week - including the time he traveled from the quarry to this place, and he hadn''t even been able to do any walking or jogging to warm himself up. He scoffed at the thought. It wasn''t like the bandits would untie his hands just so he could exercise. And with him barely getting any food these days, he was already feeling weak by now. His hands were continuously aching where they were tied - especially in this freezing weather, and he didn''t look forward to another full day of waiting while tied up to a tree - or maybe even longer, in case the caravan didn''t come today either.

    As he gazed at the desolate road, he couldn''t even imagine how much he would hate himself if the bandits really did attack the caravan, and he was unable to help them while still being able to clearly watch his friends die one after another.

    No! He tried to reassure himself that it wouldn''t happen. Nokozal couldn''t be so reckless that he would want to attack a caravan with so many swordsmen, would he?

    ********

    It was evening now, so all the bandits near him were ready to attack in case the caravan returned back soon. Calubo didn''t know why the return of the caravan had been delayed, but he did hope that the caravan had been safe till now.

    While he had seen that the caravan had sixteen men when they were going to Cinran - with all but one of them looking like trained swordsmen, what if some of them had to stay back in the town for some reason? What if they couldn''t even buy enough grain in Cinran, since there was a grain shortage everywhere after all? And even if the town had enough grain to sell, how much could Tiranat even buy with their nearly empty treasury?

    He couldn''t help but think of even worse thoughts as the day turned into evening and the shadows started becoming longer, but still without any sign of the caravan.

    What if the caravan was already stuck on the road because of snow? What if some of those guards had decided to stay back in Cinran in defiance, because they barely got anything to eat in Tiranat - since that was certainly the case while he was there.

    It was true that just a few days ago he had seen that the caravan going to the village with so many wagons - most likely full of grain, but he didn''t think that the whole village would get enough to eat just from those eight wagons, especially since the village wouldn''t be able to buy any more grain until after the winter. And if even a few of the caravan guards had decided to leave the pitiful life of their village behind, and stayed back in Cinran, the charade of the caravan looking so well-protected would disappear immediately, and Nokozal wouldn''t hesitate for a moment before attacking the caravan.

    No! It couldn''t be! He shook his head forcefully to rid himself of such thoughts. All the signs pointed towards the possibility that there was already a new baron in Tiranat, and from what he had seen so far, the new baron seemed to be doing everything he could to buy enough grain for the village before the snow blocked the road for the next few months. So he had to stay hopeful that the Goddess would keep the caravan safe from these bastards.

    *******

    After some time, when the sun was close to setting, the runt muttered while looking at the bandit chief, "It seems like today was a waste as well, wasn''t it? Should we return back now, milord? I''m already so cold and tired..."

    Before Nokozal could give any reply, Calubo heard the familiar sound of the creaking of wagon axles. The caravan was coming.

 103. The Moment Of Truth

    Immediately, Nokozal and three other bandits who were sitting in a crouch near the bluff got ready with their swords out, while the archers nocked an arrow on their bows at the top of the bluff.Calubo had seen that his cousin Nurobo was also in the caravan when they were going north, so what if the bandits really did attack them? A single lucky arrow might mean that he would be without the last of his family in this world. Shaking his head, he tried to reassure himself that everything will go well. It had to!

    Before long, he saw that the first of the wagons started to pass on the dirt road in front of them between the continuously falling snowflakes. Looking closely at the caravan, he saw that once again, the caravan seemed to have sixteen men, all but one of whom seemed like well-trained swordsmen. The guards looked ready and alert for anything, but only he knew the reality that it was just a sham. However, the bandits didn''t know anything about that, did they?

    Although Calubo had been tied a few yards away from others, he was still close enough to see the expression on the face of Nokozal. Taking his eyes away from the grain caravan passing in front of them in the continuous snowfall, he looked at the bandit chief''s face and it seemed to be drained of color.

    By now, Nokozal had to have realized that the fatso wasn''t lying and the caravan really did have sixteen armed men in well-used leather armor with swords on their backs. More importantly, the caravan looked like it was fully loaded again - so the bandits really could have gotten a lot of loot if it didn''t look like the caravan was so well guarded. At this point, Nokozal must have known that they really couldn''t attack the caravan, after all. Calubo couldn''t put it in words how satisfied it made him feel.

    One by one, the wagons and the horses kept passing in front of them, while Nokozal seemed to be clenching his fists hard enough to draw blood. The other bandits were alternating between looking at Nokozal''s face and the caravan, waiting for any sign that they really would have to fight so many trained swordsmen. He could clearly see the fear on the runt''s face, who looked terrified about the bandit chief ordering them to recklessly start the attack, since the runt would be amongst the first ones to die in that case, being as small as he was.

    Looking back at the caravan, Calubo again recognized a few of the guards as those who used to work as coal miners until recently, so he knew that if the bandit really did choose to attack, it might not end well for the caravan. But as the wagons kept passing, Nokozal just gritted his teeth, and the whistle which all the other guards were waiting for, never came. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once he saw the wagon in which his cousin Nurobo was sitting along with another guard, Calubo had a sudden urge to just somehow grab his attention. Nurobo and the other guards would be going back to their village, and with Tiranat probably having enough grain now, Calubo didn''t want to stay between these bandits for even one more day, but he firmly crushed that thought as soon as it arrived. He wouldn''t be able to do anything to grab the caravan''s attention anyway with his hands and mouth tied already, and more importantly he knew the reality of that caravan. If it really led to a fight between the bandits - who were already prepared to attack the caravan, and the caravan guards - many of whom probably had no idea about how to fight, he didn''t rate the chances of the caravan too highly. More importantly, he knew what it would mean for Hyola and other stonecutters back at the quarry. So he ruthlessly put an end to the selfish and stupid idea.

    As the wagons kept passing in front of them one by one, he saw that one of the guards in the caravan - someone who actually looked more like a mercenary than a normal guard based on his flinty expression and steely eyes - someone who was probably new in the village, since Calubo didn''t recognise him at all - looked towards the bluff where the bandits were hiding. For a moment he thought that the guard would be able to clearly see him and the other bandits, and he got nervous that if the guards decided to stop and fight the bandits, it wouldn''t end well for the caravan. But thankfully, the moment passed, and that guard looked forward again and Calubo was finally able to give a sigh of relief after that.

    Of course that steely eyed guard would know the caravan''s situation much better than him, and looking at the scars visible on his face in the last rays of sunlight, he seemed like a veteran of many battles, so he would already know what to do in such situations - especially if he had realized that there was an ambush waiting for them here. Calubo did realize how unlikely that was, since the bandits had taken more than enough care to make sure that nobody would be able to see them from the road, but that still hadn''t stopped him from getting worried again.

    Eventually, the eighth wagon passed in front of them, and soon, the last opportunity to begin the ambush had passed as well. Such an elaborate plan to attack the last wagon from two sides along with the archers and the bandits'' swordsmen... And it had failed before it had even started. All because of someone in Tiranat who had played such an audacious gamble.

    It was true that it might also have gone very badly for the caravan, but the final result was that that gamble had paid off extremely well. He was also glad to know that all that grain would go a long way to feed the village this winter. All of it made Calubo feel so satisfied! If only he were in the village when the caravan returned triumphantly with such a narrow escape from the mouth of death for most of the miners pretending to be guards...

    When he saw the anger on Nokozal''s face at his failure, Calubo got a huge urge for a moment to start laughing loudly at the absurdity of it all, but somehow he managed not to show any expression outside.

    Once the caravan had gone completely out of their sights, Nokozal slammed his sword in the ground. "Damn it! Damn it all! How the heck could this have happened!"

    The bandit chief immediately started cursing everything, from the bandits, to the caravan and its guards and all other things in existence. Soon, the bandits hiding on the other side of the road came there as well to see what had happened.

    However as soon as Nokozal saw the fatso returning from the other side, he bellowed, "How the heck did that damned village get so many guards to spare? I thought there would be seven or eight guards at the most!"

    The runt spoke softly, "I did tell you about them, milord."

    "Shut up!" Nokozal barked, "You told me the caravan had twelve men, then the fatso told me that it had sixteen men, and the next time someone would have told me that they had a bunch of knights escorting the caravan! Who was I supposed to believe!" He scowled. "I know you all are cowards, so I thought you all must be exaggerating that number so you wouldn''t have to fight! But apart from a fat old man who couldn''t have fought even once in his life, the rest of them seemed like trained guards, dammit!"

    "We still would have fought if you had ordered us, milord," the runt said, "since trying our chances to get some grain is still better than starving after all. But there was no way we could have taken on those sixteen men by ourselves."

    "How the heck did Torhan''s group raid that village so easily then?" Nokozal glowered at everyone there. "If that village really had so many guards to spare, where were they hiding those guards when they were raided by Torhan''s men!"

    The fatso replied, "We do know that Torhan''s group is a large one, much bigger than ours and they have a lot more horses too. So maybe they just raided with many more men than us?"

    Nokozal grunted, before glaring at Calubo. "I guess you weren''t just trying to scare me off to save the lives of your friends when you told me that the village had so many guards. But why do you think your village couldn''t defend themselves from that raid, if they really do have that many men?"

    In the past few days here, Calubo had been worried that if the bandits left him tied here, and in case the ambush went badly for them, he would either freeze or starve to death, since he wouldn''t even be able to call the other guards for help with his mouth tied with a cloth. He didn''t know which was the better fate for him. So he had to use this rare opportunity to get into the good graces of the bandit chief, while still not giving away the weakness of the village he had lived nearly all his life in.

    On that day a few weeks ago when he had been caught by the bandits, they had interrogated him about Tiranat, and he had wildly exaggerated the number of guards that the village had, knowing that another bandit raid into the village would completely leave the villagers to starve. But he had no idea at the time how helpful that bluff would be in the future.

    And today he was the only one who had realized the elaborate ruse the village had put together to show that they could easily spare so many trained swordsmen to escort a caravan, but the bandits didn''t know anything about that. And he had no intention to correct the bandits'' flawed assumption. He had to do his best to present it in a way which would keep his cousin and his friends safe.

    He still had the cloth tied on his mouth, so he tried to speak but all he could do was to make some muffled sounds. But one of the bandits moved to untie that cloth at Nokozal''s gesture, although they still left him tied to the tree. But at least he could breathe properly now.

    "Speak!" The bandit chief ordered.

 104. New Target

    Thinking about how to tell it in a way so that the bandits would leave the village alone, Calubo said, "Of course we had that many guards in the manor! There is no chance that the baron''s manor would be breached in any raid. They have tall palisade walls surrounding the manor after all!"Nokozal looked at him carefully and said, "You were not lying about the number of guards in the village, so I will believe you for now. Maybe you are finally learning your place as a slave under me. That''s good." He continued with raised eyebrows, "So this means that the guards are there just to defend the manor... And they don''t give a damn about what happens to the rest of the village..."

    Shit! Calubo immediately realized that he had put his foot in his mouth. But he didn''t know how he could fix his mistake without letting the bandits know about the ruse - which would be even worse for the village.

    Nokozal started to pace from left to right. After a while, he said to all the bandits, "So what if we couldn''t ambush the caravan? This grain is going to that shitty village after all, we can just raid the village itself to get the grain."

    What had he just done... Calubo realized with a growing horror. By trying to make it seem that the manor was so well defended, he had made it seem like the rest of the village was completely undefended!

    "Uh... Chief Nokozal..." he began to speak to try to undo what he had done, but Nokozal immediately put his hand up.

    "You shut up. I''m done with you for now," the bandit chief.

    Calubo tried to interrupt him again, "But that''s not..."

    "Quiet!" Nokozal barked. "I just told you to shut up." Then he gestured to another bandit towards Calubo''s face.

    Seeing that the other bandit started to put back that piece of cloth over his mouth, Calubo tried once more to undo his mistake, "Please... Lord Nokozal! Listen to m..." and then his mouth was bound firmly again, and he was unable to say anything else after that.

    Damn it! Damn his stupid mouth! Calubo castigated himself for the horrible mistake. How could he be so foolish! After it had seemed that it would finally go well for the caravan, was it really going to be his stupid mouth which would be the cause of another raid to the poorly defended village? He kept cursing himself for speaking without thinking, as the other bandits continued the discussion.

    Another bandit asked, "But milord, how can we possibly defeat the guards in their own village where they would be even better defended, when we couldn''t hope to defeat that many men even on this road in a well planned ambush?"

    "Because those guards are cowards and scared of any raids!" Nokozal replied with a huge grin. He tilted his head towards Calubo, while straightening his long beard with a hand. "You heard what he said. Those guards don''t give a shit about what happens to the rest of the village. And just like in that last raid by Torhan''s group, none of the manor guards would come out to defend the village this time either! It is a golden chance for us!"

    Other bandits nodded excitedly in response to it.

    Nokozal continued, "We will leave immediately for Tiranat to raid that village!" He kept speaking to the bandits who were now grinning in anticipation. "We know that no sane merchant would trust a noble with his goods! So that means apart from what that manor needs to feed their own cowardly guards, the rest of that grain would go to the village itself. And since the guards wouldn''t come out to defend the village - no matter how many there are, it would be much easier to just take that grain from the villagers themselves than trying to ambush a caravan!"

    The bandit chief raised his voice and roared, "The goddess has been looking out for us after all! She has given us an even better opportunity to get a lot of grain before the winter instead of making us risk our lives in an ambush! Do you see the brilliance of Lord Nokozal now?"

    The bandits roared loudly on hearing that.

    "And not just that," Nokozal continued with a grin. "It is also a good opportunity for us to get more workers without spending a copper to buy more slaves. We know that some of our older slaves would die in the winter anyway, but this way we can easily get a replacement for them without spending anything! And that coin will go towards buying more ale for us in the winter!"

    Immediately the other bandits started roaring chants of ''All hail Lord Nokozal!'' with their drawn swords raised towards the sky - which glinted in the dying light of the sunset amidst the continuously falling snowflakes.

    For quite a while, they kept cheering and praising that bastard, while Calubo was seething inside on hearing him talk about people like they were cattle to be owned!

    After the chants had died down, Nokozal said, "There are ten of us, so even with our three horses we will have to travel on foot, so it''s going to take us at least two days of walking to reach the village. Then we will rest for a few hours before we attack the village around midnight."

    The bandit chief gazed at all the bandits for a moment before he pointed at the runt. "You, take one horse and ride south to the village immediately. It''s your responsibility to scout Tiranat. Make sure to take a good look around the village and try to find out where that grain is being kept and any other weak points. Don''t go too close to the manor, but try to take a look at the village from all sides."

    At the runt''s nod, Nokozal continued, "Keep in mind that the caravan will be right ahead of you on this road, so you will have to travel through the forests for most of the way. And make sure not to be seen by anyone on the caravan when you are passing them."

    "Leave it to me, milord, this is what I do best," the runt said with confidence and walked towards a horse, before untying it and riding south immediately in the falling snow.

    Nokozal glared at Calubo while he gestured to another bandit to untie the former guard from the tree. "You are coming with us too - even though you are nothing but a deadweight right now. And don''t try to get smart or it won''t end well for you!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    It was evening right now and he was sitting with others near the fireplace, thankful that they had more than enough coal to burn it continuously. The past few days had been uneventful other than the weather which had been getting worse continuously, with no sign of the sun anywhere. The wind had been blowing heavily as well, making it nearly freezing outside the manor house.

    Apart from his morning runs around the walls of the manor with Hudan and other guards, as well as the occasional rounds to take a look at everything in the manor, he tried to stay inside most of the time these days. He had never liked the cold even when he was in the comfort of a modern flat in London, and he didn''t like it any more here in the wooden buildings of Tiranat. He spent most of his free time scribbling ideas on a piece of parchment, which could be implemented in the village during and after the winter.

    Duvas remarked with a frown, "It''s been more than a week since the caravan went out for the third trip. I had thought they would be back by yesterday evening, but there is still no sign of them."

    "We can only hope that there weren''t any problems on the way," Gorsazo commented. He looked at Kivamus. "Should we send someone on the northern road?"

    "Let''s wait for today as well, and see whether they return by tonight," Kivamus said, "otherwise we will send a rider tomorrow morning to see if he can find the caravan on the northern road."

    At Gorsazo''s nod, he asked, "What is the status of the longhouse block?"

    Hudan replied, "I had gone there in the morning and saw that all the outer walls of the block were already completed, and most of the inner wall was complete as well. I think all the walls should be completed by tonight itself, and if not, then it''ll be done by tomorrow at the most."

    "That''s really good to hear," Kivamus said with a smile. "That means Taniok should be starting work on the roof tomorrow itself."

    As they waited for the caravan''s return, he remembered that the wheelbarrow - which would be a simple but very innovative machine in Tiranat - should be completed by today. He had been giving instructions about it to the carpenter''s apprentice as well as to Cedoron for the past few days, and it would be very helpful if it was made before the work on the roof started.

    After a while, a servant announced the arrival of Cedoron.

    The blacksmith came inside the manor hall, and said, "Milord, I have completed the first wheelbarrow. You should take a look at it outside."

    "That''s wonderful!" Kivamus added, "Let''s go then."

    Putting his fur-coat tightly around himself to protect himself from the biting cold, he and others exited the manor hall and saw the wheelbarrow kept right outside it. It was getting dark now, but there was still enough light to see the wheelbarrow clearly. A few servants and maids had also gathered nearby in curiosity at the unusual cart with just a single wheel.

    Taking a thorough look at the wheelbarrow from all sides, he said, "It seems good to me. Now we just have to test it to see if it works like it should."

    Duvas gave a nod, and pointing at a couple of servants who were standing nearby, he ordered, "You both take the wheelbarrow to the coal barns and load it up with coal. Then we''ll try to see how well it works." Looking at Kivamus, he muttered in a low voice, "I do trust your opinions, milord, but I just can''t see how such an unusual cart can do all that you claimed."

    Kivamus just gave a smile in response instead of saying anything for now. They all will find out soon enough anyway.

    One of the servants, who was curiously poking at the weird looking cart, looked back at Kivamus with confusion. "But milord, where will we hitch the horses to it? I don''t see any hook here to attach any ropes..."

    Kivamus smiled and replied, "A wheelbarrow is designed in a way that makes it very easy to move, so you don''t even need any horses for this. That''s why I even had this wheelbarrow made here, since you all can just pull it by yourselves. Now let''s move it to the coal barns."

    Giving a puzzled nod, one of the servants walked to the front of the wheelbarrow, and tried to pull it forward by holding the front side of the tray, while another one stood behind it and ignoring the handles, he started to push the tray like a four-wheeled cart. Immediately, the wheelbarrow lifted up on the front, while both the servants got disbalanced and left the wheelbarrow in confusion.

    Shaking his head in amusement, Kivamus said while pointing at one of them. "Only one person will be more than enough to move it." Then he pointed at one of the servants and told him to simply pull it forward using the handles, after lifting them a little.

    The servant nodded again, and getting into position, he lifted the handles with ease and started pulling the empty wheelbarrow in the direction of the coal barns, while Kivamus and others slowly walked there as well.

    Duvas said, "The servants would have to take around half a cart of coal to refill all the braziers for the night soon enough anyway, but now they can use this wheelbarrow for it and we''ll soon find out if it is better than a cart or not."

    As they reached towards the coal barn, they saw that the servants were already shoveling coal into the tray of the wheelbarrow in the light of a burning brazier nearby, and before long, it was filled to the brim.

    "Go on then!" Kivamus said with encouragement. Seeing the confused looks of the servants, he explained, "One of you should just pick it up from the handles and take the wheelbarrow wherever you need to refill the braziers."

    The servants still hesitated. One of them said, "But milord, we always hitch the cart to a horse, and it''s the horse which pulls its weight. I was able to bring this uh... wheelbarrow... from the front of the manor house to here because it was completely empty earlier, but now it seems way too heavy for that. How can we humans pull such a heavy cart by ourselves?"

    Kivamus smiled. "Just give it a try, and you''ll be surprised." He pointed between the handles, "Just stand here and lift the handles a little, and try to walk forward."

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 105. Another Machine

    "As you wish, milord," the servant replied. He dubiously positioned himself between the handles, and using all his might, he tried to lift the handles up. It seemed a little difficult at first, but as the wheelbarrow lifted further upwards, all of a sudden the servant lost his balance as the handles moved up too fast. He had to immediately leave the handles to prevent the wheelbarrow from toppling over, making it fall on the ground with a thud.Looking thoroughly surprised, he looked at Kivamus with confusion, who just grinned and gestured to him to try again. Giving a firm nod, the servant took that same position again and this time he lifted the handles much more carefully. Once the iron stands had left the ground, the servant confirmed that he was well balanced, and holding the handles tightly, he pulled the wheelbarrow forward, which started moving ahead easily.

    "Well I''ll be damned!" Duvas exclaimed. "It really works! A single person is easily doing the work of a horse!"

    "What did I tell you?" Kivamus replied with a grin. And at the onset of winter in the approaching night, another machine was born in the village of Tiranat. There was a long way ahead on the path to progress, but this was a good step in that direction. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan gave an appreciating nod as well. "It will certainly be very helpful for us in the future, since it will allow us to use our limited number of horses where they are really needed - to pull the really heavy loads."

    The observing servants and maids were looking very surprised by now, after seeing that a single man was easily pulling the amount of coal which would have needed a horse to pull it earlier. After that servant pulled the wheelbarrow ahead for around a dozen meters without any problems, he turned it around and pulled it back towards them with a grin.

    After he reached close to the waiting people, he put down the handles slowly, and walked towards others. Looking at Kivamus with wonder, he said, "It really works milord! It does! It still took some effort, but I never thought I''d be able to pull that much coal just by myself!" He grinned at the other servants and maids, as he bragged, "Didn''t you know? I''m as strong as a horse!"

    The other servants were still looking surprised, while one of the observing maids quipped, "No, you''re not!" and a few other maids burst into sniggers.

    Kivamus was still gazing fondly at the wheelbarrow when another maid started to clap in celebration, and immediately, all the other servants, maids and even a few off-duty guards who had walked there seeing the commotion started to clap and cheer as well.

    Before long, another servant said to the first one, "Let me try too!" And without waiting for a response, he took a position between the handles of the wheelbarrow which was still full of coal, and started pulling it forward like he was going for a joy ride in a luxury sports car. Looking at the ear to ear grin of that servant, a few other servants started to draw lots using a bunch of sticks to be the next one to try pulling the wheelbarrow.

    Laying eyes at the wheelbarrow which had somehow become a rare source of enjoyment for the residents of the manor, Cedoron remarked with wonder, "I had tested the wheelbarrow before bringing it here to see if the supports were strong enough, but seeing that it works so well is still surprising to me. How did you even think of such an idea, milord? It''s so simple, and yet I never thought of it!"

    Before Kivamus could give a reply, Gorsazo said with a grin, "This is what happens when a well-read noble uses his brain productively for the help of his people. I already know that Lord Kivamus'' mind holds a lot of such creative ideas. This is just a small example of it!"

    Kivamus grinned as well, knowing that Gorsazo was covering for him, since his mentor knew that the real reason for his knowledge couldn''t possibly be told to others here.

    After a while, when a few of the servants had taken their turns in pulling the wheelbarrow, he called them closer and asked, "Now that you all have seen that it does work like it should, I want to ask if you all found any problems in using it. Is there anything which you all think would be improved?" Getting feedback from the real users of the wheelbarrow was just as important as him thinking of making this machine in the village.

    Most of the servants just shrugged and said that it was fine but a young servant said, "Milord, can I say something?" At Kivamus'' nod, he continued, I think the handles should be a little lower than they are right now. For those of us who are tall enough, it wouldn''t be any problem, but for most of us, it would be a lot easier if the handles were just a few inches lower." After hearing that, the other servant started to nod as well.

    Looking closely at the height of the handles, Kivamus realized that it was true enough. He said, "Cedoron, that''s one improvement that you should keep in mind when you make more wheelbarrows. You can just make the iron supports below the tray a little shorter. That will make the handles lower and easier for everyone to pull it."

    "Of course, milord," Cedoron said with a nod. "That was my mistake I think. I am quite tall, and when I was making those iron supports, I took my own height as a reference when deciding how high to make them. I will change it for the other wheelbarrows, and if you don''t need this wheelbarrow immediately, then tomorrow morning I can make the change for this one as well. It wouldn''t take too long."

    Kivamus nodded. "In that case, you should do it." He continued, "Apart from that, I don''t see any other obvious problems, so you should keep the same design for now. The iron tray also looks sturdy enough. But you should send someone to tell Taniok''s apprentice to make more wooden wheels and the supporting bars with handles.

    "I''ll do that, milord." Cedoron asked, "So you want me to make five more of them?"

    Kivamus gave a nod again. "For now. We will have to decide if we really need more of them after that." He added, "But before you leave, I also wanted to ask you to make a few more braziers as well. We don''t need them immediately, but the first longhouse block is close to completion now, and we will have to start shifting people there within a week. So I want five or six new braziers ready by then. And you don''t have to worry about iron, we have plenty of that thankfully."

    "As you wish, Milord," Cedoron replied. "Those braziers are simple enough, so I''ll put an apprentice on them in a day or two. If that''s all, I''ll take my leave for now. I need some rest now after working all day to complete this wheelbarrow."

    Kivamus waved him away as he watched other servants and even a few guards take a turn in pulling the wheelbarrow. He couldn''t help but smile after seeing their innocent pleasure at such a simple thing. However, before long, Duvas had to tell them to stop playing around and get back to work.

    The servants grumbled for a moment, then with huge grins on their faces, they immediately started to draw lots again to decide who would get to use the wheelbarrow first, since it would mean getting to spend even more time with the new machine. Picking up that same bunch of sticks they had drawn from earlier, once again they drew the sticks one by one, and after the draw, that young servant was the one who got the longest stick, and with a whoop of joy, he took his place between the wheelbarrow before taking it to refill the braziers in the manor.

    Another servant who had drawn the second longest stick proclaimed that he would be the one to take the wheelbarrow to refill the braziers in the market square of the village as well as outside the manor, since it would be time for the evening meal for children and the elderly soon. The servant with the third longest stick claimed the morning spot for himself to refill the braziers, and on and on it went with other servants claiming the future spots after that until Duvas had to shoo them away to get them to start working.

    As Kivamus watched the servants and maids scurry around the manor to complete their tasks before it got colder in the night, he heard a commotion towards the gates of the manor. It sounded like the crowd of villagers waiting for the evening meal was cheering in happiness about something.

    Immediately, a servant came running towards him with joy. "Milord!" he reported with a grin, "the caravan is back!"

    "Finally!" Hudan exclaimed. "I was getting worried about Feroy and the others by now."

    "Thank the goddess!" Duvas prayed while looking at the sky. "She really listened to my prayers of letting this third trip go without any problem after all!"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus with a smile. "We have been really lucky, my lord. When we arrived at Tiranat there was barely a few weeks of grain remaining in the manor, and after we had gotten the grain from two trips of the caravan, I thought even that was much better. But with the grain from this trip, we''ll be really set for the winter!"

    Kivamus nodded as well with a satisfied smile, as he saw the first of the wagons entering the gates of the manor. "It''s true enough, Gorsazo. We will talk with Pydaso tomorrow in detail, but for now it does seem like we would be able to start planting seeds in the spring. It seems like it might start snowing any day now, but I am thankful that it held back long enough for the caravan to return without any problem."

    Slowly, the rest of the caravan came inside the manor and the guards started to climb down from their seats after a long journey. This time the caravan had taken longer to return than it had in the previous trips, but thankfully, it seemed that all the eight wagons were here safely.

    Soon, he saw Feroy jogging towards him. With a beaming face, he reported, "Milord, we are back! And as promised, I brought back the caravan safely." He added with a sly grin, "It was carrying our precious ale, after all, you know?"

    Kivamus laughed along with others in response. The nearby servants and maids were also whispering with each other happily, likely in anticipation of getting three meals a day from now. It felt really good to see that rare smile on everyone''s face after the last few months they had spent near starvation.

    Giving a nod, he said, "That''s really good to hear." He added with a smirk, "And don''t worry, you''ll certainly get your ale tonight!"

    "That''s what I was waiting to hear, milord!" Feroy exclaimed with a huge grin. He added, "Now that this was the last caravan journey before the winter, the guards who returned with the caravan can take some rest as well."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said with a nod, "and you can allow a mug of ale to those guards as well, but no more than that. And no ale tonight for the guards who didn''t go to escort the caravan this time, since we don''t want all the guards drunk at the same time."

    "That''s certainly true," Feroy replied. "Although the guards will understand the need to have at least half of them alert, this decision still won''t be popular."

    Kivamus nodded. "They do have to stay alert on duty for tonight, but from tomorrow the pressure on them will still reduce a lot, now that we have all of our guards back, and they wouldn''t have to pull double duty so frequently either. That fact will have to be enough to placate them."

    "It''s alright, milord. I''ll make sure there are no problems," Feroy said with a nod.

    "Good." Kivamus looked at Hudan, "You should give a day off to the guards who have arrived today. They deserve a night of rest after traveling on those chilly roads for weeks. And you can also tell the temporary guards we had hired that they can return to work as laborers from tomorrow, but keep them on just for tonight."

    "Of course," Hudan nodded, "that''s a good idea anyway."

    Kivamus looked back at Feroy. "We were expecting the caravan back by yesterday. What caused the delay?"

 106. Missed Opportunity

    "It''s already been snowing heavily on that road for the past few days, you know?" Feroy replied. "Even then we should have returned back on time but yesterday morning, a wagon wheel became loose after a big jolt from a pothole on the road, and nearly came out from the wagon. Usually it wouldn''t have happened, but we had overloaded the wagons for this last journey to carry as much grain and other things as we could."The ex-mercenary added, "However, even with an overloaded wagon, we would have just steered the wagons around such potholes on the road, but it just wasn''t possible to see the road surface for the past two days because of the snow which is already gathering on the road."

    "So the snowfall has started after all," Kivamus said while looking at the overcast sky.

    Feroy continued with a nod, "We certainly couldn''t afford to leave that wagon back, so we had to spend the whole day yesterday trying to fix it. That''s why we lost another day on the road."

    He winced as he added, "It felt really risky at that time as well - especially during the night spent on the middle of the road, since the caravan was just like a sitting duck during that time, not to mention how cold it was spending the nights in the open. We couldn''t even afford to light a fire there, or we would have become an even bigger target - for wild beasts if not for bandits. But I made sure to send a few guards to patrol around that area every hour or so, and thankfully we didn''t see any recent sign of other people being there."

    Kivamus grimaced as he thought about the situation. If any bandits had been nearby at that time, and if they had realized that one of the wagons was stuck on the road, it would have been a golden opportunity for them to try to capture at least that damaged wagon as long as they had enough numbers for it.

    He asked Feroy, "How did you fix the wagon then?"

    Feroy replied with a shake of his head. "We got really lucky there. One of the new guards had some experience with woodworking since he had worked for some time as an apprentice to the village carpenter in the past. He was able to make a temporary fix to secure the wheel, which allowed the wagon to start moving again. But we still had to move slowly after that, you know? Otherwise that wheel could have come out from the axle completely, but thankfully it didn''t happen. That being said, that wagon wheel really should be repaired properly by the carpenter before using it again."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Would Taniok even be able to fix it? We had to send our damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs after all."

    Duvas gave a shrug. "We''ll have to see, my Lord. It depends on how bad the damage is. In the wagon we had sent for repairs, one of its axles and the support of the wheel was damaged, which is why it couldn''t carry any load even though the horses were still able to pull it to Cinran. This time it only seems like one of the wheels came loose, so it might just be a simple fix. I will ask Taniok about it tomorrow."

    Hudan remarked, "It does seem like we have used up more than our fair share of luck by now. The caravan was able to go on a third trip before the winter, and they weren''t ambushed on the road when the caravan was stuck there."

    "The goddess has really been kind to us in the last few weeks..." Duvas muttered while looking at the sky. "Let''s just hope our good luck lasts for a while."

    "That''s true enough..." Feroy muttered. "But we shouldn''t jinx it by speaking about it, you know?"

    While others gave nods in reply, Kivamus watched the servants move the wagons under the shed for the night. The unloading would only be done tomorrow in daylight. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Looking at Feroy who was nearly shivering, he said, "Let''s return back to the manor hall now. Hudan, tell the guards who have returned to take some good rest in the night after they get their evening meal. Madam Nerida should be able to whip up something hot for them quickly. They look like they are freezing."

    With a nod, Hudan walked towards the guards, and the others returned back to the manor hall.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Walking southwards on the road to Tiranat ~

    They had been walking continuously for the whole day yesterday, with the snow falling continuously, then after a stop in the night for rest, they had been walking for the whole day today as well. And with barely enough food given to him, he didn''t have words to describe how tired he was feeling. It was nearly dark now, and he couldn''t wait for Nokozal to order everyone to stop for the night.

    Soon, Nokozal told them all to move a little deep into the forest, and after finding an empty clearing, they tied their horses to the trees for them to graze, and all the bandits laid down on the ground wherever they could find some flat space. From Calubo''s own estimate, it would take another two days of walking before they reached Tiranat, and he wasn''t looking forward to that long walk at all.

    After a while, when the bandits had cooked a meal out of a couple of rabbits they had caught there, he heard the sound of the hooves of a horse on the road nearby. Immediately, all of the bandits got up with alarm and started to draw their swords in anticipation of an attack. However, the bandit who had been left next to the road to keep an eye there, walked inside along with another person and it turned out that it was the runt on that horse. Calubo was surprised to see him back since he had gone to scout the road and the village.

    Looking at the runt, Nokozal barked, "Why are you back again! I told you to go and scout the village, or did you not hear me clearly?"

    Walking close to Nokozal, the runt said, "Milord, there was a very good opportunity for an ambush on the caravan, so I had to get this news to you. But it took me so long to find you all that the opportunity would certainly have passed by now."

    "How?" Nokozal growled. "What do you mean by that?"

    The runt reported, "When I was passing in the forest next to the road, then maybe around half a day back from the village I saw that the caravan had stopped in the middle of the road, even though it was daytime. So I tied my horse there, and observed them for a few hours from a nearby bluff. It turned out that one of the wagons had gotten their wheel loose, and the whole caravan was just sitting in the middle of the road without being able to move further!"

    Immediately, Nokozal jumped up to his feet. "Tell me! Where are they? We cannot miss such an opportunity!"

    The runt shook his head reluctantly. "It''s no use, milord. Like I said, the opportunity would have passed us by now. I had seen them stuck on the road this morning, but based on the guards'' setup, it looked like they were stuck there since yesterday at least. It couldn''t have been earlier than that since we saw them passing in front of us just two days ago. So I think they would have had enough time to fix it by afternoon today."

    He added with a shrug, "And even if they were unable to fix it, it was a big caravan of eight wagons, as you had seen earlier, so they would have just transferred their goods to the other seven wagons before leaving. Either way, they were only around half a day back from the village so they would surely have reached Tiranat by now."

    "Damn it!" Nokozal cursed. "Damn it all! Couldn''t you have brought this news sooner? Even with our lower numbers, we could have just shot arrows at them from the forest, and we might have taken out half of them without even lifting our swords, since they wouldn''t have been able to go far from their caravan! How could we have missed this golden opportunity!" Starting to curse everything again, he started walking back and forth while stroking his graying beard.

    Calubo was surprised to find out that the caravan was stuck on the road. For a moment, he thought that the goddess had abandoned the villagers, and the bandits would be able to kill those guards and loot the caravan after all. But a wagon getting a loose wheel was still a common enough occurrence that it could have happened to any caravan traveling on any road - not to mention one traveling on this run-down road in the middle of forests. But at least it seemed like the bandits still wouldn''t have it too easy.

    Finally, the bandit chief stopped his pacing and said to the runt, "Your information is no good if it gets to me so late. But no matter, you will go back right now to scout the village."

    The runt gazed longingly at the roasted rabbit legs in the hands of other bandits.

    "What are you dawdling for?" Nokozal growled. "Get back to your horse now!"

    "But it''s already dark, milord!" The runt protested after another quick look at the food in the hands of others. "I can''t ride the horse at night anyway..." He wheedled again to the bandit chief. "Can''t I just leave at first light?"

    Nokozal snorted, "You young''uns are so fragile! When I was your age, I used to travel all the night when needed!" After a while, he grunted, "Fine. You can stay here for the night, but be off before dawn!"

    "Thank you, milord! Thank you so much! You are so kind!" The runt praised the bandit chief and after a quick bow, he immediately walked towards another rabbit which was still being roasted on a small fire with hunger gleaming in his eyes.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day in the morning, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall while waiting for Pydaso to arrive. Duvas was busy overseeing the unloading of the wagons, while Hudan and Feroy were trying to decide a new watch schedule for the manor as well as the for the rest of the village now that all the guards were back, since it was the first time they had enough guards to properly patrol the village.

    Lucem had gone to watch the training of the guards in the morning despite the cold weather, while Clarisa and Syryne were helping madam Helga in the kitchen of the manor house. For the moment it was only Gorsazo who was sitting within the hall.

    The weather had kept getting colder today as well, and it seemed that snowfall would start any time now, but they had still been lucky that the caravan had been able to return from the third trip without any incidents. There was also the consolation that they had more than enough coal for now, so there wouldn''t be any problem in providing enough heating for the villagers. But he had to wait for the merchant before he found out exactly how much grain he had brought.

    However, seeing that other than Gorsazo, the hall was empty, and after making sure that the doors were closed properly, he said, "There is something that has been bugging me for some time now. So I wanted to ask you about that. I''ve been thinking of talking about this for a few days now, but it is a sensitive matter and I never got a chance to talk to you alone in the recent days."

    Gorsazo nodded. "What is it, my lord? You can talk to me about anything."

    Kivamus explained, "It is about the divisions of yards and feet into inches which the carpenter Taniok mentioned a few days ago. As you know, I still have most of the memories of the original Kivamus, but there are still some things about which my memories are hazy, especially in the things where he didn''t focus much on, and that includes this topic. I was very curious about it when the carpenter told me about those weird divisions, but this wasn''t something I could have asked in front of any other person."

    Seeing Gorsazo give an understanding nod, he continued, "But now that you already know everything about my origin, I can be completely frank with you, so I want to ask you if there is any good reason behind it. Those divisions do not make any sense at all!"

    He added, "I know that every place has their own customs, but math is math everywhere. It cannot be easy for anyone - especially the common people who are not even educated - to divide things using those measurements. And this is something which nearly everyone would be using every day, so how come nobody ever tried to make more sensible divisions of lengths?"

 107. The Mad King

    Gorsazo gave a nod while looking into the distance. After a while, he said, "There is indeed a good reason behind that, but it''s not something that most people know much about, not these days anyway." He continued, "This concerns the founding of the Reslinor kingdom."Now Kivamus was really curious about this, so he gestured to him to keep going.

    Gorsazo explained, "These divisions of measurements were made by a previous king - the first king of the Reslinor Kingdom, Kreslinus Vorlarken, better known as ''Kreslinus The Mad''. He was the one who conquered those regions of Cilaria which we currently know as the Reslinor Kingdom, more than a hundred years ago. The name of the kingdom is derived from his name as well, as you can easily guess. Since then, the Vorlarken Dynasty has been ruling the kingdom continuously for more than a century now. The current king of the Reslinor Kingdom, as old as he is by now, is a direct descendant from the same line."

    He added, "In fact, even though you might not remember this now, your name is also derived from the name of the first king of the kingdom. You were physically very weak when you were born, and people were saying that such a frail baby might not survive more than a few days. But your mother wanted you to become as strong as the founder of the kingdom, so she gave you the name Kivamus, somehow you did survive despite everything pointing to the opposite."

    Thinking about the mother of the original Kivamus, Kivamus could only remember very hazy memories of her, since she had died when he was just two years old while giving birth to his sister Astela. He wasn''t sure whether to feel good that his name was based on someone who was called Kreslinus The Mad, but he could certainly understand the sentiments of a mother who thought her child wouldn''t survive a week in this world.

    Gorsazo continued, "I haven''t yet seen even fifty winters yet, so it was obviously long before my time, but there are annals of the exploits of Kreslinus The Mad which tell a lot about his life. I had read quite a bit about him in the past, so I do remember many things about him, even though most people would just know the name of the founder of the kingdom."

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows in curiosity, and asked, "But why was he even called by that name? Was he really insane?"

    Gorsazo laughed. "Not at all. He was not even close to being mad, but he was certainly very ruthless when conquering his enemies. So his enemies had given him that title, since he didn''t give any quarter to his enemies who didn''t surrender at the first notice when he went out from the city of Dorastiz to conquer other kingdoms."

    He explained, "Before that, the western part of Cilaria had always been divided into many smaller realms, and while many previous northern rulers had tried to conquer the south as well as the vice versa, Kreslinus The Mad was the first one to siege and conquer all of the north and the south - including the capital of the former southern Kingdom of Ulriga - which was one of the best defended fortresses at the time."

    He continued, "So when King Kreslinus was out conquering the region which would later become the Reslinor kingdom, he had given orders to his armies not to leave anyone alive in the cities and towns of his enemies if they didn''t surrender at the first notice. Of course, he couldn''t slaughter every person in the huge cities like Plumron and Ulriga or there wouldn''t be anyone left in the kingdom for him to rule over, but it still happened often enough that with time, that name stuck to him, and eventually, he even started calling himself by that title."

    As Kivamus thought about it, the first king''s actions sounded similar to Genghis Khan, even though the Mongols had conquered a lot more land. He continued listening as his mentor explained further.

    "Now coming back to the topic of discussion," Gorsazo said, "before the time of Kreslinus The Mad, people did use a different measurement, but the kingdom was still very divided in the years after he conquered most of the western part of Cilaria, and there were frequent skirmishes between different regions of the kingdom."

    Gorsazo continued, "So to change that and unify the people of the kingdom, King Kreslinus decided to change something fundamental which people use every day, so that people would remember about his name many times in a day - including his ruthlessness - so that they wouldn''t even think of trying to revolt against his rule. So he decided to make new measurements of weights and lengths, such as how many inches would be in a foot and a yard, based on the date of his birth, the eleventh month and the twenty-ninth day of that month."

    "And since then," Gorsazo added, "one yard contains twenty-nine inches, and one foot contains eleven inches. In other words, one yard became equal to a length of two feet and seven inches after that. It is the same for weights as well. One bilan of weight contains twenty-nine stones."

    "Wow..." Kivamus voiced with raised eyebrows.

    Gorsazo nodded. "I wasn''t alive during that time, but I can imagine that it would have caused a lot of commotion and resistance against the forced order to start using such difficult divisions. But that was the whole point," he remarked. "King Kreslinus made a proclamation that anybody who still used the previous measurements would be executed immediately after being found out. And that certainly did the trick, since instead of trying to depose the mad king, people scrambled to adapt to those absurd measurements."

    Gorsazo snorted, "Of course, many people would have used that chance to get rid of their competitors and enemies by claiming that they were still using the old measurements to get them executed. Regardless, since then these measurements have been used throughout the kingdom, and nobody even dared to use the old measurements - which had made a lot more sense, but nobody wanted to fall afoul of the mad king and be executed." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "Well that explains why such weird divisions would be used here. And of course, people will adjust to most things given enough time. However, now I am worried that telling people to use a different measurement would cause much more problems than I had thought of at that time..."

    Gorsazo shrugged. "I wouldn''t say that it''s going to be easy, but a lot of time has passed since the time ''Kreslinus the mad'' ruled this kingdom. And by now, I know for a fact that some people do use different measurements in many places, especially the merchants who like to use simpler length and weight divisions which make more sense, even though they use the official measurements when interacting with any nobles."

    He continued after a moment, "So, while nobody will come to execute you for this in today''s era - or I would have stopped you immediately that day, but I don''t think any nearby nobles who learn of it will be pleased by this, especially after they learn that you have already proclaimed your barony to be free of slavery."

    Gorsazo added after Kivamus'' nod, "It''s a different fact that the southern nobles have never been fond of the ruling dynasty anyway, and they have never liked the fact that a northern king had forced them to change something so fundamental within their own kingdoms - although none of them would even think of trying to secede from the kingdom these days in light of Kingdom of Binpaaz''s frequent raids into Reslinor after huge sources of iron ore were found in Tolasi Hills a few decades ago."

    "Tolasi Hills..." Kivamus muttered. "I remember you telling me about them when we were coming to Tiranat. Anyway, other nobles are hardly in a position to criticize me if they allow merchants within their own domains to use different measurements. Such a thing couldn''t have gone without the notice of nobles."

    Gorsazo gave another shrug. "That''s true enough. But it wouldn''t stop the nobles from crying foul if another noble himself goes against the established conventions. Most likely, they will use this as another chance to complain about you to the Count of Cinran, or even the Duke of Ulriga - which means one of your brothers in reality."

    Kivamus snorted. "I don''t think I''m going to get any favors from any of them, even without going against their rules. But what about the king himself?"

    "That''s a different matter altogether, since that proclamation came from the capital Dorastiz and not from Cinran or Ulriga." Gorsazo continued, "But then again, we are in the far south of the kingdom, so it''s not like the king will care much about what a small no-name baron is doing so far from the capital. Times are already changing from the dark days of the mad king, and like I have mentioned in the past, there are already a few nobles in the north who don''t keep any slaves, even though they might not have prohibited slavery outright like you have."

    He added, "The king is already very old, and nobody knows how long he''s going to live. So in the capital city of Dorastiz, people are going to be more worried about how the succession of power will play out in the coming years once the king passes away, instead of getting bothered about what a small baron is doing at the frontier of the kingdom."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said with relief.

    "Even so," Gorsazo remarked, "while the people in the capital wouldn''t be concerned about these changes, any nearby nobles - maybe even the count of Cinran - will certainly grab any chance to diminish the power of another noble - which will be you in this case. Especially since they will already know that you have basically been banished by the Duke of Ulriga."

    Kivamus snorted and shook his head. "That is true enough, but it''s not like they wouldn''t be doing this anyway even if I was dancing completely to their tune. At least a few of them are already trying to kill me, so even if I follow the absurd rules made by a mad king more than a century ago, they still aren''t going to like me anyway."

    He continued, "You already know by now that I have a lot of knowledge in my head - things which those nobles couldn''t even dream of - and for me to secure the safety of the village and myself, I have to make the village a lot stronger and much more prosperous than it is right now. And for any of that to happen, I simply cannot continue to use those absurd divisions and their orthodox rules of keeping humans as slaves! I know I am going to face a lot of resistance in a lot of things, but I have to push through it, or we will remain a small and poor village - where a simple raid by just a dozen bandits can bring the whole village to starvation. I cannot let that happen again."

    Gorsazo nodded. "I am completely with you on that, my lord. Even though I have no idea how you have the memories of two people, I know that you are doing your best to protect the village and the common people, so you have my full support in everything you do - even if it goes against the established norms."

    Kivamus smiled. "I''m really glad for that."

    He continued, "We also don''t know who was behind the ambush of the previous baron, but the nearby nobles certainly must have a hand in it, since that would allow them to get access to the coal mines here - because for now, that''s the only thing worth a damn in this barony anyway. And it hasn''t even been a month since I''ve arrived here, but they are already trying to kill me as well, and that situation is not going to change without me transforming everything here fundamentally and making the village a lot stronger and richer."

    Kivamus shrugged. "And of course, those nobles would have even more of a reason after that to try to seize or conquer our village. So I have to keep pushing through, even at the risk that such changes wouldn''t be liked by any nearby nobles. Because these villagers are my people now and they depend on me. So I will do everything in my power and knowledge to prevent such a thing from happening ever again. I will protect them from the greed of those nobles and keep them safe, no matter what!"

    *******

    After a while, when Duvas and Hudan had returned to the manor hall, a servant announced the arrival of Pydaso.

    The merchant entered inside, and after a quick bow to the baron, he took an empty armchair near the fireplace. After putting his hands close to the fire, he exclaimed, "Goddess! It''s cold outside!"

    "That it certainly is, especially with the constant wind these days," Kivamus said. "I also found out that it has already started snowing on the road to Cinran."

    Pydaso nodded. "It began when we were returning from Cinran. It won''t be more than a few days before that road gets enough snow to make travel impossible through it."

    Duvas remarked, "Looking at the weather in Tiranat today, it looks like that snowfall is not far away here as well."

    "It does seem so," Pydaso said, "although you all should still be glad that Tiranat is not located as close to the Arakin mountains as that road is, or the village would get buried within several feet of snow in the winter." He added, "Anyway, I will return back towards my home near Ulriga early tomorrow morning. We nearly lost one of the wagons yesterday because of the damn snow, and it will keep piling up on that road in the coming days. And I don''t want to take any risk of getting stuck there."

    "That''s alright," Kivamus said with a nod. "So tell me what you have brought this time, and then we will finalize your payments."

 108. The Final Tally

    Pydaso began, "This time I brought sixty-one sacks of grain with me, along with fourteen sacks of the vegetables which you had ordered. The rest of the space was taken up by more iron ingots, a barrel of ale and the commoners'' soap you wanted." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.He added, "Oh! And before I forget, I was also able to bring some butter and cheese this time. Those weren''t cheap, but since it wasn''t a big amount, I bought it anyway since you had specifically ordered me to buy them."

    "That''s fine," Kivamus said. "And it''s good to hear that you were able to buy all of that. And what about the parchment and ink you had promised to bring?"

    "Of course, I brought those as well." Pydaso added, "Now should we tally up the total price?"

    At Kivamus'' nod, Duvas took over and started negotiating the price of everything with the merchant one by one, while scribbling on a parchment with a quill. Kivamus tuned out their conversation, trusting the penny-pinching majordomo to get the best deal he could for the village.

    While he waited for the result of how much all this purchasing would set him back, he mentally added up how much foodstuff they had been able to buy in these three trips, and it turned out to be two hundred and six sacks of wheat along with twenty-six sacks of vegetable, not including the butter and cheese.

    Including those vegetables as part of the diet would reduce their consumption of wheat, and so the village would be able to get by with just one hundred and fifty sacks of wheat for the winter months, instead of the one hundred and seventy-five sacks that they had planned for in the beginning.

    That left them with around fifty-six sacks of wheat for sowing as seeds in the spring, before taking into account the grain they might lose to rodents or rotting, although this being the winter should reduce that by a good amount. It certainly wouldn''t be the same in the summer months, but that worry was for the future.

    That meant they were still short on wheat for sowing compared to the sixty-six sacks they needed to sow to harvest their targeted amount of six hundred and sixty sacks of wheat to feed the current population of the village for a full year, while still retaining enough grain to use as seeds in the year after that.

    However, while they wouldn''t be able to complete all the sowing without buying more grain, fifty-six sacks would still allow them to complete most of the sowing. He nodded to himself in satisfaction. That was much better than what they had anticipated a few weeks ago. Being able to send the caravan for a third trip had certainly helped a lot in that, and sowing wouldn''t have been possible without it.

    Now he just had to make sure that nothing happened to their new stockpile of grain during this time. They couldn''t afford to lose even a single sack of grain to a bandit raid right now. But at least all the guards were back now, and with Hudan and other experienced guards training the recruits regularly, they will hopefully be able to repel any bandit attack even before the village walls were completed.

    Before long, Duvas nodded, and said, "So the total cost for this trip comes out to be three hundred and forty seven gold crowns for the food, and ninety six golds for the remaining items. That is a total of four hundred and forty three gold crowns for everything. After reducing the price of the coal which Pydaso will take back with him in the four wagons, we have to pay a total of three hundred and ninety seven gold crowns and eight silver pieces."

    Kivamus looked at the majordomo. "Alright Duvas, go and pay that amount to Pydaso now. As Duvas went inside the manor hall to bring the required amount of gold, he looked at the merchant and said, "You have been very helpful to us, Pydaso. Without you agreeing to take the risk of making a third trip, it would have become a very difficult situation for us.

    Pydaso gave a genuine smile. "Think nothing of it, milord. It was also helpful for me to agree to go on those trips. Now I can return to my family with my head held high, knowing that I will be able to provide for them in the winter. And while I have to finally leave by tomorrow, it''s been very good doing business with you, milord. And I will certainly be back after the winter, soon after the snow melts and the road from Cinran opens again."

    "I''m glad to hear that. And of course, you would be more than welcome here," Kivamus replied with a smile as well. "While I believe that other merchants will also start to come to the village by then, you will still be the first choice for us whenever we want to buy or sell something."

    He added, "However, I was curious about something else. You had brought two other drivers with you when you arrived in Tiranat for the first time around a month ago, only one of which is still with you." He added with a grimace, "The less we mention of your other driver the better. So how are you planning to drive back the four wagons this time?"

    Pydaso replied, "Today I''ll ask around in the village for two men who wish to accompany me back to Cinran for the good wages of a wagon driver, where I will return the two wagons I had rented from the local merchants. And after that, those hired drivers will either have to walk back to Tiranat through the forests, or they could stay back there while looking for some work to spend the winter in Cinran."

    "Is that normal?" Kivamus asked with curiosity. "I mean, will you even be able to get someone here who wants to leave their home for a few months?"

    Pydaso shrugged. "I am not certain about that, Milord, since it is the first time that I have lost a wagon driver because of... those reasons. And because you had given me a big order, I also had to rent another wagon from Cinran. So it''s an unusual situation for me as well. However, from what I know, there are always a few people in every village who are willing to do a job for coin, whether it''s working as a wagon driver, or staying in a bigger town for a few months to look for work there. It''s not like everyone always has a paying job in any village, so they should still be willing to accompany me back."

    Pydaso continued, "However, from what I have heard in my short stays here, I realize that these days you are providing a lot of work to the villagers. If anything, there is more work to do in Tiranat than there are people willing to do it. So I''m not really sure if I will be able to find someone for it. But I still have to try." He added with a shrug, "It''s not like I can leave those two wagons back here, or I would never be allowed to rent a wagon from Cinran again."

    Kivamus nodded slowly as he thought about it. After a while he said, "You know what, you''ve been very helpful for us, so I think I can help you in this. From what I know, it would be unlikely for anyone in the village to want to stay back in Cinran for this particular winter - especially with the concerning food situation everywhere, and it won''t be a safe journey either if they walk back on foot through the forests."

    He added, "That journey will easily take a week or two on foot, and they might not even survive the journey, either because of the cold, or if a wild beast attacks them. There is also the fact that you will be vulnerable to any bandit attacks on the road if you travel with unarmed people as wagon drivers."

    Kivamus continued, "So tell you what, I can send two of my guards with you to drive the wagon to Cinran. And I''ll also provide them with two horses, which they can use to ride back. While a wagon would surely get stuck on that road if enough snow has gathered by the time they return in a few more days, the guards can just circle around a big pile of snow on their horses and move for a short while through the forest. So they will be able to return back on horses, even though any wagons wouldn''t."

    Pydaso looked thoroughly surprised for a moment before he said, "That is a very good offer, milord, and it does make sense. Of course, this is because the winter is still starting. Give it another week or so and even travel on horse or foot wouldn''t be possible anymore - at least that close to the mountains."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "That''s true. But even then, it will only take the guards a few days to return back on a horse, and since the snow will still not be that deep within the forests, it should be doable. As for those horses, you can just hitch them to one of your wagons while going to Cinran, and then those guards will take back those horses before returning. This way I will be reasonably sure of your safety, and I wouldn''t have to risk two of my villagers losing their lives in the forest."

    Pydaso seemed to think about it for a while before he stood up and bowed. "Thank you so much for this, milord. I will gladly accept your generosity."

    "You have helped us a lot in the past few weeks," Kivamus said with a smile, "so I don''t want you to harm your business by being unable to return your rented wagons. And if the merchants of Cinran had refused to let you rent a wagon from them again, I would also be losing out on trading through you. So you can say that this benefits me as well."

    "That''s true enough," Pydaso said, "but at least let me pay the wages for those guards for that duration. It''s the least I can do to return back the favor."

    "Well, I already pay the monthly wages to our guards," Kivamus said, "but since those guards will also be risking their life more than they would have if they stayed back here in the manor, so you can give them whatever you think will be a good amount for a wagon driver''s wage as a... let''s say, hazard pay. That full amount will be just for those guards themselves."

    "That... is an interesting term, milord," the merchant remarked. "But I gladly agree. I would have had to pay the wages for a week for two wagon drivers anyway if I had hired someone from the village for this, so I will just give that amount to those guards themselves. And I thank you milord, once again, for helping me so much."

    Kivamus smiled. "Think nothing of it."

    By then, the majordomo had returned with money, and he provided the previously agreed upon amount to Pydaso, who counted them carefully with the deft hands of a merchant, and after giving another quick bow, he turned around to leave.

    However, Kivamus called him back. "Before you leave, Pydaso, I want you to try to buy something for me when you return back here after the winter."

 109. Isomi and Savomi

    Seeing Pydaso''s curious gaze, Kivamus continued, "I would like to buy a map of the region around Tiranat, and one for the whole of Southern Reslinor as well if you can find it. Duvas has told me that such a map wouldn''t be available even in Cinran, but there is a good possibility of getting those maps from Ulriga. And you have mentioned that your home is in a village close to Ulriga as well.At the merchant''s nod, he continued, "So before you return back here after the winter, I want you to buy those maps from Ulriga if you can manage it at all. I don''t mind paying a high price for it, as long as it is not a ludicrous amount."

    Pydaso nodded slowly. "I cannot guarantee that I will be able to buy them, but I will try my best." Giving a quick look at the majordomo, he added with a smirk, "I know that Mr Duvas wouldn''t pay me even a copper more than a reasonable amount for a map, as rare and pricey as good maps are."

    Kivamus and others gave a good natured laugh at that, while Duvas just snorted and shook his head in amusement.

    "That''s why I trust Duvas with my money," Kivamus said with a smile.

    Pydaso nodded. "So don''t worry, milord, I will only buy them if I can find them at an acceptable price." He added, "I will leave my wagons here for tonight as well, and then I will come back tomorrow morning before dawn. Please make sure that the guards are ready to leave by then. I really don''t want to risk the wagons getting stuck on the road."

    "Of course, Pydaso," Kivamus said with a nod. "Don''t worry about it."

    And with a final bow of gratitude, the merchant left the manor hall.

    Kivamus turned to the guard captain and said, "Take care of that today. Make sure to send only experienced guards this time. We need them to be able to hold their own in case a wild beast attacks them on the road."

    Hudan nodded in reply. "I already have two men in my mind whom I plan to send, and with the extra income in the form of, uh... hazard pay... that they will get, I believe they will readily agree to it. And since there will be just two of them when returning, they should hopefully be able to move quickly through the forest without any problems."

    "Good." Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Now that we have bought everything we are going to buy before the winter, tell me just how much gold we have spent by now." He added with a grimace, "Although I am already scared to even think about it."

    Duvas nodded and took a minute to scribble a few things on the parchment he was holding in his hands. After a while, he replied with a surprised look, "After including our income from selling coal to him, we have spent a net amount of nine hundred and fifty three gold crowns!" He explained, "That amount was spent to buy the food grain, iron ingots, as well as other things from Pydaso. Apart from that, we have spent around twenty-eight gold as the wages for people with specialized skills whom we still pay in cash. That includes the blacksmith, the carpenter and his apprentice, as well as the two foremen."

    He added with a sigh, "But at least we are supplying all the materials to them - including iron which we purchased for cheap from cinran. If we were buying the forged tools directly from the blacksmith it would have been even more costly. Apart from that, Hudan is also entitled to a regular wage, with him being the guard captain, but he has told me that he wouldn''t take any wages until we are able to pay the regular wages in coins to the other guards as well."

    Giving a nod of thanks to the guard captain, Duvas continued, "Normally, we would also be giving wages to our guards and the coal miners, or in our current condition, to the villagers working as laborers, but providing them grain and coal directly means that we haven''t had to spend any coin on them. So that''s our total expense for now, since we aren''t paying anyone else in coins right now. Everyone else in the manor is also being provided with only food and lodging for now."

    "But that still means we have spent nearly a thousand gold crowns already!" Gorsazo exclaimed. "That''s close to half of what we had in the treasury!" He shook his head at the thoroughly unwelcome news. "We still have to pay the taxes to the Count whenever his men come asking for it, apart from what we will need to spend after the winter to buy more grain for the summer months. Not to mention our coal mines are still flooded!"

    "All that''s true enough," Kivamus said, "but this was a necessary expense. If there are no other problems, we will be able to ensure that no one dies from the cold this winter, not to mention we are ensuring that nobody in the village goes to sleep on an empty stomach."

    "That''s true," Duvas sighed, "but ensuring all of that still takes a lot of cold hard cash. And we don''t even have a source of income right now..." He took a few deep breaths before adding, "No, you are right. Nothing is more important than ensuring the survival of everyone in the village."

    "Certainly," Kivamus nodded. "Once the first longhouse block and the village walls have been completed, we will get a lot of free labor, and I will put some of them to start clearing water from the coal mines. By that time the carpenter will also have some free time, so I will try to find a better way to remove the water instead of doing it manually bucket by bucket. Actually, no. Taniok also has to work on making the watchtowers after that, as well as the crossbows - not to mention repairing the damaged wagon, apart from other things..."

    "That is certainly a lot of work for one man," Gorsazo muttered. "It''s a pity that we only have one trained carpenter in the village..."

    "Well he does have an apprentice he is currently training," Duvas said, "but it will be a while until he can do any precision woodworking like Taniok. Anyway, I showed him our damaged wagon earlier in the morning, and he told me that he will be able to fix the wheel, but it will still be time taking." He continued, "But we are not in any hurry to use that wagon right now, since we also have our other three wagons back from Cinran now, so I have postponed repairing it until at least the first longhouse block is completed."

    "That was a good idea," Kivamus said.

    He looked at the guard captain after a moment. "We still haven''t gotten any women joining us as manor guards, have we? After we told them that they would get the same wages as the men, I had thought we would be getting plenty of applicants for it, but so far we haven''t even gotten a single woman who wants to be a guard."

    "Actually, my lord," Hudan interrupted, "earlier in the morning I did get two young women as applicants for guards. "In fact, they are sisters - Isomi and Savomi. But I don''t know them, and I have no idea if they are trustworthy, so I was waiting to ask Mr Duvas to meet them once, before I hired them."

    Gorsazo asked, "Didn''t you select the guards through a test when you were recruiting them last time?" sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan shrugged. "It''s not like we have enough female applicants that I have to select from them based on their proficiency - like it happened with the men. If Mr Duvas says that they are dependable, then I will recruit them without any questions, especially since we are not selecting them for their expertise in wielding a sword anyway."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said. "But did you ask why they wanted to work as guards, when no other woman in the village wants to do that?"

    Hudan nodded. "I certainly asked about it. I found out that they didn''t have anyone else in their family to provide for them. When the coal mines were working, they used to work there hauling the coal in baskets from inside the mines to the waiting wagons outside. And even then, they were only hired on the days when the mining foreman didn''t have enough men to do that."

    He continued, "Since the time we announced that everyone in the village could work as laborers, they have been picking small stones in the newly cleared land in the south of the village to clear the fields for sowing in the spring. When they heard that we were looking for women as guards, they wanted to join us immediately, but it took them this long just to build up the courage to actually come to the manor and ask us to join the other men as guards."

    The guard captain added, "They told me that instead of picking stones they would rather do something more to help and protect the village, but before that announcement they had never thought that they could actually become guards in the manor. Not to mention, if they get selected it would be a permanent position for them, and they would get more wages than even the men who work as laborers, since we would be paying them the same wages as other guards, who already earn more than laborers."

    "I think I know who you are talking about," Duvas said while stroking his whitening beard. "But I will still go with you later to confirm if they are the same women I''m thinking about. And if they are, I know we can trust them as guards inside the manor, because I have known them for more than a decade since the time they were still children."

    He added, "The father of those two sisters, who used to be a coal miner as well, was injured in a small bandit raid three or four years ago, and he died of injuries later that winter. So I can understand why they hate bandits and want to do something more to protect the village."

    Kivamus said, "It''s a good thing that we got at least two female guards, even though we still need many more of them for all the watchtowers." He added, "Hudan, once Duvas has confirmed them as trustworthy, give them lodging within the servant hall with the other maids, and include them in the training for other guards. But you should focus more on their physical fitness than actual weapon training in the beginning."

    Hudan nodded. "I was already thinking of that. They will need to become a lot more fit for them to work as guards, so I will slowly increase their training until they can keep up with others."

    "Good." Kivamus added after a moment, "There is still some time until all the watchtowers and gates are built, but even then it seems like we will still be short on guards at this rate. We have already asked for women to apply as guards, but so far we have only gotten two applicants. Is there anything else we can do about it?"

 110. Three Meals A Day

    "I''m not sure, my Lord," Duvas said. "We really cannot afford to hire more men as guards if we are not getting enough women as applicants, or all the work in the village would slow down a lot."After a moment, Kivamus said, "What about... what about hiring the elderly villagers or maybe those who are injured or disabled for this?"

    "What?" Hudan asked with surprise. "How could elderly villagers do the work of a guard?"

    "No, no," Kivamus shook his head. "I don''t mean that you should recruit them as regular guards. Let me explain. We all know that it will take some time for the villagers to come around to the fact that they can send the women from their families to work as guards, if it ever happens at all."

    He continued, "More importantly, we need to recruit fifteen women as guards for all the village gates and the watchtowers, but at this rate I don''t think if we would get even five women for that, especially since it''s unlikely for that many women to have enough free time in the first place to work as a guard full-time."

    "I do understand that," Hudan said, "but in the current condition of the village there should still be many women free to work - mainly those who used to work in the coal mines in supporting roles. Even so, I understand what you are trying to say. But how could elderly villagers do the work of a guard?"

    Kivamus shrugged. "I never said that they would have to do the work of a guard. I meant that we could still ask them to keep watch from the watchtowers. While it''s true that they won''t be any match for a bandit in a fight, that''s not really a factor when they are sitting high up on the watchtowers like the female guards. Even then, I''m not even asking them to shoot crossbows, like we want the female guards to do. What I am proposing is that we could just put those men up there to sit in the towers and watch the surroundings." sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He added, "This is something that basically anyone in the village can do. As long as they have sharp enough eyes, it doesn''t matter how old they are or if they are already injured. We can just make a list of trustworthy elderly villagers, and we can hire some of them as watchmen for the village. As long as there is a horn on every watchtower which they can use to warn the village in case of a raid, they don''t even need to be fit at all."

    He looked at the guard captain. "Immediately after the blowing of a horn, you can prepare our guards for immediate battle. And if we eventually do get enough female guards, we can put them up there too while armed with crossbows."

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "It is more likely that we are going to get a slow trickle of women who want to become guards, and it will still take time to give them proper training, as well as to build those crossbows in the first place. So until then this idea can certainly work." He added, "And later, when we put women armed with crossbows on our watchtowers, which will be exactly that for now - towers from which the elderly villagers will watch for danger - to become actual offensive towers, which will become a real threat for any attacking bandits!"

    "Indeed," Kivamus said.

    Duvas said, "There is another benefit apart from that - it would also give the elderly and injured villagers a job to do. I know that most of the villagers are proud people and they would rather work for their meals. So this way they wouldn''t feel like they are a burden on the village since right now they are only getting their food as charity from the manor."

    "That''s a good thing as well," Kivamus said with a nod. "It will help with morale. And it wouldn''t even cost us anything for now, since we are already providing them food. We will reconsider what to do about it when we start paying everyone in coins."

    He continued while looking at Hudan, "Since physical prowess is not important for this job of a village watchman, all you need to do is to test them about how good their eyes can see what we need them to see. To check that, you can put those elderly villagers who are willing to do this near the tree line, and then you can put one or two guards in the forest who will slowly move towards the elderly men. Then those of them who spot the approaching guards quickly are the ones you need to hire. Repeat that process a few times to make sure that it was not just a lucky guess."

    "Of course, that will be a good enough test for them," Hudan said with a nod. "I will start doing it when the construction of the first watchtower starts."

    Kivamus continued after a nod, "We can keep those of them who are good with the job even after we get enough female guards, since that would allow us to train the women properly, so they can eventually work side-by-side with the male guards as crossbow-women, just like archers accompany swordsmen."

    Hudan nodded with a smile. "That''s a good idea! I like the fact that this way we might get enough guards to properly man every post as well as to patrol the village, without even spending more money to hire more men. I have already started putting two men to patrol around the village at night since yesterday, so I would certainly like us to have more guards. You can never have enough guards, after all!"

    Kivamus laughed at that. "You will be a good general for an army! Anyway, we are probably already reaching the limit of how many people we can take out of the workforce to employ them as guards without slowing down other important projects. So you will have to make do with the number of guards that we have planned for."

    *******

    Soon, the inner door opened and Madam Helga walked inside the hall. "The afternoon meal will be ready soon, milord. Syryne is transferring the food into bowls with Clarisa''s help, then we will bring it all here."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus replied with a smile. "I was already getting hungry."

    Helga nodded, and added with a sigh, "If only Lucem was helping us instead of running around here and there all day. Have any of you seen him recently? I don''t know where he has run off this time."

    Hudan replied, "I am not sure. For the last few days he has been coming to watch the training of the guards in the morning. But I am not sure where he went after that..."

    Helga shook her head. "Forget it. He will come when he gets hungry anyway."

    As she turned back to go towards the kitchen inside the manor house, Kivamus called her back and asked her to take a seat as well.

    Feroy wandered inside the hall at that moment, and took a seat near the fireplace place as well.

    Looking at others, Kivamus continued, "Talking about morale earlier has reminded me that we should do something more to improve the morale of the villagers, since we have procured enough grain now that nobody will starve over the winter. Maybe we can have something like a feast for everyone in the village."

    "That would be something unexpected to the villagers..." Duvas said. "More importantly, that would be something which the villagers of Tiranat have never experienced under the previous baron''s rule. So I think they would be overjoyed by something like that."

    "But we are already providing food to many villagers, aren''t we, milord?" Feroy asked. "Or has that stopped while I was away?"

    "We aren''t exactly giving food to everyone in the village, you know." Kivamus added, "Only the elderly villagers and the children are included in it. But for tonight''s meal, we can prepare a feast outside the gates of the manor for the whole village. Everyone would be welcome here, no matter if they are already getting weekly grain rations from us or not. Also, now that we have a good quantity of vegetables in our stores, we can make something much more tasty for them, rather than just porridge which we generally provide as the free meals."

    Madam Helga nodded slowly. ''I think that would be a good idea, milord. Earlier today, Madam Nerida and the other maids were already talking about preparing something good for the manor residents in tonight''s meal to celebrate getting the caravan back safely. So extending it to all the villagers might not be a bad idea."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly. And at the beginning of the feast, we can announce to the villagers that from now on, we can afford to provide three meals a day to everyone - that includes our servants, maids and guards who live within the manor, as well as those people to whom we provide free meals. For the rest of the villagers - who earn their meal by working as laborers - we can increase their food quota by a half, which will allow them to have another meal a day as well."

    "I can already tell that it would be very welcome by everyone," Duvas said with a nod, "and especially by the laborers, since they need a lot of food to keep working all day."

    "That was my intention from the beginning," Kivamus replied, "but until now we weren''t sure if we would get more grain in the third trip of the caravan, and it was better to provide two meals to everyone throughout the winter instead of giving them three meals for a while then telling them that there is no more food. However, that won''t be a problem now."

    He added, "In that announcement, we will tell them that that increase will mostly come in the form of wheat but it will also include vegetables from now on. Having potatoes, carrots and onions in their meals will provide a more balanced diet to them. Also, we have already bought a lot of soap for the villagers, but until we start paying them their wages in coin, they won''t be able to purchase it from us. So we will also include a large bar of soap every month for each family as a part of their wages. This will continue until we start paying them directly in coins instead of grain and coal like we''re doing now."

    "Oh," Feroy exclaimed, "I can''t tell you how happy that would make everyone, milord. When I lived with other mercenaries in the past, their stenches annoyed me more than having an empty belly!"

    He added with a snort, "The baron giving a free bar of soap to every family after a hard day of work? Nothing would make me happier if I were a laborer''s wife!"

 111. Unexpected Changes

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh at that vision, while others joined in it as well.After a moment, when everyone''s laughter had calmed down, he looked at Madam Helga. "I held you back because I want you to coordinate with Madam Nerida regarding this. It won''t be easy to prepare food for so many villagers within the manor, while maintaining quality and taste in it. But you already have experience preparing food in a large quantity in an inn, so you should be able to help her in that. And you can use the help of any off-duty servants or guards in the preparation of food as well."

    "It''s not going to be easy, just like you said," Helga replied, "but we will have to manage somehow. I can imagine how good that feast will feel to the villagers, since my family was in exactly the villagers'' hopeless situation before we arrived here with you. Having a baron who cares for them is like a Goddess'' blessing. So don''t worry, Milord, I''ll make sure to do it well. Getting enough raw food is always the difficult part. Cooking it for people after that is no trouble at all."

    "Good!" Kivamus added, "We also have some cheese and butter which Pydaso has brought for us, so we should also provide some of that to the villagers as well, along with the vegetables."

    Duvas interrupted, "But we don''t have enough of those to feed all the villagers, my Lord! I understand that those would be good things in a feast - things which most of the villagers rarely get to taste but our remaining cheese and butter would end within a few days if we provided it to everyone."

    "No, no," Kivamus interrupted. "I know that we didn''t buy that much of it. What I meant is that we can provide a small amount of cheese and butter just for tonight - for the feast." He looked at Madam Helga. "You and Madam Nerida will be making a lot of bread for tonight anyway, so it will be good to provide something to add more flavor to the feast. But, like duvas said, we don''t have enough of it and it doesn''t come cheap either. So make sure to provide only a small amount of it to everyone."

    At Helga''s nod, he added, "But you know what, while you should keep the quantities small, you can provide a second helping to the children if they want. It''s not something we can provide to the villagers regularly, but this is a feast, so I want everyone to know the taste of those. Especially the children."

    Madam Helga gave a warm smile. "Don''t worry milord, I will manage it properly so that everyone gets a taste of cheese and butter, while still keeping our food stores intact."

    "Perfect!" Kivamus said with a nod. "The villagers have gone through a very bad time in the recent months. So I want to provide them at least a single day of happiness before the harsh winter is upon us."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere inside the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    After a long journey, the group of bandits had finally arrived near Tiranat sometime this morning. Nokozal had kept their two remaining horses for his own use so he wouldn''t have to walk much, while the rest of them had to keep trudging through the continuously gathering snow on the road.

    The journey had been tiring even before the snow had started on the road, but after that, the weather had turned way too cold on the road and it became exhausting to keep walking. At least Nokozal had allowed them to make a fire whenever they stopped for the night - where they also cooked whatever little prey they caught in the forest as food - since without that fire to heat up their bodies after walking in the snow all day, they might have just frozen on the road.

    However, as they came closer to the village, the snowfall had stopped. Or more likely, looking at the dry ground here, snowfall hadn''t started here yet, but it wouldn''t be long before it did.

    Calubo had been cursing the bandits and his useless luck for everything he was going through, but when he got the first look at the village he had lived in for nearly all his life after being away from it for so long, he couldn''t help but become emotional at the sight. Although he couldn''t see much from where they were hiding in the forest in the north-west of the village, just the sight of those run-down wooden houses was enough to remind him that whatever its flaws, it was home.

    He had immediately wanted to run to the village after that, and for a moment he had nearly started running, before he realized that his hands were still tied behind him, and he would be shot down by one of the archers of the bandits immediately before he even reached the village. So somehow, he had controlled his urge to run to the village with teary eyes. Of course, he didn''t let any other bandits notice that his eyes were wet or they would find a way to use even that against him.

    Although they did have a small rabbit to eat yesterday night, it wasn''t enough to feed everyone, and of course Calubo got the smallest portion of the food. By now the small amount of dried meat that they had brought with them from the quarry had also run out, so even after the fatso''s continuous complaints to try to hunt something else since he was too hungry, Nokozal had scolded the fatso and told everyone that they had to hold on for today, since they were too close to the village now, and they couldn''t afford anyone in the village to spot a fire. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    That had led the bandits to start grumbling, but nobody had dared to go against the orders of the bandit chief. And since then, they all had been hiding under bushes and shrubs, waiting for the runt to report to them.

    Immediately after they had arrived here, the bandits had gone closer to take a look into the condition of the small village called Tiranat, while dragging Calubo along with them, as always. After they went closer, he had seen a lot of people near the village doing one thing or another - far more than he had expected, particularly in this near-freezing weather. He also saw what was perhaps a huge barn being constructed ahead of the last houses of the village, for which a new roof was being put up now by a few people who had climbed above it.

    Another noticeable thing was that there was a tall wall being built around the village! For sure, he could easily see that those were being built by wooden stakes, unlike the mighty stone walls of Cinran, but still, he had never expected that one day there would be a wall around the whole village of Tiranat! At this point only a small part of the wall was completed in the north, and he couldn''t see what was the status of the walls on the other side of the village, but the fact that there was a wall being built at all was completely unexpected to him in the first place. It must have been the doing of the new baron as well, just like it had to be him who had thought of that ruse for the caravan.

    Even other than the wall and that huge barn, he saw a flurry of activity everywhere - of people running here and there while carrying something, of a log being pulled by a pair of horses and some kind of wooden contraption with giant wheels, while near the tree line, there were many people who were either sawing the upright trees or chopping branches from already fallen trees.

    The few villagers who looked idle were huddled around a few burning braziers - perhaps trying to heat up their bodies before they returned to do whatever they all were doing there. He heard other bandits grumbling at the sight of the villagers having a fire to draw heat from, while they were freezing here. However, Calubo was confused about something after seeing those braziers. Who provided the coal for the villagers to use there anyway? He didn''t think any villagers could afford to buy it themselves. And what about those iron braziers? Those couldn''t be cheap at all!

    At one point he thought he saw a man pulling some weirdly shaped cart, but uh... it had a single wheel only...? But how could a cart work with only a single wheel anyway? Since there was no way a man could pull what would normally need a horse for it! He had shaken his head after that, thinking that he had started to imagine such things because of his constant hunger.

    But whether that weird cart really existed or it was just his imagination, there was way too much activity in the village. And he had no idea why so many people were doing whatever they were doing in the cold - shouldn''t they be working in the coal mines?

    Or were those coal mines still flooded with water? But even then, why were so many people outside their homes in this near-freezing weather anyway? He didn''t understand any of it.

    Soon, Nokozal told them with a frown that they had seen enough, and ordered everyone to move further back into the forests. Once they had retreated to a far enough distance away from the village, a bandit muttered with his voice full of surprise "What the hell has happened here?"

    The fatso asked, "Isn''t that a boundary wall we saw being constructed? I know that it is far from complete right now, but why are the villagers making it now when they were fine without a boundary wall for years! If we had come here after a few weeks, we might not have been able to attack the village at all with that huge wall In place!"

    Nokozal didn''t reply for a while, then he said, "It doesn''t change anything for us, since that wall is still not complete anyway."

    "But milord," another bandit asked, "you certainly saw that the village has too much activity right now. Shouldn''t we wait here for a few days to scout them further before we attack?"

    Nokozal glared at him. "And waste even more days stuck here in the cold while being hungry as well? Who knows if those idiots at the quarry still have a hold of my slaves or not! No, we can''t afford to wait anymore."

    "But still, milord," the fatso interrupted, "you have seen that a lot of area right outside the village has been cleared of trees, so we wouldn''t have any cover for that distance, and there were a lot of villagers moving around everywhere, so we would be spotted long before we reached the first houses."

    Nokozal nodded slowly. "It''s true that there is no point in attacking them in broad daylight, so we will wait for the night. Those villagers would have gone back by then and we would have the benefit of darkness, especially since the skies are cloudy, so there would be no moonlight as well at that time."

    He looked around the place for a moment, then pointed to a group of shrubs further away from the village. "That is a good hiding spot. Since there isn''t any good cover closer to the village, we will hunker down under those bushes until it gets dark. I had already told the runt that we will wait for him in the northwest of the village. After he reports to me about what he has scouted, our plan will be to raid the village tonight."

 112. Doubts

    By the time the bandits moved under those shrubs, Calubo hated them enough that he really wanted the bandits to be crushed by the village guards, but he had also seen the reality of the caravan''s defense earlier.Even though that ruse of presenting untrained villagers as seasoned guards had worked - and it had to be a ploy by the new baron of Tiranat, whoever it was, since only the baron had the authority to do such a thing - and the bandits had left the caravan alone on the road, but now that Nokozal had come here to the village with everyone to raid it, he didn''t know what would happen to the village now. Those coal miners might be able to hold their own in a brawl in an alehouse, but they would be cut down immediately by these ruthless bandits. He couldn''t see a way out of it right now, but he had to hope that the goddess would take care of the village.

    ********

    It was around noon now, and soon they heard the crunching of leaves nearby. Immediately all of them got alert with their swords ready, while still hiding under the shrubs, but after they heard a series of bird whistles, the bandits relaxed, and started to get out from their hiding spots. Calubo was allowed to get up as well, and he saw that it was the runt, with his horse tied a little distance away.

    Nokozal and others gathered together to see what the runt had found.

    Coming closer, the runt reported with a frown, "Something isn''t right, milord. But I don''t understand any of it..."

    "What do you mean?" Nokozal asked.

    The runt continued with an agitated voice, "I don''t understand what''s wrong with the village. The weather is nearly freezing here, but instead of staying inside their homes - or what''s left of it anyway after Torhan''s raid - the villagers are out running around the village doing only goddess knows what!"

    The runt added, "They seem to be out of their houses throughout the day - logging trees, cutting branches, digging trenches, and Goddess knows what else! And all that activity is not just in the north either. They are doing that in the south as well, at the same scale, while some men are also cutting trees in the east and the west of the village. All around the village there is someone doing something!"

    The runt continued after Nokozal''s nod, "In the day and a half that I''ve been here, I have never seen any area around the village in any direction being empty during the day. So there is no way we can approach the village in daytime without being seen by someone."

    "I noticed that too. But it doesn''t matter," Nokozal said. "I plan to attack around midnight anyway, since that''s when their defenses will be at their lowest. Carry on." S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The runt nodded. "It is true that in the night we would have a better chance, but there is something weird with that as well. Two nights ago when I arrived here, I didn''t see anyone outside the village throughout the night - that was the day the caravan reached here. But yesterday night, I saw regular patrols by a pair of guards all around the village throughout the night!"

    "What?" Nokozal snapped. "I told you to be careful that you were not seen by anyone! How could you be so careless!"

    The runt shook his head immediately. "No, milord! I wasn''t seen by anyone. I''m sure of it! I never even went close to the village during the day."

    Nokozal growled, "So how do you explain that they started patrolling around the village the day after you arrived here?"

    "That''s just one of the weird things with the village, milord," the runt replied. "Other than that, I had thought that most of the men would be away from the village working in the coal mines during the daytime - which I heard to be located in the east when I came here a few years ago - which would have meant that it would be better to raid the village in the day, when barely any able-bodied men would be there to defend their houses. But the men don''t go towards the coal mines at all! It''s like they have given up on mining any coal! It doesn''t make any sense!"

    "What are you talking about? Why would they give up on coal mining?" The fatso asked while rubbing his belly which was already making sounds in protest of not getting anything to eat recently.

    "I have no damn idea! But didn''t you see it while coming here?" The runt asked while gesturing towards the village. "It''s like those villagers have gone mad, since they are willingly staying outside their homes in this freezing weather! It''s not like their village was flooded like our shacks in the quarry were!"

    "That doesn''t make any sense..." Nokozal frowned. "Their baron is already dead, so who is even ordering them to do this? Because I know no sane man would go out in this village unless he was ordered to do so by a noble."

    "But it''s true, milord!" The runt protested. "I have looked at the village from all around it by now, so I know what I''m talking about. Nothing makes sense in the village right now!"

    Nokozal didn''t reply for a while, as he started pacing back-and-forth while stroking his long beard.

    Another bandit suggested, "We really should wait for a few days so that we can scout them further, milord."

    The runt suggested, "What if... what if we just waited for the caravan to return back to Cinran?"

    "But why would it even go back?" the other bandit asked. "Lord Nokozal told us that the village couldn''t have enough money to hire mercenaries, so those had to be the village guards escorting the caravan. Which means they have no reason to go back now."

    "I understand that..." the runt added, "but I told you that I have been to this village in the past. And as you saw it''s only a small village. There is no way they could afford to buy eight wagons for the village, which means the caravan certainly should have had at least a few wagons which came from Cinran. That means at least those wagons would still have to return back, wouldn''t they?"

    The other bandit nodded. "Right! So can''t we just raid that smaller caravan? If the swordsmen we saw with the caravan were the village guards, they wouldn''t accompany the caravan back, would they?"

    The runt looked excited now. "That''s true! We should still easily be able to kill or capture the few men which would accompany that smaller caravan. We can just ambush them and steal food from those wagons, without having to risk our lives in raiding the village!"

    "Are you both idiots or just cowards?" Nokozal growled. "Why do you think those wagons would have food? The village wouldn''t have sent a caravan to buy so much grain from Cinran in the first place if they had enough food to sell it there! Everyone knows about the coal mines here, so those wagons will just take coal with them to sell in Cinran - if you are right and they do go back, which is still not certain."

    The runt looked red in his face with embarrassment, but he added, "Then we can just steal that coal!"

    "And what would we do with that coal?" Nokozal asked with a glare. "What use would it be to us when we can just burn firewood in the quarry? It''s not like we have any shortage of it there."

    "Then..." the runt suggested, "then... we can sell that coal and those horses in Cinran! Yes, that''s exactly what we should do! This way we wouldn''t have to fight with a dozen swordsmen of the village, if not more!"

    "Shut up!" Nokozal barked. "We don''t have any use for coal ourselves and I can''t fence that amount of coal anyway. It''s not like it is stolen jewelry which I can easily take in my pockets to sell to my contacts in Cinran!"

    As the runt began to say something in protest, Nokozal glared at him again. "I told you all that we can''t afford to wait here for too long! If Torhan got any hint that my quarry is unprotected, then all my slaves would be stolen by him for sure. And we really need that food! So we have to attack the village anyway! That''s the end of this discussion."

    The fatso nodded, "I agree that we do have to attack, but you saw that there were people all around the village. How will we approach the village without being seen?"

    Nokozal didn''t say anything in reply as he began to pace back-and-forth again. After some time, he said, "It doesn''t matter. Those villagers still have to go inside their homes for the night. And we already plan to attack around midnight, so the villagers spotting us won''t be a problem. The plan remains the same."

    "But what about the patrols by guards?" The fatso asked. "They patrol at night too."

    Nokozal stopped his pacing. "It''s just two men, and there are ten of us. We''ll send them to the Goddess if they come in front of us when we go to raid."

    He looked back at the runt. "You go back to what you were doing and keep an eye around the village. Then join us here a few hours after night has fallen to tell us if anything else has changed. We will attack soon after that."

    The runt asked doubtfully, "But can we even afford to fight that many guards? You saw there were more than a dozen swordsmen just to escort the caravan! That means the village might have even more of them!"

    "Stop being a coward!" Nokozal barked. "It doesn''t matter how many guards there are in the village, since they would all be hiding inside the manor walls, just like it happened in the previous raid. So they wouldn''t be a threat to us as long as we stay clear of the manor."

    As the runt began to protest again, Nokozal snarled, "Now shut up. Not one more word about this, or I will have you flayed for being a coward!"

    The runt immediately became quiet after that, but he still looked doubtful.

    Nokozal glared at all the other bandits. "Is there anyone else here who wants us to keep waiting?"

 113. Immigration

    Nobody made a sound in response.Nokozal gave a satisfied nod. "Good! That''s what I like to hear!"

    He continued, "If we raid the village bravely instead of hiding in the quarry like cowards, we will still be able to get what we want from them, no matter how many guards are hiding in the manor! I am not going to leave empty-handed from here after spending this long away from my quarry in the cold!"

    For a while he looked towards the village and didn''t say anything. Then he gazed at all the other bandits again and grinned. "Just keep following the plans of Lord Nokozal, and the goddess will ensure that we return with a great haul of grain and slaves! We attack at midnight!"

    Some of the bandits gave predatory grins in anticipation, while others only gave grunts and nods in acceptance, with nobody daring to cheer or make any other loud sound this close to the village.

    Nokozal continued, "For now, a few of you go nearby carefully and see if you can find any berries here for us to eat. After that, two of you will always stay awake in turns to keep an eye around us while the rest of us will take naps so that we are at full energy when we attack."

    "As you say, Lord Nokozal!" the bandits replied collectively.

    And with that, the plan for raiding the village had begun.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus was walking in the manor with others, to see how the preparations for the feast were coming. It was starting to get dark now, with the last rays of the sunset giving the cloudy skies a golden hue. The weather kept getting colder continuously and snowfall was expected to start any day now.

    Since his announcement that there would be a feast earlier in the day, all the servants and maids in the manor seemed to have a constant smile on their faces. It was such a rare occasion for everyone, that every person in the manor wanted to give his best to make the feast a roaring success.

    As he walked towards the servant hall, Duvas reported, "We have bought some meat from the hunters in the village to use for tonight''s feast. Well, actually we bought all of what was available in the village market, since the one hunter that the village still has cannot bring too much meat by himself. And it did cost a little more than I thought..."

    "Don''t worry about the cost for today," Kivamus reassured him. "It''s not like we do this every day. We want everyone in the village to have a memorable dinner tonight."

    Duvas nodded. "Of course, my lord." He added, "Earlier in the day, a few servants and guards had gone to the stream in the east to catch fish, so we will have some fish as well in tonight''s feast. Apart from that, Madam Helga has brought all the remaining Toloraberries and Rizako mushrooms from where they were found outside the village, although we won''t get any more of those for the winter."

    He remarked, "By the way, Feroy should be happy to know that he will get to eat Madam Helga''s famous Rizako stew tonight, but he seems to be a little off today." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus looked at Hudan who was walking next to him. "Why is that?" He asked with a frown.

    Hudan shrugged. "I can''t say. But I''ll ask him when I see him."

    Kivamus asked, "Is everything okay with the guards otherwise?"

    "Of course," Hudan replied. "Now that we have all our guards back, I have even started putting a few of them to patrol around the village every hour of the day."

    "Good. And what about asking for volunteers to accompany Pydaso back to Cinran?"

    "That wasn''t a problem at all," Hudan replied with a snort. "I got more than enough volunteers to accompany him when the guards found out that if chosen, they would earn real coin in the form of hazard pay. So I have selected two of them and they will go along with the merchant tomorrow." He continued, "That being said, the wagon driver of Pydaso had come to meet me earlier."

    "Oh..." Kivamus muttered. "What did he want?"

    Hudan replied, "He wants to stay back here in Tiranat, instead of returning back with Pydaso."

    "That''s... unexpected," Kivamus said with his eyebrows raised.

    Hudan said with a grin, "Actually... it''s not, my lord. Although he has been out with the caravan for the previous three weeks, apart from the single day breaks between trips, he said that he found out about everything you are doing for the villagers - including feeding the elderly and the children even if they can''t pay for it. He told me that he was an orphan since he was young, and he had to scrounge around for food everyday before he became old enough to get some paying work. He doesn''t want his children to go through the same situation in case something happens to him."

    "This world isn''t easy to live in, that''s for sure," Kivamus remarked. "It''s even more true for orphans. Then what will happen to his family if he stays back?"

    Hudan continued, "Actually, he wants to bring his whole family here from where he lives in a small village west of Cinran. Of course, he would have to return back with Pydaso for now, but he said that when he comes back here in the spring, he wants to bring his children and his wife here as well."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered, thinking about it. "And what did you tell him?"

    "What''s there to say, milord?" Hudan asked. "Before you came here, people died regularly in Tiranat because of the cold in the winter, or because of sickness all year round. And from what I''ve heard, Tiranat has always accepted more workers here to keep the coal mines operational and fill the positions left empty by those who died."

    Duvas interrupted, "That is true enough, my Lord, and we have never sent anyone back who wanted to move to Tiranat. But we had only planned to continue the free meals for the winter! To continue that in the future as well... that would take a lot of coin. Coin which we don''t even earn right now."

    Kivamus sighed. "I do understand that..." He gazed at the tall trees devoid of any leaves surrounding the village as he thought about it.

    Could it be done though? Could he really afford to continuously feed everyone who couldn''t work in his village without going bankrupt in the future? It was one thing to do it just for the current population of Tiranat - which was only a small village at best. But if people started to immigrate here in the future because of that, the costs for feeding those people could easily get out of hand.

    However... that would also mean more available workers... Workers which he could use to start many kinds of factories and industries here. As of right now, the village population was so small that it would never be more than a coal mining village. But he wanted to make Tiranat a lot more prosperous and secure, for his own safety from his brothers and other nobles who wanted to grab his land, as well as for his people.

    No, he didn''t just want to do it - he needed to do it! And that would mean continuously letting more workers immigrate here to work in those factories, even though none of them existed yet.

    While it was true that if he continued the free meal program for those who couldn''t feed themselves, the cost of that program would keep increasing continuously. But on the other hand, if he utilized those workers well, it would also mean a constant increase in the income of the village as well. He thought more about it for a while, then nodded to himself.

    "Let''s do it then. We will continue the free meal program for the foreseeable future." Seeing that Duvas was going to say something in protest, he added, "I understand your concerns, Duvas. But it''s not like the village population is going to double all of a sudden. Even if Pydaso''s wagon driver brings his family, that''s not even ten more people. And even if we assume that a few more people from his village might accompany him here because of the same reasons, it''s still a very slow process, so we will have time to think about how to integrate them into the village and how to feed them."

    Duvas seemed to be considering it, but Kivamus continued, "See it this way. More workers would mean more output of coal, which would mean more income for us. And that extra income would easily allow us to continue the free meal program for those who can''t feed themselves, while filling our nearly empty coffers at the same time."

    That seemed to do the trick for the penny-pinching majordomo, based on the way his expression changed after hearing that they would be making more money.

    "That''s true enough, my lord," Duvas said after a moment. He shrugged. "More income is always good."

    "Can''t deny that... milord," Hudan commented with a grin. "So I don''t have to say that he can''t bring his family here, do I?"

    "Not at all." Kivamus added, "In fact, if you meet him again, you can hint to him that others from his village would be welcome here too. But don''t say it directly, since we aren''t ready to take in a surge of people at once."

    Hudan nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked back at the majordomo as he continued walking towards the servants hall. "So, is that all we have for the feast tonight?"

 114. Preparations And A Speech

    Duvas replied with a rare smile, "No, my lord, there is also something else. A few laborers had found a single honeycomb a few days ago, further inside the surrounding forests in the east when one of them had wandered too far, and until now we hadn''t disturbed it. But Madam Helga ordered a few servants to get some honey from it, and she will use it to make something sweet using those berries, as a dessert of some kind. I think it''s called a Toloraberry Pie."He added, "There won''t be much of it, since it was only a single honeycomb and we have left most of it intact for the future, but it will still give everyone something sweet for a change - even if everyone only gets a single bite of it."

    "Oh, that''s still wonderful!" Kivamus said with a smile. "I can''t wait for it!"

    It had been a long time since he had tasted anything sweet, apart from the few dried fruits which he had found to be remaining in the manor from the personal stores of the previous baron. He had shared them with others in the manor house, and it had been weeks since then. He really couldn''t wait for the Toloraberry Pie.

    Duvas continued, "We also needed to invite the villagers for this feast, so I had told a few servants to announce the news in the market square of the village. However, since this is the kind of news which spreads like wildfire, the villagers have already started gathering outside the gates. The food is also going to be ready soon and the feast will start within an hour."

    "It''s good to hear that everything is going well," Kivamus replied.

    As he reached the servants'' hall, he noticed something immediately. In the open area outside, a constant wind was blowing, making it feel even colder than it already was, but as he entered inside, the atmosphere felt completely different. Inside the servants'' hall, he saw the full hustle and bustle of the ongoing preparations for tonight''s feast. All the maids and servants of the manor seemed to be doing one thing or another, while even the off duty guards were helping them wherever needed.

    The left side of the servants'' hall, which had the beddings for the male servants and guards, was completely empty right now, since everyone was busy doing something. A few braziers were lit nearby within the hall to keep the air warm and to allow those who were coming from outside to heat up their bodies, while the number of fires already burning inside the kitchen for cooking were more than enough to keep it balmy there.

    He walked towards the right where the kitchen was located, after taking a moment to warm up his hands from a brazier. Once he entered inside, the maids and servants immediately paused their work and began to stand up in respect, but he gestured to them to keep going. "No, no, just carry on, and don''t mind me. I''m only here to take a look."

    With quick nods, everyone returned to what they were doing. He took a moment to see everything which was happening inside the kitchen. Some of the maids were busy on one side of the kitchen while peeling potatoes, chopping onions, and even some carrots to put into stews, while the other maids were cooking a variety of food in huge cauldrons on the other side of the kitchen.

    There seemed to be a vegetable soup, a meat stew, and some fish recipe as well. He also saw chopped up mushrooms kept on a slab on one side, probably in preparation of making the much vaunted Rizako stew of Madam Helga - even though he had heard it would only be limited to those living in the manor house. Apart from that, there were also some potatoes being boiled in a corner.

    A few servants were kneading the wheat flour into dough, while others were taking that dough to the clay oven outside through the back door in the kitchen to make fresh bread for everyone. Some eggs from the small chicken coup in the manor, along with a jug of milk from their two cows were also kept on one side, for use wherever needed.

    Since they didn''t have cauldrons big enough to prepare food for all the villagers in a single batch, other off-duty guards and servants were transferring the already prepared food into wooden buckets and putting it into carts to get ready to transport them outside the gates of the manor. That would also empty the cauldrons so the maids could make another batch of food for the villagers.

    Madam Nerida was busy in supervising the maids and ensuring that everything was done as smoothly and efficiently as possible, while Madam Helga had a spoon in her hand and she kept taking a sip from every pot and cauldron, and added local herbs where needed to ensure that the taste was to her likings.

    Satisfied that everything was going well, he turned to return outside. On the way, he saw a servant pulling their only wheelbarrow towards the kitchen of the servants hall, on which a sack of flour was loaded - likely bringing it back from the miller in the village. The servant looked happy while working, probably because he was the one who had gotten to use the wheelbarrow today. While the initial excitement of getting to use the wheelbarrow had mostly calmed down among the residents of the manor, they still seemed to be drawing straws to be the one who gets to use it.

    Truthfully, while he knew how helpful that wheelbarrow would be, he hadn''t expected that it would become such a sought after thing amongst the people here. But he was glad to know that it had worked out this way. Cedoron should be providing more wheelbarrows to them in the coming days, which should be quite helpful for transporting goods as well as for the morale of the servants here. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

    Sometime later, while he was sitting in the manor hall with others, a servant entered the hall.

    "Milord, all the preparations for the feast are complete," the servant reported. "You can start the feast now."

    Kivamus nodded, and the servant returned back.

    "Do I need to say that it is open now?" he asked as he stood up, others rising with him.

    Duvas nodded. "At the very least, my Lord. It would be even better if you gave a speech to the villagers, even if only a short one."

    "A speech...?" Kivamus repeated as he exited the manor hall and started walking towards the gates of the manor. How was he going to give a speech! While he had more than enough experience of leading his small engineering team in the company he worked at, he had never been good with speaking in public. He asked again, "Do I really have to?"

    Duvas shrugged. "You don''t need to, of course. But it would be good for the villagers to hear from their new baron for the first time. So far, while many of them have seen you when you have visited the forested areas that we are clearing, I believe it would help everyone''s morale if you said something to them as well."

    "But what will I even say to them?" Kivamus asked. "You know that I was a bookworm before I came here and I spent most of my time in the library of the Ulriga Palace. I have no experience in talking to so many people at once, or in giving speeches..."

    "Don''t worry too much about it, my lord," Gorsazo reassured him. "Those aren''t power hungry nobles standing outside, waiting to pounce the moment they see a weakness. They are just common people - your people - and they just want to see and listen to something from their baron, no matter what it is."

    He added, "If you don''t know what to say, you can just talk about what you have done for the villagers so far. It would be good to tell them the updates about the progress of the longhouse blocks, as well as the fact that we have been able to buy enough grain to feed everyone over the winter. It wouldn''t just be a rumor if the baron himself was telling them about that."

    Kivamus gave a hesitant nod as he reached the gates of the manor, the clamor of the villagers rising in volume. He still wasn''t sure how he was going to give a speech in front of so many people, but it was also true that he wasn''t just a common person on modern earth anymore. He was a noble now, and his people looked up to him. So he had to act like a noble as well, as strange as it fell to him.

    Reaching outside, he realized how crowded it was there, even though the guards were doing their best to organize the crowd. He saw that the area right outside the gates had been barricaded by a rope, with the villagers standing outside it in mostly haphazard lines, with wooden plates and bowls in their hands, while the servants and maids were ready to serve them from the huge buckets of a variety of foodstuffs which they had brought here in carts.

    He saw that there was a small wooden bench kept near the gates which was surrounded by guards, and that''s where Duvas was pointing him to go. But as soon as the crowd realized that he had come outside, they all started looking at him, making him feel even more nervous.

    Hesitatingly, he climbed on the bench and gazed at the veritable sea of humanity looking back at him. It seemed that most if not all of the villagers were already here. And he had to give a speech in front of all of them...

    He shook his head to clear his mind. He had to do this. At least there was a consolation that the villagers were not expecting a long speech, based on the hungry looks they kept giving the buckets of food.

    Trying to calm his nerves again, he raised his hands above him, making a hush fall on the crowd. Swallowing once again, and after clearing his throat, he steeled himself and started to speak in the loudest voice he could muster. "My dear villagers. It hasn''t been long since I arrived here, and yet it feels like we have been together for ages. When I arrived here a month ago, I realized how poor the situation of the village was. But it wasn''t your fault at all. Because of the whims and greediness of nobles, you and your children didn''t even have enough to eat!"

    Seeing that many of the villagers gave nods at that, he continued, "But no more! That situation will never be repeated here as long as I am the baron of this village!"

    Immediately the villagers started cheering happily. After giving them a moment, he raised his hands again to silence the crowd. "I know you all must still be worried that the village has a new baron. You must be thinking about how he will turn out to be? Will he care for us? Or will he do his best to empty our pockets of the little coin we have?"

 115. The Feast

    ~ Kigeir ~~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    Kigeir watched as the young baron climbed on a bench and began to speak to everyone. His pale skin and highly unusual silver hair had made him noticeable easily when a group of people had come outside of the manor, and it had caused a hush to fall over the villagers.

    As he listened to Lord Kivamus continue to speak, he thought about the day''s event with wonder.

    Today had started out like any other day, with him clearing his shop of the dust it gathered regularly, even though he rarely got any customers these days. However, while he was unable to work as a manual laborer with his ever-present knee ache getting even worse in the cold weather, his older son, who had seen seventeen winters by now, had gone off to join the laborers to work in the north of the village. His younger son and daughter, who were the same ages as the orphans he had taken in, stayed at the upper floor of his house while playing one game or another, as always. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    But then someone had gone running through the streets, yelling that the baron''s guards had an announcement to make at the market square. Being curious about it, he had told his wife to watch the shop, which was located on the lower floor of his own house, and he had gone to listen to the announcement. And it had turned out to be far from anything he could have expected!

    The baron was going to provide a feast tonight! And it would be open to every single villager! That was something which had never happened in this village in the past... The guards had also assured them that the baron would put his guards to patrol the village so that nobody got any thoughts of trying to steal from the unoccupied houses of the villagers - so that they could enjoy the feast without any worries.

    However, the news that there would be a feast for everyone had been so unexpected that the villagers standing there had started to ask the guards again and again if it was really true. And as it turned out later, it was...

    Returning back home, he had given the good news to everyone there, with his wife and the children overjoyed to hear that they would get to eat so many things tonight. His older son wasn''t there at the time, but surely, he would also get the news along with other laborers since this was the kind of news which didn''t take long to reach everyone''s ears.

    In the evening, he had taken everyone in his family along with him to the empty area outside the gates of the manor, and they had been waiting there with other villagers for a while. The weather was nearly freezing, but a lot of braziers had been lit up all around the empty area to keep it warm, while someone had recently swept the area clean of any dust as well. He knew that the snowfall would start any day now, but at least it seemed like they would be able to enjoy the feast without any snow.

    Before long, he had seen the preparations for the feast start in earnest, as some of the servants of the manor began to carry empty wooden tables there, while others began pushing carts full of steaming buckets to outside the gates in an area they had previously separated with a rope. The baron''s guards were already there trying to make the villagers stand in lines, assuring them that there was enough for everyone, so they should stay in their lines and wait for their turns. But despite their assurances, nobody wanted to be the last one in line and be told that there was no more food remaining for them.

    That had even led to many scuffles between villagers who said that they were the ones who had reached the line first. One of those arguments even resulted in a brawl which had to be broken up by the guards. But then the guard captain, who was a huge man - someone who made others obey him just by being present there - simply told them in a calm voice that no one would get any food at all if there was even one more fight like that. That had calmed down the villagers, and after that they began to agree immediately to whatever the guards were ordering them to do.

    Soon, after he and his family had taken a place in one of the lines as well, he saw that the servants had unloaded many buckets of food within that area bound by a rope, and sent the carts back in the manor, probably to bring more food. That was when the new baron had arrived there, and began giving his speech. Since this was the first time when the baron was speaking to all the villagers, they all had been listening attentively to him.

    Coming back to the present, he heard the baron telling them about all the measures that had been taken for the well-being of the villagers. He told them that the feast had been organized in celebration of procuring enough grain for the villagers to feed them for the whole winter - and from the next week, vegetables would also be included in the weekly grain rations of everyone! That had led to a chorus of happy cheers erupting from the villagers. The baron had given the crowd a moment to enjoy the announcement, before he raised both of his hands to make the crowd quiet again.

    Lord Kivamus also told them about the approaching completion of the first longhouse block. That had given Kigeir a bittersweet taste in his mouth, since it would mean that Maisy and Timmy would move there as well. With the way he saw Elsie chattering continuously with Maisy, he knew that his daughter would miss them a lot. Even now, as they were standing in a separate line for the children, they seemed inseparable, even though Elsie seemed to be the one doing most of the talking.

    The baron also mentioned his unexpected policy that there would be no slavery allowed under his rule from now on. The villagers had certainly heard rumors about that - including the gossip that the girl whom the village blacksmith now lived with, also used to be a slave under the previous baron, and that she had been given her freedom by Lord Kivamus.

    But rumors had a way of getting out of hand, so he didn''t know if there was any truth in that gossip. However, to hear the baron proclaim that himself had made it set in stone. He wasn''t sure if such a news would be welcomed by other nobles - especially since the southern nobles of Reslinor were well known to keep a lot of slaves - but he would let his betters worry about that. He had more than enough worries anyway.

    Before long, the baron''s speech came to a close, and he announced the feast to be open! The villagers immediately started yelling praises for the new baron, while chanting ''All hail Lord Kivamus, long may he reign'' again and again. Although other than being taught about how to count numbers properly from his father, Kigeir didn''t have any other education, but even he knew that only kings and queens reigned, not barons, but who was he to fault the villagers in their rare times of happiness and enjoyment. Once more, the baron stood up on the bench and raised his hands, putting an end to the chants, and told the villagers to enjoy the feast.

    Immediately after that, the servants and maids of the manor began ladling out whatever they were serving, and the various lines of villagers began to move forward. Rising up on his toes to look at the front where the food was being served, he saw that the wooden tables had been kept parallel to the manor walls, with a few buckets and a lot of wooden bowls or plates kept on the tables.

    For each group of three tables which were put together, the guards had organized the villagers to stand in a line in front of the leftmost table, and from there every person moved right to be served from the next serving stall on the right. There were a few other such lines in parallel to his own line, but they all would be served the same food, wouldn''t they? He shook his head. There he went worrying again.

    The line of villagers was still moving slowly, and he was getting really curious about what they would get to eat because of the variety of delicious smells that were wafting in his direction. As he waited impatiently for his turn, he saw the village priest, father Edric - with his ever growing white beard - talking to the majordomo Mr Duvas, before the young baron and others returned back inside the gates of the manor.

    In another line, he even saw Dalaar and his cronies standing patiently for their turn. He couldn''t help but snort at the sight of the young troublemakers diligently following the guards'' instructions to stand properly in the line. Free food was free food, after all, no matter what anyone thought about their rulers - especially if it seemed like it would be a feast fit for nobles.

    As the line kept moving further, it was his turn soon.

 116. A Meal For Nobility

    After Kigeir put his wooden plate in front of him when he reached the first serving stall, the maid standing behind the table put a generous helping of a meat stew in a bowl and after putting it on his plate, she gestured him to move further to the next serving stall on the right. Giving a thankful nod, he walked to the next stall, where another maid gave him mashed potatoes and pointed him to the right again.All that rich smell was making his stomach growl in hunger, but with not a small amount of willpower, he controlled himself to not start eating right there, and waited for everything to be served before he began to eat the wonderful meal. On reaching the next stall, he was provided a medium sized part from a loaf of freshly baked bread, and then it was a walk to the next stall.

    Eventually, he had gotten everything that was being given, and he found an empty place where he sat with his wife and his older son, while waiting for the children to arrive back from their own separate line. Looking at his plate which was full of so many types of food, he tried to remember when was the last time he had eaten something like this, and it turned out to be... never.

    He had visited an inn in Cinran once in the past, and that was the last time where he had seen so many kinds of foods being served, but that day he had been unable to buy more than a simple bread and soup. But it seemed he would finally get to taste the meals for nobility tonight, since only nobles could possibly afford something like this!

    In his plate, there were three kinds of soup and stew, two kinds of bread, some mashed potatoes, and there was even a small amount of butter and cheese! But it didn''t end there - at the last serving stall, he had been given a very small part of something called a Toloraberry Pie, which the maid had advised him to eat after he had finished everything else. That was the only thing which smelled sweet, and with the villagers nearly never getting to eat anything like that, he had really wanted to devour the small part of pie immediately, but somehow he had told himself that he should do what the maid said. She was the one providing the food after all.

    However, he saw that the children were still some time away from the front of their line, and being unable to wait, he took a wooden spoon and took a sip of the fish stew, and it tasted out of this world! Next, he tried the mashed potatoes, and it was slightly salty and buttery - just like it was supposed to be!

    Then he tried the other things one by one, all of which tasted better than anything else he had ever eaten. As he took a moment to look around him in the light of burning braziers in the nearly freezing weather, he saw that nearly every villager - including his family sitting next to him - were doing their best to savor the taste of the unexpected bounty as long as they could. Who knew if they would ever get to eat something like this ever again in their lives? They had to try their best to remember this night, when Lord Kivamus hosted a feast and provided them food which must only be eaten by nobility!

    Giving a happy smile to his wife and elder son, he delightfully took another spoonful of the meat stew, and closed his eyes in wonder at the marvelous taste of it. Thank goddess for sending Lord Kivamus as the new baron of the village!

    Kigeir chuckled as even he couldn''t stop himself from wishing the young baron''s reign to be long and prosperous!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~ Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    Wiping his forehead of the sweat which had gathered there after he gave a speech in front of so many people for the first time, Kivamus climbed down from the bench and walked towards the gates of the manor. At least it had gone well enough, he thought. It was a daunting task for him to speak in front of that many people, and he wasn''t sure how he had accomplished it.

    "That was a good speech, my Lord," Duvas complimented with a smile.

    "Indeed. You did well," Gorsazo said. "The speech was neither too short nor too long." He smirked, "Although you won''t be defeating any seasoned statesman in a debate anytime soon."

    Kivamus laughed. "I don''t have a lifetime experience of teaching and speaking to a lot of people like you have, Gorsazo. I''m just glad that it''s over."

    He looked back towards the crowd of people, and saw that the lines had already started moving. After getting the meal on their plates, it seemed like some of the villagers had closed their eyes in enjoyment of what they were eating at the time. He smiled looking at the satisfying scene.

    However, he noticed an old man walking slowly towards him, his long white beard noticeable immediately. He had expected the guards to stop anyone from approaching him, but when he saw a guard bow to the old man, he became curious about it. As he looked carefully, he saw that the old man was wearing a white robe of some kind, with a thin rope serving as a belt around his waist, although it must have been years since that robe could have been called new.

    As the man came closer into the light of a brazier burning nearby, Kivamus realized that the robe was already patched over in many places. There was also some kind of loose cowl or a hood on the robe, but the old man wasn''t using it right now. The man seemed to be older than even Duvas, who was probably approaching sixty years himself.

    Stopping in front of Kivamus, the old man gave a nod to him. "I''m glad to finally meet you, Lord Kivamus."

    Kivamus gave a nod as well, but raised his eyebrows in confusion at the person whom he hadn''t seen before.

    "My apologies milord, I should have introduced myself first," the old man said, his long wide beard moving as he spoke. "I''m Father Edric, and I have been the ordained priest of the goddess'' temple for this village since Tiranat was founded."

    "Oh!" Kivamus exclaimed. "I''ve heard about you. You were the one who took care of the orphans and the elderly in the village, when no one else did."

    "I am just doing the goddess'' work," Father Edric said with a grandfatherly smile. "But please don''t fault the villagers for not helping them, since most people here could barely afford to feed themselves."

    The old priest continued, "The recent times haven''t been good for the village. Although I tried my best, my efforts weren''t nearly enough for the villagers. But it does seem like the goddess has finally heard our prayers, since she sent someone like you here." He added with a smile, "I also heard your speech earlier, and I could tell that you were neither lying nor boasting about having enough grain for everyone this winter. And probably for the first time since this village was founded, I am fairly sure that no one will die of the cold or hunger this winter. So I thank you for that, milord."

    Kivamus shook his head. "No, no, I''m not doing anything special. This is simply what any noble should do for his people."

    Father Edric nodded sagely. "That''s certainly true enough. And yet, what you are doing is not common at all."

    He gestured towards the villagers, every one of whom seemed to have a rarely seen smile on their face. "Just look at them, milord. I have probably never seen the villagers this happy in the past few years. Believe me, milord, you are doing Goddess'' work here." Then Father Edric gave a bow to him, his snow-white beard nearly touching the ground in the process, before he added, "You have my sincere gratitude for easing our work to take care of those at the bottom of the society."

    Kivamus wasn''t sure what to reply to that, since he didn''t know anything about the beliefs of the goddess'' followers. So rather than saying something odd and upsetting the priest and others, he just returned a short bow as well.

    After standing straight again, Father Edric added, "I won''t take any more of your busy time, milord. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the elderly priest turned back and returned towards the crowd of villagers.

    Kivamus smiled looking at everything going so smoothly. "It was a good idea to give the feast, wasn''t it?" He asked no one in particular, as he and others started walking back inside the manor, the clamor of the villagers fading slowly.

    Gorsazo nodded. "I''d say so, my Lord. It would certainly boost the villagers morale a lot. And it will give them a reason to keep working hard even in this freezing weather."

    "That''s true," Duvas said, while stroking his short beard. "I think the most important announcement for them was when you said that now we have enough grain to feed everyone for the winter. That has basically never happened in Tiranat."

    The majordomo continued, "While in some good years, the manor did have more than enough grain to feed every villager in the winter, the previous baron never allowed us to give it for free to those who couldn''t afford to buy it. But this year the villagers know that they and their children won''t go hungry, whether they can afford to buy any grain or not. I think that fact will keep the villagers'' morale high throughout the winter."

    "Let''s hope so..." Kivamus muttered, while thinking about the miserly bastard who ruled this village as the baron before him. Shaking his head, he said, "I will do my best to ensure that it remains so in the future as well."

    Looking towards the kitchen of the servants hall, he saw that the servants were loading another cart with steaming buckets - likely containing the next batch of food from the kitchen, before starting to push it towards the gates of the manor. A couple of maids were also following the cart with ladles in their hands to serve the villagers. But even more importantly, all of them seem to have a smile on their faces.

    As he walked further, he noticed that the manor looked nearly empty from inside, since nearly all of the servants and off-duty guards were outside the gates to either serve the villagers in the feast, or to help in controlling the crowd. It was rare to see the manor so empty, but it was for a good reason so he didn''t really mind it.

    He reached towards the manor house with others, eagerly waiting for his own meal from the feast - which would also include the Madam Helga''s much vaunted Rizako stew, unlike the villagers'' feast - not to mention the Toloraberry pie which he couldn''t wait to try. Thinking of the Rizako stew, he remembered that Feroy, who really liked it, should be able to enjoy it as well tonight, since he was unable to eat the Rizako stew the last time when he was out with the caravan.

    Looking around, he tried to see where the ex-mercenary was, but he couldn''t find him. Thinking about it, he realized that he hadn''t seen Feroy since the morning.

    "Where is Feroy?" he asked others.

 117. Instincts

    Gorsazo and Duvas looked around as well, but Feroy was still nowhere to be found."I''m not sure, my Lord," Duvas replied. "I think the last time I saw him was in the evening, but I haven''t seen him since then." He asked, "Should we ask Hudan? He is outside the gates keeping an eye on the feast, but he should still know where Feroy is."

    Kivamus nodded. "Actually, yes. Ask him to come here. You were telling me earlier that Feroy seems off today, and now we can''t find him anywhere. It''s getting me worried."

    Giving a nod Duvas walked towards the servants'' hall and after calling a servant, he told him to bring Hudan.

    Experience tales at empire

    Kivamus and others waited for Hudan outside the manor house, though it felt very cold here, since there were no braziers nearby.

    "Is Madam Helga still outside?" he asked.

    Duvas nodded. "No, she returned back to the kitchen to check the taste of the next batch of food, although Syryne is still helping out the other maids to serve food."

    Before long, they saw the huge build of Hudan jogging towards them. Reaching nearby, he said, "You asked for me, milord?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Where is Feroy? None of us have seen him since the evening."

    "Oh..." Hudan muttered with a frown. "He is out in the village for a patrol."

    "Alone?" Kivamus asked. "But why?"

    "He had been saying since the morning that everything was going so well, that something didn''t feel right to him - even though he couldn''t tell what he felt might be wrong." Hudan continued with a shrug, "I think he was getting edgy for no reason, probably because he had spent the last three weeks out with the caravan, while constantly worried about an ambush. So I told him to relax, but he said that he trusted his instincts and something just felt off to him. So even though there were two guards already out on patrol, he went for a patrol around the village himself."

    Hudan added, "I did tell him to take another guard with him, but he said that we needed our guards to keep the villagers'' crowd in control, and that he would be fine by himself. And since the evening, he''s been out of the manor, and hasn''t returned back yet."

    Kivamus frowned after listening to that. "What do you think about it? Could he be right?"

    "I haven''t the foggiest idea," Hudan replied. "After he went out, I did ask the guards who were out on patrol in the previous shift whether they had seen anything suspicious, but there was nothing to be concerned about." After a moment, he added with a shrug, "Although I can''t deny that Feroy''s instincts are often right, and without trusting his instincts, he wouldn''t have survived long while living with mercenaries, but it''s not like he''s living between such cutthroat bastards here."

    Kivamus still wasn''t sure what to think about it. On one hand, there was no basis for him to be worried, especially since Hudan had confirmed with the guards who were previously on patrol. But on the other hand, it seemed like Feroy did trust his instincts, so there could still be something there.

    "I''m sure it''s nothing, milord," Hudan reassured him. "Don''t worry about it, and just enjoy your meal. I''ll keep an eye on everything outside, and I''ll come back to report to you after the feast has ended and the villagers have returned to their homes."

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ In the middle of a feast! ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy was waiting in line for her turn to get food along with Elsie. Her little brother Timmy and Elsie''s younger brother were standing behind them, talking about a neighbor of Mr Kigeir who had become a manor guard. Did they really want to become guards? It didn''t matter right now, since tonight, she would get to enjoy eating at a feast!

    She didn''t even know what a feast was before tonight, but as it turned out, she loved feasts! Although it was very crowded here, the villagers were standing properly in lines now, and there was no more shoving to get ahead in the lines anymore. It was a different matter that she hadn''t even eaten anything from that feast yet... But she already really, really, liked feasts! But the line still wasn''t moving!

    Well, that wasn''t true. The line of children in which they were standing was still moving, but it was moving so slowly! And she was hungry!

    "When will our turn come?" Elsie whined from her place behind Maisy.

    Maisy shrugged. "I don''t know..."

    Elsie pointed towards the front of the line, and whispered, "I think that fat boy there is taking too much food. That''s why the line isn''t moving!"

    Maisy grinned. "You don''t know that. Because you can''t see there! Because you are still too short!"

    "No, I''m not! And I''m still taller than you, shortie!" Elsie retorted, and looked away while sulking, but Maisy knew that her bad mood wouldn''t last long.

    Before long, Elsie asked again, "When will our turn come... I''m hungry!"

    "Stop nagging!" Maisy chided. Elsie looked away with a huff and began playing with her long blonde ponytail.

    To be truthful, Maisy still didn''t know what a pony was, and how its tail could look like a girl''s hair, but Elsie had told her so, so she had believed her. Mostly. But she still hadn''t found any unicorns in the village - even though Elsie still kept claiming they lived in Tiranat - so she knew that she couldn''t believe everything Elsie said.

    As she looked at her friends'' hair, she thought that maybe... in the future, she would also keep a ponytail like Elsie. Maybe... She wasn''t sure how it would look on her black hair, but it had to be better than the haphazard way she had chopped it off a few months ago so it wouldn''t get in her face.

    As she waited in the line, she saw that there was also a barrel full of water kept near the tables, from which a man - who was probably a servant in the manor - was pouring water with a wooden ladle for another man to drink. Looking at the small amount of steam rising from the barrel, she was glad that it wasn''t cold water or Timmy wouldn''t be able to drink it at all.

    She wistfully looked at the maids who were serving the food. Would she also be able to become a maid in the manor in the future? She knew that for now, Mr Kigeir and the baron of the village were providing food for children like her, but eventually she realized that she would have to take care of herself and her brother and provide food for themselves. But was it even possible for an orphan like her to get such an important job in the village?

    Even Elsie - who was a merchant''s daughter - wanted to become a maid in the manor so she could earn coin by herself, unlike Elsie''s older brother who wanted to become a merchant like Mr Kigeir, while their younger brothers still weren''t sure - although they spent most of the day talking about manor guards or doing mock battles between themselves with wooden sticks. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A short while ago, she thought that she had seen a maid earlier who looked to be only a few years older than her, but although she kept craning her neck to look ahead, she hadn''t seen her again. Maisy realized that she was too young to become a maid right now, and Elsie had even told her that there was a lot of competition to become a maid in the baron''s manor. But she still hoped that in the future, she would be hired as a maid of the manor. Maybe Elsie could also become a maid there! Then both of them would be maids in the manor! And she wouldn''t be bored at all and they could be friends forever!

    They kept waiting as the line moved further, and after a very, very long time, her turn came, and the pretty maid behind the table who had short red hair put an empty plate in front of her.

    Elsie giggled from behind her, "Awesome! You didn''t get anything, which means more for me!"

    "Shut up," Maisy retorted, "or I will take your food too!"

    "I won''t let you!" Elsie said with a grin.

    Maisy just laughed at their banter - which was another new word that she had learnt recently - and waited as the maid began giving small portions of so many kinds of food on that wooden plate. When it was full, the pretty maid handed her the plate with a smile, and told her to eat the small sweet smelling thing only at the end - something which she called a tulora... no, uh... toloba, no! uh... a toloraberry pie! Yes! That''s what it was called! And finally, the maid told her to enjoy it and sent her away.

    She saw that as she moved away, Elsie grinned and walked to the front of the line, playfully shoving her on the way, but Maisy managed to prevent anything from falling off her plate. She moved a little away to the side as she waited for Elsie and their brothers to get their food too, and finally she looked carefully at her plate.

    And she couldn''t recognize what most of those things were... It seemed like there were three kinds of soups but she didn''t know what kind, along with two kinds of bread. But what was the difference? She would have to wait for the food expert Elsie to come and tell her. There were also many other things as well, which she didn''t recognise.

    After a very long time - time she spent wondering what all those bowls of food on her plate contained - all of them had got a plate full of food in their hands, and then they marched to where Mr Kigeir and his family were sitting. They all took a seat next to them, but she noticed that Mr Kigeir and others had already eaten half of their food - which was a lot more than what was given to children in their much smaller plates, but eh... it didn''t matter. She couldn''t eat that much anyway.

    She poked Elsie, who was sitting next to her, and asked her about what those whitish things were on their plates. She saw in the light of a brazier which was burning nearby, that it was nearly milky in color, but there were two such things.

    Elsie nodded and sagely pointed at one of those things. "This is butter." But she kept looking at the other thing with a frown. Eventually, she asked Mr Kigeir, "Papa, what is this?"

 118. Cheese And Butter

    "Oh, that''s cheese," Mr Kigeir replied with a smile. "You can eat the cheese and butter along with bread, but not both of them together. Just take some of that cheese with your finger, and put it on the bread before eating - just like you do with butter. And don''t forget to thank the maids if you go for another helping of those."Elsie nodded, and took some butter on her fingers before tasting it.

    Maisy couldn''t miss this opportunity to tease her new best friend. "You said you had already eaten cheese in the past, but you didn''t even recognize it! Weren''t you lying earlier?"

    "No, I wasn''t!" Elsie retorted, before she took a sip of soup - probably while she thought of an excuse. Suddenly, she looked at Mr Kigeir with wide eyes, "We can get more of these?"

    "Yup," Mr Kigeir nodded. "You kiddos are lucky. We adults were only given one helping, but children are allowed to go for seconds. Although I don''t think you will get any more pie, since there was so little of it, but you should be able to get most of the other things again."

    "Awesome!" Elsie looked at Maisy and grinned. "I''ll finish my food first, and I''ll take whatever is left on the tables!"

    "No, you won''t!" Maisy retorted back, and quickly took a sip from one of her soup bowls, but Elsie saw her, and lifted a bowl in each of her hands, and quickly began drinking from them one by one, to be the first one to go for a second helping.

    "Slow down, both of you!" Mr Kigeir''s wife scolded them. "You won''t get to eat a feast like this again any time soon. So you should savor and enjoy it instead of trying to race with each other."

    Elsie gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, ma."

    Maisy nodded as well. She was smiling as she picked up a piece of bread to eat along with butter, thinking their competition was over, but suddenly Elsie pointed at her and complained, "But ma, she was the one who started it!"

    "No, I didn''t!" Maisy replied immediately.

    Elsie was going to retort again, but Mr Kigeir spoke to both of them. "It doesn''t matter who started it! Just slow down and enjoy your food." He pointed at Timmy and his younger son. "They are eating more properly than you all, even though you both are older."

    Chastised properly, both of them gave nods, and skipping the competition for now, they began to savor each bite.

    It was only now that Maisy got a chance to put some butter on bread, and when she tasted it, it felt so... smooth and yummy! The soup and stews were good, but butter was better! And it even rhymed! She giggled to herself thinking about it, before she focused on her food again.

    This was the first time she had ever tasted butter, and it was as good as Elsie had claimed it would be. After that, she took a small piece of cheese and took a bite of it without any bread, and it tasted amazing! By now, she was completely sure that she hadn''t eaten anything better tasting than cheese or butter! They both tasted amazing!

    Then she took a small piece of bread, and looked at the cheese and butter waiting on her plate. Now she was confused. Which of those should she eat first?

    Suddenly, she laughed at herself. Looking at Timmy, who had closed his eyes in enjoyment as he ate something, she realized how much things had changed for them... Only a few weeks ago, she didn''t know how she would find any food for her brother and herself. She had scrounged through all of the garbage piles in the village, and there wasn''t anything left anywhere. But today... Today she was confused if she should eat butter or cheese first!

    She realized that it was a rare feast, and choosing between butter and cheese wouldn''t be a problem for her any time soon in the future. But for tonight, she couldn''t help but look at the sky in thankfulness. Maybe the goddess was watching over them after all.

    After she was done with all of the food, she looked at the last thing remaining on her plate. And it was the Toloraberry Pie. She lifted it up carefully, and gently took a very small bite of it. And for a moment, she couldn''t understand the taste even though it felt really nice... It was only then that she realized that it was sweet tasting!

    Yes! That''s what a sweet taste meant! The Toloraberry Pie was what something sweet really tasted like! Now she had a new favorite food, along with butter and cheese!

    As she thought more about it, she suddenly realized that until now, she had thought that the porridge which the children got served to them every day as the free meal tasted sweet, but that porridge wasn''t really sweet at all!

    As she took another small bite of the pie, her eyes started getting a little wet. Once again, she took another small bite, and even though she hadn''t eaten something that sweet ever in her life, she found that she liked the sweet taste of a pie. A lot.

    Finally, she saw that only one small part of the pie was remaining, and she decided that she wanted to savor it slowly. Or maybe she could hide it in her pocket to taste it tomorrow... But then she noticed that Elsie - who had eaten her own serving of pie before other things - kept eyeing that last piece of pie on her plate.

    Recognising the danger immediately, she quickly snatched that last piece of Toloraberry pie from her plate and put it in her mouth, and then grinned at Elsie, who just huffed in response, and began to eat her own food again. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Soon, she stood up with her plate to get a second helping of everything, but Elsie - who had still not finished her food - noticed her, and after immediately gobbling up whatever was left on her plate, she started to walk quickly towards the tables where the maids were still serving to the children, and quickly overtook her, so she would be the first one to get the second helpings. Maisy also started walking faster, until both of them were running towards the tables.

    However, instead of worrying about who would win the race, Maisy laughed at both of their antics, and after Elsie noticed it, she joined her in laughing as well, even though neither of them stopped running.

    Their rivalry wouldn''t stop any time soon, it seemed. But Maisy didn''t mind it at all. It was the first time she had gotten a best friend, and she loved every moment of it, even if half of it was spent in bickering between her and Elsie. Giving a shake of her head, she happily let Elsie take the lead, and followed behind her best friend. Cheese and butter were waiting for her, after all!

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~ Enjoy more content from empire

    ~ Somewhere inside the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Night had already fallen and the icy winds had picked up, making it too cold to stay anywhere in the open, especially without a fire nearby. But the bandits didn''t really care about that, and most of them were snoring under whichever bush they had chosen as their bed.

    It seemed like a full moon night, but because of the dense clouds, the visibility was quite low, though it was still enough that he could barely make out Nokozal and another bandit sitting next to each other maybe a dozen feet away. They were the ones keeping watch right now, and they seemed to be whispering something together - probably planning how to attack tonight.

    Calubo couldn''t help but give a sigh. Because of a continuous worry about what was going to happen to Tiranat tonight, Calubo had been wide awake since the morning. Would these bandits also put the village to fire, just like Torhan''s group of bandits had done around a month ago? Would the village''s food supply also be looted by these bastards, making the villagers starve in the winter? Would his cousin Nurobo even stay alive after tonight? He didn''t know. So he hadn''t stopped praying to the goddess for a moment, since that was all he could do right now to help the village.

    A little while ago, he had heard some kind of cheers from the direction of the village, but he didn''t know why that would be. The last time he was in the village, the villagers didn''t have anything to cheer about anyway. But perhaps the new baron had done something about it? At the very least, the village should have quite a bit of grain now, based on the two caravans he had observed coming to the village. If only he were in the village as well...

    The fatso, who had been deemed his caretaker by Nokozal, had tied both of his hands together, as always, and had tied the other end of the rope to his own hand. However, despite the continuously growling stomach of the fatso, he was fast asleep right now, a few feet away from Calubo with seemingly no worries at all, making him hate the fat bandit even more.

    Soon, he heard the crunching of leaves from nearby - a sound which felt even louder in the night - making Nokozal and the other bandit on watch duty stand up slowly with their swords ready. But immediately after that, he heard a series of bird whistles from the same direction, making the bandits relax. Before long, he saw someone walking towards the bandit chief, and while he couldn''t see the newcomer clearly, it had to be the runt based on his small build.

    "So, what news have you brought?" Nokozal asked the runt in a low voice - a sound which still carried over well enough in the night for Calubo to hear without much difficulty.

 119. Reports And Attempts

    "There is a feast tonight, milord!" The runt reported with an animated voice."What the hell are you talking about?" Nokozal growled. He gestured at the darkness surrounding them, with no food in sight anywhere. "Are you a damned idiot?"

    "I meant in the village, milord," the runt replied. "The villagers are having a feast right now, while we are nearly starving here!"

    "You''ve got to be kidding me!" Nokozal barked. But since the runt did not refute him, the bandit chief gave a scornful laugh, before asking with surprise, "There is really a goddess damned feast in the village tonight...?" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s true, milord!" The runt confirmed again. "I saw it myself! Of course, I couldn''t go too close, but I saw that just outside the walls of the baron''s manor, there was a huge crowd, and there seemed to be so many tables full of food kept next to those walls! What else could it be, if not a feast?"

    As Calubo listened to the runt describe the feast, it seemed like the runt was salivating at the thought. But a feast? It didn''t make sense to Calubo either. Why would the village be having a feast? And who could even afford to give a feast in the village in the first place?

    Did the new baron come with a lot of gold crowns with him? Since only a rich noble could afford to give a feast in these difficult times, when most people couldn''t even afford to buy two meals a day for their families. But even if he had, why would the baron give a feast to the village? It had never happened before in Tiranat. The previous baron hadn''t even given a feast to those who lived in the manor - not even once! So the whole village having a feast tonight didn''t make any sense at all!

    The runt continued in an agitated voice, "I even climbed a tree in the east to see it clearly. And you wouldn''t believe what I saw there! There had to be a dozen tables kept right outside the walls - all of them loaded with a variety of food! And many people - probably servants or maids of the manor - were serving the villagers from there. I had never even seen so much food in one place in my life before tonight!"

    The other bandit, who was keeping watch along with Nokozal, muttered, "Now I wish I had gone to scout the village..."

    Nokozal grunted and didn''t say anything for a while. Eventually, he scoffed. "Well, so what? It doesn''t matter to us if the village is having a feast, since all their food will be ours anyway after tonight!" He added after a moment, "In fact, it''s better for us this way. We will give a couple of hours for the villagers to get full of food and ale, and for them to go to sleep in their homes. That''s when we''ll attack - when they''d be sleeping defenseless after that damned feast!" Find adventures at empire

    The runt added, "But I did see a lot of guards out in that crowd, probably keeping an eye on the villagers so they wouldn''t steal anything!"

    The other bandit asked, "Doesn''t that mean that the guards do come out of the manor? What if they attack us when we are raiding the village?"

    "Are you an idiot?" Nokozal chided. "It''s a damned feast! Of course the guards would come out so they could eat as well! How could those greedy bastards give up on a free meal?" He scoffed, "You talk like you have never met any guards of nobles! They are the first ones to ask for bribes just to allow us to enter the damned gates of a town!"

    The bandit chief continued, "So when we raid the village, and if the guards hear about it, they will be the first ones to run inside the gates of the manor before shutting them from inside, just like it happened when Torhan''s group raided them! Those cowards wouldn''t dare to come out and face us in battle!"

    The other bandit sounded unsure as he said, "I hope so, milord."

    "Don''t you worry, lad. You all just keep following my orders," Nokozal said confidently, "and the goddess will give us a huge haul of grain tonight! She already made the village have a feast tonight, which would make it easier for us to attack later. Don''t you see? She is already favoring us!"

    After a moment, Nokozal added, "Well, we''ve been awake for a while now, so let''s take our turn to rest. You," he ordered the other bandit, "go and wake two other men to keep watch until it''s time for the raid."

    While the bandit chief and others found a shrub to sleep under, Calubo was worried sick about the fate of the village tonight. Why did the goddess make Nokozal bring him here, if he couldn''t even do anything to help the village? Was it just to make him see the demise of the village - the place he had lived in for nearly all his life? Was that what all his prayers amounted to?

    Soon, the bandits settled down to rest, and as it turned out, it was the fatso along with another bandit who got the watch duty for the next few hours.

    "Let''s walk a little further from others," the fatso said to the other bandit, "so we wouldn''t wake them by talking."

    "Why do we even need to talk right now?" the other bandit asked curiously. "Sound carries far in the night, so we should just keep a watch on the surroundings."

    "Because I am hungry! And being hungry makes me sleepy!" the fatso grumbled. "I won''t be able to keep watch tonight if there isn''t someone to talk with me." He tilted his head towards Calubo. "And I have nothing to talk about with this idiot, who is the only other person who''s awake right now."

    The other bandit sniggered, and gave a nod. "I agree with you there."

    Calubo just let them have their fun at his expense. There was no point in provoking them right now.

    Since it was the fatso who had gotten the duty to keep an eye over Calubo, so instead of leaving him with the other sleeping bandits, he tugged the rope tying Calubo''s hands, and pulled him along as well. The fatso walked a little further away from the other sleeping bandits to a wide fedarus tree, where he lazily settled down on the ground with his back to the tree, while facing away from the direction of the sleeping bandits. Calubo sat near them as well, while thinking about the coming raid.

    The other bandit had also followed them, and he sat with his back to another tree nearby. Both of the bandits had also removed their swords from their backs and kept them next to themselves on the ground, so they would be more comfortable when leaning against the tree.

    The other bandit muttered to the fatso, "Now that you have mentioned it, I am feeling hungry too. Those handful of berries we found earlier were barely enough for all of us to eat." He looked at the fatso. "I kept telling you yesterday to save the last pieces of the dried meat we had brought with us from the quarry. But you said no, we will find more meat tomorrow! And look at us now, having nothing to eat!"

    "What was I supposed to do about it?" The fatso grumbled. "I was hungry, so how could I not eat something which was right in front of me?"

    The other bandit snorted. "You still should have saved some for today, you damned fatso."

    "I''m not fat!" the fatso retorted immediately.

    "Of course you aren''t!" The other bandit sniggered. "But why are you hungry all the time anyway?"

    "Hell if I know," the fatso answered with a lazy shrug, as he adjusted his position to get more comfortable, with his back still to the tree. "I''ve always been hungry."

    As Calubo tuned out their banter, he thought that if only there was a way to separate these two bandits, maybe he could even find an opportunity to run away from them. He eyed the sword lying next to the fatso, and wished he could get his hands on it...

    But the fatso had still kept his arm on that sword, so it wasn''t very likely that he would get it. And even if he could snatch that sword - which wouldn''t be easy at all, since it was kept on the other side of the fatso - the other bandit would immediately cut him down after that, especially with both of his hands still tied together with a rope.

    As the bandits became quiet after their recent topic died down, Calubo tried to think of a way to separate them.

    "Shouldn''t one of you be sitting on the other side of the camp to keep an eye on both sides of us?" Calubo asked both of the bandits. "What if the knights of Count Cinran come and attack the rest of you while they are still sleeping?"

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 120. Conjectures

    "Shut up!" the bandit snapped at him. "I didn''t ask for your opinion."The fatso sniggered as he taunted Calubo, "Like you would know anything about the count''s knights! You were only a manor guard in this pitiful little village, not a knight in the count''s retinue!"

    Immediately the other bandit started to laugh as well. "The count''s knights coming to these forests in the middle of the night? And on the same day we are here? Don''t make me laugh! So you are an idiot after all."

    Calubo sighed. There went that plan of separating them. Trying to salvage his attempt to separate them, he said with a shrug, "The knights might still come... you can never know..."

    "Yeah, I can!" the fatso boasted. "I have actually been to the count''s mansion in Cinran - unlike you - so what would you know? Anyway, shut up now unless you want to get a beating."

    Calubo didn''t say anything after that. He had tried his best to separate them, hadn''t he?

    But he still felt guilty. It was his mistake of telling Nokozal that the manor guards might not leave the walls of the manor if a raid happened, and because of that, these bastards were going to raid Tiranat. They''d probably even burn the houses and kill many villagers during that attack. So he still felt responsible about it, since it had all started with his own mistake. And yet, there still wasn''t anything he could do to help the village, damn it!

    As the other bandit started telling the fatso about the feast in the village, with even more exaggeration than what the runt had told them, the fatso''s stomach growled loudly.

    "Dammit! I''m really hungry now!" The fatso grumbled again as he sat up straighter. "And being so hungry is already making me sleepy. Why did the chief have to put me on watch duty right now?"

    The other bandit shrugged. "Doesn''t matter, man. The chief said that we''d get to eat as much as we want after tonight! So just hold on for now."

    The fatso grumbled something again, then settled down with his back to the tree again, while the other bandit continued his tale of the feast.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus and others had just finished their own feast, and while Clarisa and Syryne cleared the wooden plates and cups from the long dining table, he moved to sit in front of the roaring fire in a comfortable armchair, with others following him as well. The feast was a rare change from their regular meals, and while they couldn''t afford it frequently, it still made him happy that he was able to eat something like that in this world.

    "That was a wonderful meal, Madam Helga," he praised the former innkeeper. Remembering the taste of the only sweet thing he had tasted in the past few weeks, he said, "I particularly liked the Toloraberry Pie! It''s a pity that we won''t be able to have more of it until after the winter, when those shrubs begin to give fruit again. But still, it was a delicious feast."

    "Thank you, milord!" Madam Helga replied with a smile, as she picked up another empty plate from the table to take it away.

    "I''d love to have more of the Rizako stew, though," Feroy said as he leaned back further on an armchair. He had returned to the manor an hour ago while looking a little edgy, but after seeing the feast in front of him, he had seemingly focused only on the food. The ex-mercenary added, "Nothing beats the taste of that!"

    Madam Helga laughed. "You were the one who grabbed the cauldron of the Rizako stew for yourself, so you could soak up any leftover broth with bread! So you know that there isn''t any more of it left, Feroy!"

    Everyone laughed remembering that, while Feroy looked unabashed. He just shrugged. "What can I say, it was just that delicious."

    "I am glad to hear that. And don''t worry, you''ll be the first one to eat the Rizako stew whenever I make it the next time, assuming we are able to replant the mushrooms again in new barns," Madam Helga replied, before she walked away with Clarisa with the empty plates in her hands.

    Feroy grinned. "I can''t wait!"

    Kivamus smiled seeing the rare smile on the face of the ex-mercenary. It was good to see that everything was going so well.

    "How is the meal for the villagers going?" he asked the majordomo.

    Duvas replied, "The feast is nearly over now, and the villagers have started returning back. But there is still a small crowd remaining in front of the gates, mainly of those children who are still finishing their second helping of food, along with their families who are keeping an eye on them."

    "Hmm... I am glad that we were able to provide the children something tasty," Kivamus said with a smile.

    "Certainly," Gorsazo said with a nod. "The winter months were already difficult for commoners even in Ulriga - where it didn''t snow that much - but here in Tiranat, they would be much more severe and with a lot of snowfall. So the rare experience of eating in a feast would be something that will keep the villagers'' morale high, instead of them just trying to survive the bleak winter days."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s true enough."

    Hudan stood up from his armchair. "I should go and take a look again at the feast, to make sure that everything is going well."

    Before Kivamus agreed to him, Feroy interrupted with a serious expression, "Wait here for a moment, Hudan. I have something I need to talk about."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked curiously.

    "I didn''t mention it earlier while we were eating since I didn''t want to spoil the mood," Feroy said, "but you all still need to know about it." He added with a shrug, "You can certainly call me paranoid, but I am usually right about such things."

    Hudan''s expression became serious as he retook his seat. "What are you talking about?"

    "I''ve been feeling that something is off since the past few days, you know?" the ex-mercenary began, "and after what I found out today, I don''t think I was wrong."

    Duvas looked concerned, while Kivamus and others listened carefully.

    Feroy continued, "I asked around with the guards who were on watch duty in the previous few days - including those who went to patrol around the village in the night - but they hadn''t seen anything out of the ordinary. So, earlier in the evening, I took a look around the village myself, but I didn''t find anything unusual either."

    "I told you there was nothing," Hudan said with a frown. "I asked them exactly the same thing earlier and got the same answer. So why are you still worried about it?"

    Feroy raised one of his hands to placate Hudan. "Just hear me out." He continued, "Something still didn''t feel right to me, so just before I came here for the dinner, I went outside to where the feast was being held. I thought that it was a good opportunity for me to ask around, since all the villagers had gathered in the same place. Otherwise it would be too difficult to go from house to house and look for those people whom I wanted to ask about it, you know?"

    At Kivamus'' nod, the ex-mercenary continued, "So I searched for those villagers who were cutting the trees - since they are the ones who are working the farthest from the village, and if there was anything suspicious in the forest around us, they would be the first ones to know about it." He added, "There were a lot of people who work as woodcutters away from the village, but for each direction of the village, I made sure to find someone who has been working in that direction, and then asked them if they had seen anything unusual."

    "Alright," Kivamus nodded. "So did you find anything?"

    "I think so, but there isn''t anything I can say for sure, you know?" Feroy explained.

    "That''s okay," Kivamus reassured him. "Just tell us what you found."

    Feroy nodded. "In the evening, one of the villagers who was in the group which is working to build the village walls in the north, had gone further away in that direction to relieve himself, and he thought that he saw someone further ahead in the forests. But it was just him at the time, so he wasn''t very sure about it."

    Hudan frowned on hearing that. "Then why didn''t he report it to a guard? I would have sent a few men to check it out immediately if he had told us. It''s already been a few hours since then, so we wouldn''t find anything even if I did send guards now."

    "I asked him that as well," Feroy replied. "But he told me that it was already getting dark by that time, so he thought it might be just shadows of a branch moving from the wind, or maybe it was just some other laborer who had gone further ahead. So he didn''t think it was worth mentioning it to anyone."

    "But he still should have gone further ahead and taken a look himself," Gorsazo said. "At least he could have made sure that it wasn''t someone he didn''t recognize." S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy nodded. "He probably should have, but like I told you, he was alone at that time. And people in the village don''t like to go too far into the forest alone, especially in the dark."

    Kivamus wasn''t sure what it meant, and if it was something to be really concerned about, so he gestured to Feroy to keep speaking. "Carry on."

    The ex-mercenary nodded. "Having said that, it wouldn''t normally be much cause for concern, since it could just have been some wild animals there. Or like that laborer thought, it might be another villager who had gone further ahead, or maybe it was just some branches moving from the wind. We simply can''t be sure about it."

    Feroy continued, "However, I have just been back from three separate journeys with the caravan and travelled through those same forests. While Hudan said earlier that it was just my nerves which were making me too paranoid, but I don''t think so. Not anymore."

    "Could it be possible that the news about the caravan got out while you were in Cinran?" Kivamus asked.

 121. Precautions

    Feroy shrugged. "Can''t say, milord. I had taken all the precautions that I could think of while I was on the road with the caravan." He added, "Pydaso and I made sure to buy everything from a few different vendors and shopkeepers in Cinran, instead of buying everything in bulk from a single merchant, so that the quantity of our purchases wouldn''t be noticeable easily. We also staggered the arrival and departure of the wagons in the caravan when entering and exiting the town, in a way that at most only two of our wagons would pass the gates at one time, with the rest of the wagons in the caravan continuing through only after some time."He continued, "This was to ensure that any observers would think that those wagons were led by different people, and would likely be going in different directions, instead of them realizing that it was a single caravan which would be traveling through these treacherous forests. But even then," Feroy added with a shrug, "those town merchants like to talk, you know? It''s one of their favorite pastimes in the bigger towns and cities. So any news of a big purchase still gets around, which means that despite all our precautions, someone might still have realized that it was a single person making those purchases. And that would make the caravan and probably even the village a target for bandits."

    "That''s very concerning..." Duvas muttered with a frown.

    Feroy nodded. "That''s why I was expecting an ambush on every return journey of ours, but as you know, nothing like that happened." He added, "However, in our last journey, while we were on the road when returning from Cinran, I thought I saw the glint of a sword in the east, a few hours after we entered the forest in the light of the setting sun. Although I''m not very sure about it..."

    "Oh..." Gorsazo whispered. "You mean the caravan might really have been ambushed in the forests?"

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "Possibly. But still, we weren''t ambushed there, or anywhere else, for that matter." He continued, "The reason might simply be that those bandits - assuming they really were there - were simply unwilling to attack such a big caravan."

    He explained, "While it would have seemed like a very juicy target for them, they would also have seen that we had fifteen well-armed swordsmen and archers protecting it. That would mean that our ruse had worked and the caravan did appear very well defended from the outside, and that is why those bandits didn''t attack us at that time. Or maybe... It was just my usual paranoia and I was imagining things. That means it could have been just something shiny on the forest floor which caught my eye, and not the sword of a bandit." He shrugged. "We can''t be sure about it either way."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That''s true. Either of these things are possible..." He muttered, "Now I can''t help but be worried about this."

    "Exactly, milord," Feroy continued. "Since that time I''ve always felt that something wasn''t right, but I didn''t have any real reason for it, you know? That is why I didn''t mention it until now. However, when I combine my suspicions with the fact that that laborer might have seen someone in the northern forests, it might just be that there really is a group of bandits hiding there, just waiting for a good opportunity to raid the village." He added, "Now whether they got the news from a Cinran merchant with a loose tongue, or whether they just heard that the village was already raided successfully a month ago, and that''s why they want to raid Tiranat too, we can only make guesses..."

    The ex mercenary continued, "But this still leaves open the possibility of a bandit raid in the near future. And if it is going to happen, I''d say it''ll happen soon - maybe even in the next couple of days, since winter is here now, and those bandits would like to raid as soon as possible to stock up on food grains and maybe even slaves, before the snow slows down travel everywhere."

    Kivamus frowned after hearing Feroy explain it so well. "That does make a lot of sense, but how do you even know that much about the thought process of bandits?"

    Feroy hesitated for a moment. "I''d rather not talk about it, milord..."

    However, he gave a sigh soon after that. "But you already know about my past, so I guess it''s okay." He added in a voice barely above a whisper, "Let''s just say that my time with the mercenaries came to an end because they had forgotten that they were sellswords, and not raiders and looters. But it still took a while for me to make the decision to quit that group, you know? And during that time, I found out a lot about how a bandit group operates..."

    Duvas looked repulsed on hearing that, especially with his usual hesitation in trusting the ex-mercenary, but Kivamus realized how difficult it was to survive in this brutal world, especially for commoners. So instead of thinking that Feroy was still not trustworthy, he thought it was courageous that he made the decision to leave that group after that. And if Hudan - someone who had been training to be an honorable knight - trusted the ex-mercenary with his life, then so could he. So he just gave a nod to Feroy, and decided not to ask too much about his past. For now anyway.

    Coming back to the present, it still meant that there might be a bandit group waiting to raid the village. But without more information, there wasn''t much he could do about it other than to try their best to boost their defenses.

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, while we don''t know anything for sure, there is still a serious risk of a bandit raid in the near future. So we still have to take some precautions. For the next few days, I want you to utilize all our guards for the defense of the village. Take all the on-duty and off-duty guards and after properly arming them, put them to patrol around the village. Give them the horns - the ones which we were planning to use on the watchtowers - so that if any of them comes in contact with any bandits, they should blow the horn immediately, and that should be the signal for the rest of the guards to become ready for an imminent attack."

    Seeing Hudan''s nod, he continued, "According to Feroy, such a raid would be less likely after snow starts to gather on the ground, which means the guards would not have to pull double shifts for long. Just tell them that the next few days will be critical for us, so we need everyone to pull more than their weight if we want the village to come through this unscathed."

    "Of course, milord," Hudan said while standing up. "I will alert every single guard immediately," he added, and left the manor hall.

    Feroy stood up as well. "I''ll be leaving too, milord. I''ll try to see if I can find some more information from the other laborers who have worked in the north. The feast is still ongoing, so some of them might be eating outside even now."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus said to the ex-mercenary, and then Feroy exited the hall as well.

    Duvas said, "While it shouldn''t be more than an hour or so until the feast is over, I should also go and keep an eye there until then." He stood up, and started walking towards the door, but then paused and looked back at Kivamus. "Should I also alert the servants and maids about the threat of a bandit raid?"

    "No, not until we have definite information about it," Kivamus replied after a moment. "It would only cause unnecessary panic at this time - especially with the villagers already gathered in a crowd outside. I don''t want to start a stampede there."

    He added, "Truthfully, we don''t even know yet when that raid will happen - or if there is going to be a raid at all. And being on edge for days would only exhaust everyone. Hudan has already gone to tell the guards to increase the patrols and to be more alert, so let''s wait to tell other people about it for now."

    "Of course, my lord," Duvas said. "Then I''ll just go and take a look at where the feast is happening." And with that, the majordomo also exited the manor hall.

    That just left Gorsazo and Kivamus inside for now. He asked, "Should I also go out there, to keep an eye on the villagers and the feast?"

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea, my lord," Gorsazo replied immediately. "Your safety is the most important thing for the village right now, and with Hudan and Feroy busy with other things, it might be very unsafe for you if you exit the manor gates right now. Let''s not give a third chance for any assassin to succeed where they failed the first two times, alright?"

    Kivamus took a deep breath and nodded. "That''s true enough, Gorsazo."

    He gave a sigh before adding, "We can only hope that everything goes well in the coming days, otherwise it really might be the end of this village, since we can neither send any more caravans to Cinran for food, nor can we afford to buy more of it now."

    "Don''t worry, my Lord," Gorsazo tried to reassure him. "We have to trust that Hudan and Feroy are competent enough for this. Otherwise, may the Goddess save us..."

    ******* Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    It must have been around an hour or so since the fatso and the other bandit had started their watch duty, although the passage of time was very hard to tell in the night, especially with the moon hidden behind the clouds.

    The other bandit''s tale about the village feast had ended a while ago, but the fatso had started getting sleepy after that, so he had asked the other bandit to keep speaking about something else. That had led to nearly an hour of the other bandit regaling them with bawdy tales of the time he lived in Cinran and when he used to go to a particular inn there, which was famous for its pretty serving-maids.

    Calubo couldn''t believe how easily they could talk about such things, when they were going to loot and even kill people soon after this. Perhaps that''s how people became after living a bandit''s life for a long time, but it didn''t change the fact that many people in Tiranat were going to die in the next few hours. And if the bandits were successful in looting enough grain from the village, most of the people here wouldn''t survive the winter.

    As he looked at the rope tying his hands, he was reminded that it was his own mistake which had led to Nokozal coming here to raid Tiranat.

    So once again, he prayed to the Goddess that somehow she would give him a chance to do something to redeem himself, and to thwart the plans of these bastards. If only he could find a way to warn the village...

 122. Brave Attempts

    Maybe half an hour later, the other bandit''s bawdy tales ended and it became quiet for a while. Based on how long Nokozal had told these bandits to keep watch, most likely not even an hour was left before they began the raid. While it was probably an enjoyable time for the fatso and the other bandit - where they must be looking forward to how good a haul they would get tonight - Calubo was getting more and more worried as the time for the raid came closer.He had closed his eyes a while ago while lying down to think if there was a way for him to do something to help the village. But even though thoughts about the impending raid on Tiranat were the only thing swirling in Calubo''s mind, so far he hadn''t found any way to warn the village. The bandits had camped far enough from the village that even if he started to shout as loud as he could to send a warning to Tiranat - knowing that it would lead to his immediate demise - they likely wouldn''t even hear it. Even so, Calubo wished the fatso would go to sleep, so that he might get a chance to escape, although the other bandit who was wide awake wouldn''t waste any time in cutting him down. He sighed again. He still couldn''t see any way for him to remedy his mistake and help the village.

    After it had been quiet for some time, he heard the sound of the fatso beginning to yawn again.

    "Oh, man..." the fatso muttered while taking a big yawn again. "Why did... Why did the chief select me to keep watch, huh?"

    The other bandit chuckled. "Are you getting sleepy again?"

    "It''s the middle of the night, for Goddess'' sake..." the fatso drawled lazily. "Why wouldn''t I be sleepy? And it doesn''t help that I am starving now..."

    The other bandit laughed quietly. "Only you would be hungry right before we are going on a raid!" S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Right at that moment, Calubo heard the sound of clothes rustling from nearby. Being curious about it, he started to open his eyes, but stopped when he heard the other bandit mention him - as insulting as always.

    "This idiot has also fallen asleep now..." the other bandit muttered with a yawn. "You know what, after seeing the both of you sleeping, now I am starting to get sleepy as well..."

    However, Calubo was very much awake, even though his eyes had been closed for a while. It seemed like closing his eyes to think about the situation had somehow worked in his favor anyway. So for now, it would be better for him if he kept pretending that he was sleeping, and not eavesdropping on the bandits. So he decided not to open his eyes at all and tried to keep his breathing even, while listening to them carefully.

    "I wasn''t sleeping..." the fatso answered lazily.

    "Of course you weren''t..." the other bandit chuckled. "But anyway, I''ve been sitting for too long, so I gotta stretch my legs and take a leak. It''ll wake up my mind as well. I don''t wanna find out what would happen if the chief found both of us asleep on watch duty."

    "Yeah, but who''ll keep an eye on the idiot?" the fatso drawled in a sleepy voice.

    "This idiot is already sleeping," the other bandit replied, "so you can easily keep an eye on him since you are still awake, aren''t you?"

    "Yup, I''m awake..." the fatso mumbled. "But don''t take too long..."

    "Yeah, yeah..." the other bandit grumbled. "Like the Count''s knights are coming to attack us right now!"

    Both of the bandits laughed, probably while looking at Calubo, but he made sure not to make any sound at all, so they would keep thinking that he was still sleeping.

    There were more sounds of clothes rustling, probably from the other bandit standing up, but Calubo made sure to keep his eyes firmly shut and his breathing even.

    "Eh... don''t worry, man, I''ll be back soon enough," the bandit muttered, and Calubo heard the sound of him walking away.

    For a while, Calubo stayed just like that, pretending to sleep while listening carefully. After some time, when he was sure that the sound of the other bandit''s feet were not close anymore, Calubo dared to slowly open his eyes a little to take a glimpse of his surroundings. While the light from the moon hiding behind the clouds was barely enough to see much, closing his eyes for a while had worked in his favor, since his eyes had completely adjusted to the dark and he could see more clearly now. Opening his eyes wider, he looked around himself without moving his body even an inch, and he saw that while the fatso was wriggling around with closed eyes, probably trying to get more comfortable, the other bandit was nowhere in sight.

    Before long, he saw from the corner of his eyes that the fatso had slouched further, with his back supported by a tree, and his eyes still closed. His sword was kept next to him, although half of his hand was still kept above the scabbard.

    Calubo kept watching him carefully, and soon enough, sounds of snoring began coming from the fatso.

    After giving it some more time for the other bandit to move away further - just to be on the safer side - and for the fatso to completely fall asleep, Calubo sat up slowly while making sure that he didn''t make any sounds.

    After sitting up, he carefully looked all around him to ensure that no other bandits were nearby, and thankfully, he saw no one else in sight anywhere. Looking back at the fatso, Calubo didn''t know for certain whether he was really sleeping, or if he had just closed his eyes to rest a little and those snoring sounds were that of the fatso just breathing normally. But for Calubo, it was good enough. It had to be.

    He took a deep breath to calm his mind. This was it. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. He looked at the rope tying his hands to those of the fatso. If he could somehow free himself, he could escape from these bandits and warn the village. But he knew that it wasn''t going to be easy.

    He had no idea how long the other bandit would be gone, and even if he didn''t return too soon, the fatso might still wake up and kill him right here. And if any of the other bandits had woken up by now, and they wandered here by chance and found out about what he was trying to do before he escaped, Calubo knew that he wouldn''t see another day for certain. There were countless risks to his plan to escape.

    Regardless, he knew that he wouldn''t get a better opportunity than this. He still felt guilty about how he had let slip to Nokozal that the guards wouldn''t come out of the manor, and he didn''t want his mistake to be the cause of the bandits killing the villagers, or looting their houses and kidnapping their children as slaves.

    In the corner of his mind, there was a voice screaming at him to just stay put right here, and let the bandits do what they wanted - since that option had the biggest possibility of him staying alive and seeing Hyola again.

    But... but, he couldn''t do that, not really. Although he had been a slave for more than two months by now, he still saw himself as a guard of the manor, which meant that it was his duty to protect the villagers, whether he was currently employed as a guard or not. So he had to use this opportunity to warn the village, no matter what. And if he was successful in this... who knows, maybe the guards of the manor might very well be able to take care of these bandits completely! That would also mean freedom for him, and possibly... hopefully... for Hyola as well.

    Taking another deep breath, he nodded to himself. He had to do this.

    He stood up slowly, trying not to make any sound, and with careful steps, walked closer to the still sleeping fatso. Reaching on the other side of the bandit - since that''s where his sword was kept - he paused for a moment, and carefully looked all around him again. There still wasn''t anyone else in sight.

    Kneeling down, he held the sword - which was still inside its scabbard - with both of his hands, and gently pulled it sideways, trying to get it away from under the hands of the fatso. It didn''t budge at all. The fatso hands were much heavier than he had expected.

    Taking a deep breath again, he put more force into pulling the sword away, and slowly, it began to move away from under the hands of the sleeping bandit.

    Suddenly, the fatso lifted that hand up, and Calubo''s heart nearly stopped beating, assuming he was already caught. At that moment, Calubo felt like a deer caught in front of a knight charging on a warhorse in plate armor. So he just held his breath and didn''t dare to make any sound at all.

    But the fatso hadn''t lifted the sword with his hand. His eyes were still completely closed, and that hand had only gone up to scratch at his cheek. Calubo just thanked the Goddess that the fatso hadn''t woken up.

    After scratching his beard and cheek for a while, the fatso started to put his hand on the ground again. Thinking quickly, Calubo pulled the sword a few inches towards himself, and the fatso''s hand fell on the ground this time, instead of above the sword.

    And finally Calubo was able to breathe again. The scabbard with the sword inside it was free now, though his hands were still tied to the fatso. He lifted the scabbard, and after standing up carefully, he slowly moved a few steps away to the other side of the wide fedarus tree, so that the fatso wouldn''t hear any sounds of him cutting his rope. Thankfully, the rope tying their hands together had more than enough slack for this.

    Slowly and very carefully, he removed the scabbard from the sword, and put it gently on the ground, trying to make sure there wouldn''t be any unnecessary noises which might wake up the sleeping bandit. Now he just had to cut the rope tying his hands together, but both of his hands were tied very close to each other, so it wasn''t possible for him to hold the sword in one hand while cutting the rope in another. Thinking quickly, he sat down, and put the sword on the ground horizontally. With the sharp side of its blade upwards, he clamped the sword between his feet, and began moving both of his hands above the blade to cut the rope.

    It was slow going, since the rope was quite strong, and before long, he began to get frustrated after not seeing enough progress in it. The fatso might realize at any moment that his sword was missing, or the other bandit might return back and see what was happening. With his hands still tied together with the rope, it would only take a moment for the bandits to separate his head from his body.

    However, he had accepted the risk before he began doing this. He knew he might die any moment if he was found out, but he still had to try. This was exactly the time to be brave. Mr Duvas had depended on him to bring grain from Cinran with the last of their gold crowns, and he had already failed in that. But he won''t fail now. Not when there was a new baron in Tiranat, who was doing his best to help the villagers. He had to do his best to help the village - just like a manor guard would do - and hope that the goddess would take care of him and Hyola.

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    Before long, he noticed that the rope was starting to become frayed where he was cutting it. Freedom was not far away now!

    But suddenly, he heard a rustling sound from the direction that the other bandit had gone.

 123. Escape

    Calubo froze for a moment, and slowly turned his head towards the sound, and with a huge amount of relief, he saw that it was only a rabbit grazing nearby. But it was still making sounds which could wake up the fatso. He tried to shoo away the rabbit, and for a moment the rabbit just paused and looked at him. Then he tried again, with the sword clumsily held between his still-tied hands, and perhaps realizing that it didn''t want to become a late night snack for him, the rabbit quickly scurried away.He breathed a sigh of relief, and clamping the sword between his feet again, he continued cutting the rope. It seemed like a very long time to him - although it was probably only a short while - and suddenly, the rope tying his left hand was cut through completely. Giving a rare smile of victory, he held the sword properly in his left hand, and began to cut the other loop of the rope which was still tied around his right hand. And this time, it barely took any time before his other hand was free as well.

    Grinning in victory, he slowly stood up, and holding the sword carefully in his left hand, he began to walk to the other side of the fedarus tree again. The fatso was still snoring, and right now, the bandit was as well defended as a newborn puppy. Calubo could just leave him there, and start running towards the village immediately, but if the fatso woke up and raised an alarm for the other bandits before he had gotten far enough, they''d catch him and kill him before he ever reached the village to warn them. That would mean all his efforts and his suffering for more than two months would be a waste, so he just couldn''t leave him alive. Calubo looked around him again, and seeing nobody nearby, he began to move in a position to quickly kill the sleeping bandit in a single strike, but he hesitated.

    While he was no stranger to combat, he had only fought against well-armed opponents before, and not someone who was sleeping helplessly... He also hadn''t taken a life before today - not for sure anyway, since he didn''t know whether the bandit he had fought off a few years ago while traveling to Cinran had survived or not.

    But he clenched his jaw when he remembered that the fatso wasn''t some honest citizen of the Reslinor Kingdom. He was a bandit. Just like the other bandits sleeping nearby, the fatso was an outlaw, and had likely done much worse things than Calubo was thinking about doing right now.

    He didn''t think that he could kill someone innocent in cold blood, but this was a bandit - someone who was going to kill people within an hour, and after looting their homes, he was going to take their women and children as slaves. The fatso didn''t deserve his mercy.

    Steeling himself, he crouched close to the fatso, and quickly clamped his hand above the bandit''s mouth so he wouldn''t make any sound. Immediately, the fatso''s eyes opened up with surprise, but before he could realize what was happening, Calubo cut open the bandit''s throat with the sword. The fatso struggled for a few moments while making wheezing sounds, and tried to pry open Calubo hands from his mouth, but it didn''t take long for him to slump over, the life leaving his eyes.

    Exhaling once, Calubo slowly put down the body of the now-dead bandit on the ground, so he wouldn''t fall over loudly, waking up other bandits in the process. Standing up straight, he couldn''t help but be satisfied for a moment. This was one bandit down, and he wouldn''t be able to kill anyone in Tiranat tonight.

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    Looking up at the night sky, he thanked the goddess for this opportunity to help the village and redeem himself. He didn''t have any possessions with him right now, so he began to move slowly in the direction of the village, not knowing when the other bandit would be back to raise an alarm.

    He kept moving slowly towards the village, trying not to make too much sound, but then he remembered the other bandits sleeping nearby. He hesitated about whether he should run away and warn the village, or try to take down more bandits himself. Right now he was armed with a sword, and he would be able to take down one, if not two bandits before they realized what was happening. He might even be able to kill Nokozal if the bastard was asleep! He nearly turned his feet towards them but stopped.

    He wasn''t the same burly manor guard of a few months ago. While he had been able to kill a bandit who was already sleeping, he was in no condition to fight even one man in a proper sword-fight after nearly two months of barely getting anything to eat. And if he still tried it anyway, there was no doubt that he wouldn''t survive the fight with the bandits - who still outnumbered him nine to one - and that would mean the village would still be unwarned and undefended - which would defeat the whole point of escaping.

    He shook his head, no matter how much he wanted to take revenge against these bandits for taking him hostage and making him a slave, he had to think about the bigger picture. And that meant giving a warning to Tiranat, not to indulge in his personal revenge fantasies.

    His decision made, he turned back towards the village and began walking with faster steps. And soon, he decided that he was far enough from the bandits, and started running full-tilt towards Tiranat. As he reached closer, he began to hear the sounds of a crowd gathered together - probably those in the feast - and he began salivating at the thought of so much food. He hadn''t eaten anything for nearly two days now, and his brain was screaming at him to go towards the feast and eat something there. But he realized how it would seem to the guards - someone they had probably taken for dead was running towards them, covered with fresh blood and with a sword in his hands. They might just shoot him down first, and ask questions later.

    Still, he had to go towards the manor anyway, hoping that the new baron would believe his story - assuming there really was a new baron in the village, and it wasn''t just his imagination. It was far from certain that the other guards would let him meet the new baron immediately, especially since he had been away from the manor for more than two months without any news about him, and since he was returning without the gold and the horse Sir Duvas had given to him. And he was also bringing the news that there were bandits waiting outside the village... But would they really trust the words coming from someone who might have changed his side to the bandits after all? Would they not think that he was just a distraction sent by the bandits themselves?

    He shook his head. He still had to try! Nurobo would vouch for him for sure, and hopefully Sir Duvas would believe his story that the bandits had taken him captive, and it wasn''t just him returning back after wasting away their precious money in the brothels of Cinran.

    Even so, he didn''t know what would happen to him, and if his story would be believed, but he had to try! And he had to trust in the goddess. She had helped him this far, so he had to trust that the people in the manor would believe his story and prepare their defenses, instead of just locking him in a barn as a possible traitor. He had to try!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall, listening to what Feroy had found out from the remaining villagers who had worked as laborers in the north, and it wasn''t much. There was one more villager who had claimed that he had probably seen someone at nearly the same time, but other than that, there was nothing. Yet, two villagers claiming to see people in the north meant that there might really be something in that news.

    Hudan was still out, telling the other guards about the threat of a bandit attack, and giving them horns to blow if they got attacked.

    Suddenly, the outer doors of the hall opened, and Kerel walked inside. "Milord, someone who had been missing for over two months has returned. And he says that he somehow managed to run away from the bandits that had captured him.

    Kivamus straightened up in his armchair and held its armrests with surprise. "What?"

    "You can hear from him yourself if you want," Kerel answered. "A guard is holding him just outside the door."

    Kivamus looked at Feroy, who gave him a nod of acceptance, and stood up to stand right next to him with his hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case.

    "Bring him in," Kivamus ordered.

    Kerel, with his iron gray mane of hair, exited the door, and before long, he came back while holding a gaunt looking young man with threadbare clothes and a mud-spattered appearance. The man''s hands seemed to be tied with a rope behind him, with the other end of the rope held by Kerel. On a closer look, his tunic sleeves looked reddish, as if they were covered in blood. Is that really what it was?

    Hudan followed them inside as well. Looking at Kerel, the guard captain said, "I''ll take it from here, you go and keep an eye outside."

    Kerel nodded and after handing over the rope to Hudan, he returned back.

    "Where did he come from?" Kivamus asked curiously.

    "We found him running towards the manor like this with a sword in his hands," the guard captain replied.

    "What?" Gorsazo exclaimed. "Is he a bandit then?"

    "I don''t think so," Hudan replied. "When the guards at the manor gates stopped him, he gave up his sword without any protest, and since then, he has been urging to see the new baron. I wasn''t sure whether to bring him here, but Kerel and a few other guards vouched for him, so..."

    "And why would the guards vouch for someone like him?" Feroy interrupted with raised eyebrows. "I can''t be completely sure about it, but I don''t think I''ve seen him in the village before." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Before Hudan could say anything in reply, Duvas - who had been squinting at the newcomer - exclaimed with disbelief. "Is that... is that you, Calubo?"

    Calubo nodded with a tired smile. "Indeed, Sir Duvas. It is me."

    "What happened to you?" the majordomo asked with surprise. "I thought you were dead!"

    "You know him, Duvas?" Kivamus asked.

    "I do, milord!" the majordomo replied. "He used to be one of our guards. The last time I''d seen him was around a month before you arrived here, when I sent him to Cinran on a horse to buy even a single sack of grain for us, but he never returned after that. I thought bandits had killed him for the gold and the horse."

    "Right... I remember you telling me about this." Kivamus looked back at Calubo. "So, where have you been for the past two months?"

 124. Truth Or Lie

    "Sir Duvas is mostly right, milord," Calubo replied. "A day after I had left Tiranat for Cinran through the northern road, a group of bandits surrounded me in the forest and..."And then the former guard launched into a tale explaining everything that had happened to him for the past two months, including his life as a slave in a limestone quarry somewhere in the forests, along with another two dozen slaves there who barely got anything to eat these days. The limestone quarry was run by someone called Nokozal, who saw himself as a minor lord, but was most likely only a bandit who had contacts in high places in Cinran. And that was the one thing in that tale which concerned Kivamus more than anything else - that the quarry was owned by a baron in Cinran. Calubo hadn''t been able to find out who that baron was, but that a noble was supporting banditry like this was very concerning.

    Another thing that stood out to him was that it was a limestone quarry! And limestone was a very important ingredient of cement, using which he could make concrete! Concrete meant much stronger walls to defend the village. It meant much better insulated houses than the wooden shacks that most of the villagers now lived in. Concrete would also allow him to make taller buildings, which could house a lot more people. And not just that, it meant... No, stop! This wasn''t the time to get lost in daydreams!

    He had to focus on the present. But the fact that there was a limestone quarry located only a few days'' journey by horse was something that was making him giddy with excitement! A few days'' horse journey meant that it would only be a few hundred kilometers away at most, but there was also the fact that they didn''t have any modern transportation methods here. If they had a rail line connecting the quarry with a cement factory here, they could get a steady supply of limestone to make concrete, but this wasn''t modern earth.

    Here, the best they could do was to haul it through the treacherous terrain of the dense forests using horse drawn wagons... but in the beginning, their demands of limestone wouldn''t be that high, would they? Just a dozen wagon loads of limestone per month might be more than enough for their needs. That meant... No, stop! He chided himself for getting lost in his thoughts again. He had to focus on the bandits hiding outside the village right now!

    He took a deep breath to calm his racing mind. The most pressing thing was that Calubo had told them that he had escaped after slashing the throat of a bandit, and that there were nearly a dozen bandits hiding in the forests to raid the village tonight. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked back at Calubo. "You said there are less than a dozen bandits?"

    The ex-guard nodded. "There are fourteen bandits in total in that group, but four of them had stayed back at the quarry to keep an eye on the stonecutters. And out of the ten bandits who came along with me, I''ve already killed one. That means there should be nine of them outside the village now."

    As Kivamus thought about it for a moment, Calubo seemed to get impatient. "We have to do something about it, milord," the ex-guard pleaded, "or those bandits will kill a lot of the villagers! It won''t be long before they find out that I''ve escaped, and once they do find it out, they won''t waste another moment before attacking us!"

    He continued agitatedly, "They are ruthless bastards, and they wouldn''t hesitate for a moment in killing even a defenseless woman, or running away with them and their children as slaves. We have to send the guards to ambush them before that happens!"

    Gorsazo said, "But if there are just nine of those bandits, would they even be able to storm the manor walls? We could just pick them off as they try to climb the walls."

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    "No, we can''t!" Calubo shook his head vigorously. "We won''t be able to do that since they aren''t going to attack the manor at all! They believe that in case of an attack, the manor guards will stay inside the manor instead of going after them, just like it happened in the previous bandit raid on Tiranat."

    Duvas grimaced on hearing about the previous raid, but didn''t say anything.

    Calubo continued, "That means they are only going to attack the houses of villagers, hoping to steal grain and capture a few slaves, while staying clear of the manor."

    Hudan looked at Kivamus for his decision. "What should we do with this story, milord?"

    Before Kivamus could reply, Calubo interrupted him angrily. "It''s not a story, milord! I''m not lying about any of it! Nokozal might be running towards the village right now!" Seeing the frown on Duvas'' face, Calubo took a deep breath, and continued, "I apologize for shouting, milord. But we have to do something about the bandits before they attack, or they might set the village on fire when escaping, and we won''t be able to do anything about them at that time!"

    Kivamus nodded. "I hear you, Calubo. And I don''t think you are lying, but you''ve been out of the manor for months, so I still can''t trust you completely either." He looked at the guard captain. "For now, hand him over to another guard outside, and come back here so we can discuss this."

    Hudan nodded, and took the ex-guard outside of the manor hall. And before long, he returned back and closed the outer door.

    Kivamus looked at the majordomo. "Among all of us here, you are the person who seems to know Calubo the best. So, do you trust him, Duvas?"

    "Without any doubt, milord," Duvas replied with a nod. "He used to be a guard here, for Goddess'' sake!"

    "Yeah... but it''s been more than two months since then, so how do you know he hasn''t changed his loyalties by now?" Feroy asked.

    "We can''t know anything for sure," Duvas replied, "but I''ve known him for more than a decade, and I know his character. One of our other guards, Nurobo, is his cousin - which means he has family here. And I don''t think he can ever take up arms against his cousin or the other guards."

    Feroy nodded. "But I''ll still prefer to lock him up for now. Just in case, you know?" He explained, "I don''t think he''s lying either, and I have a knack for catching lies, but we still can''t be completely sure that he won''t just open the back-door of the manor for that Nokozal, while we are out chasing shadows in the forests. We just can''t take that risk."

    "It won''t work, Feroy," the guard captain remarked. "If he''s telling the truth, and we decide to go after the bandits, we''ll need him with us to show where they are hiding, otherwise we''d never find them in the night just by ourselves. And since he''ll be right next to us, he can''t open the eastern door of the manor either. So that''ll take care of your concern as well."

    "That''s true enough," Feroy shrugged, "but how do you know he''ll not just lead us into an ambush there?"

    Hudan grimaced. "You are right, and we won''t know if there is an ambush until we are already there, but I still say that this is a good opportunity to get rid of those bandits. If we wait too long and allow them to attack the village, who knows how many people they''ll kill, and Goddess forbid, if they put the new longhouse block on fire... we simply wouldn''t be able to house all the villagers properly for the winter."

    The guard captain exhaled loudly before adding, "And yet, I certainly don''t want to lead the guards into an ambush, not to mention it will leave the manor and the village nearly defenseless while most of the trained guards are out..."

    "If you just give me some time with Calubo alone," Feroy suggested with a shrug, "I''ll make sure to find out every single thing he knows."

    "We just don''t have time for you to interrogate him," Hudan replied with a frown. "Those bandits would have found out by now that one of them is dead, which means they could attack at any moment. We have to take care of defending the village first. And if it turns out that it was all a lie, you can interrogate Calubo tomorrow."

    Kivamus was also thinking about the situation, and he still wasn''t sure whether to trust Calubo or not. On one hand, the ex-guard might be lying completely and simply wanted to take the guards into an ambush - in which case it would be better to stay put here and focus on defending the manor. But on the other hand, and he was leaning towards this option by now, Calubo might be speaking the truth, which meant that it would be a good idea to go and attack the bandits without any civilians nearby, before they raided the village. But before he made up his mind, his former teacher Gorsazo interrupted them.

    "Weren''t you all hearing Calubo properly?" Gorsazo asked.

    "What do you mean by that?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

 125. Torhans Group

    "He was using the words us and we when referring to the villagers and guards, instead of they and them." Gorsazo continued, "So I think that unless it''s all a very elaborate act by Calubo - which isn''t very likely - it means that Calubo still considers himself a part of the village, and maybe he even thinks of himself as a guard of the manor." He added with a shrug, "This is certainly not a definite proof, but I too think that he can be trusted."Kivamus thought about it for a moment, and nodded to himself. "Alright then. There is certainly a risk of leaving the village nearly defenseless if our guards go out to attack those bandits in the forest, but like Hudan said earlier, we just can''t take the risk of the bandits putting the villagers'' houses or even the new longhouse block on fire." He continued, "And most of us are already thinking that Calubo is not lying, so let''s trust him for now. That means we have to send the guards to get rid of those bandits. We can''t allow them to steal our precious grain stores right before the winter."

    Hudan nodded confidently. "I support this decision, my lord. I will gather the guards immediately."

    "No, wait," Kivamus interrupted him. "Now that we have decided to trust Calubo for now, bring him back inside." He explained, "Since you''ll have to take him with you anyway, we should ask him more about the bandits before we go to attack them. It would be much better than going in blindly without knowing what to expect."

    "That''s a good idea, milord," Hudan said, and exited the hall through the outer door. Before long, he was back with Calubo again.

    Looking at the ex-guard, Feroy said, "We have decided to trust you for now, but in case we find even a single lie in your story, be sure that you wouldn''t live to see another day."

    "That''s enough, Feroy," Kivamus reprimanded him.

    Feroy shrugged. "Just speaking the truth, milord."

    "You can untie his hands now," Kivamus gestured to Hudan. It was true that there was a small risk in untying the hands of the ex-guard, but they had to do that anyway later on, apart from giving him a sword when they took him to attack the bandits. So this was a good opportunity for him to gauge Calubo, and in case his intentions were not pure, Hudan and Feroy wouldn''t waste a moment in cutting him down, especially since the ex guard was still unarmed.

    The guard captain nodded, and began to undo the ropes.

    Kivamus looked back at Calubo. "I have decided to send our guards to attack the bandits, but we need more information from you. What can you tell us about them?"

    Once Hudan had untied the ropes, Calubo rubbed his now-reddish looking wrists for a moment, before he started speaking. "Like I told you milord, there were ten bandits which came here, but one of them is dead now." He added, "While two of them were archers, the rest of them seemed to be good with swords. At this point, I believe they would have found out that I''ve escaped and killed one of them, so they must be fully alert by now. That means we wouldn''t get an element of surprise when attacking them."

    On Kivamus'' nod, Calubo continued while gesturing towards the guard captain, "Their leader, Nokozal, is a huge man of the same size as him. Before coming here, his plan was to ambush the caravan on its return journey from Cinran, but he was only expecting half the number of guards that the caravan had." He frowned for a moment. "I''m not sure if I should say this openly, but I''m pretty sure that I saw a few coal miners who were posing as swordsmen in that caravan..."

    Kivamus was surprised for a moment, before he realized that Calubo had worked as a guard here for many years, so he would obviously have seen the coal miners enough times to recognize them easily. He looked at Gorsazo, who gave him a knowing smile. Kivamus chuckled as well. "So you were right after all," he said to his former mentor.

    Looking back at the confused ex-guard, he explained, "Since you had already found out that the caravan looking so well defended was only a ruse to prevent an ambush on it, that means you had a good chance to tell the bandits about the reality of the caravan''s defense, if you had decided to betray us and changed your side to them."

    "I would never betray the village!" Calubo exclaimed. "This is my home!"

    Kivamus smiled. "Yes, but we couldn''t be sure about this earlier. However, the caravan has returned safely, which means you had kept your mouth shut for the safety of the village. That gives us another reason to trust you now."

    Calubo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, milord."

    "Alright, carry on then."

    Calubo nodded. "When Nokozal saw that he couldn''t attack the caravan successfully - without losing most of his men anyway - he kept saying that he wouldn''t leave empty-handed. That''s why he decided to raid the village in the night. And that attack can begin at any moment!"

    "We shouldn''t waste any more time, milord," Hudan said urgently. "We need to attack those bandits before they raid the village."

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    "That''s true," Kivamus agreed. "You go and select your best men for this, and report back as soon as you can."

    Hudan nodded and exited the outer doors of the manor hall.

    Kivamus asked the former guard, "You mentioned the previous raid on the village. Are these the same bandits who attacked the village that time?"

    Calubo shook his head reluctantly. "No. I''ve heard that there are a lot of bandits and outlaws hiding in those forests apart from Nokozal''s group, even though most of them are just common people who are hunting and gathering in the forest to survive after they couldn''t find work anywhere, or those who are running away from their debts. However, there is at least one other sizable bandit group that I know of, which is said to be organized quite well."

    He continued, "I''ve only heard them mentioned as Torhan''s group, and Nokozal said that they were the ones who raided the village earlier. From what I know, that is a much bigger and better armed group, compared to barely a dozen men of Nokozal. From what I''ve heard, there might easily be two or three dozen bandits in that group, if not more. However, they usually operate far away from this area, so we only have to worry about Nokozal''s group for now."

    "It is still alarming to hear that they might have three dozen bandits..." Gorsazo muttered with a frown. "I know the Count of Cinran doesn''t focus too much on these lands, but still, how did a bandit group even grow to that big a size without anybody finding out about them."

    Calubo hesitated for a moment, before he said, "Actually... I don''t think it''s right to say that nobody knows about them."

    "What do you mean by that?" Kivamus asked.

    "Like I said earlier, they operate quite far away from here," Calubo replied, "near the western coast of Cilaria, somewhere north of the Kirnos village. And from what I heard, they run a clay mine there using slaves..."

    "Right..." Kivamus muttered, "and they have to sell that clay somewhere. And the only obvious place seems to be Kirnos, which means the Baron of Kirnos must certainly know about them, assuming he''s not outright supporting them."

    Gorsazo nodded. "He might even have known about the raid on Tiranat by that group of bandits in advance. And maybe... I probably shouldn''t say this, but although Kirnos would have all year access to fishing - being located on the coast - these days food is hard to come by anywhere... That means, he might even have supported or helped the raid on Tiranat for a share of the spoils."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly in exasperation. The medieval politics of this world was as dirty and cutthroat as he had expected it to be. Some baron in Cinran was supporting Nokozal''s group of bandits to get limestone at dirt cheap rates using slave labour, and most likely, the Baron of Kirnos was also supporting a group of bandits to get clay for cheap - and of course, he was also using slave labour for that, even if indirectly. He knew that profits reigned supreme nearly everywhere, but this was on top of some noble who was already trying to assassinate him. He exhaled loudly. This world was certainly not going to be easy to survive in.

    He was probably lucky that he came into this world - however that had happened - not long before winter. And since the winter would slow down travel everywhere, he would get a short respite from the ruthless medieval politics, but once spring came, and the snow melted from the roads... he didn''t even want to think about it.

    Wait, wait, it''s a clay mine! And Nokozal ran a limestone quarry! Along with the coal available abundantly here, he had most of the materials to make cement! How did he not make the connection earlier?

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 126. Final Preparations

    Kivamus was starting to become excited just thinking about it, but then he remembered their current situation. And, truthfully he didn''t really have access to any of it other than coal, did he?Even if there were no bandits operating that quarry, that land was still owned by some other baron, and he wouldn''t have access to any of that limestone unless he bought that land from the Count of Cinran - assuming that was even allowed in this kingdom. The same went for the clay mine. That land was likely owned by the Baron of Kirnos, which meant that without buying that land from the baron, he wouldn''t get a constant supply of clay either. There was certainly an option to just buy the limestone and clay directly from those bandits, but he didn''t know if he would be able to do that, especially knowing that they were using slave labor for it.

    There was also the fundamental problem of transporting such bulky raw materials on this rough terrain without any modern transportation methods. Not to mention that those barons had a pretty good thing going for them - using slave labor to get those materials for dirt cheap prices, only to sell them in the bigger cities for a lot of profit - so it wasn''t very likely that they would sell that land - not for a reasonable price anyway. And at this moment, he couldn''t afford even a reasonable price for that land...

    Well, there was always the option to really go the medieval way... and try to conquer that land - assuming the Count forgave the petty skirmishes between the barons under him. But that idea was laughable at best. He barely had enough men to defend his village from a small group of bandits right now... And he was thinking of conquering the surrounding lands for resources...

    He sighed. As much as he hated those barons using slave labor and bandits, he would still have to think of some way to get those raw materials if he ever wanted to make concrete here. But that problem was for the future. For now, he had to focus on their immediate concerns, and that included keeping the villagers safe and fed for the coming winter.

    Feroy''s question made him come back to the present.

    "I hardly know anything about the rules of nobles, but if we know that the Baron of Kirnos was also involved in the previous raid, couldn''t we do something like... trying to complain against him?" the ex-mercenary asked. "Maybe to the Count of Cinran, and ask for reparations for the raid? The barony of Kirnos does come under him, right?"

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo, since probably he was the one with the most experience dealing with nobility.

    Gorsazo shook his head. "It won''t work, since it''s all a conjecture at best. We have no definite proof to tie the Baron of Kirnos to the previous raid. So it will be Lord Kivamus'' word against his, and the Count has no reason to take our word over the Baron of Kirnos''."

    Kivamus nodded, but Feroy spoke up thoughtfully. "But what if we got that Torhan guy to support our claim?"

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean by that? Why would he ever do that?"

    Feroy snorted. "Well... he certainly won''t do it willingly..."

    "You mean..." Kivamus blurted out.

    Feroy nodded. "I could try joining his clay mine as a slave. It will take some time to become close to him, you know? But once I get a good opportunity, I could snatch him from there. And if there is another trusty guy ready with a horse nearby, we could bring him here and then take him to Cinran to present to the count."

    While Duvas grimaced after listening about the underhanded method, Kivamus wasn''t sure what to say for a moment. Was the ex-mercenary really contemplating kidnapping a person openly? Then he remembered what kind of a guy Torhan must be if he was running a mine with slave labor. Having listened a little about the ways of Nokozal and how he treated his slaves, that Torhan guy likely wasn''t any better, not to mention he had already raided Tiranat in the past and left the village to starve and freeze to death after putting their houses on fire. So did he really care that Feroy was willing to kidnap such a person?

    But he was still surprised to hear that the ex-mercenary would risk his life for this, since Feroy''s life would be far from safe if he was discovered. However, with his knack for blending in anywhere, and his plethora of experience dealing with all kinds of lowlifes, Feroy might just be able to pull it off as well. But could he really give his approval to such a task?

    Before he could think of a reply, Gorsazo spoke again. "That isn''t likely to work. Even ignoring the risk to your life if you do that - and we already have too much of a shortage of trained guards to send you away for weeks, if not months - we still have no way to ensure that Torhan would speak against the Baron of Kirnos in the Count''s court."

    Feroy began saying something to oppose that, but Gorsazo spoke over him. "I know what you are going to say, but you can''t really use your methods to ensure Torhan supports us right in front of the count, can you? And anyway, dealing with nobles is not the same, Feroy."

    He added, "The count would still have to hear the opinion of the Baron of Kirnos, who will certainly deny it. And a known bandit isn''t likely to sway over the opinion of the nobles in the court of Count Cinran - assuming the Count even allows us to present a bandit in his court to show our side of the story - not to mention our only advocate being a bandit isn''t going to help us much anyway."

    Kivamus thought about it some more, then said, "Let''s leave it for now, Feroy. The politics of nobles work very differently from what you are used to. And while I have no doubt in your abilities, it is far from certain that you will succeed in your task or even return alive from Torhan''s mine."

    Feroy gave a reluctant nod. "I can''t deny that, milord. But I just wanted to help the village, you know?"

    "I understand that, Feroy," Kivamus said, "but you are already helping us as one of our few trained guards."

    At that moment, the outer door of the manor hall opened, and Hudan walked back inside.

    The guard captain reported, "All our guards are now alert and ready." He glanced at Calubo, who had been quiet for some time, before speaking, "Since we know for sure that there are only nine bandits out there, I know we can take them out with our numbers. It still won''t be easy, since I''ll have to leave at least half of our guards back here - just in case the bandits have already left their hideout in the forests - but I''ll have most of our trained guards with me, so we should still be able to finish them off."

    Hudan continued, "From what Calubo has told us, Nokozal thinks that most of our grain would be kept outside the manor walls with the merchants, which is not the case. Apart from that, we only give weekly rations to the villagers, and it has already been six days since the last one, which means the villagers would barely have any grain in their houses right now. So in case we are late in reaching their hideout and aren''t able to eliminate them right there, it will mean that Nokozal is still going to try to attack the manor walls once he sees that the villagers don''t have any grain for them to steal, since he doesn''t want to return empty handed."

    "Then why don''t you just keep all our guards here to defend the manor, since you don''t know for sure that you''ll find them in their hideout?" Duvas asked, "That will allow you to keep fighting at full strength against those bandits, especially if they are going to attack here anyway."

    Hudan shook his head. "That would mean they might already have killed some villagers by then before they turn to the manor." He added, "It''s certainly possible that the bandits might have left their hideout by the time we reach there, but if there is even a small chance that they are still there, we have to take it, since our best option to eliminate them with minimal losses is to fight them within the forests - without any villagers nearby or any houses for the bandits to put to fire."

    "That does make sense," Duvas said.

    Hudan continued, "Other than saving the villagers'' lives, our most important task is to defend our grain stores, so we have to do our best to protect the manor." He looked at Feroy. "So you''ll stay here to lead our guards in case the bandits attack the manor while we are still out."

    The guard captain added, "Apart from some of our trained guards, I will also leave all our archers here, since they will be completely useless with us in the darkness of the forests. While they still won''t be of much help in the night even here, at least they have a chance of hitting the bandits in the light of the burning torches outside, which won''t be possible in the forests." S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy nodded. "I''ll put the archers on top of the servants hall and the manor house, and I''ll give a horn to them. From that height they can watch our surroundings as well and warn us if they see any bandits. And Yufim is a good enough archer that he might just be able to take out a couple of bandits by himself even in the night."

    Kivamus said, "That horn is a good idea." He looked at Hudan, "If the archers blow the horn here, that means they are already here and you should return to help us immediately."

    "Of course, my Lord," Hudan said.

    "That being said," Kivamus continued, "you should also take a couple of horns with you, just in case you have to divide the guards into different groups and one of those groups gets outnumbered or needs help." At Hudan''s nod, he asked, "But can our new guards fight well by now?" Enjoy new chapters from empire

 127. Is It An Ambush

    Hudan snorted. "I''ll never call them ready for battle until they can fight equally against me! And without a doubt, they will break at the first cavalry charge of a knight against them.""I have plans for the future in case it does come to that," Kivamus interrupted, "But let''s leave that for later."

    The guard captain nodded. "Thankfully these bandits aren''t going to be anything like that. Anyway, I''ve tried my best to train them in the limited time we''ve had since recruiting them, so hopefully, they should still be able to hold their own in a one-on-one battle. But I don''t want to take any chances here, so I''ll be leaving all our new guards here in the manor, where they will have the advantage of home ground in case the bandits manage to reach here, although I''ll try my best to prevent that. And I''ll still take Tesyb - who''s one of the new recruits - with me, since he''s already a good fighter."

    For a moment, Kivamus thought of joining the guards as well, since he had been getting regular sword training from Hudan as well, but he knew that he had no real experience in fighting, and even if he did go with them, he would be a liability at best, since some of the guards would try to protect him instead of putting an end to the bandits.

    And now that he knew what kind of medicine they had available in this world, he just couldn''t find the courage in him to volunteer for this, knowing that even if he got through the coming battle alive with just a few cuts to show for it, he still might not survive long enough - since even a infection through a small wound could easily kill people here. So he didn''t mention it at all. He wasn''t sure whether that decision was cowardly or he was just being cautious. But this way, at least the few remaining leaves in the losuvil vine they had found, could be used for the other guards in case any of them got injured, which others wouldn''t allow to happen if he was injured as well.

    After a moment, Hudan continued, "Including Calubo and me, I''m taking a total of fourteen guards with me. That should be enough for us to take on the nine bandits without too much difficulty. That will leave thirteen guards here to defend the manor - since I have alerted all the off-duty guards as well - although most of them are the new recruits. Apart from them, we do have two women guards with us now, but without any crossbows, Isomi and Savomi wouldn''t be of any help to us in a sword fight. So I''ll leave them here in the manor, so they can stand guard outside the door of the servants hall to protect the other maids, just in case the bandits manage to breach the manor gates."

    At Duvas'' worried expression, the guard captain added, "Don''t worry about it, Sir Duvas. It''s not likely to happen. I''ll make sure of it."

    "I know you will," the old majordomo said with a forced smile. "May the goddess help you succeed and rid our world of those lowlifes."

    "Go on then," Kivamus added as well. "Good hunting!" Explore more adventures at empire

    Others looked confused at that unfamiliar phrase, but Kivamus just grinned, knowing they would get the meaning.

    After a moment, Hudan gave a confident smile, and nodded. And with that, the guard captain exited the manor hall with Calubo in tow.

    Feroy stood up as well. "I''ll also go and organize our remaining guards to defend the manor."

    "That reminds me," Duvas asked, "what do we tell the villagers who are still outside? The feast is nearly over now, but there are still a few dozen people outside keeping an eye on their children."

    "I think it''d be a good idea to end the feast now and send the villagers to their homes," Feroy suggested, "since all of them have already eaten at least once and it''s not safe for them to stay there anymore. Those people, and especially the children, would easily become the targets of bandits and it would make it difficult for us to defend the gates. Not to mention, the wooden tables and carts outside would give a good hiding place to bandits, and our archers wouldn''t be able to target them easily."

    Duvas nodded. "Do it then." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, wait!" Kivamus interrupted. "You''ll have to give them a reason to send them back suddenly, and if you tell them that there is a bandit attack, it would easily cause panic amongst the crowd. And that could lead to a stampede which could mean many people including children might die."

    "Then what do you suggest, milord?" Feroy asked with a frown. "I don''t want our archers to try to shoot bandits if they get mixed in that crowd."

    Kivamus thought for a moment, and said, "I think there is a better idea than just telling them to leave. You should go there and calmly inform one of the maids to tell the villagers that there is no more food now, so they have to take back the carts and food buckets inside. If the maids ask for a reason, you can tell them that there is an imminent threat of a bandit raid - but let them know that they shouldn''t say anything about it to the villagers. And to act normally until they are inside the gates."

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "That would work."

    Duvas asked, "Isn''t this a good time to bring back those villagers who are good with a machete? They could help us in defending the manor."

    "It would be too difficult now," Feroy answered. "Going door to door to bring those villagers back here could also cause panic amongst them. Also, I think it''s a good idea to just leave them in the village, since that way there would be at least some people there who have some basic training, in case the bandits do reach there."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said with a nod. "So, let''s leave them where they are, to defend their homes. But we still have a lot of machetes and axes here, so you can give them to our servants within the manor and tell them to be ready to support the guards. It''s better than leaving them undefended and the machetes unutilized."

    As Feroy started to object, Kivamus added, "I know that they aren''t trained swordsmen. But if nothing else, you should tell them to stand near the manor walls in every direction and be ready to shout or blow a horn immediately if they see someone climbing the walls."

    Feroy nodded. "Of course, and I''ll also give them the machetes, just in case." And then he exited the hall as well.

    "Let''s hope that the goddess takes care of us and the village," Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    Kivamus and Gorsazo gave silent nods as well.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Calubo was leading the guards of the manor towards the place where the bandits had been hiding earlier. He didn''t know if they would still be there, but he had to try to find them, otherwise the guards might start to doubt his whole story. Although he was still grateful that at least they had trusted him enough to give a sword in his hands.

    Earlier, when he had met the new baron - and he was glad to see that there really was a new baron in the village - he was surprised to see that he looked so young, and nearly the same age as him. Although his unusual silver colored hair made him stand out easily, but he didn''t behave anything like the nobles were supposed to. It was a good thing though, since it seemed like the baron really cared for the villagers instead of just considering them a tool to earn more money for him.

    He had also seen Nurobo when going there, and they had both been glad to see that the other was okay, but he had still not gotten a chance to talk to him. He really wanted to know everything that had happened in the village since he had left, but he would have to wait to ask that until the bandits had been dealt with - assuming he survived the coming battle, of course. But he had faith in the Goddess. He knew she would help him survive this night, and one day he would be able to see Hyola again.

    For now, he kept leading the guards - including the huge man who was the guard captain - towards the northwest of the village, hoping he could find the bandits'' hiding place even in this darkness. For a while, he stumbled around, looking for that particular grove of trees where the bandits were sleeping, but everything looked the same in the dark. After some time, he started to hear a few guards whispering about him, talking about whether he was lying or if he was taking them into an ambush. He was going to retort back, but he took a deep breath to calm himself and decided that instead of wasting more time in bickering - which could easily be heard by the bandits - he should keep trying to find their hideout.

    He kept leading others, looking carefully at each fedarus tree he saw, and searching for the one with a low branch, where he was sitting with other bandits, but he still couldn''t find anything. He was starting to become disappointed, when he turned his head to the left and saw that branch.

    "There!" He whispered to the other guards. "That''s where I was sitting with two other bandits who were on watch duty."

    Immediately, the rest of the guards became alert, and at Hudan''s gesture, they started to spread around, and began walking even more slowly with their swords ready in their hands.

    As they came closer to that tree, he didn''t see any bandits there - which wasn''t really unexpected though. Then he slowly started to circle around the really broad tree along with the others, and in the faint light of the full moon which was still hiding behind the clouds, he saw a leg sticking out on one side of the tree. He pointed silently towards it, and the rest of the guards came closer and saw the dead body of the fatso lying there.

    "So you weren''t lying after all..." one of the guards muttered.

    "Of course I wasn''t!" Calubo finally snapped back with his confidence high again - now that he had proven his story. "This isn''t something to joke about."

    "Be quiet!" Hudan admonished them. "The rest of them might still be nearby."

    "It doesn''t seem like that though," a guard muttered, "or they would have already tried to attack us."

    Then Hudan bent down closer to the body - likely to confirm that the man was dead - and suddenly they heard the whistling sound of an arrow passing right next to them.

 128. Enemy At The Gates

    "What was that?" one of the guards asked with alarm, as they all stood up and started looking around carefully with their swords ready."It was an arrow, dammit!" another guard whispered. "What else would it be?"

    "I thought all the bandits had already gone away from this place..." the first guard muttered.

    "There''s still an archer here though..." another guard spoke in a hushed voice, "and he must have been waiting for us to look at the dead body before shooting - when we wouldn''t be too careful."

    Right at that moment, another arrow whistled towards them, hitting a guard somewhere with a thwack.

    "Ahh..." the guard cried out.

    Immediately, all of the guards crouched even lower to give a smaller target to the archer, while looking all around them hoping to see the archer, but to no avail.

    "Damn that archer, hitting us from the dark like a coward!" Looking towards the general direction where the arrow had come from, the injured yelled, "Come fight with me face-to-face if you can, you bastard!"

    "Is it bad?" one of the guards asked the man who had been hit.

    "Nah, I''ll live," that guard replied. "The arrow just glanced off my shoulder. If it was just a few inches off, it would have taken my head off!"

    ''''Shut up, all of you,'''' Hudan scolded them again from his crouched position, where he had still been looking at the body of the dead bandit. Then he stood up quickly, and jogged to take cover behind a tree. ''''There might still be more than one man here. And move around, you idiots! Don''t stick together and make it easier for the archer to send you to the goddess!"

    Immediately, the guards spread around in groups of two or three, and took cover behind other trees.

    Earlier in the manor, Calubo had heard the guard captain saying that he had been training others, but while the guards might do well enough in an actual sword fight against a bandit - just like himself - how to act in case of a sudden attack on them was not something they had any experience in.

    He remembered that until the time he lived here, usually the manor guards just had to escort the previous baron''s carriage to Cinran and back, apart from their regular watch duties at the manor gates - which rarely involved any kind of bloodshed. They really didn''t have any experience of going out on an offensive to strike at a bandit hideout in the night, and that inexperience was easily apparent here. But at least it seemed like the guard captain knew what to do in this situation.

    One of the two other guards with whom he had taken cover behind a fedarus tree, whispered in a low voice, "It seems like the bandits were waiting here to ambush us!"

    "Does that mean they have given up on raiding the village tonight?" the other guard asked.

    And right at that moment, they heard the sound of a horn being blown loudly from the direction of the village.

    "Shit! They are already at the village!" the first guard yelled to the others. "Let''s return back."

    And just as he stepped to the side of the tree, an arrow whistled sharply from nearby, making him jump back behind the tree to hide.

    "Damn it!" Another guard cursed from behind a nearby tree. "What are we supposed to do now?"

    "Listen to me," Hudan said to all of them. "The bandits seem to have divided their forces and they have left at least one man here - since they anticipated that we''d come for them. But that archer is only to keep us bogged down here, while the rest of them go to attack the village."

    "What should we do now?" the guard next to Calubo asked. "We can''t leave without taking care of that archer."

    "Here is what we''ll do," Hudan replied. "We will divide as well. Four of us will stay back here - just in case there is more than one bandit here - and the rest of us will immediately return back to the village. That''s where most of the bandits are going to be, and the other guards will need our help there."

    He pointed at some of the guards including Calubo and ordered, "You four will remain here." He added, "Two of you should stay here behind different trees, and you''ll keep changing your positions to other trees while making enough sound - or just keep taunting him - to make the archer think that we all are still here."

    "Isn''t that dangerous?" one of the guards asked doubtfully.

    "That archer wouldn''t be able to see in this darkness any better than we can," Hudan replied, "so most likely he''s got a perch at a branch of one of the trees ahead. While he might still be able to hear us, he''d barely be able to see anything, and certainly not well enough to target accurately. So he''s likely just shooting arrows blindly to where the body of the dead bandit is, since he knows we would be nearby."

    He continued, "So while two of you will stay here, two others will circle around the area towards the archer''s direction - one from each side - and it will be your task to take him down. Once you''ve found him, you should call the two guards who will be staying back here." He added, "Most archers aren''t good with a sword anyway, but you''ll still have numbers on your side - even assuming there are two or even three bandits there. And we know that there are nine bandits in total, so it''s not likely that they would leave more than one or two of them here when they are going to attack the village."

    Calubo and the three guards who were staying back nodded in reply.

    "Follow me," Hudan ordered. "Try to move while crouching low for a few dozen yards so that even a stray arrow would be less likely to hit you, and then we will be free of that archer." And with that, the rest of the guards including the guard captain crouched low and started moving back slowly towards the village, and once they were a little distance away, they started running towards the village under raid.

    Immediately, the archer - who must have heard the sound of their running footsteps - started shooting in their direction, but while most of the arrows must have missed, Calubo heard one of the running guards shout in pain - likely because he was stuck. He had no way to know if it was a light wound or a fatal one, but he had to trust that Hudan and others would do their task - including taking care of the injured guard.

    For now, he had to take down the bandit archer. He opened his mouth to give orders to the still remaining guards, but then he paused, being uncertain if they would even listen to him now.

    But he shook his head. This wasn''t the time to have self doubts. He knew these men. He had worked as a guard right next to them for many years. He had to make this work.

    Looking at the guard who was standing next to him, Calubo said, "I''ll go towards the archer from the left." Pointing at the other two guards who were hiding behind another nearby tree, he said, "One of you will go towards him from the right."

    At the guards'' nod, he added, "The newbies back at the manor don''t have any fighting experience, so we have to do our best to hurry up, since they will need our help in the village."

    The other guards nodded in acceptance.

    Although he wasn''t feeling confident inside, when Calubo looked at the determined faces of the other guards, he knew that he was back with his brothers. He was back at his home.

    He gave a confident smile to them. "Let''s go! We have a bandit to kill!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Barons'' Manor ~

    It had been a while since Hudan had left with the guards, and although Kivamus wasn''t expecting him to return back and say that all the bandits had already been dealt with, he was still getting more and more worried with each passing minute. Growing up in a world where people were accustomed to getting minute by minute updates of everything - including wars taking place on the other side of the planet - it felt very difficult for him to do nothing except to just... wait.

    If only Hudan had a modern helmet providing a live camera feed to him... He snorted. They were a long, long, way away from that, if they ever reached such a level of technology in this world at all.

    Earlier, he had told Madam Helga and her kids to stay inside of the manor house for now - along with Clarisa, who already spent more time in the kitchen here, than in the servants'' hall outside. So for now, Duvas, Gorsazo and he were sitting in the manor hall along with them, while waiting for someone to bring news. Any news.

    Suddenly, the outer door of the hall opened, and a guard came running inside, his face white with fear. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Milord... there is... there is..." he tried to speak, but he looked so out of breath that he struggled to form words. After a moment, he took a deep breath, and reported, "Milord! There is a bandit raid in the village! They are already here!"

    "How?" Madam Helga asked while standing up from her chair in surprise. "Hadn''t Hudan gone to deal with them?"

    Gorsazo, whose face rarely showed any expression, also had a tinge of fear on his face now. "It means Hudan is out chasing shadows now, while we just have the new guards to protect the manor right now."

    "May the Goddess protect us..." Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    Thinking quickly, Kivamus ordered the guard, "Tell someone to blow the horn immediately. We need to let Hudan know that the bandits are already here."

    The guard nodded, and just as he was going to speak, they heard the sound of a horn blowing from somewhere in the manor. Well, at least that was taken care of. As he thought about what to do now, Lucem''s fearful voice interrupted his thoughts.

    "Will the bandits kill us, ma?" Lucem asked with wide eyes, while Clarisa was clutching Syryne in fear.

    Kivamus didn''t know what to say for a moment, then he tried to reassure the kids, all of whom were looking scared now. "Don''t worry, Lucem. Feroy is still here, and so are Kerel and the other guards. We even have three archers on top of the manor house to protect us. Don''t worry, nothing will happen to us."

    Lucem looked reluctant to accept it, while Clarisa still hadn''t spoken a word.

    Kivamus was also quite worried now, and while the manor hall had always felt safe to him, he felt confined within the room right now. He knew that if he left the safety of the manor house, many of the guards wouldn''t be able to fight the bandits properly - in case they really did breach the walls of the manor - since they would only try to protect him after that. But he still didn''t want to keep sitting here without any idea of what was happening outside. It was making him even more agitated than he already was.

    Suddenly, he was craving to breathe the fresh albeit cold air of the roof. Thinking about it for a moment, he said to Lucem who was still looking scared, "Tell you what, do you want to see the archers on the roof?"

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    Taking their mind away from the thoughts of impending death should be helpful for both of them. He knew that it would still leave him exposed, but it was still much safer than going outside of the manor house. And this way he would still be able to see what was happening.

    Lucem hesitated, but after looking at his mother for a moment, he gave a slow nod.

    "Good." Kivamus looked at the guard who had given the report. "Go outside now and help the other guards to defend the manor."

    The guard nodded and immediately ran outside with his hands on the sheath of his sword.

    Kivamus followed him to the outer door, and after locking it, he barred it with an iron rod from the inside. Before going towards the stairs, he asked others in the room to see if anyone else wanted to follow him to the roof, but most of them didn''t want to leave the safety of the hall. Duvas didn''t want to come since he did not like to climb stairs at his age unless he really had to, while Madam Helga wanted to keep an eye on Syryne and Clarisa. That meant it would be just Gorsazo and Lucem along with him.

    He tilted his head towards the stairs while looking at them. "Let''s go then."

 129. Fear

    Soon, they reached the roof of the manor house, and seeing that there were three archers standing on three sides of the roof with their bows ready in their hands, he walked towards the man who was facing the western gates of the manor, which was also the location of the feast. While it was completely dark in most places, the area outside the gates was still well lit by a few burning braziers. It was also quite cold here, but at least it wasn''t windy right now.As he reached closer to the man, he realized that it was Yufim - one of the new guards with a very accurate aim - who had tied his long blonde hair in a knot behind him.

    "Do you see that man?" he whispered to Lucem.

    Lucem nodded, while Yufim gazed back towards them after hearing their voices.

    "He is one of our best archers," Kivamus said to Lucem in a low voice, "and he can even shoot a flying raven accurately from two hundred yards away!"

    "Really?" Lucem asked with huge eyes. "He can do that?"

    Yufim started to say something in response, but Kivamus gestured to him not to say anything with a wink.

    "Yes, he really can!"

    "I wish I could do that as well!" Lucem spoke in a wistful voice.

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    "You can do it too," Kivamus replied, "but only if you practice a lot."

    Lucem looked delighted to hear that, with his eyes looking somewhere in the distance - perhaps daydreaming about the time when he would be able to do that as well.

    Kivamus smiled after seeing that. At least the kid didn''t look so scared anymore. He gently guided Lucem towards one of the nearby railings at the edge of the roof, and spoke in a whisper as if he was sharing a secret. "You can start practicing for it right now. Just keep an eye outside in this direction, and if you see any bandits, just let one of the guards here know about it. Can you do that?"

    Lucem nodded excitedly. "Leave it to me! Nobody will be able to hide from my eyes!" S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Perfect!" Kivamus patted his back with a smile, and walked back towards Yufim, where Gorsazo was also waiting.

    Before he could say anything, Yufim protested, "I never claimed that I could shoot a raven from that far, milord! Nobody can do that!"

    "I know," Kivamus said with a laugh. "But I needed to give a purpose to Lucem to take his mind away from the thoughts of bandits coming to kill him and his family."

    Yufim gave a sober nod at the mention of bandits.

    "How is it going?" Kivamus asked the young archer.

    "Can''t really tell from here, milord," Yufim replied while looking back toward the manor gates where a few people were still keeping an eye on the children. "Feroy had just told us to be ready to shoot down any bandits if we see them nearby." He turned back towards Kivamus, "But shouldn''t you be inside now, milord?"

    Kivamus exhaled. "I didn''t want to stay cooped up inside when you all are doing your best to defeat the bandits."

    Yufim looked surprised to hear that, but he nodded with a smile, and turned back to keep an eye outwards.

    For a moment, Kivamus wasn''t sure what to do now, since he didn''t want to keep talking with the archer and distract him from his duty. But he certainly didn''t want to return back to the manor hall so soon. So after telling Gorsazo about it, he walked to an unoccupied side of the roof and took a position there to keep watch for any bandits rushing towards the manor. It was the least he could do to help the guards.

    It had been a while since the horn was blown, which meant that Hudan would already know about the attack on the village. For now, he just hoped that the guard captain would return back along with the other guards soon to take care of the bandits before they did too much damage.

    *******

    ~ Kigeir ~

    ~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    ~ A short time before the blowing of the horn ~

    The feast was nearly over now, and Kigeir was glad that he had gotten to eat so many fancy things. And for free! That was the thing which mattered the most for a merchant like him.

    He looked at the kids who were still eating, probably on their third or fourth helpings - since the baron had allowed them to eat as much as they wanted. He had thought about taking his family back home after the children had gotten to eat a third time so they wouldn''t get a stomach ache, but when the kids - especially the youngest two - begged him with their overjoyed expressions to remain there for another helping of food, he hadn''t been able to stop them. He snorted. It wasn''t like he was paying for it himself, and if the baron wanted to feed the children so much, who was he to stop him?

    The rest of them had been waiting for the children to finish eating, and by now it seemed like they were mostly done. He was thinking about telling them again that they had to leave now, when the gates of the manor opened and a guard with a small beard and a serious expression came outside.

    Kigeir kept looking at the guard with curiosity, and saw that the guard went to one of the maids and whispered something in her ear. The maid looked shocked for a moment, before she controlled her expression and put a smile again for the children who were waiting in line to get food once again. But Kigeir could easily see that it was a forced smile.

    And soon, he saw that the same guard muttered something in the ears of the other maids and servants as well, and he saw the same shocked expression on their faces as well. Or was it a panicked expression? After hearing whatever the guard was saying to them, they all had become tense for a moment, before they forcefully relaxed their faces.

    Kigeir had no idea what could cause that, but then he saw that the maids who were serving the food until now, started to cover the wooden buckets, and began telling something to the children who were waiting in line. Although the maids were speaking to the children with a smiling face, he could easily see that the smile didn''t have any joy in it. Not anymore.

    Before long, he saw Elsie, Maisy and the two boys returning back towards him with a dejected expression. He thought of asking them what was wrong, when Elsie spoke for the group.

    "There is no more food, papa..." she said in a depressed voice.

    "The maids told us that we had eaten all the food - so they had to take back the buckets now," Maisy added as well. "But..." she hesitated as she spoke, "but I''m sure I saw that some of the soup was still remaining."

    Kigeir frowned after hearing that. Why would the maids close down the stalls so abruptly, especially when there was food still remaining? It wasn''t likely that the baron suddenly decided to be a miser after he had spent so much to feed all the village for free. Something wasn''t right here.

    "Didn''t you all already eat enough though?" His older son Leif asked the kids with a laugh. "It''s good that they stopped you, or all of you would be complaining about a tummy ache later."

    "But I wanted to eat more..." Elsie whined. "I''m still hungry..."

    "If the maids still have some soup remaining with them," his wife said, "should I ask them if we can take some of it to our home? Otherwise that food would probably get wasted anyway."

    Kigeir thought about it for a moment, then addressed everyone in his family, including Maisy and Timmy. "No, forget about the food," he replied. "Something doesn''t feel right. Let''s return back to our home now."

    "But papa..." Elsie whined again, while Leif frowned but didn''t say anything.

    "No, Elsie," Kigeir said to his daughter. "You have eaten enough for tonight. Let''s go now," he said to everyone in his family.

    And with that, all of them started trudging back towards their home, some of them happily - since they had gotten to eat a feast for the first time in their lives, and some of them reluctantly - since they hadn''t gotten to eat even more.

    Just before exiting the mostly empty area of the feast, he noticed that while the servants and guards had already started hauling the buckets and tables back inside the gates of the manor, most of the remaining people had also started taking their children back towards their homes now. That worried him even more, since it wasn''t just him who was getting a bad feeling about this.

    They kept walking through the dark streets with quick steps, and reached the market square of the village - where a single burning brazier was still lit - bathing the wooden houses surrounding the square in a flickering yellow light. A few stragglers had stopped there to warm their hands before they returned to their homes, but other than that, the market square was nearly empty at this time. Kigeir''s home was located in a side street nearby, but as his family walked through the market square, he heard a commotion on the opposite side of the square.

    Looking there, he was startled to see two men in fur coats entering the square from a side street there. For a moment, he thought that they were the manor guards on their nightly patrol - which was a new, but very welcome thing for the villagers - but then he remembered that the guards didn''t wear fur coats, unless the baron had somehow gotten enough coin to buy such fur coats for all his guards?

    While his brain was still thinking about it, he saw those men raise their naked swords in the air, and with a roar, they started running towards the men who were standing near the braziers.

    And suddenly, he realized with a tremble that those weren''t guards at all. They were bandits! The village was being raided by bandits again! His eyes widened in fear as the horrific images of the last time a raid had happened flashed in his mind. The burning houses, the sobbing children, and a grave fear for his life...

    Immediately he screamed at his family, "Run! Run back to our home!"

 130. Playing Soyent Without Any Cards?

    Then Kigeir picked up the two youngest children in his arms - who had started to cry by now - and ignoring the pain in his bad knee, he started trotting towards his home as fast as he could, his wife following just behind him. Looking back, he confirmed that his older son had understood the situation as well, and after holding the girls'' hands in his own, Leif had started running as well, the three of them quickly overtaking him.Although his heart was beating so fast he feared it would jump out of his chest, Kigeir was still glad that he had found out about this attack sooner than most people, so hopefully he''d be able to reach his home soon and keep his family safe.

    While it was supposed to be nearly freezing right now, somehow he didn''t feel the cold at all. At some point, he even heard the sound of horns being played from somewhere - probably as a warning of the bandit raid to the rest of the village.

    As he turned into the side street towards his home, he noticed that the light of the brazier - which had been shining on the blonde hairs of Leif and Elsie - suddenly got extinguished. He wanted to look back into the market square to see what had happened, but he knew he didn''t have the time to stop running.

    Before long, in the light of the moon which was still hiding behind the now ever-present clouds, he was able to see his home just a few dozen yards ahead of them. He was going to thank the Goddess that they had gotten away from the bandits, when two huge men in fur coats emerged from a side alley right in front of them - preventing them from reaching their home.

    It didn''t take more than a moment for Kigeir to realize that they were bandits - with unsheathed swords held high in their hands. With the two youngest children bawling loudly in his arms, along with the whimper of the girls hiding behind his wife and Leif, he shivered in fear of their lives. May the Goddess save his family now, because he certainly had no way to fight those bandits.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Somewhere near Tiranat ~

    They all had been running towards the village as fast as they could, hoping they reached the village before the bandits killed someone. Although one of them had even gotten an arrow in his arm when leaving the other guards near the bandit archer, but thankfully the wound was not in the guard''s leg, so after putting a piece of cloth to tie his arm to stop the blood, the guard had been told to go directly to the manor, since he wouldn''t be of any use in a fight for a while.

    Soon, they reached the edge of the village - where the longhouses were being constructed, and Hudan gestured all of them to stop for a moment. Although it wasn''t windy anyway, all that running had easily warmed up his body, making the nearly freezing weather seem irrelevant.

    "Now listen to me carefully," the guard captain began. "We''ve left four guards back there and one of us already got injured and had to leave - that means only nine of us are here now. But one bandit is already dead and at least one of their archers is also back there, which means there would be at most eight bandits in the village right now. So while it won''t be easy for us anymore, we can still take them down!"

    The other guards gave confident nods in reply to that, but Tesyb wasn''t feeling confident at all. The rest of them were veteran guards, and they had been doing this for years by now, but he used to be just a coal miner a couple of months ago! While he knew by now from his regular practices with other guards that he was good with a sword, would he really be able to go against a real bandit? Would he really be able to take a man''s life? He was also getting worried about his parents, who lived at the western edge of the village. What if the bandits attacked that part of Tiranat?

    But Hudan''s next words brought his mind back to the present. The guard captain was looking directly at Tesyb. "Don''t worry, lad, I know you have it in you. Just do what you''ve been doing in the training and the Goddess will take care of the rest."

    Tesyb gave a hesitant nod. "I''ll do my best."

    "That''s what I like to hear!" Hudan added, "Now we don''t know where all the bandits are, but they want to loot as much as possible, so they will certainly be spread out. So here''s what we''ll do. We are going to break into four groups - each of two men - while I''ll go alone."

    He pointed at four guards before speaking. "The first group will circle around the village from our left - which is the east - and the second group will go around from our right - that''s towards the west. Your target is to look for any bandits who are trying to loot the houses at the edge of the village - and that''s where they are most likely to be, since that would make it easier for them to run away at the end. That''s why I am giving both of our horns to these two groups, so you can blow the horn to call for help from the other guards in case you find more than two men against you."

    Once the selected four guards had nodded, Hudan pointed at four other guards including Tesyb. "The last two groups of two men, as well as I, will run straight into the village. Since it''s unlikely that the bandits would have gone into the middle of the village in bigger numbers, your task is to quickly look for any lone bandits - and to move on as soon as you can after taking care of them. And of course, if a horn is blown from the edge of the village, the closest group will go to help them, while the rest of us will continue taking care of these pests."

    "Now do you all understand what you have to do?" the guard captain asked. Once the rest of the guards nodded, he gave a savage grin. "Then let''s go and send these bastards to the Goddess for daring to attack our homes!"

    "For Lord Kivamus!" one of the guards shouted a rallying call.

    For a moment, Tesyb and the others were surprised, but then they looked at each other''s faces for a moment, and grinned. It was the new baron who had given faith to the villagers that they''d be able to survive the winter - even after they had lost all hope in the recent months. Lord Kivamus was the one who treated the commoners as humans - instead of like nodor dung stuck to his boots - completely opposite to what the other nobles did. He was the one who had made everything possible and given them hope for a bright future. So of course, they were fighting to protect him and his ideals. They were fighting for him!

    "For Lord Kivamus!" he and the others shouted their new war cry as well. And with that, they divided into five groups, and each of them ran towards their allotted areas to eliminate the bandits.

    As Tesyb entered the village along with another guard and started running between the houses, he wished that he was the one allotted to go towards the western edge of the village, so he could go towards his home and protect his parents from the bandits. Could he do that even now? Hudan wouldn''t really find out anyway, as long as he told the other guard some make-believe reason, right?

    But then he forcefully put that thought away from his mind. Just like Hudan was trusting him to do his job, he also had to trust the rest of the guards that they would do their jobs properly - including those who were going towards the west side of the village.

    Glancing at the guard running next to him for a moment, he nodded to himself. He trusted the other guards. They were his brothers now. And his parents will be safe. They would make sure of it. And then, he kept running between the houses, hoping to test his newfound sword fighting skills soon.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Calubo had been moving slowly and silently towards the left of the location where the archer was supposed to be hiding - trusting the other guard to be moving towards him from the right. The two guards back near the body of the fatso had been told to move around and make lots of sounds there, to hopefully make the archer keep thinking that all the guards were still there.

    Before leaving, for a while he was thinking that there were more than one archers here, since he had felt that some of the arrows were coming from a different direction. But after thinking about it, he had realized that it was likely just a single archer who was changing his position again and again, to make them think that there were more bandits here than there actually were.

    It made sense too, since the bandits would have wanted to take most of their men to the village to loot even more grain. That meant they might be able to take care of the lone archer sooner than they thought.

    Truthfully, he didn''t even know if he would be the one to find the archer, or the other guard. But he prayed to the goddess that it was him, since it would give him a chance to get even with these bastards for nearly starving him and others at the quarry while making them work them to the bone.

    As he came closer to the location that he had last seen the arrows coming from - assuming he really was coming closer, since it was hard to tell in the night - he saw a wide fedarus tree. So he crouched even lower, and very slowly, moved behind the tree, trying not to make any sound. He did hope that the archer hadn''t seen him on his way here, but he couldn''t be sure about anything now.

    After giving a moment to catch his breath, he slowly bent his neck around the tree to see if he could observe the archer from there, but there was nothing ahead of him - apart from even more trees and a few small shrubs further ahead.

    Did that mean the archer had changed his position again? Dammit! How was he going to find him again from here?

    He was thinking about leaving his current position and circling around once again from the north, but just to satisfy his curiosity, he decided to stick his neck around the fedarus tree again. And right at that moment, he jerked back as an arrow whistled very close to his ear, making him fall down in surprise. But he quickly got on all fours, and scrambled to get his whole body behind the cover of the tree again.

    The archer was still here!

    Even though he tried to breathe deeply a few times to calm his wildly beating heart, it took a while for him to start thinking properly again. He realized that his sword had also fallen down from his hands in that terrifying moment, but thankfully, its hilt was still within the cover of the wide fedarus tree, so he swiftly pulled his sword back and held it close to his body, like it was the only thing standing between him and a raging adzee.

    This meant that he wasn''t wrong in gauging the bandit''s position, after all. But now that the archer had seen him for sure, it would be stupid to stay in the same place for long.

    He stood up again with his sword in his hand, and once he had located a nearby tree with a good cover, he quickly jumped ahead and rolled to a position behind that tree. Immediately, an arrow passed right through the position he had been just a moment ago.

    Dammit! Just how many arrows did the archer have? Discover more content at empire

    He exhaled again, and once he was ready, he repeated the same thing, and got cover behind another tree. Thank the goddess for the forests! He didn''t know how else he could have moved closer to the archer if there was just empty ground between them.

    And then, again and again, he did the same thing, and kept moving closer to the archer, with an arrow passing close to him nearly every time. It was risky, and it felt scary, but there was no other way to get closer to the archer. And as long as there was a good distance between them, it would be like the archer holding all the Soyent cards in his hands. And nobody wanted to play Soyent without any cards, did they?

    This time, he had gotten cover behind a relatively narrow tree, so after thinking about it for a moment, he stuck his sword to the left side of the tree, and quickly moved his neck to see from the other side. As expected, the archer shot an arrow towards the side where his sword was, narrowly missing it, but his head remained safe.

    And within that single moment, he glimpsed movement behind those shrubs he had seen earlier. He had found the archer!

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 131. Revenge

    For a while, Calubo couldn''t stop himself from grinning. The bandits liked to beat up the stonecutters after surrounding them in much higher numbers. That was why he had been beaten so badly the first time he tried to run away from the quarry. But this time, it would be a one on one fight. Let''s see who comes out on top this time!At this point, both he and the archer knew exactly where the other was, but Calubo was still confident about his chances.

    When he had seen the shrubs at that moment, he had gauged that those were perhaps little more than a dozen yards away from him. While that was quite a lot closer to the archer compared to his initial position, he was still not at a sword-fighting range. So he needed to get even closer to the archer, somehow. He nodded to himself. Just two short sprints, and he would reach the archer.

    However, since he was so close now, he couldn''t easily risk running from cover to cover this time, since the archer would be able to see him much more clearly now, and could shoot him down easily. Thinking about what to do, he looked around the tree where he was hiding, and he saw just more trees around him.

    No, that wasn''t right. Looking at the ground, he saw many small fallen branches, apart from clumps of dirt and even a few small stones scattered around the area. He nodded to himself. He could take advantage of the fact that the archer knew that there were many guards who had come to see the body of fatso.

    Since he didn''t want to risk leaving the cover of the tree - especially since it was a narrow tree this time - he carefully gripped his sword from its blade and used its cross-guard to pull a few stones and some small wooden sticks towards him. It would have been much easier if he had a scabbard with him right now, but Hudan had given him the same sword with which he had been running towards the village - and when he had looted that sword from the fatso, he hadn''t thought of taking the scabbard with him in his hurry of getting away from the bandits.

    Before long, he had a small collection of stones and branches ahead of him. After discarding the smaller ones, he found a few stones and branches of just the right size for what he wanted to do. Now he just had to make the bandit think that there was another guard drawing closer to his position.

    Picking up one of the stones, he threw it a little distance away from the left side of the tree. Right after he heard the sound of the stone hitting something, he knew that the archer would be looking towards that direction now - thinking that Calubo was running to another tree there - so he immediately threw a stick from the right side of the tree, this time with a lot more force.

    That stick flew to some distance, before it thwacked loudly on a tree there. This should make the archer think that there was someone else reaching close to him for certain, but he would still be confused about the direction of the approaching guard. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    So, Calubo stood up slowly with his sword in his hand, getting ready to run, and after picking up another wooden stick, he threw it again towards the right, and luckily, the stick broke on contact with a tree - sounding exactly like how it would if someone had stepped on that stick. That should give the archer more reason to think that there was someone approaching him from the right, while he would believe that it was only a wild animal on the left. Discover hidden content at empire

    And just as he expected, he heard the sound of an arrow hitting a tree to the right, and since he was ready to run, he used that moment to sprint to a new cover on the left behind another fedarus tree, reaching much closer to the archer. Being much closer now, Calubo knew that the archer would have heard the sound of his feet for sure, but this time, the bandit wouldn''t be certain of his exact position - since he would have been looking in the opposite direction, thinking there was another guard there.

    Calubo had seen the shrubs again while running, and while he expected that now he was only half a dozen yards away from the archer, this time he simply couldn''t risk sticking his neck out to one side to confirm it, or he would immediately get an arrow in his head.

    Keeping his ears open to make sure that the archer wasn''t running away, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself and to get ready for the coming battle. Then he held his sword tightly in his left hand, and picked up another two sticks from the ground. Then he threw those sticks one by one from the left side of the tree, and while one of them simply hit the ground, the second one loudly hit a tree - hopefully making the archer think that the other guard was circling around him now.

    Since he was quite close to the archer this time, he heard the twang of the string just as an arrow left the bow - wherever the archer had shot it. And even before the arrow made a sound of hitting something, he sprinted from the right of the tree with his sword held in front of him, and immediately saw the archer nocking another arrow on the bow just a few yards away from him. It was hard to tell the archer''s expression in the night, but it had to be of surprise - after suddenly seeing a guard so close to him.

    However, Calubo immediately recognized who the archer was. This was the bastard who kept trying to make moves on Hyola again and again even though she kept telling him no.

    The bandits ogling the women from far away was one thing, but a few times Calubo and the other stonecutters even had to pull the archer away from Hyola forcefully, when he was too drunk on Nokozal''s cheap ale and didn''t want to take no for an answer.

    Seething in anger inside, Calubo didn''t waste another moment and immediately struck his sword down on the bandit, who had to hold his bow in front of him with both hands to defend himself. As Calubo pulled his sword back for another strike, the bandit used one of his hands to draw a dagger from behind him, holding the bow in only a single hand as a makeshift shield.

    Calubo barely paused for a moment, knowing he had the advantage of longer reach over the bandit, and exchanged a few more slashes and strikes from his sword, but the bandit somehow defended all of them with his bow. And the moment Calubo took a step back to catch his breath, the bandit thrust fast towards his neck with the dagger, but he barely reached close to Calubo.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Calubo quickly held the wrist holding the dagger from his right hand, and stabbed again towards the bandit''s chest, who used his bow once again to defend himself. But this time Calubo had jabbed his sword forward, instead of slashing it horizontally like earlier, so the bandit wouldn''t be able to stop it easily. And just as he had thought, after grazing slightly across the bow, his sword pierced the archer''s chest, making the bandit cry out in shock.

    It felt like a very long time, but it was probably only a few moments as Calubo felt the bandit''s hand slowly grow limp and saw his life leaving from his eyes. As he pulled his sword back with a grimace, the dagger and the bow fell from the hands of the archer, before he fell to the ground, clutching at his bleeding chest futilely.

    Although he knew that the bandit couldn''t survive this wound for long, he stabbed once again at the bandit''s chest exactly where his heart would be, to be sure of it.

    And just before the bandit died, Calubo spat towards him, "This is for Hyola, you bastard! I hope you rot forever in the stomach of a bakkore."

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Hiding behind Elsie''s older brother ~

    Maisy was feeling scared. Very scared. For herself, for Timmy, and for all of Mr Kigeir''s family. She didn''t know how everything had turned bad so fast. Just a short while ago, she had been happily enjoying a feast along with her best friend Elsie, but when Mr Kigeir had told them all to return home, she had been a little sad that she wouldn''t be able to eat more, but she had also been happy, because she had still been able to eat a lot, after all. But before they had reached their home, scary looking bandits had stopped them from going further in that dark alley.

    Since then, she and Elsie had been hiding behind Leif, while Mr Kigeir was still holding their younger brothers - both of whom were bawling loudly now. Even Elsie had begun to weep silently, but Maisy wasn''t crying. This wasn''t the first time she had to face bandits, and she knew that it wouldn''t be the last time either. Good times rarely lasted for orphans like her, after all.

    But she still didn''t know what would happen tonight. She had been able to dive into a garbage heap along with Timmy to hide when bandits had come to the village last time, but she couldn''t do that now. Would the bandits take Timmy away from her? Would they take both of them to sell them as slaves somewhere? She didn''t know, and so she was feeling very scared now.

    Earlier, one of the bandits - who was really huge - had been demanding Mr Kigeir to give up all his grain and coin, but after trying to fool the bandits that they didn''t have any grain, Mr Kigeir had given up when the bandits had threatened to kill his wife. Then he had taken them towards his home, and after putting down the boys, he had opened up his shop and showed the bandits the little amount of grain he had.

    When the bandits had begun to load it in a sack, Mr Kigeir and his wife had begged them to leave some grain for their family, but the huge bandit had simply told the other man to keep loading up everything.

    By now, Mr Kigeir''s wife had also started crying, while Leif was still trying to hide the girls behind himself. When the bandits had taken everything there, the huge man gazed at all of them for a moment, then demanded them to give up all their coin. Mr Kigeir quickly showed them an empty box, saying this is where he kept the coins, and there was nothing left anymore.

    However, Maisy knew that there was a small pouch of coin buried under the ground behind their house - when she had seen Mr Kigeir putting more coins into it a few days ago - but she certainly wasn''t going to say anything about it to the bandits!

    It didn''t seem like the bandits believed him at first. But then the huge and scary bandit looked at all of them again, his eyes stopping longer on the girls. Maisy didn''t like the look in his eyes at that moment, while Elsie began to cry loudly now, clutching Leif''s tunic from behind.

    After a moment, the huge bandit shrugged his wide shoulders. "In that case, I''ll have to take your girls with me instead of the coins. Fair''s fair, after all. And I do have to make up my quota of slaves this winter."

    Immediately, Mr Kigeir and Leif ran in front to shield the rest of them with their bodies. "You can''t do that!" Leif shouted at the huge bandit, while Mr Kigeir began praying to the Goddess to help them. But the huge bandit just scoffed, and gave a backhanded slap to Leif, which threw him away to the ground. Immediately, Elsie clutched Maisy while bawling loudly.

    Then Mr Kigeir tried to run at the huge bandit to attack him with his bare hands - even though he barely reached the huge bandit''s shoulders in height - but after giving a laugh for a moment, the bandit punched him on his face, making him fall down on the ground with a thump. All this time the other bandit was just watching everything with amusement, while holding the sack full of grain on his back.

    Maisy could only watch everything that was happening with teary eyes, and she hated that she couldn''t do anything.

    As she saw the end of the happy times with her best friend, her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would fly away from her chest. She clutched back Elsie in fear, while glancing at Timmy - who looked terrified as he gazed back at her with teary eyes - but Maisy still tried to smile at him, hoping he wouldn''t lose courage after the bandits took her away.

    She also looked at Mr Kigeir and his family for a moment. She had really enjoyed living with them for so long, but she knew good times didn''t last for people like her, after all.

    This was it, then. This was probably the last time she was seeing her brother - her only family in this world. She didn''t know what would happen to her and her best friend if the bandits took them away, but she just hoped that they would leave Timmy alone - so that at least one of them would survive in this cruel world.

    As the huge bandit took a step towards them - probably to pick them up - Leif weakly stood up once again. After reaching in front of her and Elsie, he spread his hands wide, trying to shield them from the huge bandit. Was Leif really willing to give his life to save her and Elsie?

    The huge bandit just tilted his head a little. "You don''t learn your lesson easily, do you?" he taunted Leif, and drew his gleaming sword from his back. "Move!" he roared loudly.

    But even then, Leif kept standing in front of them, although Maisy could see his arms shaking in fear. Leif''s mother was screaming in fear now, telling them to stop, while Mr Kigeir was still on the ground - probably because he was still passed out after that blow to his head.

    As Leif still didn''t move, the huge bandit just shook his head slowly, and raised his sword high in the air, ready to cut him down.

 132. Confidence

    ~ Tesyb ~~ Somewhere in the village of Tiranat ~

    Tesyb had been running for a while now, but he didn''t feel tired at all. If anything, he had never felt more alive in his life. This was the first time he had been able to use his newfound sword fighting skills and he loved every moment of it! He grinned thinking about Yufim, who must be grumbling that he was stuck within the manor, and hadn''t been able to fight any bandits. Well, that''s what he got for becoming an archer instead of a great swordsman like him!

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    After separating from the others, he and the other guard had already killed one bandit. While the other guard had been the one to deal the finishing blow, Tesyb had given more than his fair share in the fight. And truthfully, that fight had been easy. Perhaps, too easy. But it was also true that the bandit had been alone, so they had the advantage of numbers on their side, and even then, they had been able to surprise the bandit who had been holding a woman hostage while her husband brought all their grain and coin to him. That had led to the other guard being able to injure the bandit heavily in his arm - his sword fighting arm - in the first strike, and it hadn''t taken long to finish him up after that.

    And now, they were running again to see if there was another bandit nearby. And Tesyb couldn''t wait for it! He had never thought he would be saying something like this before he became a guard, but as it turned out, he loved fighting! Before he was recruited, all he ever did which could be counted as fighting was to break up a few brawls between other coal miners in the alehouse. He had always been bigger than most of the other miners, and that had helped him a lot in his life. But as it turned out, he also had a knack for fighting with a sword, and he had even defeated a few guards in their mock fights! That proved that he was already very good with a sword!

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of a woman screaming in fear from somewhere nearby. The other guard looked at him, and he quickly nodded in reply, before they changed their direction and started to run as fast as they could towards the sound.

    While he knew that this was far from a good time for the villagers - like the one whose voice he''d heard - Tesyb couldn''t wait to fight again! He couldn''t help but grin, since he knew the coming fight wouldn''t be too difficult anyway, since he was an expert swordsman now. The earlier victory over that bandit had even proved it!

    Before long, they turned a corner and it didn''t take more than a moment for Tesyb to understand was happening. There were two bandits here - one of them being a really huge guy - who were threatening a big family, and he had reached there just at the moment when that bandit was going to strike down a young guy - who was probably still a boy, since he looked only around sixteen years old or so - while he was bravely trying to protect two little girls hiding behind him.

    Seeing that scene enraged him thoroughly, and with a roar, he ran towards that bandit, and tried to jab him with his sword. The bandit was surprised for a moment, but he recovered easily, and he turned his sword away from trying to kill that kid to defend himself, and both of their swords struck with a loud clang.

    Tesyb took advantage of the fact that he had surprised the huge bandit, and quickly slashed his sword towards him again. Once again, the bandit had to scramble to defend himself, moving back a step in the process. He grinned once again. This was going to be just as easy as he had thought!

    He took a moment to quickly look around him, and he saw that the other guard had already engaged the second bandit - who had dropped a sack he was carrying - and they were also striking each other rapidly, the sound of their swords ringing loudly in the night. The rest of the people had gathered together on one side, next to some villager''s shack - where an older man had fallen on the ground. Hopefully, he wasn''t dead, but he couldn''t really tell for sure.

    Apart from the boy who was protecting the girls, there were two other much younger boys who were crying loudly in fear, while an older woman - probably their mother - was holding them close. For a moment, he thought that he should recognize the man who had fallen on the ground, but then he blinked and looked towards the towering bandit. Right now, the most important thing was for him to kill this bastard.

    With more than enough confidence, he pulled his sword back and jabbed towards the huge bandit again, but this time the bandit was more than ready for him, and easily deflected his sword away, and struck back towards him swiftly.

    Tesyb barely managed to prevent that sword from taking his head off by holding his sword in the way, but that strike shook his arms so much that his sword nearly fell from his hands - such was the power behind the bandit''s strike. Taking a quick breath, he held his sword in front of him once again, and slowly circled around the bandit, who was also ready with his sword, but looked far more confident now.

    That made him frown. Why was the bandit looking so confident now? Wasn''t he able to glean Tesyb''s sword fighting prowess from those few strikes? He had to know that he wouldn''t survive for long, right? sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Or was the bandit an even better fighter than him? No, that wasn''t possible. Tesyb snorted. This was a bandit - who lived in the forest like an animal! It''s not like the bandit would have gotten training as a Count''s knight! He was worrying for nothing.

    Shaking his head quickly to remove those weird thoughts from his head, he focused again on the huge bandit in front of him. And right at the moment when both of them took the next step while circling each other, Tesyb quickly lunged forward with his sword pointing at the bandit''s neck, hoping to end his life quickly.

    But the bandit scoffed, and easily struck his sword to the side with his own blade, and slashed back towards his chest. Tesyb immediately bent backwards to protect himself - with the bandit''s sword just scraping his well-used leather armor - but he lost his balance, and fell backwards on the ground.

    Instantly, the bandit grinned and taking a quick step towards him, he jabbed his sword directly towards Tesyb''s chest.

    For a moment, Tesyb was so surprised about the fact that he was on the defense now, that he didn''t know what to do. But the recent training with Hudan and other guards came in handy, and his body rolled to the side just before the sword hit him.

    He quickly jumped back to his feet and found that thankfully, his sword was still in his hand. But why was this happening? Why did he even have to defend? The bandit should be dead by now! How was it that his skills seemed useless in front of this huge bastard?

    He exhaled once, and tried to focus on the moment. Once again, both of them started circling each other, with the bandit looking quite confident now, while Tesyb grimaced thinking about what was happening.

    He took the initiative once more, and taking a quick step to the right to feint a strike from that side, he quickly pivoted back towards the left and jabbed his sword ahead. But once again, the bandit easily slashed his strike sidewards with his sword, and kicked him directly in his chest with his huge boots, making him fall down again, while losing his sword in the process.

    Now his mind was in full panic, and he didn''t know what to do. The bandit took a step forward, and instead of ending his life immediately, he gloated, "So this is your best, huh? I''m disappointed. For a moment, I''d thought that I''d get a real fight after years! But you are just as useless as everyone else!"

    Wishing that he still had his sword in his hands, Tesyb looked to his right where it had fallen barely a yard away from him. He slowly inched his hand towards his sword, hoping he''d be able to grab it again while the bandit was talking. Further ahead in that direction, the children had become quiet, probably exhausted after crying so much, but they were still looking towards the fight with wide eyes. The rest of that family was also looking in their direction with fear, knowing what would happen to them if he died here.

    Tesyb didn''t know how the other fight was going, but from the bandit''s grin, it couldn''t be too good for the village.

    The bandit bragged again instead of dealing the finishing blow. "But you know, there is no shame in losing to me. You still did good. And before I send you to the goddess, you should be glad to know that you were defeated by the mighty Lord Nokozal."

    And then the huge bandit held that sword vertically in both of his hands, ready to pierce his chest in a single strike.

    Tesyb''s whole life flashed in front of him at that moment. His parents would lose their only son tonight. He would never be able to show Isuha that he worked as a manor guard now. He would never be able to prove to the new baron that he was really good with his skills. That he could be trusted to hold his own in a fight...

    Was this it then? Was this the end of his life as a manor guard? But why? He thought he was really good at sword fighting! He had even been able to disarm other guards when fighting with a wooden sword! Or had the euphoria of that earlier victory with that outnumbered bandit simply distorted his perspective? Had he become just too confident in his skills, even though he didn''t have any experience to back it up?

    He gave a resigned sigh. Well, it didn''t matter anymore, since he didn''t see how he could survive this. He just hoped that the bandits would spare his parents and the baron would take care of them just as he had promised when recruiting him as a guard. He also hoped that this bastard called Nokozal ended his life in a single strike instead of making it too painful for him.

    But as he saw the end of his life right in front of him, he knew that he still had regrets. If only he had another chance to prove himself... If only he had practiced more with his sword before coming here tonight... If only he hadn''t been overconfident about his completely untested sword-fighting skills...

    And then the moment of contemplation had passed, and he saw Nokozal''s sword descending towards him, with only moments remaining before he left this world with so many regrets.

 133. Uncertainty

    ~ Calubo ~~ Approaching Tiranat ~

    After taking care of the archer, Calubo was running towards the village with the other guards in tow. It had taken him a while to look for the others in the darkness - since he couldn''t make too much sound, just in case there was another bandit still there - but after they had reunited, they had decided to run to the village as fast as they could to help others there.

    He couldn''t help but remember the face of the dead archer with satisfaction. Hyola would have been overjoyed if she knew about this. But would it ever happen now? Would he even be able to see Hyola again?

    Now that he was free from the bandits, they couldn''t force him to go back to that quarry, and he also couldn''t desert the village alone, if he ever wanted to work as a guard in the manor again. Maybe... maybe, if he requested the new baron to allow him to go and see Hyola again, would it be possible for him to see her again? He could ask the baron to grant him this boon as a reward for his help in giving them the warning about bandits'' attack.

    And if the baron really allowed this, he would even be able to take some food with him for her and the other stonecutters! But how much food could he even carry by himself? Maybe the baron would also allow him to use a horse? That way he could take much more grain than he could carry by himself. Of course, it''s not like he had any coin with him to buy even a single meal at the alehouse.

    But he could still ask the other guards to lend him some money. Perhaps he could even ask the baron for an advance on his wages? That should hopefully give him enough coin to buy a full sack of grain. That grain would go a long way in helping the stonecutters to survive the winter. He nodded to himself. Yes, that was the solution. And he had to do this.

    As he started to become happy imagining the day when he would see Hyola''s overjoyed face again at the good news, he realized that he had forgotten something. What would he do about the other bandits who were still there? That easily put a chill on his mood. Even if he gave all that grain to those bandits so they would feed the slaves more, it''s not like they would give much of it to Hyola and the stonecutters.

    As he approached the first houses of the village, he kept thinking about it. What if he approached the quarry secretly, and asked the stonecutters to overthrow those bandits'' rule? But would those poorly fed people even be able to fight with those bandits, even with the advantage of numbers on their side?

    Then... What if he asked Lord Kivamus for help in this? For him to send more guards with him to take some grain to the stonecutters and to kill the remaining bandits there. But... Why would the baron ever risk his guards for this? And Calubo was even hoping that the baron would give up his precious grain right before winter? He scoffed. No noble was that generous.

    He shook his head. It didn''t matter. Even if he had to go to the quarry alone, somehow he would make it work. He had to, or Hyola would be stuck with those bandits for all her life. But then he thought of another problem. Even if the stonecutters could somehow win against the bandits with his help, where would they even go after that? Especially in this winter, which would make it very difficult to travel anywhere - not to mention most of them had brands on their bodies clearly marking them as slaves, so escaping to a distant city and making a new life there wasn''t really feasible either. And that was assuming they could even reach there through those dense forests full of dangerous wild beasts.

    He sighed again. What other option did they even have? They certainly wouldn''t be able to survive there in the snow, would they? With no nearby shrubs providing edible berries in the winter - and same for the fruit giving trees - what would they even eat there? Even his single sack of grain was unlikely to be enough to feed all the stonecutters for the winter.

    But... What if there were even more bandits there now? Nokozal had been worried that Torhan''s group might steal his slaves if he found out that the quarry was nearly undefended. What if that group had already taken Hyola and the others to Goddess knows where? What if...

    He forcefully stopped his mind from racing further and thinking of even more problems. He couldn''t afford to think about it right now. There were too many holes in his plan to take grain to the quarry. He would think about it when the current problems were dealt with. For now, he had to focus on the present. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As they reached the alley between the first two houses of the village, he spoke to the other guards, somehow trying to take his mind away from the image of Hyola hungry and freezing in the snow.

    "There are four of us," he said, "so let''s divide in two groups, and search for the other bandits." At the others'' nod, he spoke to the first group, "You two will go towards the manor to help them - in case the bandits are already attacking there." He pointed to the remaining guard and himself. "The two of us will go into the village to search for them. We can''t allow them to steal any grain or kill any villagers!"

    Once others nodded in acceptance, he forced a grin on his face, even though he was certainly not feeling happy, "Let''s kill those bastards!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ On the roof of the manor house ~

    Kivamus had been waiting on the roof for a while, but there still wasn''t any news. He had started pacing from one side of the roof to the other, hoping someone just told him what was happening outside, but there was nothing. Such moments were the ones when he really missed his life on earth.

    As he reached towards the side where Yufim was waiting with a bow, he saw a servant running towards the manor house from the direction of the main gates in the west. As the servant reached towards the door, he called out to him, knowing that the door was barred from the inside.

    "Up here! Is there any news?" he asked. Hearing his voice, Gorsazo also came to stand next to him.

    The panting servant looked upwards, searching for the source of the voice, and then quickly found him. "Milord, Hudan and the other guards are back from the forests."

    "Oh, that''s really good to hear. But how do you know that?"

    "I just saw one of them running in front of the manor gates," the servant reported. "Feroy asked them about it and then told me to give the news to you."

    "Well, did they find the bandits there?" Gorsazo asked worriedly.

    "Not really, milord." The servant added, "There was only one of the archers of the bandits there, keeping an eye on the body of the dead bandit. So Hudan left four guards there to take care of him, and then entered the village with the rest of the guards to find the rest of the bandits."

    "So that means four of the guards are still outside?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

    "I think so, milord," the servant replied with an uncertain voice.

    Kivamus nodded. "Well, you should go back to the gates now. And let me know if there is any other news."

    "Of course, milord," the servant said and jogged back towards the gates.

    Turning around, Kivamus walked towards a brazier which a servant had brought to the roof some time ago. It wouldn''t do too much to protect them from the cold in the open, but at least they had a way to warm up their hands. He had even told the other guards to carry the brazier to their positions in turns for heating.

    As he put his hands next to the smoldering fire, he looked at Gorsazo. "What do you think about this? I don''t like it that our guards had to divide again."

    "Well, at least it wasn''t an ambush there," Gorsazo observed with a relieved voice. "We didn''t know for sure where Calubo would have taken our guards."

    "No, Duvas said that he trusted him, so I wasn''t too worried about it." Kivamus added, "But now that Hudan is already here, let''s hope for the best results."

    Gorsazo nodded. "I just hope that the bandits don''t find a way to put fire to the houses in frustration, if they find out that they can''t steal any grain outside the manor."

    Kivamus gave a nod but didn''t say anything. He didn''t even want to think about such a thing happening in the village. Before long, he returned back to his pacing, hoping he got some good news soon.

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Hiding behind Leif ~

    ~ A short while ago ~

    Maisy had been clutching Elsie with fear for a while, but she still had no idea if they would survive for long, or if they would be taken away by the bandits to be sold as slaves. Their younger brothers had been holding Mr Kigeir''s wife for some time, while she was trying to wake up the still passed out merchant. Leif still hadn''t left his place standing watchfully in front of them, and for Elsie and her, he seemed like the only one protecting them from the huge and scary bandits.

    When the two guards had come right at the moment the bandit was going to kill Leif, she had been overjoyed for a while, thinking that everything would be fine now. Their younger brother had even started cheering for the guard, but it hadn''t taken long for the huge bandit to start winning the sword fight. The young guard had even looked very scared after falling down on the ground. The other guard wasn''t doing too well either in his fight with the other bandit.

    That worried Maisy a lot. If even this guard died, what would happen to them? There wasn''t anybody else to protect her and others here. Would the bandits really take her and Elsie away tonight? Experience more tales on empire

    Then she saw the guard stand up, and start to fight with the bandit again. She became really excited for a moment, hoping the guard would kill the bandit, but before long, the bandit managed to make him fall again with a huge kick, and the guard also lost his sword! But instead of killing him immediately, the bandit began to speak about something, but Maisy wasn''t listening to him.

    She was looking intensely at the guard, who was trying to get a hold of his sword which had fallen a little away from him. She really hoped he got it, even though the huge bandit had kept his boot on the guard''s chest. For a moment she thought of going there and helping him to get the sword. But would the guard be able to win even with his sword in his hands? And she was still too scared to go near that huge bandit!

    But before she made up her mind, the bandit held his sword in both of his hands, and began to bring it downwards, trying to kill the guard! Was this it, then? Would she and Elsie be taken by the bandits after all? Would the bandits win even though two guards had come to fight with them?

 134. Retreat

    And right at the moment when that huge bandit was going to kill the guard who had fallen down, someone else ran towards the bandit and tackled him with full force! And that man was also a guard! And he was huge too!

    Maisy couldn''t hide her happiness as she saw the two huge men wrestle with each other, which gave enough time for the fallen guard to get up and pick up his sword. She couldn''t help but cheer in support of him, and soon Elsie joined her as well. And before long, their younger brothers also started cheering for the guards.

    The huge bandit - who was even bigger than the guard who had arrived, somehow threw over the guard, and quickly stood back up. But this time, there were two guards standing ready in front of him - and both of them had their swords in their hands now!

    Slowly, the two guards walked around to both sides of the bandit, and then they started fighting again! Their swords were flashing this way and that way - making ringing sounds again and again, but she couldn''t really understand what was happening in that fight - especially in the darkness, with only the moon''s faint light there. But then, one of them cried out with pain, and stumbled a few steps back, and she saw that it was the huge bandit, who was holding his left arm while looking really angry.

    In that moment when they had stopped fighting, she also saw that the other guard was still fighting with the second bandit some distance ahead.

    Soon, the two guards and the huge bandit started fighting again and their swords started making clanging sounds - but that bandit was still not defeated! How?

    And then she heard someone howl in pain, and when they stepped back away from each other, she saw that it was the earlier guard this time and he was holding his thigh with pain! Oh no! But the huge bandit was still outnumbered. That should mean they would win, right?

    At that moment their younger brothers started to cheer for the guards again, but a single glare from the huge bandit was enough to make them all shut up.

    Then she saw that the bandit lunged forward towards that injured guard. However, the bigger guard managed to slash his sword away, but instead of attacking again, that huge bandit looked around him for a moment, and after saying some things she really shouldn''t repeat, he ran away towards a nearby alley!

    "I''ll go after him," the huge guard said to the other one, "you go and help him." And then he ran towards that alley, and soon he was out of their sights. And only now did she recognize who that huge guard was. He was the one who had helped her and Timmy to get to the children''s line, when they were going to get the free meal for the first time.

    Slowly, the injured guard - who was still clutching his thigh in pain - looked towards them for a moment, and slowly ran towards the other guard who was still fighting with the second bandit.

    "Ahh... What happened here?" She heard someone''s tired voice from behind him, and looking there, she saw that Mr Kigeir was awake!

    His wife started explaining everything to him, while Leif was still standing in front of them protectively. Mr Kigeir slowly stood up, and after looking towards the guards who were fighting some distance away, he walked towards them with heavy steps. "Are you all okay?" he asked them.

    Elsie just nodded, while Maisy replied, "We are. Are you okay too?"

    Mr Kigeir smiled, and before he said something, Timmy shouted, "Look! The guards are going to win!"

    But as Maisy turned her head towards the guards - seeing that the bandit had fallen down on the ground - and one of the guards had his sword held high in the air, Mr Kigeir put his hands on her and Elsie''s eyes to cover them. He told Leif to do the same for their younger brothers, and said, "This isn''t something you children should see yet."

    Maisy was still curious about the guards, and she really wanted to see them win! But she also didn''t want to go against Mr Kigeir''s orders. So she kept listening carefully, and then she heard someone cry out in pain from that direction.

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    Then Mr Kigeir removed his hands, and she saw that one of the guards was jogging towards them. He looked really tired and exhausted now, and when he reached here, he said, "You all should go to your home now. It is still not safe outside." Then he looked at Mr Kigeir and asked, "Can you walk?" Seeing his nod, he added, "Good! Now I have to go to find the other bandits. Keep your home locked for the night."

    And then without waiting for any reply, that injured guard jogged towards the other guard, and both of them ran into a nearby alley.

    After Mr Kigeir thanked the guard and the Goddess - even though neither of them could really hear him, right? - he and his wife held the hands of all the children and started walking towards their home, while Leif walked ahead of them.

    So they had won, after all! She looked at Elsie for a moment, but she still looked lost in thoughts and wasn''t saying anything - quite unlike her - so she also didn''t say anything to her for now. However, their younger brothers seemed really excited now. But weren''t they crying just a while ago? How did children even change their mood so quickly!

    As they all walked towards their home while feeling tired, exhausted, and yet with a full belly - even though the feast seemed to have happened a lifetime ago - nearly all of them were quiet, lost in their thoughts, except for the two younger boys.

    "Did you see that last move by the bigger guard?" Timmy asked. "Wasn''t he amazing?" Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

    "He was!" Elsie''s younger brother replied with enthusiasm. "But the other guard was better! He rolled out so quickly from under the sword of the bandit! I wish I could do that too!"

    "Yeah, me too!" Timmy added. "But I want to be like that huge guard! He was better!"

    "No he wasn''t! The other guard was better! He was very brave!"

    Maisy tuned them out after that. How were the kids so excited after they all barely survived? Couldn''t they be a little more mature? She scoffed. Children!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor ~

    It was quite late in the night now, but Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall again along with the others - all of whom had a smile on their faces.

    Just a few minutes ago when he was still on the roof, a servant had come running towards the manor house, and told him that the guards had killed most of the bandits. He also said that Hudan was already back at the gates organizing the guards there, and he would be coming to talk to him soon.

    Once that servant had returned, Lucem and the archers at the top of the roof had given a whoop of joy, and he and Gorsazo hadn''t been able to hide their happiness either. That sound had led to the door to the stairs opening, and Syryne had asked them about what had happened. But before he replied anything, Lucem quickly started explaining it to her, and he had left the siblings alone after that.

    After that, he had sent all the archers to meet with Feroy or Hudan to take new orders from them. They all knew that the servant had said that the guards had killed most of the bandits - but not all of them. That meant the other bandits might still be out there, so they still had to stay vigilant. The archers had nodded, and quickly jogged to the stairs and then to outside of the manor house, while the rest of them had returned to the manor hall.

    Since then, he had been waiting for the guard captain to arrive. Madam Helga had left for the kitchen a while ago to cook up something quick for them - since Lucem had been saying that he had gotten hungry by now. Kivamus couldn''t deny that it had been a while since he had to stay awake till so late, so he had also added his name to those who wanted a late night bite to eat. Syryne and Clarisa had followed Madam Helga to the kitchen as well to help her, along with Lucem - who just wanted to be closer to the kitchen so he would be the first to get something to eat when the food was ready.

    And now, it was just him along with Gorsazo and Duvas in the manor hall.

    Soon, the outer door of the manor hall opened, and Hudan walked inside. In the light of the fireplace - which was still burning brightly - Kivamus saw that his clothes were muddied, his leather armor looked torn in some places, and exhaustion was easily visible on the guard captain''s face.

    Taking a place on an empty armchair near the fire, Hudan picked up the waiting jug of water and drank directly from it for a while. Once he was done, he exhaled loudly.

    "Madam Helga is making a quick meal for us," Kivamus said, "and I gave yours and Feroy''s name as well, since I knew you both would be hungry." S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan gave a grateful nod. "Now that you have mentioned it, I really am feeling hungry. I don''t know when Feroy will be back, but thank you for that, milord."

    Kivamus gave a smile in response. "So how did it go?" he asked the guard captain. "A servant told me that most of the bandits were dead, but not all of them. What did he mean by that?"

    Hudan sighed for a moment, and then he began to explain.

 135. The Aftermath - Part I

    The guard captain began, "As you know, milord, there were ten bandits in total."

    Gorsazo interrupted, "But are you really sure that there were only ten bandits? What if there are more of them still waiting to attack us?"

    Hudan shrugged. "Everything Calubo had told us has been true so far and I have found no holes in his story, so I have no reason to doubt his claim about there being only ten bandits in total. Even so, all the guards are still alert and ready to defend the manor if there is a need."

    He continued, "Now, amongst those ten bandits, one of them was already killed by Calubo when he escaped - which I have confirmed myself - and then he also killed the bandit archer who was hiding near that body to keep us occupied there. The other three guards there have confirmed that. Apart from those two, the guards have reported that they''ve found five other bodies of bandits. These are the ones who came inside the village to loot grain and take slaves. Although I wish that one of them had survived for us to interrogate."

    "I guess we can''t help it now." Kivamus remarked. "But why didn''t any of you try to keep one of them alive?"

    Hudan shrugged again. "The usual procedure for any outlaws which have been caught is to hand them over to the Count, and he is the one who gives them a suitable punishment - which often includes maiming them and selling them into slavery somewhere far away - usually away from Cilaria, so they wouldn''t have a way to escape to their old hidey-holes. The bandits would have known about that for sure, so I think that''s why most of them were willing to fight to the death. The few who might have been willing to surrender were probably the ones who died of injuries. Even so, I did try to capture one of them without killing him, but I couldn''t really do anything about it, my Lord, not when he simply didn''t want to surrender."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas for confirmation.

    The majordomo gave a nod. "It''s true, my lord. That''s what we did as well. Whenever we caught any bandits or other wrongdoers in the past, we used to hand them over to the Count. I can''t say what happened to them after that, but Hudan seems to have the right idea in general."

    Kivamus nodded with a grimace. So that''s what went as the criminal rehabilitation system in this world. If the caught thieves or outlaws didn''t have hands anymore, they wouldn''t be able to steal anything or kill anyone, would they?

    He shook his head to get his mind away from the barbaric thoughts, and looked at the guard captain. "But that only adds up to a total of seven dead bandits. It still leaves three bandits who are unaccounted for." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan grimaced. "One of those is my fault in a way. There was a bandit - a huge one - whom Tesyb and I were fighting earlier, when he was trying to kidnap the children of a village merchant. I found out later that he was the leader of the bandits, called Nokozal. That bastard was so big that it wouldn''t have been easy to defeat him even without Tesyb''s injury, and we also had to make sure that he didn''t take one of those children hostage, which prevented us from fighting at our best."

    "What happened to him then?" Duvas asked with worry.

    "He managed to run away from us during that fight after he got injured in his arm," Hudan replied, "although I still went after him. But on the way I saw another bandit threatening a woman, so I had to stop to help her, and I am not proud to admit it, but during that time, that huge bastard slipped away from me. Thankfully that woman is safe now, and the other bandit wouldn''t see the light of the day again."

    He continued, "Since none of the other guards saw Nokozal again, we have to assume that he ran away from the village. There are two more bandits whose location we have no idea about. They must have run away as well when they realized that the raid had failed."

    "But the raid did fail, right?" Duvas asked.

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    "It''s safe to say that it did," Hudan replied with a tired smile. "It will take a while to gather up those bodies and ask about everything from the villagers, but only three of the bandits managed to survive, so they couldn''t have taken much with them, even if they managed to loot something."

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    "Thank Goddess that they weren''t able to loot much!" Duvas said while looking upwards.

    "And what are the injuries on our side?" Kivamus asked, not knowing what to expect about it.

    "We didn''t come out unscathed for sure," Hudan answered, "but it could have been much worse. One of our guards got an arrow in his arm, so he won''t be of use in a sword fight any time soon, but he can still keep watch where needed. Other than him there were two more guards including Tesyb who''ve got some light injuries, but they should be fine after a week or two of taking it easy."

    "That''s better than I thought," Gorsazo observed.

    Hudan nodded. "It really helped that the villagers had a high morale because of the feast earlier. That meant they were more willing to defend their homes and fight for the village than they would have been a few months ago. While the reports are still coming in from the guards who are out on patrol now, I have already heard two instances where the villagers who had some training with a machete helped to defend their neighbors. They couldn''t really fight with a bandit equally, but when a couple of villagers are ready with machetes to defend their families, the bandits - who were roaming either alone or in pairs of two, since they had to spread out throughout the village to loot as much as they could - just moved on to find easier targets elsewhere."

    He continued, "Of course, the villagers outnumbered the bandits even in the previous raid, but it''s all a question of morale. The last time the locals were hungry, weak and dejected after losing their coal mining jobs. So when the bandits came riding on their horses - with the guards only staying inside the manor instead of protecting them - most of the people just gave up after that. At that time even if some of the villagers had a few machetes with them, they still wouldn''t have been able to stand their ground in front of the bandits."

    Then he added with a satisfied smile, "But this time, the villagers know that there is a baron who looks out for them - with most of the villagers having seen a guard running here or there to fight with a bandit - not to mention that they were just coming from a feast, which most of them wouldn''t have seen in their lives. That kind of treatment makes the people want to fight to protect their privileges and lifestyles. There is also the fact that even the little amount of training that we were able to give to those villagers gave them the confidence to stand their ground in front of the bandits, instead of just running away in fear."

    Duvas gave a slow nod and looked at Kivamus. "I wasn''t sure earlier if splurging so much of our food stores on a feast right before the winter would be a good idea, but after hearing about what happened tonight, I am glad that you suggested this feast, milord."

    Kivamus smiled. "There is an old saying I''ve heard before - An army marches on its stomach. While the villagers are far from an organized army, having the satisfaction of eating a good meal regularly really helps the morale of people." He shrugged before adding, "I certainly didn''t know that there was going to be a bandit attack when I announced the feast, but I do know that keeping your people well fed is much better than keeping them hungry - even at our own expense."

    After a moment, he continued, "That reminds me, I thought all the iron tools were returned to the manor in the evening after the day''s work was done. So how did those villagers still have those machetes with them? You certainly couldn''t have searched for them in the night to provide them with those makeshift weapons after we got to know about the imminent bandit raid."

    "That was Feroy''s idea," Hudan replied with a proud smile. "While all of our tools are indeed returned to the manor for safekeeping in the nights, he suggested that it would be a good idea to give those machetes permanently to those villagers whom we were giving some basic training, since it would allow them to familiarize themselves even more with their blade."

    He continued, "This way, they could even practice whenever they wanted - since many of them are those people who wanted to become manor guards, but weren''t selected in the recruitment - so they still would like to become a guard in the future. And it doesn''t really eat up our stocks of tools, since there are barely half a dozen villagers to whom we gave the machetes, and they report to work with those same machetes every day."

    "It was indeed a good idea," Kivamus remarked with a nod. "I am glad that Feroy thought of it."

    Changing the subject, he spoke to the guard captain again. "Make sure to give a few days off to the injured guards. The man with an arm injury must be in enough pain that he wouldn''t be too useful in keeping a watch anyway, even if he doesn''t have to move around for it."

    Hudan nodded. "Of course. And I have already requested Syryne to bring the few Losuvil leaves she had brought in the morning for your experiment to preserve them - but she didn''t get a chance to do anything with them because everyone had to help to prepare for the feast. Those leaves would be very helpful for those guards tonight."

    "That''s certainly true enough. But where is Feroy?" Kivamus asked. "I thought he would be back by now."

    Hudan looked towards the outer doors of the manor hall with a frown. "I''m not sure milord. He was talking with other guards near the gates when I came here. Let me check."

 136. The Aftermath - Part II

    But right after he stood up, the outer door opened, and Feroy walked inside. Unlike the guard captain who had actually fought a battle and had more than a few scratches on his body and clothes, the ex-mercenary didn''t look any worse for wear, likely because he had only been waiting to defend the manor from an attack. Lucem also wandered to the manor hall to listen to them, perhaps because he had gotten bored waiting in the kitchen for a late night snack.

    "Speak of the vesorion..." Hudan muttered looking at the ex-mercenary as he took his seat again, "and it shall appear."

    "I''m hardly the size of a vesorion, you know?" Feroy snorted as he took a seat in an empty armchair.

    "Uh... You''re hardly the size of what?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    "Oh... he meant a vesorion," Duvas replied. "You might not have heard of it up north in Ulriga, but it''s a dangerous creature found in the wastelands south of the Nisador mountain range." He explained, "It is huge - nearly as tall as a fully grown human - and perhaps twice as wide as that, not to mention that it has huge pincers as well."

    Duvas added, "There is probably no truth to these sayings, but legends say that when you are traveling in that region and you talk about a vesorion, it will appear soon after that to kill you and eat your corpse."

    Lucem looked scared after hearing that, and immediately ran away towards the kitchen.

    Seeing the worried look on Kivamus'' face, the majordomo waved his hand, and added with a smirk, "I''m sure there is nothing to it, milord. Old people like me just remember a lot of myths and legends."

    So it was like a car-sized crab preying on travelers in that wasteland, Kivamus thought. Just how many dangerous beasts did this world even have? He shook his head in exasperation. He wasn''t supposed to have been transported to the Jurassic era of this planet, was he?

    "Yeah, let''s not talk about that... vesorion, shall we?" Kivamus muttered. He looked at the ex-mercenary. "And where have you been?"

    "I am actually here with an important piece of news, Milord," Feroy replied with a serious face, although somehow it seemed like he had recently been laughing a lot.

    "I was just talking with the other guards to set them up on a new watch schedule for tonight," Feroy added, "just to make sure those bandits who have escaped don''t return again in the night, you know? Then a guard who was out patrolling in the village came running to tell me that one of the bandits we had thought to have escaped is still here, and alive." He snorted before adding, "Well... mostly alive."

    "What do you even mean by that?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    "Well, I''m still waiting for the guards to bring that bandit here so I can interrogate him," Feroy replied with a snort, "but from what I think it shouldn''t be too difficult now, especially after what that bandit has gone through." He added, "Earlier, I was wondering how a bandit is still alive and why he didn''t try to run away, but the story that the guard told me is as intriguing as it is funny."

    "Come on!" Hudan grumbled. "Just tell us about it already!"

    Feroy gave a quick laugh, then he began to explain. "You should have heard that story directly from that guard who reported it to me, I couldn''t stop laughing for a long time after it!"

    He continued, "So it happened like this. Earlier during the raid, when the bandits were spread throughout the village to loot grain and coin, one of them somehow stumbled on to the village blacksmith''s shop." Feroy snorted before adding, "He must have thought that he got access to the Duke''s treasury after seeing so many iron weapons and tools just ready for taking, you know? Since all he saw was that there was just a frail young woman there in the shop to defend it."

    Feroy continued the story, "So the bandit didn''t take long to gather up all the ready-to-use tools and weapons in a sack, and when he was done, he took another look at the young woman - who was described to me as prettier than most women - and he thought why not take her with him as well, since Nokozal - the leader of the bandits - did want to take some new slaves from Tiranat. So he began to drag her away from the shop, but obviously the woman didn''t go quietly."

    Then Feroy''s gaze went to the waiting jug of water kept on the table, and he quickly picked it up and began to drink from it.

    Being engrossed in the tale now, Kivamus asked, "And what happened after that?" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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    Feroy gave a contented sigh and put the now-empty wooden jug back on the table. He gave a grin as he added, "The blacksmith who owns that shop, Cedoron - the same guy who''s built like a Goddess damned adzee - heard her cries of help, and immediately came running back from where he had gone to help other villagers nearby. And when he saw the scene of the bandit dragging away the young woman - he got so mad with rage that even though the bandit was holding a naked sword, the blacksmith just picked up a wooden stick from the ground and began to beat up the bandit - badly."

    "But didn''t the bandit still have a sword?" Gorsazo asked with a frown.

    Feroy snorted. "He surely did, not that it helped him even a little bit." He continued after a quick laugh, "I can''t deny that other than Hudan there isn''t anyone to rival the blacksmith in his build, but even then, the bandit had a sword! How could he lose so easily!"

    The ex-mercenary laughed and clapped his thigh loudly as he added, "I mean... I mean... the blacksmith just had a stick in his hand, while the bandit had a sword on him! But man, the way that Cedoron beat him up with just a stick..." And immediately, Feroy began to guffaw at his own story.

    Others couldn''t help but laugh as well after hearing the story.

    "That poor bandit..." Hudan chuckled. "I bet he wouldn''t be able to look anyone in the eye for a while."

    After some time, when Feroy had calmed down from his repeated bouts of laughter, he continued, "A few other villagers had also come there after hearing the woman''s shouts for help, but as you can guess, they didn''t really need to help the blacksmith at all." Experience new stories with My Virtual Library Empire

    He added with a snort, "And the fight ended when seeing the man''s rage, the bandit just gave up and dropped his sword aside, but it didn''t stop Cedoron at all! No, milord. He was so mad with rage that someone threatened that girl that he just kept beating up the bandit with that stick until it broke in two pieces! Then he tied up that bandit, and was going to start punching him with rage - and that guy''s punches carry a lot of power, I can assure you of that - but the rest of the villagers somehow stopped him, and convinced him to hand over the bandit to us."

    Hudan gave a laugh again. "Now I see why you looked like you were enjoying yourself so much when you came in. I mean... beating up a bandit who had a sword with just a wooden stick!" The guard captain started laughing again, and then all of them couldn''t help but join him once more.

    As Kivamus wiped his eyes, which had started to tear because of laughing so much, he realized that it felt really good to laugh, since he didn''t even remember when was the last time he had done that in this world. It was also a good thing to take away the mind of everyone from the bandit raid for a few minutes at least.

    Suddenly, he remembered who that young woman must be. "Wasn''t Leah the name of that young woman - who''s also one of our maids?"

    Feroy nodded. "I believe so, but I was just so surprised by the story of the fight when that guard was describing it to me, that I forgot to ask about it." After a moment, he added, "There is some good news as well. We have gotten three more horses now. The bandits had tied them up close to where they were hiding, so they could escape on them after the raid. So Calubo and a few other guards went back for them and found those horses nearby and brought them to us."

    "Oh, that''s wonderful!" Duvas exclaimed. "It''s going to help us a lot when we start farming after winter."

    Kivamus gave a nod as well. While those horses certainly wouldn''t be as useful as modern tractors for farming, every little bit would help them in making sure the village had enough to eat in the coming year.

    Eventually, Feroy stood up from his chair. "The guards should have brought that bandit back by now. I should go and interrogate him."

    "Alright," Kivamus said. "But don''t forget that Madam Helga is preparing something to eat for us."

    "I don''t really have an appetite right now after laughing so much," Feroy replied with a snort, "but maybe later. Anyway, I''ll be back soon with everything the bandit knows. It will also help to confirm what Calubo had told us." Then he gave a nod, and left the hall.

    *******

    After some time, when Kivamus had finished off the stew that Helga had made for them, along with some leftover bread from the feast earlier, he wanted to know what the time was. He knew that it was certainly after midnight, but there wasn''t any way to tell time more accurately here, not in the night anyway.

    Father Edric and his followers... or were they called acolytes? He wasn''t sure, but either way, the local temple of the Goddess rang hourly bells in the daytime which were easily audible throughout the village, and that worked well enough to tell time during the day. But it would certainly be helpful if there was a way to tell time accurately - or nearly so - even in the night. Could he do something about that?

    Or perhaps there was already a way to tell time in the night in the temple, but the old priest didn''t ring the bells in the night so he wouldn''t disturb the villagers'' sleep? He would have to visit the temple soon to find out.

    As he was contemplating about medieval timekeeping, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Feroy walked back inside.

    The ex-mercenary looked at the plates of those who were still eating and immediately spoke up, "Madam Helga, I would love some of that stew now if it''s still left."

    "Of course it''s left," Helga gave a laugh. "Just give me a moment and I will warm it up for you."

    Feroy nodded gratefully and took a seat as well.

    "So what did you find out?" Kivamus asked.

 137. Sejkil

    Feroy began, "Before anything else, I asked a few things from that bandit while I was alone with him, and it confirmed everything Calubo had told us about the quarry. So it does seem like our previously lost guard is a trustworthy man."

    "Didn''t I..." Duvas took a tired yawn, before he quipped, "Didn''t I already tell you that?"

    "Sure you did, Sir Duvas," the ex-mercenary replied. "But it''s always better to confirm a person''s story from another source before believing him."

    Duvas gave a slow nod. "I can''t deny the usefulness of that, but you are still more paranoid than anyone else I''ve met."

    Feroy shrugged. "Being paranoid has saved my life countless times." He looked back at Kivamus. "Anyway, once I had confirmed Calubo''s story, I called him up as well so I could ask the bandit about those things which Calubo would know more about, since he''s already been at that quarry, you know?"

    Kivamus nodded and gestured to him to keep speaking.

    Feroy continued, "So the bandit is called Sejkil and he is in his late twenties. He is a small guy and doesn''t have any other family. Anyway, he used to be a work-hand for a shopkeeper in Yanzuri a few years ago, until one day he got too greedy and stole some gold from the merchant''s strongbox in the night." He snorted. "Of course, Sejkil thought he''d never be caught, like every first time thief believes."

    "Uh... in Yanzuri?" Kivamus asked, then remembered from the original Kivamus'' memories that it was a logging town located a few days'' journey away from Ulriga towards the northeast.

    Feroy nodded. "Aye, milord, he''s from that far." He gave a chuckle. "And of course, the merchant found out the very next day. So after booting him out from the job, he reported the guy to the Count of Yanzuri, but before the knights could seize him, Sejkil ran away from there and ended up in Cinran. Once he''d spent all that gold, he was drifting around, surviving on petty theft here and there, when Nokozal found him and recruited him to keep an eye on the stonecutters in that limestone quarry."

    "Truthfully, he didn''t seem to have any real experience in sword fighting," Feroy added, "apart from his time with the bandits."

    Hudan observed, "It makes sense." He chuckled before adding, "That must be why he gave up so easily when he saw a huge guy starting to beat him up, even if it was with just a stick."

    "Well, did you find out anything about Nokozal''s arrangement at the quarry?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary. "I am still curious about that."

    Feroy gave a quick laugh before he added, "Of course I did. Sejkil was singing like a canary so he wouldn''t get executed by us." He continued, "From what I understand, in return for getting to manage that quarry, Nokozal had to pay a fixed quota of coins every month to a baron called Zoricus, up in Cinran - somewhere around thirty gold or so - even though that was most of the revenue that the bandits got from selling the limestone."

    He added, "Zoricus does seem like a greedy bastard, from what I can tell. The land on which that quarry is located is also owned by him, and he still took most of what Nokozal earned from that quarry."

    "Again that Baron Zoricus..." Gorsazo muttered. "He seems to have his fingers in every pie."

    "It does seem so," Kivamus commented. He looked at Feroy. "And the demand for limestone must also have been bad in the past year, because of the high grain prices in the region, isn''t it?"

    "It''s just like you said," Feroy replied with a nod, "so Nokozal had started turning to banditry and looting to meet up his monthly quota, otherwise the baron would have easily replaced him and found another man to run the quarry."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Didn''t you once say that Baron Zoricus owns huge tracts of land in the west of Cinran?"

    "He does, my Lord," Duvas replied, "which is why it''s surprising that he is even using those bandits. I think he must already have enough coin that he didn''t really need to hire bandits for cheap to run that quarry."

    "He must be an ambitious man, that''s for sure," Gorsazo remarked. "He doesn''t seem to be satisfied with what he has, since he had already sent that farm kid Levalo to try to kill Lord Kivamus - most likely to try and capture the barony of Tiranat - and who knows what he''ll do in the future to achieve that."

    Kivamus took a deep breath remembering that night. "We''ll simply have to be more careful in the future. He''s just one of the many enemies I seem to have in the duchy." He asked Feroy, "Was there anything else the bandit told you?"

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    "Nothing else of importance," the ex-mercenary replied. "So what should we do with him? My suggestion is to execute him tonight."

    Kivamus shook his head. The barbaric justice of this world...

    "From what I understand," he said, "Sejkil didn''t kill anyone in the raid, and peacefully surrendered later - even if only to save his own life from the blacksmith. So I don''t think we should execute him. Keep him locked up in the barn for now, and we''ll decide what to do with him later."

    "There is still an option to send him to the Count," Duvas suggested, "like we used to do in the past."

    "That may be true," Kivamus spoke after thinking about it for a moment, "but I am in no mood to do Count Ebirtas any favors if he can''t even keep a check on the barons under him. Giving the bandit to him would be like rewarding him for that - since Sejkil would be a free slave whom he can sell for profit after the... punishment."

    He continued, "Baron Zoricus - who''s also under the Count''s rule - has already sent an assassin to kill me, and these bandits were also under his control, even if indirectly, so sending the captured bandit there might just be the same as setting him free, since that baron seems to have a lot of influence in Cinran."

    "You may be right, milord," Hudan commented. "And there''s another reason not to hand him over. While two of the bandits have escaped for sure, they still might not go back to Cinran any time soon, if only for a fear of punishment by that baron. Most likely they''d go back to that quarry. But if we give Sejkil to the Count, it might be the same as giving that Baron all the information about our defenses. Who knows what he''ll try the next time if he knows how unprepared we really are to defend against any serious attack - with our walls still incomplete and half of our guards with barely any training."

    Feroy added with a shrug, "That''s why I still think that executing him is the best idea. One less problem to worry about."

    "Perhaps," Kivamus said, "but I don''t want to set the precedent of executing even those men who have surrendered to us. If he hadn''t laid down his sword then it would be a completely different matter, and you would be justified in killing him - just like with the other bandits. But if someone surrenders to us, it is with the hope of mercy. And he didn''t kill anyone either. So I don''t believe that executing him would be fair." He commented, "While I certainly don''t believe in giving a third chance to anyone, I think that most people deserve a second chance in their lives."

    He continued after a moment of thought, "Actually, there is a lot of construction work to finish in the village and we already have a shortage of labour for that, even though the coal mines are still closed. And once those are opened again, we will need as many workers as we can get." He looked at the ex-mercenary. "You are a good judge of character. What do you think about that... Sejkil? If we keep him here, is he going to try to steal things from other villagers? Or do something even worse?"

    Feroy took a moment before replying. "You can never be sure about a person, but I don''t think he has it in him - and Calubo told me the same as well, based on his experience with the bandits there. It seems to me that Sejkil and the other bandits did a lot of things under the pressure of Nokozal - their chief." S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The ex-mercenary continued, "He used to be a decent worker in the past, but lost his way after a single moment of greed. And I know from personal experience that drifting around from here to there teaches a man a lot about the importance of having a regular wage and a place to call home. So, I don''t think there would be any such risk - at least in the short term, since he is already quite scared because of the beat down from the blacksmith." He added with a shrug, "But after a while, nobody knows."

    Kivamus thought about it and nodded. "That will have to be good enough for now. Let him stay locked up inside a barn for a week. That will give him enough time to contemplate on his life, then go and make him an offer to work as a laborer here in exchange for food and lodging - but no coin. He''ll have to work without any wages for at least a few years. We will reconsider what to do with him after that based on his conduct during this time."

    He added, "Even if he accepts, although I believe he will - since his only other option is for him to be maimed by the Count and being sold into slavery - there is always a possibility of him trying to steal something before escaping. But he won''t be able to go far in the winter, especially with his tracks visible in the snow which will start falling soon enough, and in that case you can show him what punishment really means."

    Feroy gave a nod. "I''ll do as you say. I still don''t like it, but I''ll keep an eye on him."

    "Good." Kivamus continued, "That reminds me that we still need a jail in Tiranat. It seems to be a basic requirement here with the rate we regularly need to lock people up."

    Feroy snorted but didn''t say anything.

    Hudan suggested, "Once the carpenter is free, we can tell him to make a small isolated room - with very strong walls - within the manor grounds to act as a jail. That will allow us to keep an eye on anyone we need to lock up in the future without worrying about them escaping, since our barns certainly weren''t designed with that purpose in mind." Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

    Kivamus nodded. "I''ll add that to the ever-growing list of things I need to get built here."

    His gaze fell at the scratches on the leather armor of Hudan. "Before I forget, let me say that you and the other guards have done their jobs very well in defending the village. Tiranat came out nearly unscathed, and we didn''t lose anything from our precious grain stores. Well done!"

    Hudan smiled at the praise. "I am only doing my duty, my lord."

    "And you are doing it excellently," Kivamus commended him.

    He asked after a moment, "What about the bodies of the bandits who have died? What are you going to do with them?"

 138. Spoils Of War

    "For now we are only gathering them up outside the manor in the east", the guard captain replied. "Once we have stripped the bodies of anything useful - including their weapons, and any usable leather armor or fur coats - we will bury them next to the hills in the east. Of course, if any of the bandits had any coins, they would go to the one who finds them." Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire

    "That''s..." Kivamus was going to reprimand him for allowing the guards to openly rob the bandits, but exhaled loudly when he remembered that all this must be the standard in this era in this world. Looting the bodies of the dead after a battle was something that had happened for most of history even on earth. But it was also true that in their current situation, they couldn''t let anything go to waste, whether it was the bandits'' fur coats, or their weapons - if only to get the iron, even if those weapons weren''t in good condition.

    However, looting the bodies to steal any coin from them was something which would be completely unprofessional if he ever wanted these guards to have the mental fortitude to defend against a serious attack. Discipline was one of the most important things in all of the successful armies on Earth, and even if he wasn''t building an army here, he wanted his guards to be professional instead of acting like part-time bandits themselves.

    He looked at the guard captain. "I can''t deny that we need all those things, so you can tell the guard to strip the bodies of anything useful, including any coins, but tell them very strictly that they are not to loot anything from those bodies for themselves - including coins."

    Hudan began to say something in protest but Kivamus spoke over him. "Listen to me! We can''t have our guards act the same as those bandits... like they are plunderers as well! Tell them very strictly that anything and everything they confiscate from the dead bandits will go to the manor stores - and not to themselves! Whether it is armor, sword or coin. None of it! I will not tolerate it."

    Hudan looked reluctant now, but gave a nod and kept listening.

    Kivamus continued, "The guards have done well in defending the village - but they are doing their duty - something for which they are already being paid. However, to encourage those guards who have discharged their duties well, I will reward them personally from my own treasury. If any of them deserve it, they will even get a medal from me. But I will not have them act as looters! Make sure to tell them about this very clearly. And tell them that anyone who goes against these orders will be severely punished."

    "But..." Hudan asked with confusion, "if you take those coins from those bandits for your treasury, and then give it back to them, then isn''t it the same thing anyway? What''s the point of making it so complicated?"

    "The point is discipline!" Kivamus exclaimed while slamming his hands on the armrests. "If there is a bigger attack on the village in the future, and their focus is only on trying to select the most juicy target so they can loot it for themselves, then a professional army will crush them in a moment! There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things. And for my guards... my soldiers... to act the same as any bandits would - that is simply not acceptable."

    He continued, "There is a lot of work for them to do tonight, but by tomorrow, you and Feroy will tell me if any of them have done exceedingly well - those who have gone above and beyond their... call of duty. And once you have verified their stories from any villagers who were nearby - then in the evening I will reward them personally. Is that understood?"

    Hudan sighed. "I can see your reasons for this, but the guards still won''t like it." He took a deep breath. "But an order is an order. I will make sure that every single one of them follows it, no matter what."

    Kivamus smiled. "Good!"

    Gorsazo commented, "This is the first time that the guards have fought under you, so it would also help their morale to reward the best amongst them. I support this idea."

    "I think that giving them medals is fine," Duvas said, "but to give them some money as reward too? I''m not sure if we can really afford it right now."

    "It will be fine, Duvas," Kivamus reassured him. "We need them to stop their habit of acting as looters - since it will be very beneficial in the long term, and it still won''t even cost us that much anyway. We can afford to give a reward to those who are risking their lives for us."

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    Duvas nodded after a moment. "As you wish then."

    Hudan stood up from his chair. "By your permission, milord, I should leave now to keep an eye on those guards. I also have to make sure that there are regular patrols around the village throughout the night."

    "Alright then, you can leave," Kivamus replied.

    Feroy glanced at the guard captain. "I''ll be there soon after I get something to eat, and I''ll join the guards on one of those patrols. You are the one who saw all the action, and I was only waiting here in the manor." He smirked while putting his hand on the scabbard of his sword. "And who knows? Maybe I''ll get lucky and one of those bandits will decide to return here."

    Hudan just shook his head and laughed. "So you are a bloodthirsty vesorion, after all. Or perhaps an ale-thirsty vesorion?"

    Feroy just laughed loudly in reply. "Oh, don''t even remind me... How I miss my ale! But alas, we can''t allow any guard to drink until the threat of the bandits has passed completely." He shrugged. "That means I can''t drink either."

    Duvas snorted. "That time will come, don''t you worry. You are the one who made us spend our limited coin on a full barrel of ale."

    Feroy laughed. "What can I say, Sir Duvas, us guards live on ale as much as we live on food."

    Everyone laughed at that image for a while, and then with a nod, the guard captain exited the hall.

    Kivamus stood up while looking at the others. "Well, it''s been a long night. Let''s get some rest now."

    Duvas stood up as well and nodded. "I''ll leave too. My old bones need some sleep before I start managing the laborers in the morning."

    And with that, the fateful day of the first feast organized in the village and of the successfully repelled bandit raid was over.

    *******

    It was early morning now, and Kivamus had come down near the gates of the manor to see off the traveling merchant. Although there was no wind, the skies were completely cloudy, and it was nearly freezing. He tied his fur coat tighter around him, and warmed his hands above a brazier burning near the gate.

    Earlier, the two guards who were on duty at the gates had thanked him for those braziers once again. In their opinion, the previous baron had never even thought of doing something like that for them, but Kivamus had assured them that there was more than enough coal for it. Tiranat was a coal mining village after all.

    As he looked around him, a small caravan of four wagons was standing there, getting ready for its final departure from Tiranat before the winter. Pydaso was checking up on something in their leading wagon, while his own guard as well as two other guards that Hudan had provided him for the journey, were making sure that all the knots were tight and the wagon beds were fully covered with oilcloth for the journey. He had also provided two extra horses to the leaving caravan, so that the guards would be able to ride back on them. The three horses which they had gotten from the bandits had certainly made it much easier to do it, without slowing down the construction work here because of the absence of those horses.

    Nearby, the guard captain was talking with those guards who were leaving with the merchant, while Duvas was managing the allotting of laborers to both the foremen - Yeden in the north, and Pinoto in the south. Gorsazo and Feroy were also standing next to him near the same brazier.

    "As much as I like traveling, I''m glad that I don''t have to leave for Cinran once again," Feroy commented while rubbing his hands together after warming them above the brazier. "It gets tiring, you know? Not to mention that it''d be so cold on the journey this time, since it had already started snowing there when we arrived."

    Kivamus nodded. "At least there shouldn''t be any serious danger of bandits on this journey. Only two of them have escaped from Nokozal''s group, and it''s unlikely that another big group is waiting for an ambush on the road to Cinran."

    He added, "That reminds me, did you find out who was the other bandit who escaped?"

    Feroy nodded. "Yeah, I asked the guards about that. Calubo told me that they hadn''t found the body of a small guy he only knew as the runt. So he must be the one who survived along with Nokozal." He snorted, "Of course, there is also Sejkil - the bandit who surrendered yesterday - but he isn''t going anywhere else for a while." He continued, "Also, Calubo wanted to talk with you about something yesterday. It seemed important to him."

    "Alright. Where is he?" Kivamus asked.

    "Must still be sleeping I think," Feroy answered. "The poor guy had barely eaten anything in the past few weeks, and he seemed as tired as a deer running away from an adzee all night. So after he had eaten yesterday''s meal, I''d told the other guards not to wake him up for now, so he could get some rest in the servants'' hall."

    "That was a good idea," Kivamus said. "You can bring him to me whenever he is ready to talk."

    Soon, Hudan and Pydaso came walking towards them. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 139. Barons Medal of Sacrifice

    "We are ready to leave, milord," the merchant said. He added with a smile, "It''s been really good doing business with you. I hope to come back right after the snow melts on the road after winter."

    Kivamus smiled as well. "I will wait for your return. And don''t forget to buy the maps!"

    "I''ll certainly try, milord, but no promises about it," Pydaso replied. "By your leave, we should depart now. And thank you, once again, for providing me with those guards for the journey."

    Kivamus waved it off. "It''s nothing."

    Pydaso smiled. "Even so, having another two well armed men next to me on that road certainly reassures my mind. I''ll make sure to reward them well for their help."

    And with that, the merchant returned to the leading wagon, and with a quick whip on the horses, the small caravan lurched into motion. The creaking of wagon axles was the only sound they heard for a while as the wagons exited the manor gates one by one, and before long, all of them had turned into a nearby alley, moving away from their sights.

    "So there goes the last caravan..." Gorsazo commented. "At least we were able to buy enough grain for the village to survive through the winter." sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus nodded, "but we''ll still be short on wheat to complete the sowing in the full area that we are planning to farm. But yes, it''s certainly a start."

    He looked at the guard captain. "Did you find out about any guards who did their duties well enough to reward them with a medal?"

    Hudan thought about it for a moment. "I think so. Calubo has to be one of them for sure, since he was the one who risked his life to escape from the bandits and gave us early warning about the raid. I don''t know what would be the result if we hadn''t gotten that warning in time. He also killed two of the bandits as well, just by himself. So if anyone should get a medal for bravery, it should be him."

    "Alright," Kivamus said. "Who else?"

    "Other than him," Hudan continued, "most of the other guards worked in pairs to kill the bandits, so I''m not sure if they would qualify for bravery if they had an advantage of two against one. However, having fought against Nokozal myself, I know how tough it would be for anyone to even survive against that huge bastard - not to mention defeating him. So, Tesyb can also be given a medal, since he managed to hold on against Nokozal by himself while protecting the merchant''s family at the same time, until I reached there to help him."

    "Okay, I think Tesyb deserves it for protecting the merchant''s family. That makes two of them." Kivamus asked, "Didn''t you mention that another two guards had gotten injured?"

    "They did," Hudan replied, "although neither of their injuries are that serious. The losuvil paste was a lot of help for them yesterday, although I think there aren''t many more leaves left now. But should even those men get rewarded?"

    "We can certainly choose not to give them anything," Kivamus replied, "but I think it''s a good idea to show some form of appreciation for those who have risked their lives for others and gotten injured in the process. See it like this, most likely they wouldn''t have gotten wounded if they weren''t working as a guard, would they?"

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    Hudan nodded slowly. "I can see the logic in that." He added, "Alright, that''s two more guards then. Then should we give the same medal to them? Although, we don''t even have any medals right now anyway. From what I know, the previous baron never gave any such thing to anyone here. Only those of a higher station than him, like the Count or even the Duke are the ones who usually give any kind of reward to their people."

    "Well, I have no intention of following in the path of the previous baron, that''s for sure." Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "But before we decide on that, do you know if I am even allowed to give medals?"

    "There are no rules against that from what I know," Gorsazo replied, "and I have read most of the books in the library in Ulriga Palace about the regulations for nobles. So there is nothing stopping you from rewarding someone who works for you. What you choose to call those rewards or medals is completely your choice, as long as you don''t try to give the same name to those rewards as something which can only be awarded by the Duke or maybe the King."

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    "That makes sense. Then it should be fine if I call them baron''s medals." Kivamus added, "I think two types of medals would be good for now. We can give the Baron''s Medal of Courage to those who have risked their lives in their service to the village and shown extraordinary bravery. Tesyb and Calubo would qualify for that." He continued, "Other than that, I will also make a Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice for those who were injured while carrying out their duty. That can be given to the two other guards who were injured yesterday."

    Planning to give a vague excuse, he looked at Gorsazo - who just gave a short nod, knowing that he was giving an excuse - and added, "This is the first time that I''m going to be giving any medals. But from what I have read in some obscure books, there is also another medal which is given to the families of those who have died in combat while on duty. But thankfully, we don''t have to give that medal for now. And of course, there will also be a monetary reward in the form of coins to anyone who gets a medal."

    Hudan seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before he replied. "I''m still not completely sure if preventing the guards from looting the bodies was a good idea or not, since it was difficult to explain it to them last night and most of them are still disgruntled about it. But if we are still going to give some reward - at least to those guards who have performed very well in their duties - I think that should mostly satisfy them."

    He looked at Feroy with a smirk. "But based on the above three classifications, our resident vesorion wouldn''t get any medal, would he?"

    The ex-mercenary laughed. "I hardly got to do anything yesterday since you made me stay in the manor to defend, so I don''t need any medals. But I would certainly love a mug of ale in the evening to compensate for that."

    Kivamus laughed at that. "Of course, I think we will be fairly sure by tonight that the two bandits aren''t going to attack again. And even if they do, the guards are ready for it by now, and they can take on the two bandits easily enough. So I think you should give the guards some good rest in turns, and that also includes both you and Hudan. And those who aren''t on duty can certainly be allowed a mug of ale. But just a single mug for now, since we can''t allow them to get completely wasted - just in case."

    "Usually a single mug is good enough for most of us, you know?" Feroy commented. "Well, I''ll go and see if Calubo is awake now." And with that, he walked back towards the servants'' hall.

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "We still need to get those medals made by evening. Of course, we can only afford to give medals made of iron for now. So let''s return to the manor hall and draw up a few simple designs on a piece of parchment. Then we''ll send a servant to Cedoron and tell him to make a few of them by evening. That''s when I''ll distribute the medals too."

    "Drawing has never been my strong suit," Gorsazo remarked with a laugh, "but I''m willing to give it a try."

    At that moment, Duvas came walking towards them, likely because he was done with his tasks.

    "By the way," Kivamus asked the guard captain, "what loot did we get from the bandits'' bodies yesterday?"

    "It was a decent haul," Hudan replied with a grin. "Including Sejkil''s stuff, we got eight damaged fur coats and the same number of leather armors from the bandits - of course, most of them also have a few holes in them. Apart from that, we got six swords, two daggers and two heavy warbows - which can also work as hunting bows. Amongst the weapons, the warbows seem to be in a good enough condition to be put to use immediately, but most of the swords will need a good repair, while a couple of them might not be of any other use than scrap iron." He added, "And we already got three horses from them yesterday."

    "So those lowlifes were good for something, after all..." Duvas muttered with a scoff. "Although most of that stuff seems to be already damaged."

    "Even so," Kivamus asked with a frown, "how do those bandits have that many weapons anyway, especially those made from iron? Even our manor barely has more iron weapons than them." He added, "Iron doesn''t come cheap at all, so I thought that most of them would be using sharpened sticks or repurposed tools as their makeshift weapons."

    "I can''t be completely sure about it, of course," Gorsazo replied, "but by now we have gotten enough hints that these bandits are in some way affiliated to Baron Zoricus, who is easily the richest baron in Count Cinran''s domain. He might just be sponsoring them, possibly by giving them the damaged weapons from his own armory."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "It certainly could be. Anyway, those warbows would be very helpful for us to start hunting."

    Looking at the guard captain, he said, "As for the swords and daggers, it''s up to you to decide which of them are still usable - in which case you should still take them to Cedoron so he can repair them if possible. And just give him the ones which are too damaged, so he can reforge them into other tools."

    He looked at Duvas. "But do we have anyone here who can repair the leather armor? It will need some decent stitching and some spare leather to make them usable again."

 140. Barracks

    "Well, we don''t have a tanner in the village," the majordomo replied, "since there was never enough animal hide for them to tan into leather - mainly because the previous baron never allowed hunting at a large scale here. But Leah has some experience in repairing our armors when they got damaged in the past. While there wouldn''t be much spare leather here, I think she might still be able to stitch together five or six decent armors from the eight damaged ones that we have." He added, "Repairing the fur coats would be easier, since even patching them would allow them to keep a person warm enough."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay, that''s good. Tell Madam Nerida not to give her the usual sewing or repairing tasks for now, so she can focus on repairing the armors fully. Even with six new leather armors we still won''t have enough of them to properly equip all the new guards, but they will still help a lot."

    He looked at Hudan and continued, "As for the fur coats, we already have a few of them in the manor house for our use, so two of the repaired ones can be used by you and Feroy, and you can give the rest of them to those guards who go on patrols in the village, since they will have to stay in the open for hours at a time, and they won''t even be able to use the braziers during that time - unlike our guards on gate duties."

    "The guards and I will certainly be very thankful for that," Hudan commented, "but are you sure you don''t want to keep them for yourself? Perhaps as spares?"

    Kivamus laughed. "What will I even do with them? I already have a fur coat for my own use, and just hanging more of them in my room isn''t going to make me any warmer. You can keep them in the servants hall and every night you should allot them to those guards who are going on patrols."

    Hudan gave a grateful nod.

    "That reminds me," Kivamus continued, "when I visited the servants'' hall yesterday, I noticed that there just weren''t enough sleeping places for all the servants and the guards now."

    "It''s not really a problem," Hudan said with a shrug, "since at least half of them are on duty somewhere at any particular moment, so there isn''t usually any shortage of sleeping space there."

    "Perhaps," Kivamus commented. "But we have already started trying to recruit women as guards who will need even more sleeping spaces - even if they are staying on the upper floor with the maids for now. And regardless of that, I believe it would be a good idea in the future to accommodate the guards separately from the servants, since they need to have a lot of camaraderie in each other to be able to trust another guard enough that they would allow them to watch their backs in the middle of a battle."

    "Is there really a need to spend our limited coin on making another building though?" Duvas asked.

    "Actually, I can see the point in that," Hudan observed. "When I was training with other squires in Cinran to become a knight, our living quarters were also separate from the other manual servants of the knights." He nodded. "So I think it would be a good idea. It would also allow Feroy and I to stay with the other guards all the time to keep an eye on them and to keep them on their toes for any sudden attack on the village." sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Exactly. So in the future," Kivamus continued, "we will make a new barracks in the manor where only the guards will stay. Of course, we will have to make it a two story building, unlike the longhouses, so the male guards can stay on the ground floor, while the female guards can stay on the upper floor."

    "But it would cost us a lot to hire the carpenter for that," Duvas observed, "not to mention the cost of the materials for a two story building. And it might take even longer than building a longhouse if you want to make it a two floor building."

    "That''s true," Kivamus replied, "but like Hudan said, all our guards are still able to stay in the servant hall for now, so it''s not like we have any hurry to complete the barracks."

    He didn''t say it openly, but Kivamus knew that apart from the Baron who had already tried to kill him, his brothers still might not be satisfied after sending him to a remote village in the middle of nowhere. And if they decide to do something to rectify their error, the two dozen guards he had would stand no chance against the Duke''s army. But hopefully, they wouldn''t think of doing anything like that until the time came closer for succession to the Duke''s position by one of the three brothers.

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    Their father - who was also his own father in this world - was getting old and got sick occasionally, but he didn''t think that the Duke was going to die in the next few years. But when it did happen eventually... only his brothers themselves would know what they must surely be planning to capture the Duke''s seat.

    Thinking about his brothers made him wonder how his newfound sister was doing. Astela was the only one who supported him against their older brothers, and it had been months since he had heard from her. But it was also true that without any modern communication methods in this world, that was likely a normal duration to talk with people who didn''t live in the same city. But hopefully, she was doing okay these days.

    Coming back to the present, he looked at others and tried to present the future threats to himself without openly giving his own reasons behind this. He began, "In the future, keeping in mind all the threats against the village, who knows, maybe we''ll need to recruit even more guards, so we can just make another two story building after that, and then we could shift the male guards to one building and women to the other, which will double our capacity of housing in the barracks."

    Duvas raised his eyebrows. "I don''t see how we could afford to recruit any more guards, or why we would even need dozens of guards, but yes, we can leave that decision for the future."

    "Of course, I''m not planning to hire more guards any time soon." Kivamus added, "We have already designated the location in the east of the manor between the manor walls and the new village walls as a dedicated training area for the guards. So when the village walls are complete, we can start building a barracks at the same location."

    Hudan nodded. "Keeping the barracks within the training ground would be a good idea as well." He added with a smirk, "None of the guards would be able to slack off after that."

    Kivamus laughed. "Of course, that''s for sure."

    He looked around the manor for a moment, and smiled when he saw the servants and maids going about their daily tasks with enthusiasm even in this near freezing weather. With their food stores in the barn having more wheat and vegetables than they have had in months, if not years, they seemed reassured that they weren''t going to starve any time soon, and that had worked wonders for their morale.

    But it was only a small start. There was still a lot he could do, and would do, to make their lives better.

    He looked back at the others, while clutching his fur coat tighter around him. "Well, let''s return back to the manor hall. I miss the warmth of the fireplace, and we still need to design those medals."

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    With a nod, Gorsazo and Duvas started following him towards the manor house, while Hudan walked over to the guards to talk about something.

    *******

    Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall near the fireplace while waiting for Feroy and Calubo to discuss whatever the previously lost guard wanted to talk about. The fire was cracking on one end of the hall, while Madam Helga and Syryne were clearing up the cutlery and utensils from the long dining table on the other side.

    Earlier, they had taken a simple breakfast of freshly baked bread and some leftover stew from yesterday, apart from a couple of fried eggs for them. Then he and Gorsazo had drawn up a few designs for the two types of medals with some inputs from Duvas as well, and eventually they had settled on a simple design which would be easy enough for the blacksmith to make and yet something which would look unique and make the guards proud when they received them.

    After that, they had sent a servant to Cedoron along with those designs on a parchment, and told him to let the blacksmith know that he needed to make half a dozen of each type of medal in total - just to have some more of them handy for the future, since it would barely use up any iron - although two of each type of medals were needed by evening.

    Before long, the servant had returned back and reported that the blacksmith had looked confused in the beginning that the baron wanted him to waste some iron and his precious time which could be used to forge more hinges, hammers and iron nails. But Cedoron had agreed nonetheless, and promised to send a worker back with those medals by evening.

    Soon, the door of the manor hall opened and Feroy walked inside while accompanied by Calubo. The ex-mercenary took a seat while the former guard remained standing.

    "What did you want to talk about?" Kivamus asked the former guard.

    Calubo hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and began speaking. "Milord, I want to thank you for freeing me from those bandits and for getting rid of them - or at least, most of them, since that huge bastard Nokozal and the runt are still alive. The time I spent as their slave was very difficult for me, and I''m glad that those dead bandits would never be able to kidnap anyone again."

    Kivamus shrugged. "There is no need to thank me. I am only doing what I need to do to protect the village. And you are the one who escaped and freed yourself from those bandits. I did nothing to help you in that, so you don''t need to thank me for that either."

    Calubo gazed at him carefully for a moment, then gave a nod. "As you want, milord. But..." he hesitated again. "But I would like to ask a favor from you."

 141. A Heartfelt Plea

    Kivamus gave a smile. "Of course, you have earned more than a favor by giving us the information about the raid on time and helping us to kill the bandits. Tell me, what do you want? Is it coins? Or maybe good food? I will try to fulfill your demand as long as it is reasonable."

    "It''s... not that," Calubo muttered. "I don''t want coins or any other reward for myself. But..." he took a deep breath again. "The stonecutters - the other slaves who worked at that quarry along with me, are not in a good condition. The bandits barely gave us anything to eat, since Nokozal said that he couldn''t afford to buy any more grain at the high prices now, and the rare small game which they hunted there went mostly to the bandits, and the stonecutters only got the scraps."

    Kivamus gave an understanding nod. In the frantic hours after the raid yesterday, he had forgotten about that quarry and the people who still lived there. With the winter already here, and with barely anything to eat... he shook his head slowly. He already knew that this world was a cruel place, and it was very difficult for commoners to survive here, not to mention those who were slaves. But what could he even do about it?

    Calubo continued, "A thunderstorm a couple of months ago had caused flooding in the quarry, and since then everyone had been living in temporary huts there - which were far from enough to protect them from even the mild weather of late autumn." He had a far away look in his eyes, which had started to look a little wet by now. "And when the snow starts falling there, most of them won''t survive the winter..."

    Calubo looked directly at Kivamus, and gave a deep bow. "Milord, I beg you to save those people by giving them some food. I have friends there, people who cared for me when the bandits beat me up again and again. If they don''t get something to eat soon, I will never be able to see them again." He added with his voice full of emotion, "Please don''t let them die..."

    Kivamus took a deep breath as he thought about this. "Calubo, you have been out of the village for a while, but you already know the current situation of the village. Tiranat barely has enough food stored for us to survive the winter. I''m not sure if we can afford to feed any more people."

    Calubo bowed even lower, and spoke with tears falling from his eyes. "But they are also people, milord! They don''t deserve to die of starvation and cold in that desolate quarry. Just allow me to take two sacks of wheat to the quarry. No, even a single sack of wheat would be enough! I know Tiranat can barely afford it, but I saw the caravans full of grain coming from Cinran."

    He stood straight with his eyes still tearful, and continued, "I beg you, milord. Just provide me with a single sack, and I will be in your debt for life. And I will... I will even pay for it. I will borrow money from the other guards and some friends in the village, and I''ll pay you for that sack of wheat. So please grant me this boon!" He spoke in a loud voice, with his tears flowing freely now, "I beg you, milord! I beg you..." and then he openly broke into sobs and bowed again.

    Kivamus was already feeling uncomfortable after knowing what was happening to the people in that quarry, but seeing the scene in front of him with Calubo begging him to save their lives... it was tugging at his heartstrings. This guard, who had already gone through so much, was willing to borrow money to feed that many people, even though he couldn''t afford it, and Kivamus was going to just keep watching?

    And the guard wasn''t even asking anything for himself. He only wanted him to save the lives of others. Although... it couldn''t be that Calubo was lying about everything and he just wanted to ride away with that sack of wheat for himself, could it?

    As he looked in the eyes of the former guard, he realized that no, it wasn''t like that. Calubo''s eyes only held the truth in them.

    Kivamus took a deep breath, thinking about the quarry. Could he really do nothing about the stonecutters, knowing what their fate would be in the harsh winter days? Would be able to look himself in the eye if those stonecutters died from hunger, if he knew that he could have saved those people?

    He exhaled and looked at the former guard. "You can stand up now, Calubo. I need to discuss this with others. I''ll let you know about my decision soon. For now, you should go and get something to eat from the kitchen in the servants'' hall. You need that food."

    Calubo stood up straighter and wiped his eyes with his still dirty and torn sleeves. He looked Kivamus in the eyes. "How can I eat anything, Milord, when I know that Hyola and others are starving there?"

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    That proved it. Now Kivamus didn''t have any doubt about Calubo or any of his story. This was not someone who would try to take advantage of the village or anyone else.

    "You can only save them if you have enough energy to save yourself, right?" Kivamus asked. "Even if I give you a sack of grain, what if you just pass out from hunger on the way, because you didn''t eat anything? So go on and get something to eat first."

    He looked at the ex-mercenary. "Feroy, take him to the servants hall and make sure he eats something."

    Feroy gave an understanding nod, and held Calubo with one of his arms and slowly began to walk with him towards the outer door.

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    "You can''t save everyone, milord!" Duvas said agitatedly, "You just can''t! This kingdom is way too big for that, and you are only a baron, with all due respect. And your treasury is already empty, even without any more people to feed!"

    "I know that money is important, but human lives are even more important!" Kivamus retorted back. "And anyway, I''m not trying to save everyone. They are just a couple of dozen slaves who don''t have anyone to look after them."

    Duvas snorted. "Yeah, they are slaves - but not your slaves. Whoever bought them is the only one responsible for them."

    "Right," Kivamus scoffed. "So we should wait for their slave-master Nokozal to reach the quarry then. After his raid failed, he must have bought a few sacks of grain from Cinran to give a feast to the stonecutters, right?"

    Duvas raised both of his hands up in frustration. "No, but those aren''t even your people! They live on the land of Baron Zoricus! I know that Nokozal isn''t going to feed them, but even then the responsibility lies on Baron Zoricus, not you! We can barely afford to feed the village, and you want to bring even more mouths to feed?"

    "Yeah, the slaves do live on the land of that Zoricus," Kivamus countered, "but tell me, how many of them live there by choice? None of them! They were taken there by the bandits who feed them scraps and plan to use them as work animals until they die, and then they would buy more slaves for cheap."

    He continued, "And the bandits feeding them scraps would only have been the case if they had been successful in raiding our village and taken back some grain with them, but the raid certainly didn''t go Nokozal''s way, did it? So what do you think would happen to the slaves in the winter with barely any food? And that''s assuming they survive the cold of winter, which is far from likely."

    Before Duvas replied anything, Gorsazo gave his opinion as well. "Feroy had told me earlier that it is common for the bandits and mercenaries to steal slaves from others. And we know that Nokozal''s group is not big enough now to prevent the stealing of their slaves by another group."

    "Hear that?" Kivamus asked the majordomo. "And if a bigger bandit gang like the Torhan''s group takes those slaves away, they might never see the light of day again. Many of them would die on that journey itself, while others wouldn''t even last the whole winter."

    Feroy, who had returned after taking Calubo to the servants'' hall, had been sitting quietly during their discussion until now, but he spoke up too. "It is also possible that when Nokozal sees that he can''t keep his slaves for himself, he will just kill them instead of letting someone else take them from him."

    That immediately shut up everyone else, including Duvas who was going to say something again.

    After taking a moment to digest that news, Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary. "That''s... inhuman. Does that really happen though? Would Nokozal really kill those slaves in cold blood just because he can''t keep them himself?"

    Feroy gave a nod. "I have even seen that happen myself. In the past, when I was with a group of mercenaries, they had gone to raid another group''s hideout, and when the leader of that group saw that he wasn''t going to win, he immediately killed the two slaves he had - including a woman - so that no one else could own those slaves other than him."

    The ex-mercenary added, "Of course, I don''t know Nokozal personally, but from what I''ve heard about him from Calubo and Sejkil, the bandit chief wouldn''t hesitate for a moment in doing something like that."

    Everyone was quiet for a while after that.

    After some time, Kivamus looked at everyone in the face, and began speaking. "I''ve made my decision, and it is final."

    At the same time, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Hudan walked inside with Calubo following him.

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    The guard captain jerked a thumb at the former guard, "I found him waiting outside the door. He told me that he had eaten enough so he wanted to hear your decision now." Hudan asked curiously, "What is that about?"

    Kivamus gestured to them to take seats as well. "It''s good that you all are here now. I was going to call the two of you anyway."

 142. An eye for an eye

    Kivamus looked at Calubo and began, "After a lot of discussion with my advisors, I have come to a decision." He added with a smile, "I have decided to support you."

    Immediately, Calubo''s eyes widened in surprise like he couldn''t believe what was happening.

    Gorsazo looked at him and gave a nod in support, while Feroy remained silent with his usual inscrutable expression.

    Kivamus continued speaking to the former guard. "But before I explain further, you should know that it wasn''t easy to come to this decision. The village''s food situation is precarious at best, but I can''t leave those stonecutters to starve after knowing that there isn''t anyone else to look after them anymore - not after our guards have already killed most of the bandits."

    "I..." Calubo faltered as he tried to speak. "I... I can''t thank you enough for this! I will forever be in your debt, milord!" He continued with happiness etched on his face, "So will I get a full sack of grain?"

    He carried on without waiting for Kivamus to respond. "But can I also get a horse to carry that sack to the quarry? That would make it much easier, but I''ll even carry it on my back if you can''t spare a horse right now. Although the snow is going to start falling soon, but..."

    "Slow down, Calubo," Kivamus interrupted him. "Take a deep breath and let me speak first."

    Calubo nodded quickly while holding his knees with his hands to stop them from shaking in nervous excitement. "I''m sorry, milord. Please carry on."

    Kivamus nodded. ''I am not going to give you a sack of grain to carry to the quarry. Looking at you right now, even if you travel on a horse, you might just keel over on the way."

    "But... but..." Calubo stammered with surprise.

    "Let me finish first," Kivamus stopped him again. "Knowing how Nokozal is going to treat those slaves when he reaches there - especially since his raid has failed and he wouldn''t have enough food even for himself - I have decided to rescue those stonecutters. Or you can say, we''ll liberate them from the bandits."

    Calubo seemed lost for words. "But... how?"

    Hudan, who hadn''t been present for the earlier discussion, also looked surprised by his decision, but he had a habit of following the orders of his superiors even if he didn''t support them, and remained quiet.

    However, Duvas interrupted them and said, "Are you really sure about this, my Lord? There is still an option to just send them a sack of grain."

    "We talked about this, Duvas." Kivamus added, "You already know that even if we handed over a sackful of wheat to the bandits - and I''m not sure if I''m willing to do that - most likely they will just keep that grain for themselves, and the stonecutters will continue to starve."

    "But... I still don''t think that you need to do this..." Duvas said with a shake of his head.

    Kivamus took a deep breath. "Do you really prefer the alternative then?" He asked the majordomo again, "Do you really want them to be killed in cold blood by the bandits if they can''t afford to feed them, or if another bandit group tries to steal the slaves? Even when we could have saved their lives so easily?"

    Duvas just sighed and shook his head slowly.

    "Just think of them as getting more laborers for the village," he tried to persuade the majordomo. "They are trained workers, and once they get some good meals in them, they will help us a lot to finish all the construction on time."

    He continued, "And luckily, the caravan was able to go on a third trip - which means we still have enough grain to feed everyone throughout the winter, even after including those stonecutters. That will certainly mean that we will be short on seeds for sowing in the next spring, but we can still buy more seeds after the winter." He added, "It will cost us for sure, but I think that''s a small price to pay for saving so many lives. And all our guards are already back from the caravan trips, so we can also start sending hunting parties soon. That will give us an extra source of food, and it''ll reduce our consumption of wheat. It''s certainly not going to be easy, but I believe it''s doable."

    "I understand, my lord," Duvas said with a reluctant nod. "It''s your decision after all, and I''ll do my best to follow it. But I still had to give my opinions against that."

    "Of course you should," Kivamus replied to him. "I always want all of you to be completely free in speaking to me and in giving your opinions - even if they go against mine in every respect."

    "Alright." He looked at Calubo again. "Here''s what we are going to do. We will send a squad of guards to that quarry, accompanied by you to show them the way, and their task will be to kill any bandits they find there and to bring back the slaves to Tiranat. Now that we have decided to rescue those slaves, we just can''t allow that bandit camp to continue to exist." He snorted. "So far it has only been Zoricus trying to harm me and my village, but let''s see how he likes the taste of his own medicine..." At everyone''s blank expressions, he added, "Uh... a bitter herbal remedy."

    As Gorsazo began to say something, Kivamus spoke over him. "I know what you are going to say, but it''s not like I''m trying to go against him openly. I know very well how influential he is in the court of Count Cinran. But he has already tried to assassinate me, while his bandits have tried to raid and loot my village. So for us to retaliate in kind by killing every bandit in that quarry is only fair."

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    Calubo looked stunned. "But... that''s... I didn''t expect this, but those bandits certainly deserve it. Thank you so much, milord!"

    Feroy gave a fierce grin after that, while Hudan nodded as well.

    Kivamus continued, "Doing this will give us one less bandit camp to worry about in this region and it will also deprive Zoricus of any income from that quarry for a while - since those slaves are basically free labor for him and they are giving him a regular profit from that quarry - profit which he is using to hire assassins against me!" He shrugged. "So why should we let Zoricus continue to profit from those bandits? Clearing that quarry of those lowlifes in retaliation is the least we can do."

    Gorsazo thought about it for a moment, and said, "I agree with your reasons, but what if someone tells the Count about it? That won''t end well for us."

    Kivamus smirked and just looked at Feroy, expecting his reaction in advance.

    The ex-mercenary grinned from ear to ear. "The bandits won''t know what hit them before we send them to meet the Goddess!"

    Kivamus laughed. "Exactly! Since none of the bandits would be alive to tell the story of who attacked that quarry, and the stonecutters will already be in Tiranat and are unlikely to say anything against us, Zoricus would never even know what happened in that quarry. So we don''t need to worry about him trying to complain to the Count against us, as long as none of the bandits remain alive after our attack."

    Hudan grinned. "I''ll make sure of it, milord. Those lowlifes deserve that."

    Calubo - who was still looking a little surprised at Kivamus'' decision to assault the quarry and liberate the slaves - began to speak finally. "I like this plan. I don''t see any reason why you should let Nokozal keep those slaves anymore - not after he has already attacked the village once." Then he gave a nod. "I think it''s a good idea for you to take over those slaves for yourself. You will easily gain more than two dozen new slaves this way - for free - and I know that those people will do anything to get out from under the thumb of those bandits. I''ll do my best to support you in this!"

    Kivamus was going to interrupt him in the middle to tell him that he didn''t want the stonecutters as slaves, but he waited to let the former guard finish his sentence. But before he said anything to refute it, the guard captain spoke up.

    "You''ve missed a lot in the time you''ve been away from Tiranat," Hudan said while grinning and patting the back of Calubo. "There are no slaves here. Not anymore."

    Calubo looked confused. "What do you mean by that? I know there were nearly half a dozen slaves under the previous baron!" Then he looked at Kivamus with horror. "Did you... did you kill them all? Because you couldn''t afford to feed them anymore?"

    "What?" Kivamus was the one to be surprised now. The things which people took as normal behavior for nobles in this world scared him a little. "Of course not! Why would I ever kill innocent people?"

    "But then... how?" Calubo asked.

    Duvas gave the answer with a tired smile. "Lord Kivamus has made a decree here that there will be no slavery in his domain. And he has freed the slaves which the previous baron used to own."

    "You mean... they aren''t slaves anymore?" Calubo asked with wonder. Then it seemed like something suddenly clicked in his mind, and he looked straight at Kivamus. "Does that mean... does that mean that those slaves at the quarry... no, those stonecutters... they won''t be slaves anymore? They will be free men and women, like us?" Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

    Kivamus smiled. "Yes, they will be just as free as I am."

    "But that... that means..." Calubo looked lost for words once again, but then gave a huge smile. "How can I ever thank you for this, milord?" He stood up immediately, and gave a deep bow. "I will be in your debt for my life! Anything you need done, even if I have to risk or even sacrifice my life for that, I will do it on your command."

    Kivamus was surprised that the former guard would be willing to give his own life for some stonecutters whom he had barely known for a couple of months. But then he remembered that Calubo had taken the name of someone earlier - a woman. He gave a small laugh. Of course, some things never change.

    He looked at the former guard. "There is no need for that. And you can sit down now. We have a lot to discuss for this rescue mission." S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

    Hudan asked, "But how will we even transport that many people through the forest? They wouldn''t be able to walk the whole way back in their conditions, especially in this freezing weather."

    "We can just use our wagons for that," Kivamus replied, "now that they are back from the trip to Cinran."

    Calubo interrupted him, "Actually, the bandits already have two wagons there, along with two nodors. They used to have three wagons in the past, but one of them was damaged recently, so they had used its planks to make a temporary hut for themselves, although its axles and wheels should still be there."

    "That''s... good news." Kivamus continued, "Those small nodors might not be able to pull enough men, but if we send our horses for that, they should be able to pull those wagons easily." He added, "Including the horses we got from the bandits, now we have enough of them that we can easily spare some of them for this rescue mission. Of course, you should bring those nodors back as well, even if they won''t be pulling the wagons."

    After Hudan nodded in reply, he continued, "Once those wagons are back, it will help us a lot in the construction. Even those spare axles and wheels would be useful for us if Taniok is able to build a third wagon with them, since he doesn''t have to build the axles."

    "I''m just glad to know that we are getting something from this trip," Duvas commented, "and it''s not a complete waste of money."

    Kivamus smiled at the thrifty majordomo and gave a nod.

    Hudan began, "From what I know, there should be four bandits back at the quarry, not including the two who have escaped." Once Calubo gave a nod in confirmation, he continued, "If we leave on horses from Tiranat, there is no way that the escaped bandits would be able to reach the quarry before us, but we''ll still need at least five or six men to take down the four bandits there with ease."

    Calubo interrupted, "You might not even need that many guards, since those four bandits have to keep a watch on the stone cutters for all day and night - which means there should be at most two of them awake and ready at any particular time. Even then, they would already be exhausted with barely any rest in the previous week, since Nokozal left the quarry with most of the bandits. And of course, you will have the support of the stonecutters as well, so even four of us in total would be able to kill those bastards."

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "That might be true, but there is still a possibility that some bandits from another group might have reached there before us to steal those slaves, and in that case it will be better to have more men to support us."

    "Don''t worry about it," Kivamus commented. "Now that all the guards are back from the caravan, we have enough men to spare for this rescue mission." He looked at Calubo, "You said there were around two dozen slaves there?"

 143. Rescue Plans

    The former guard nodded. "There were twenty-six stonecutters in total, not including me or any bandits."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Will two wagons be enough to carry that many people?"

    "They should be," the majordomo replied after thinking about it. "Pydaso''s wagons carried ten sacks of grain in each wagon, apart from the weight of the driver and a guard. And each of those sacks weigh nearly double that of an average man here, so two horses pulling a single wagon might be able to carry up to twenty-two average weighing men or women in each." Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

    He added, "While there certainly wouldn''t be enough space in a single wagon bed for that many people, they should easily be able to seat around half of the stonecutters, that is, thirteen men or women in each wagon bed, apart from the guards who can sit in the driver''s seat. And keeping just around thirteen or fourteen men in each wagon instead of up to its full capacity would be helpful for the horses to pull those wagons even through uneven terrain."

    "Okay, that''s good to hear." Kivamus looked at Hudan. "We will need those wagons to move as fast as possible, and there wouldn''t be enough time to rest the horses in the middle of the journey. So you should take spare horses with you as well." After a moment of thought, he added, "While four horses should be enough to pull those two wagons, you should take eight horses with you. That will still leave us with seven horses here including those we got from the bandit, which will be enough for us until you return."

    He continued, "To take those eight horses, you will need eight guards as well, and that should be more than enough to take on the bandits easily, even if there are a few more of them there than what we expect. And on the return journey, four guards can ride on four of the horses at a time, which will allow you to hitch the remaining four horses to those wagons. That will give the beasts at least some rest if you alternate between them when you hitch them to the wagons every morning after a night of rest."

    Hudan thought about it and nodded. "I agree, milord. Eight men will be more than enough, and having spare horses will also give us something to fall back on in case any of them get injured on the way."

    He looked at Feroy. "I''ll have to go with the guards as well, since there is a possibility, no matter how small, of Nokozal having reached there before us. And I don''t think anyone else can go one on one against that huge bastard. So it''ll have to be me. That means you will be in charge of the guards and the security of the village until I return."

    Feroy nodded. "Leave it to me."

    Hudan looked back at Kivamus, and continued, "This time we will have surprise on our side when we reach the quarry, so even the new guards should be able to hold their own. I''ll take four experienced guards including me and Calubo. While we should be able to take on those four bandits by ourselves - the four new recruits in the squad will also be there to support us. This will give them some real experience as well."

    Gorsazo asked, "But the merchant told us that snowfall has already started on the northern road, so how will these wagons even travel in that snow?"

    Hudan gave the answer. "That''s because the snowfall always starts from the east here, since that''s where the Arakin mountains are. So we certainly can''t go through the northern road this time, since there is a risk of getting stuck there even with the small amount of snow that would have gathered on that road by now. but we should be fine if we go northwest - directly through the forest - since it will take a while for snowfall to start there. And just a week without snowfall there - which is still reasonable - would be enough for us to return."

    He explained further, "What I am planning to do is this. Since we are not taking any wagons with us from here, our horses can easily travel through the forest, so we will go along with Calubo to the quarry. It still won''t be easy to find a path there, but since we are only on horses we should still be able to reach there on time. And once we have taken care of those bandits, we will load up the stonecutters on the wagons they have, and then we''ll travel directly towards the south with them - through whichever wide path we find - since it would be impossible to look for a direct path to Tiranat from there, especially with those wagons which will need enough space between the trees of the forest to move."

    The guard captain added, "Our target will be to reach the road connecting Kirnos to Tiranat, and once we''ve found it, we''ll only need to travel east on that road to return here, and that part of the journey will be much faster compared to traveling through the forests. Although, I''m not sure how long it will take us for the whole journey."

    Calubo said, "I think that''s a good plan, and I can give an estimate of the time we''ll need. It had taken around two days for me and the other bandits to reach the location of the ambush on the northern road from that quarry on foot, and that place is around a two days wagon journey from our village. But we''ll only be riding on those horses which won''t be pulling any wagons on the first part of the journey, so that should make it faster for us to reach the quarry, especially since we''ll be going straight through the forests instead of going a long way through the northern road and then turning towards the west. But on the other hand, traveling through the forest is much slower than riding on a road, so I think we''ll need at least three or four days to reach there."

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    Hudan nodded. "Then we''ll also need a day to scout the location and kill the bandits. That day as well as the night should give some rest to the horses too."

    Calubo gazed into the distance to think about it before speaking, "After that, I''d say another three or four days to reach the southern road from there - since we''ll know in advance which direction we have to travel instead of looking for our destination. And finally, it''ll only be around a day of journey from there to Tiranat, since Kirnos is less than two days of a wagon journey from here, and we will be joining that road somewhere in the middle of that road."

    Duvas gave a nod. "That means you will need at least a week to return." He added, "Although you will certainly see snowfall on the journey, the snow won''t get that deep within the forest by that time. So most likely you wouldn''t get stuck in the snow, although you''ll still be cutting it quite close.

    "However," the majordomo asked, "I''m worried about how you will even find that quarry in those huge forests?"

    Calubo shrugged. "It won''t be easy but I''ve lived there for more than two months, so I''ll be able to recognize the terrain around that area. I already have a general idea of its location, and that huge quarry isn''t something we are going to miss even in the middle of those forests."

    He stood up and looked at Kivamus. "Milord, I can never thank you enough for this. Please make sure to have enough warm beds and food available for everyone when we return. Those people there... they''ll really need that food after what they''ve been through in the past few months." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Don''t worry, I will tell Madam Nerida about this," Kivamus replied, "and she will make sure to prepare a warm meal for them. By that time the first longhouse will also be completed, and I will leave sufficient bunks for the stonecutters when I start shifting the villagers there."

    Calubo gave a grateful nod.

    "However," Kivamus added, "you will also need some food for the journey. I think around ten days'' rations for eight guards, and around a week''s rations for twenty six stonecutters should be sufficient." He thought about it for a moment then looked at Duvas. "Send a servant to tell Madam Nerida to prepare enough bread for them, as well as to pack a sack of crushed wheat so they can easily cook porridge on the journey. Also, tell a maid to pack some butter, hardtack and dried meat as well. We can''t let them starve on the way after we are going through this much trouble to bring them here."

    "That should be more than enough, milord," Hudan said. "We will still try to hunt some small animals on the way to try to reduce our food consumption."

    Duvas exited the hall to give the orders, while Hudan stood up as well and said, "It is already late afternoon by now so there is no point in leaving today, since we would hardly be able to travel much in the remaining sunlight. And there is no point in making a camp just a few hours away from the village and wasting a day''s rations."

    He continued, "But I''ll go and select the guards who''ll be leaving with me, so they can check their stuff today and get them ready. We will leave at daybreak tomorrow. This will also give another night of rest to our horses, since they have travelled a lot in the past month with the caravan."

    As they began to leave, Kivamus remembered something and called them back.

    He looked at Calubo. "You have been missing for months now, so I can''t send you with Hudan like this. So before you leave, I formally reinstate you as a guard from today itself. You''ll get the same wages and benefits as the others."

    Calubo looked surprised for a moment, then gave a bow again, "Thank you for this, milord, and for all your help. I will do my best to protect you and the village."

    Kivamus smiled. "I know you will."

    Hudan and Calubo gave nods again, and exited the hall.

    *******

    It was evening now, and Kivamus was standing outside the gates of the manor where a crowd had gathered for their evening meals.

    Earlier, the blacksmith had provided them the medals he had ordered to make, and when he was going to call the guards to give them the medals, Gorsazo suggested him to wait for the night so he could do it in front of the crowd waiting for their meal, since that would make the guards feel proud of doing their duty.

    It had also taken a long discussion with Duvas to decide on the amount of coin they needed to provide the guards as a reward, but finally they had settled on a month of pay for those who had gotten injured and were getting the Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice, and three months pay for those who were getting the Baron''s Medal of Courage for extraordinary bravery.

    Soon, it was time to distribute the medals, so with a deep breath he started walking towards the makeshift stage in front of the crowd which the guards had hastily built with a few wooden benches.

 144. A reward For Courage

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Outside the baron''s manor ~

    Tesyb was standing near the makeshift stage outside the gates of the baron''s manor while listening to Lord Kivamus give a speech about the bravery of the guards in the defense of the village. It was also quite chilly here, although the burning braziers around the crowd and the gathering of so many people together had meant that the place wasn''t as cold as it would be otherwise. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even so, that cold was increasing the pain in his leg where that huge bastard Nokozal had slashed him with a sword. But at least the cut wasn''t too deep, so he would be fine in a few weeks. Still, he felt that even today wasn''t a good day for him, since after running around so much to find and kill the bandits yesterday where he barely survived that fight, today he had to stand here for so long in the cold, and that made his leg hurt even more. Damn the bandits! And that bastard Sejkil who was still alive. He should have been executed! What was the baron even thinking?

    Well, there was nothing he could do about it. Orders were orders, and he was going to follow his orders, even if he didn''t like them. As he felt a sudden pang of pain in his leg, he wondered how long he would have to endure the pain. Hopefully his injury would heal soon.

    Coming back to the present, He had recently found out that the baron was even going to give medals to some of the guards after this. Tesyb wondered who would be those lucky guards. In the past, he had heard from his father that once he had been in a ceremony where the Count of Cinran was giving a reward to a knight who had saved someone''s life - and it was said to be made of pure silver! - so Tesyb knew what it meant to get a medal - even though he hadn''t even seen one yet.

    For now, he was keeping an eye on the crowd which had grown to nearly as large as that in the feast yesterday. The news had gotten out about the reward ceremony, so a lot of villagers had gathered here in curiosity. Nearly all of the guards, as well as the servants and maids from the manor were standing close to the stage to see the ceremony, and this was where Tesyb was standing as well.

    He even saw his parents standing in the back of the crowd, listening to the baron. Giving a smile at his father''s newfound confidence after he began working as a foreman, he looked at Lord Kivamus as well. He listened as the baron praised the hard work of the guards - which was certainly a new experience for them, since he had heard that the previous baron had never treated the guard this well. And then, the baron even promised to give the medal receivers cold hard coins as part of the reward!

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    Of course, Lord Kivamus told them that their majordomo would only note their pending reward amount in a ledger for now, and they will receive that coin once they start selling coal again after the winter. It was the same thing though, since Tesyb had no doubt that the baron would come through on his promises.

    Before long, it was time to give the medals, and the baron took the name of the first guard who would get the Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice - for getting injured in the line of duty. The guard whose name had been taken looked thoroughly surprised as if he couldn''t believe what was happening, but when the other guards who were standing nearby started congratulating him and patting him on his back, he gave a huge grin.

    Then the guard confidently walked to the stage and Tesyb watched as the baron put a medal around his neck. Immediately, the crowd started cheering for the guard, but the loudest cheers were from Tesyb and the other guards. He was one of their own, after all!

    Before long, the guard who had got the medal returned back while grinning from ear to ear, and immediately, the other guards crowded around him to congratulate him again and to see the medal for themselves. Although the medal was only made of iron, and didn''t cost too much by itself, it still meant that the man had done something special, and it was seen and recognized in front of everyone in the village. That medal would easily assure him a mug of ale for free in the village alehouse - assuming they were even allowed to visit there anytime soon. As Tesyb thought about how long it had been since he had drunk some ale, he wondered how it would have felt if he had gotten a medal too.

    Soon, the baron took the name of another guard who was going to get the same medal, and the same thing repeated again with everyone cheering loudly for him. Even the two new female guards - Isomi and Savomi - were cheering loudly for the guard. Looking at their frail bodies compared to the male guards, Tesyb still felt uncertain about how the women were going to fight against a bandit, but he trusted the baron now, and knew that he must have a plan in his mind.

    Before long, it was time for the Baron''s Medal of Courage - which Lord Kivamus had described to the crowd as the second best medal that could be awarded, but it was still above the first type of medal. Tesyb wondered which was the highest kind of medal, although the baron had told them earlier that that medal wouldn''t be given today.

    Soon, the baron took the name of Calubo - the guard thought to have been killed by the bandits in the past, but who had surprisingly come back from the dead and helped them a lot in so many ways. Calubo looked like he didn''t believe that his name had been taken, so another guard had to give him a nudge on his back towards the stage. And then Calubo went and took that medal as well, and returned back grinning like an adzee which had spotted an isolated deer.

    Then, the baron gazed at the crowd, and said this would be the final medal for tonight. Tesyb tried to guess who would be the one to get this medal, and his best guess was Hudan, since he had been the one to scare away Nokozal. And then the baron''s eyes found his own and he took Tesyb''s name as the person who''d get the last medal, and his mind went completely blank.

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    What was happening? Did the baron really say his name? No, it couldn''t be! He had barely done anything in the fight! And it was his overconfidence which had nearly led to the merchant''s children getting kidnapped by the bandits. How could he be getting a medal? Perhaps he had started taking a nap while standing, and he was daydreaming now. Yes, that had to be the reason!

    Then the guards who were standing next to him started congratulating him and patted him on his back repeatedly. But he still couldn''t believe it. Was he really going to get a medal tonight? Along with the coin reward as well? Could it really happen to someone like him?

    He had been rooted to his spot for a while now, so Yufim, who had been standing next to him, gave him a gentle push towards the stage, and then someone else did the same, and before long Tesyb was climbing the stairs and walking towards Lord Kivamus, who was still smiling at him. And then as his mind tried to process what was happening, the baron congratulated him, and put the Baron''s Medal of Courage around his neck.

    Tesyb could hear in the back of his mind that there was a loud cheer from the crowd, as well as from the guards, but he was still struggling to comprehend this. Then he looked at the crowd and found his parents'' faces grinning at him. Tesyb blinked. No, this wasn''t a dream. It was real.

    Just a few months ago he would never have imagined that such a day would come where the villagers would be cheering for him. Even more than the villagers, it was the vaunted manor guards who were cheering for him!

    But now, he was also a manor guard, wasn''t he? He grinned and after turning towards the crowd, he raised his hands high, and gave a loud whoop of joy, and the crowd responded back with an even louder cheer! The baron patted him on his back, and he walked back towards Yufim and the other waiting guards, who surrounded him and began asking to see the medal for themselves.

    As he gazed around, he noticed that even Isomi and Savomi were clapping for him! Truthfully, he had known the two sisters for years now from the time they used to work outside the coal mines to transfer the coal in small baskets from the coal piles to the wagons, but he had barely ever talked to them, since he was deep inside the mines most of the time. But now they were colleagues - they were comrades, and hearing the two pretty young women clapping for him, he could barely stop a blush from creeping on his face. Immediately he looked at others to distract his mind, and started to thank them for congratulating him.

    And then the reward ceremony ended, and the crowd started to disperse. Apart from those villagers who were staying back for their free meal, others began to return to their homes, after a rare day of entertainment for them.

    As he looked at his medal closely, he saw that it was a circular shaped piece of iron connected to two thin bars of metal, with some space between them for a ribbon - which was only a thicker thread in his case - to pass through it. On one side there were a few words written in the common tongue - although he couldn''t read any of it - and on the other side there were two symbols engraved on it. One of them was a sword, but he wasn''t sure about the other thing, which looked mostly like a long stick which was a little wider on one end. He was curious about it for sure, but he shrugged for now. He would ask someone about it later.

    He turned back towards the manor gates and thought that although he hadn''t gotten the coin reward for now, he couldn''t wait for that day! Three months wages as bonus? And now that his father was also getting a good wage after he became a foreman, he didn''t need to support his parents anymore. What would he even do with that much money? Three months wages would be... more than ten gold coins! That was... a lot of money!

    Then he thought of his only sister who was living in Cinran. Yes, he should buy something good for Isuha the next time he visits her. She had mentioned the last time that the food situation was getting worse there, so maybe, for a change, he could even take her to one of the fancy restaurants in the town where they served various meat dishes and sweet tasting pies everyday! Maybe a place where the rich merchants and even some of the minor nobles ate. It certainly wouldn''t be cheap, but he could splurge for a single meal, right?

    He snorted. There he went getting daydreams again. Even with the much improved situation of the village, his family was still in no situation to waste money like that, since all their savings had been stolen by the bandits in the previous raid. So he couldn''t waste the reward money like that.

    He nodded to himself, while thanking another guard who was congratulating him. Apart from keeping a small portion of the reward to foot the bill when the guards eventually asked him to pay for their ale in celebration - whenever it would be - he would give the rest of that money to Isuha when he visited Cinran, so at least it would be helpful to her to buy food in case the shop owner couldn''t pay her any wages for a while.

    He thought about the amount of gold he would get in the future. It was three months pay for a manor guard - which was even higher than that of a manual laborer - so even with the higher prices of everything in the bigger towns and cities, she should still be able to afford at least a month of living expenses in Cinran with that money, and perhaps for even two months.

    Yes, that was a much better idea than eating a noble''s meal for a single day, and then not being able to afford food later. He didn''t even want to imagine what many people, and especially women, must have had to do to earn even a single meal in the bigger towns like Cinran these days. So he was immensely thankful to the Goddess that at least Isuha had found an honest job there.

    Yes, that hardened his resolve to give her the reward money, so she wouldn''t even have to think about such things to buy food in case things got tough there. But he still wished that she would just come to Tiranat so he wouldn''t have to constantly worry about her. Although that was out of his hands, he would still try to convince her of it again when he met her next time.

    However, all that was for after the winter, since he would only get that coin after the winter ended and they started selling coal again, and he couldn''t travel to Cinran before that anyway. But for now, he was going to enjoy this rare occasion. And maybe, if the guard captain allowed it, tonight he''d even buy a mug of ale for the others to celebrate!

    Suddenly, he realized that In the hustle and bustle of the reward ceremony, he had forgotten about the pain in his leg. Hah! He didn''t think that he would be able to get rid of that pain for weeks, but it had still happened - even if only for a short time - and he had gotten a medal as well. And he was also going to get bonus wages as a reward! So as it turned out, today was a good day, after all!

 145. Satisfaction And Surprise

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    As he entered inside the gates of the manor, Kivamus was feeling quite satisfied now, since everything was going so well after a long time. The bandit raid had been repelled successfully, and apart from a few injuries, nobody had died in that raid either. All their grain stores were intact as well - apart from a small pack of grain that Nokozal had robbed from a villager when running away - but it was only a small amount, and would barely make a dent in their remaining food stores for the winter months.

    The enthusiasm and happiness of the villagers during the award ceremony had affected him as well, and he was feeling just as happy as the guards who had gotten the medals. Who knows, maybe Hudan would be able to get rid of that bandit camp completely, and then he would even get two dozen trained workers for free! He couldn''t wait to bring those workers here to increase the construction speed of everything!

    Right now, he was leisurely walking back towards the manor house with others - all of whom looked satisfied and had smiles on their faces - except for Duvas who was still grumbling about the unnecessary expenses of paying rewards and feeding the stonecutters. But that was fine. Kivamus knew that the old man would come around to his point of view eventually.

    And now that there was no imminent threat of a bandit attack, they could focus fully on completing everything that they were building.

    "What is the progress of our first longhouse?" he asked Duvas.

    "It is nearly ready, milord," the majordomo replied. "All the walls and its roof had already been completed a few days ago, and since then the carpenter has been putting up the wooden floor and the bunks inside the longhouse. He also had to cut up new planks for those bunks, apart from making the smaller gate which Hudan wanted as a second exit, so the completion would be a little later than what we expected. But, as of today around half of the bunks are already fixed in place, so assuming no other problems crop up there, I think the longhouse should be ready to live in a few more days."

    "That''s wonderful news!" Kivamus praised. "And what about the other things?"

    Duvas continued, "A few days ago, Pinoto had told the workers to start digging up the pond in the South so that there would be at least a small ditch where the water from the melting snow can gather after the winter." He added, "Of course, he will have to stop the digging once the snowfall starts, but that will still allow the new drainage system in the village to start working after the winter. And when the digging work is stopped because of snow, he will put those laborers to clear more of the forest in the South. The women are already picking up the small stones and the fallen branches from the cleared area, so that we can start plowing them for sowing seeds in those fields right after the snow melts."

    Kivamus nodded. "We will still have to try to save as much wheat as we can, so that we can at least begin planting after winter, since it will take a while to buy all the wheat we need to complete the sowing. And what about the north?"

    "Well, they are also clearing the forests," Duvas replied, "although many of the laborers in the north are busy sharpening and putting up the stakes for the new village walls. That will take quite a bit of time though, since those walls are going to be quite long including all four sides of the village."

    "At least the construction of the walls is progressing now," Hudan commented. "If we already had walls here, those bandits wouldn''t have been able to enter the village at all. But at least they will provide us good protection from any future raids."

    "That''s true." Kivamus thought about the new order he had given the blacksmith to make. "What about the wheelbarrows?"

    Duvas replied again, "We did get one more wheelbarrow earlier today, and another one should be ready by tomorrow evening. That will give us a total of three wheelbarrows, although having even a single one has been very helpful to move things around in the manor." He added, "But before making more of them, Cedoron wanted me to ask you again if you still wanted to spend that much iron on them."

    "I think three iron wheelbarrows should be enough for now," Kivamus replied after a moment.

    "I''ll let him know," Duvas nodded. "That being said, I''m still curious about why you wanted to use iron to make the wheelbarrows?"

    "We needed a few of them as soon as possible to speed up the construction of the longhouses, and Taniok didn''t have any free time to make them from wood since he''s already way too busy in cutting up the planks and building the longhouse." Kivamus continued with a shrug, "So the only way I saw to make them quickly was to order the blacksmith to make them from iron, even though I knew it would make them quite costly."

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    "Those wheelbarrows are costly enough, that''s for sure," Feroy remarked with a snort.

    "I realize that," Kivamus said, "but most of our order for new tools was already completed by the blacksmith, so he could easily spare the time to make the wheelbarrows, unlike the carpenter. And Cedoron could hardly have made them using wood!"

    "That''s true enough," Duvas observed. "He''s not a carpenter anyway."

    Feroy said, "Still, I''d say it was a good idea to only allow the manor servants to use them, since if you had given them to the laborers, they might have just stolen them for their iron."

    "Perhaps," Duvas commented. "But anyway, now that everyone has seen how useful it is, they all are claiming that they should be the ones to get the next wheelbarrow."

    Kivamus chuckled. "That''s good to know." The log-mover and the wheelbarrow were such simple things, and yet he was glad to see that they were helpful to the villagers already.

    Duvas explained further, "I have already allocated the first wheelbarrow for Taniok''s use during the day for any work in the longhouse construction, while the manor servants use it in the nights after they get it back to transport coal to the braziers." He continued, "However, Pinoto wanted the second wheelbarrow since he claimed that they would allow the laborers in the South to move the stones and small branches from the fields much more easily and quickly, while Yeden wanted it in the north for help in transporting the tools to build the village walls."

    "You just said there are two new wheelbarrows which will be made by tomorrow, right?" Kivamus asked. "So just give one to each of them."

    Duvas nodded. "That''s a simple enough solution for now, and I was already going to do that, but I just don''t think that just three wheelbarrows would be enough for the whole village. We need a lot more of them, especially in the south and the north."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "Yes, we do. But we can''t afford to make them from iron anymore. So everyone will have to wait until Taniok and his apprentice get some free time - however long it would take - and then you can tell him to make more of them using wood. Those will still need a small amount of iron, but it would be a lot less than what was used in the first three wheelbarrows, since we made their whole trays from iron. And those wooden wheelbarrows wouldn''t be very costly anyway, so we can even allow the villagers to keep them wherever they are needed, instead of bringing all of them inside the manor every night."

    "I''m not sure when Taniok is going to get enough free time for that," Duvas commented, "since he has to start working on the second longhouse after this, and then he will have to make the gates for the walls, as well as the new watchtowers we plan to make. And you have also mentioned some other things as well. Having more carpenters here would have helped us a lot."

    Kivamus snorted. "Well it''s not like I can produce a new carpenter out of thin air! But those workers who are helping Taniok in making the longhouses would still be getting a lot of experience in woodworking. And I have already told Taniok to keep an eye out for those of them who show good talent for it, so that he can take them on as permanent apprentices later on."

    "It will take some time for sure," he continued, "but by the time all that work you mentioned is over, we should have more people who are capable of doing some basic woodworking. And at that time we can tell Taniok to teach them how to make a wheelbarrow from wood, so that they can keep making more of them on an ongoing basis. And once we have enough for our construction tasks, we can even start selling them to the village merchants or whoever wants to buy them from us."

    "Well, we can only hope that that time will come soon," Duvas muttered.

    Kivamus nodded. "Once the wooden wheelbarrows are available in good numbers, we can reuse the metal in the three iron wheelbarrows to make something else from them. We can even do that for the iron stands of the braziers, since we had to get everything built from iron to produce them quickly."

    "That''s... actually an excellent idea," Duvas said with a rare grin.

    "Well... it''s good to know that saving money still makes you happy," Kivamus muttered. "At least I don''t have to worry about you emptying my treasury with unnecessary spending any time soon."

    Everyone laughed at that statement, while Duvas just looked proud of his money management.

    Still chuckling about it in his mind, Kivamus kept walking towards the manor house along with others, with satisfaction in everyone''s hearts that everything was finally going so smoothly.

    As he reached closer to the manor house, suddenly, he heard a huge commotion from the storage barn on the left side of the manor, near the stables and the cattle shed. In the light of a brazier which was burning there, he saw that many servants and maids had gathered there. But why? There wasn''t even anything precious kept in that barn, except for some feed for the horses and their cattle.

    He looked at Hudan, who was walking next to him as well. "What''s happening there?"

    "Give me a moment and I''ll find out." Hudan started walking faster towards that barn, but before he went too far, a servant came running towards them with panic on his face.

    Immediately, Kivamus and others jogged towards that servant as well, who had stopped to catch his breath for a moment.

    The young servant looked completely shocked, and he glanced at Kivamus for a moment with fearful eyes, then looked back at Hudan, then eventually settled back to looking at Kivamus'' face again.

    "What is it?" Hudan bellowed. "Tell me!" Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire

    The servant pointed towards that barn with a shaking hand, and spoke in a stuttering voice. "He''s... he''s dead..."

    "What?" Kivamus asked with shock. "Who''s dead?"

 146. Gut Instincts

    The servant swallowed hard. "The... the bandit. He''s dead!"

    "You mean Sejkil?" Hudan asked with surprise.

    The servant quickly nodded. "Yes, I was going to get some hay for the horses from that barn, but... but the door was already open, and Sejkil looked to be in a bad way. And when I went to check on him, I saw that he wasn''t even breathing!" The young servant''s eyes were wide with fear as he continued, "There was nobody else inside the barn at the time, but... but the bandit had a lot of bruises, like he had been beaten up. I think... someone killed him..."

    Within a moment, Hudan looked at Kivamus. "Milord, you need to get inside the manor house, right now! It''s not safe for you here until we find out everything." Then he looked at the ex-mercenary. "You go and take a look at the body, and find out what happened. There might be more people who might have gotten injured or Goddess forbid, dead. I will get the guards ready in case there is another attack on the village happening."

    Feroy nodded, and immediately started jogging towards that barn with that servant in tow.

    "I''ll go and take a look as well," Duvas said, and started walking towards the barn.

    Gorsazo looked around them for a moment, then held one of Kivamus'' arms, and spoke to Hudan. "I''ll take him to the manor house."

    Hudan held up his hand. "No, wait a moment. You also need someone trustworthy who can fight." The guard captain looked around, and seeing someone, he called him up.

    Kivamus saw that it was Kerel - one of the experienced guards who had long iron grey hair - who came jogging towards them.

    Hudan quickly explained the situation to the guard, who immediately gave a nod and put a hand on the hilt of his sword, looking around them with alertness.

    The guard captain looked back at him. "I''ll be back to update you about the situation once I find out more." After he gestured to Kerel to take him towards the manor house, the guard captain jogged towards the gates of the manor.

    Kivamus was still so surprised by everything, that he didn''t think of protesting when Gorsazo and Kerel surrounded him from both sides to shield him with their own bodies, and started walking with him to the manor house. And before long, he was inside the manor hall, with the door firmly shut and barred. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo gently guided him towards a chair to sit, while Kerel had taken a position right next to the door, just in case. But Kivamus didn''t feel like he could sit calmly right now. So he removed Gorsazo''s hand from his arm, and started to pace inside the manor hall.

    What had happened here? Everything was going so well until now, but then this happens. His mind was still reeling with the news that a man had been murdered by someone within the manor. Could it be that the village was under another bandit attack? Or had the two escaped bandits returned again and got inside the manor while most of the guards were watching the award ceremony? Or was it another assassin sent by someone to kill him?

    He didn''t know anything at the moment. But the fact remained that once again, he had to hide inside the manor hall because someone dangerous had managed to infiltrate the manor. Again.

    He didn''t like it. He didn''t like this feeling at all.

    *******

    After some time, which was probably only half an hour in reality, but felt more like an eternity to him, there was a knock on the outer door. Once Kerel confirmed who it was, he opened the door and Hudan walked inside, looking angry as a raging bull. Duvas followed him inside as well, his tired face showing all his years.

    "Did you find out anything?" Kivamus asked.

    The guard captain took a deep breath and gave a nod. "Kerel, you go and keep an eye on everything outside." Then he looked at Kivamus. "It was just one death - of Sejkil, the bandit who had surrendered. Nobody else is dead or even injured." He took another breath and added, "The good news is that the village is not under attack, and there are no other bandits in sight."

    "And what''s the bad news? Gorsazo asked with worry.

    "We still have no idea who killed him," Hudan replied.

    "But why wasn''t someone watching him?" Kivamus asked with frustration. "This wouldn''t have happened if there was a guard keeping an eye on him."

    "We only wanted to prevent him from running away," Hudan replied, "and with the way Feroy had tied him up, there was no chance of him escaping. We just couldn''t afford to keep a guard there in all three shifts of the day. We simply don''t have enough guards for that."

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    The outer door opened again and Feroy entered the hall.

    Hudan looked at the ex-mercenary. "Did you find anything new?"

    Feroy gave a nod. "At first glance, it looks like an act of revenge to me. While I don''t yet know who did it, what I can tell you is that the bandit didn''t die an easy death, that''s for sure."

    Kivamus shuddered thinking about what that usually meant in this medieval world. He shook his head to get rid of that imagery. "Anything else you can tell about how he died?"

    Feroy thought for a moment. "I wouldn''t exactly say that Sejkil was tortured, but the bruises on his body told me that whoever did this certainly wanted to hurt him and make him feel pain. However, my best guess is that it was an amateur, or maybe a small group of amateurs who did this, and I believe that they only wanted to make the bandit suffer instead of killing him."

    "Why is that?" Kivamus asked.

    Feroy pointed his hand to the back of his head and explained, "The cause of death seems to be an injury to the back of the head, around here, and I think it happened when someone pushed Sejkil, making him fall backwards. But since his hands were still tied, Sejkil was unable to control his fall, and he shattered his skull when it hit a sharp corner on the base of the wooden post, on which he had been tied earlier." He added, "It was still fairly dark inside the barn when I looked at it in the light of a few burning torches, but I saw enough blood and bits of brain on that post to make me confident that I was right."

    He explained, "Before I had noticed the blood on the wooden post, I was thinking that someone had hit the back of his head with something hard, but I know that''s not the case, since whoever was hitting Sejkil, wanted him to feel that pain while looking at his face, since most of the injuries on Sejkil''s body are in the front part of his body. It was like someone was trying to interrogate him, although I can''t say why."

    Feroy continued after a moment, "So my best guess is that while the culprit certainly wanted to hurt him, the actual death was only a mistake, or rather, an accident." He shrugged. "Of course, all of this is only a speculation, because it''s not like we can go into the past and watch what happened."

    That immediately reminded Kivamus of the ever-present CCTVs on modern earth. If they had such a thing here, they could have easily found out everything. But there was no point in wishful thinking.

    He asked, "But if the culprits didn''t go there just to kill Sejkil immediately, then it must have taken time while they were hitting him. So why didn''t anyone see or hear anything?"

    Feroy shook his head reluctantly. "You already know that apart from the few guards at both our gates, nearly all of the servants and guards were outside to watch the award ceremony. And nobody thought Sejkil would be able to run away, so there wasn''t anyone to keep an eye on him, not that we can afford to put a guard there all the time."

    "Hudan told me about that. But still, do you have any idea who could have done this?" Kivamus asked. He hesitated for a moment, but then asked, "You said that it looked like an act of revenge... and our guards were the ones whom the bandits had tried to kill. They are the only ones who got injured in the raid on the village. So could it be one of our guards who did this in revenge?"

    Duvas immediately shook his head. "That''s not possible, milord. Apart from Hudan and Feroy, I have known all of our guards for at least a decade. None of them could murder someone in cold blood, or even do something like this."

    Kivamus gave a nod, but he knew that Duvas had a soft spot for the residents of the manor. So he asked Feroy, "Do you think so as well?"

    Feroy shrugged. "I know that many of the guards were grumbling about your decision to keep Sejkil alive, but I''m fairly sure that it wasn''t done by any of our guards."

    "You are only fairly sure?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

    Hudan snorted. "That usually means he is completely sure, since he is never going to trust anyone completely. And I think so as well. It wasn''t one of our guards."

    Kivamus nodded. "Alright. Then who else could have done this? If it wasn''t a guard, then I am assuming that none of our servants or maids could have done this either."

    Duvas nodded. "I trust all of them. It wasn''t one of them."

    "Then the only possibility which remains is that it was someone from outside the manor," Feroy replied.

    "But that means they would have had to climb over the manor walls," Hudan said with a frown, "and while it''s not impossible, it certainly wouldn''t be an easy task, especially if they didn''t know what they are going to find inside and where they are going to land - assuming they tried to jump over the walls using a ladder."

    Feroy snorted at the guard captain. "You are leaving the possibility that they might have just walked through the gates."

    "What? But both of our gates have at least two guards at all times," Hudan countered.

    "There are certainly supposed to be," Feroy muttered. "But that''s what my gut tells me."

    Right at that moment, the outer door opened again and Kerel walked inside. "Milord, you need to hear this."

    "What is it now?" Hudan growled.

    Kerel jerked his thumb towards the doors. "I found out that two of our guards who were supposed to be on watch duty at the eastern gates earlier, had left their posts without telling anyone. So I''ve brought them outside." Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

    Hudan looked at Feroy with surprise, who just grinned and gave a shrug.

    Kivamus shook his head at the ex-mercenary''s gut instincts which had been spot-on once again, and then walked towards the doors with others.

    Outside, there were two guards - both of them new recruits - who were standing there while gazing downwards in resignation, while there were around half a dozen other guards gathered around as well.

    "What made you think you could leave your post in the middle of your shift?" Hudan growled at them.

 147. Incompetence

    The guards uneasily looked at each other. The taller one gazed at Kivamus and spoke in a low voice, "We also wanted to see the medal ceremony, milord!"

    Hudan glared at him. "Then you should have asked someone else to take your place!"

    The other guard protested, "But we weren''t even supposed to be on duty at this time. The senior guards who were on duty called us over and told us to watch the gates while they went to watch the award ceremony."

    Hudan gazed at Kerel. "Find out who it was and bring them here. I''ll deal with them after this."

    Kerel nodded, and jogged away from them.

    Hudan asked the guards again. "But why did you just leave the gates open?"

    "No, sir!" The shorter guard gave a reluctant answer, "We barred the eastern manor gates from inside, and then we went to watch the ceremony as well. This was the first time that medals were being given to someone in the village, and we really didn''t want to miss it."

    The tall guard added, "We thought it wouldn''t do any harm. Those gates are hardly used these days since the coal mining has stopped. But we did bar them from the inside!"

    "No you didn''t," Feroy remarked. "If you had really barred those gates then whoever killed Sejkil would never have gotten inside the manor." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "But we did!" Then the taller guard hesitated and looked at the other one, "You did lock them, right?"

    Feroy tilted his head. "And why are you asking him? Weren''t you there as well?"

    "I really had to take a leak at that time..." the tall guard mumbled, "so I left first, and told him to lock the gates."

    Hudan frowned at them. "Shouldn''t you both have closed it together? The hinges of those gates are old, and it takes two men to close and bar those heavy gates."

    The taller guard looked surprised. After a moment, he muttered, "I didn''t know that it couldn''t be locked by one person... Those gates are only barred by the guards who get the night shifts, and we have never gotten that duty since we were recruited." He looked at the other guard. "Did you know about this?"

    The shorter guard just shook his head and sighed. "You know that I''d have stopped you from leaving if I had known."

    "So were you really able to bar the gates from inside just by yourself?" Feroy asked the shorter guard.

    "I did close the gates, but when I tried to bar them from inside," the guard mumbled, "it got stuck in a position and I couldn''t put the iron bar in place. I also heard the sound of cheering from the ceremony at that time, and I really didn''t want to be the only one to miss it! And when I still couldn''t do it after trying many times, I just put the bar on the side and went to see the medal ceremony..." He added in a low voice, "I thought nobody would even find out from outside the gates that it wasn''t barred, since the gates would still seem locked from the outside."

    "You are an idiot!" Hudan growled at them after hearing their stories. "Both of you! You left your post in the middle of duty, and then went to watch the ceremony for your entertainment without even locking the gates properly!" He angrily looked at the other guards who had been watching quietly. "Didn''t any of you think of reporting to me that the gates were already open, when we found out that Sejkil had been murdered?"

    Most of the guards just gazed downwards, while one of them protested, "But the gates are supposed to be open at this time!" He pointed at the two guards who were being questioned until now. "And those two were already back at the gates when I found them to be open, so I didn''t think it was anything odd that the gates were still open at this time."

    Hudan stared back at the two earlier guards and growled, "I''ll show you what it means to leave your post! I''m going to..."

    As Kivamus listened to the guard captain berate the guards while threatening to train them until they fell down from exhaustion, he realized that these guards were not really corrupt or even complicit in the death of Sejkil - just like Duvas was telling him earlier - but their actions certainly showed gross incompetence by them. Hopefully some serious disciplinary training in the future should instill in them the importance of following their orders and not leaving their posts in the middle of their watch duties.

    Then he remembered something and looked at the guards. "I was told that Sejkil didn''t die an easy death, which means he must have screamed a lot. Didn''t any of you hear anything?"

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    Most of the guards just shook their heads, while a few muttered that they hadn''t heard anything, since there was a lot of sound because of the crowd for the medal giving ceremony.

    However, one of the guards, whom Kivamus had given a medal for getting injured in the line of duty, was looking to the side hesitantly.

    Hudan barked at him. "What is it that you are hiding?"

    The guard looked towards them with indecision. Then he muttered in a low voice, "After I had gotten my medal, I was feeling thirsty so I came to the well to get some water to drink, and I did hear some sounds from that barn."

    Hudan took a step towards the guard in anger, but Kivamus put a hand on his arm to hold him back. The guard captain - who resembled a raging bull more than a human right now - took a deep breath to calm himself and stopped. Then he growled at that guard in a voice seething with fury. "You didn''t think of trying to take a look and see what was happening? What if it was something even worse? What if someone was trying to harm or kill one of our maids? "

    The guard looked down with shame. "I didn''t think about that... But I knew that Sejkil had been tied up inside that barn, so I just thought it must be one of the guards roughing him up a little. But I never thought he would die! And I didn''t even do anything myself! I didn''t even go inside that barn!"

    "Even if you thought it was Sejkil," Feroy asked him, "you still should have gone to take a look. Or at least you should have reported it to someone!"

    "But I thought..." The guard''s face showed anger for a moment before he controlled his expression. "That bastard Sejkil and the other bandits had tried to kill us! I thought it was only fair to rough him up in return. And I didn''t even do anything to him myself! I just didn''t think it was worth reporting."

    That response surprised Kivamus. Did the guards really hold that much fury against the bandits? But then he immediately realized that he was being foolish. Of course they would be furious at the bandits! He had been sitting safe inside the manor, but the guards had risked their lives against the lowlifes. Some of them had gotten injured and had barely returned alive, so of course they would want to take revenge against the bandits.

    He sighed. His modern mindset was habitual of a fair justice system and he just hadn''t been able to execute either Sejkil or Levalo without a proper trial and judgement, so he had given a second chance to them after giving them some time to contemplate on their life choices - hoping they would change their habits and try to live a good life. But since there was no permanent prison here, his order had basically meant forgiving the bandits for raiding the village and trying to kill people of Tiranat. His people.

    He looked in the eyes of the guards standing there, and he thought he saw resentment there, as if they had felt betrayed by his decision to essentially forgive Sejkil without any punishment, but perhaps it was only his imagination.

    He shook his head. Maybe... just maybe, he had been too forgiving. And perhaps it was a mistake for him to give a second chance to Sejkil to work as a laborer here, without even giving him any serious punishment. He did have his reasons for that - since they didn''t have a proper prison at the time - but more importantly, he was just happy that an extra worker would help to get the longhouses and other buildings made even faster, which would mean that the villagers wouldn''t have to live in cramped conditions with their neighbors for too long. But perhaps it was a mistake for him to not consider the other aspects of that decision.

    More importantly, could he really have ordered someone to be executed? He knew that the bandit deserved to be punished as severely as possible, but that was the task of trained judges who knew the law, but he was just an engineer dammit! How was he supposed to give an order to end someone''s life? Did he even have the right to do something like that?

    He took a deep breath. Despite everything that had happened, he still believed that a human life was precious - no matter what the standards were in this cut-throat medieval world - and shouldn''t be extinguished without being completely sure that the person didn''t deserve to live anymore.

    No matter what the nobles used as a form of justice in this world, and even if the majority of villagers would have supported him executing someone immediately - either for entertainment or revenge - he would try his best to stick to his principles of morality. But still, this incident had made him realize that he couldn''t continue to behave like he was living in twenty-first century Earth. Just like others were adapting to his views and ideals, he would also have to try to adapt to this world as well.

    That meant while he still wasn''t going to order his guards to execute someone without a due process - something which wasn''t feasible here without a well-written book of law as well as trained judges who were experienced in diligently carrying out that law - something still had to be done to punish criminals and lawbreakers.

    Earlier, he had thought of postponing making the jail for the future, after the more important construction projects were completed. But it seemed like he couldn''t do that anymore. This was still a harsh medieval world, and while he would do his best to stick to his values and ideals of justice, the people needed a way to see that the wrongdoers would be punished, even if it was just locking them up for a long time. Despite the fact that feeding a prisoner for a long time without them working for it would be an extra load on their food stores which they didn''t really need, it was a price he had to pay if he didn''t want something like this to repeat again.

    Of course, there was always the option of immediate execution if such a thing happened again in the future, but he''d keep that as the very last resort, and it would be done only after he had consulted with all his advisors on what the best punishment would be. A life would only be taken if and only if there really was no better way left, but he did have to keep that option open in the future, despite all his qualms against it.

    He nodded to himself, his resolve strengthened. Then he looked at the small crowd gathered around him and began to speak.

 148. Discipline and Departure

    "Listen everyone," he began. "I had good reasons for keeping Sejkil alive, but I also understand your concerns. I know you all had risked your life to fight with the bandits, so I realize that you may have felt that I was too lenient in giving out punishments. But the fact remains that we simply do not have a jail in the village right now, nor do we have a permanent prison here."

    In the light of the brazier burning nearby, he saw that many servants and maids had also started to gather there, and they began listening to him as well. Someone being murdered inside the manor had rattled all of them, and they looked very eager to know what he was going to do about it. It hardened his resolve to do his best to protect these people.

    Everyone listened carefully as he continued, "That''s why I have made a decision to build a jail here as soon as we can. Once the first longhouse is completed in a few days, I will tell the carpenter to start working on it immediately. This will be an isolated room within the manor where we can lock up someone who needs to be punished for anything which he has done wrong - up to and including life imprisonment for the most heinous crimes."

    The guards looked a little surprised by now, either by the fact that their baron was even talking to them about such a thing, or perhaps because he had not mentioned killing by execution in response to a crime. Kivamus exhaled. He wasn''t going to start executing people unless he had a very, very good reason for it, but at the same time, as much as he hated it, he knew that it was probably a necessary evil in this world.

    He swallowed before steeling himself and added, "Of course, there is still an option to simply execute someone who has done something unforgivable like murder or treason. But that will be considered on a case by case basis, and will only be decided once we are completely sure that that person is irredeemable."

    Immediately, many of the guards including Feroy and Hudan gave nods in reply, while Gorsazo gazed at him with understanding, perhaps knowing that he was unused to saying such a thing.

    Kivamus continued, "But that is for the future. Now, about Sejkil''s death, Feroy has told me that the actual death was most likely an accident, but the fact remains that some unknown person still did something like this. So our immediate concern is to find out who did this and to give him a fitting punishment. It''s not going to be easy to identify that person, but Feroy will be in charge of that, and he will do his best to find the criminal."

    The gathered crowd looked a little relieved to hear that something was being done about it, but many of them were still glancing left and right, probably worried that the murderer was amongst them.

    To assuage those concerns, he added further, "Also, let me assure you that after investigating it, we have come to the conclusion that it wasn''t a resident of the manor who did this, but rather someone else from the village. So you can still trust everyone here completely."

    Immediately, the small crowd gave sighs of relief, like a heavy weight had been removed from their shoulders.

    "Now to address the reason why something like this had happened in the first place." He looked at the two guards who had left their posts. "While the two of you were not directly involved with the death of Sejkil, it was still your fault that you left your posts at the gates without telling anyone else, and without even locking the gates properly. We can only be glad that it was a bandit who died, because it could very well have been one of us instead of Sejkil."

    The two guards immediately looked down with shame.

    "Please forgive us, milord!" The taller one bowed low and begged. "We just thought that the bandit raid had already been repelled, so there would be no harm in just watching the reward ceremony for a while. Please don''t lay us off!"

    The shorter guard appealed to him as well with a bow. "We won''t let anything like this happen ever again! We promise!"

    Kivamus gazed at their expressions which looked genuine enough to him. However, if the village''s situation was any better, he might really have fired them, but as of now they needed as many guards as they could. And while this was still a grievous error by those guards, they were still new recruits, and they weren''t corrupt or disloyal. So getting them more disciplined should take care that such a thing would never be repeated in the future.

    "Stand straight." As the two guards looked up, he continued, "Don''t worry, I am not going to discharge you two from the manor. For now." He stared at them for a moment, making them squirm, then gazed at all the guards present there. "But I never want to see such a mistake being made by anyone else in the future. You can rest assured that next time I won''t be so forgiving."

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    Immediately the two guards gave deep bows again, while saying, "Thank you milord! Thank you so much!" They repeated it again and again, until he put up a hand to stop them.

    However, even though he had gone easy on them for their mistakes, Kivamus had also learned his lesson to be strict when needed.

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    "That being said," he continued, "I still can''t let you go without punishment. So the both of you will be docked one month''s wages for indiscipline and dereliction of duty. We are not paying you in coins for now, but Duvas will note it down and will deduct it from your wages when we do start it in the future."

    The guards looked miserable on hearing that, but reluctantly, they gave nods of acceptance. "We understand, milord," the shorter one mumbled.

    Kivamus looked at the other guards now. "Also, the experienced guards who left their posts and put you two at the gates - even though it was your rest time - will also lose a month''s wages for this."

    He continued, "You simply cannot leave your post in the middle of duty. That is the lesson you all need to learn. And that''s why there are always at least two men at each gate. If there is an emergency and you really do need to leave, one of you should go and tell your superior first, so he can send a replacement for you. And only then can you leave your post."

    He added with a firm voice, "Such a thing can never be allowed to take place again, or the results might be much worse. So I won''t tolerate any lack of discipline in the future."

    The guards gave nods of understanding.

    Then Kivamus looked at the anxious maids and servants and smiled. "Don''t worry. Something like this won''t ever happen again. I''ll make sure of it."

    *******

    After they all had returned inside the manor hall, Feroy began, "Hudan will only leave tomorrow morning, so for now, I''ll go and try to see if I can find something about this in the village square or the alehouse. Maybe someone will blab something about this, you know?"

    "I''ll leave it to you," Kivamus said.

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, it is up to you to instill discipline in our new recruits as well as the experienced guards. Although not getting a month''s wages should remind them of the consequences if any of them thinks of doing something like this again, you''ll need to do more so they won''t forget this lesson." He added, "For today, just make those four guards keep running laps around the manor until they can''t walk anymore, and tell Kerel to continue this for them for at least a few weeks. This will also serve as a punishment for them, but at the same time their levels of fitness and endurance will keep increasing by this."

    Hudan nodded with a serious expression. "Don''t worry, I''ll make them train so hard that those guards won''t forget about their mistake for years."

    Kivamus gave a nod and asked, "Have you already selected the guards whom you are taking with you tomorrow?"

    "I have," the guard captain replied. "As much as I wanted to give some rest to Calubo after everything he''s been through, I still need to take him with me to show the way, as well as to show a familiar face to the stone cutters, otherwise they might just consider us as new slave-masters and refuse to come with us even if we do kill the bandits. I''ve also notified the other guards who''ll be coming with me and they are sharpening their weapons and preparing their armors right now."

    "That''s good." Kivamus added, "Let''s just hope those two escaped bandits don''t reach the quarry before you."

    He looked at Duvas. "Had you told Leah to start working on the fur coats we had gotten from the bandits?"

    "Of course," the majordomo replied. "I had also told Madam Nerida not to give her any other tasks for now, and then I ordered Leah to prioritize the fur coats. She''s been working on them continuously, and she''d already repaired a few of them during the day, but I told her to work on them as late as she could for tonight, even using the light of the braziers and the fireplace to repair more of them."

    Kivamus nodded. "Hopefully we will have enough of them by tomorrow morning."

    *******

    It was early morning right now, and the sun had barely started rising. Kivamus and the others were standing near the gates of the manor watching the guards get ready to leave. Although there was a brazier kept near the gates which he was using to warm his hands a little, it didn''t really help much, even in the absence of any wind. The weather seemed to be at freezing temperature right now, and the heavy cloud cover hadn''t reduced even a little bit.

    Earlier in the morning, he had been told that Leah had managed to sew seven usable fur coats from the eight damaged ones they had taken from the bandits, with the last one being sacrificed to make patches for the less damaged fur coats. But they were sending eight guards on this rescue mission, so he had added one fur coat from the manor house so that all the guards would be able to wear one of them.

    As he saw one of the guards load a small pack of food on one of the horses, suddenly he noticed that snowflakes were falling down. He looked up with surprise, and soon, he saw snow start to fall gently all around him.

    He held one of his hands ahead of him, and saw some of the snow start to gather in his palms. This was the first snow he was seeing in this world, and it marked the start of the harsh winters near the region of the Arakin mountains. He looked around, and saw that he wasn''t alone in gazing at the snow. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were looking at the first snowfall of the season.

    But soon, the guards continued loading up the horses with many different packs of food and waterskins which had been divided on multiple horses, so they wouldn''t lose all their food supply in case they lost one of the packs for some reason. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Madam Nerida had come through as well, and she had provided enough bread, hardtack and dried meat, along with some butter for the guards to sustain the journey with ease. They were also taking half a sack of crushed wheat with them to feed the stonecutters on the return journey, which was divided into multiple packs as well for safekeeping.

    Before long, Hudan walked towards him while tightening his newly received fur coat around him.

 149. Food And Clothing

    "We are ready to leave, milord," Hudan reported. "Also, the guards told me to thank you for the fur coats you have given all of them. They will be invaluable for us on this trip, especially since the snowfall has already started now."

    Kivamus waved it off, looking at the guards. "It''s nothing. Although we were able to provide proper winter outfits for these guards, we still need to do something about the rest of them." He looked back at Hudan. "I hope you kill the remaining bandits and return successfully with more workers for the village."

    Hudan nodded, and began to jog towards the rest of the guards - most of whom had already hopped on their horses. The guard captain gave a gesture to all the mounted guards, and with a flick of the reins, the horses began to slowly walk towards the gates.

    "May the Goddess help them," Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    And under the gently falling snowflakes, the horses and the guards exited the manor gates one by one. And with that, the plan to rescue the stonecutters was afoot.

    *******

    "How many guards do we have in total now?" Kivamus asked Duvas.

    They had returned back inside and were sitting inside the manor hall after their breakfast. With the snowfall having already started, everyone preferred to stay indoors unless it was necessary to stay outside. Even Lucem, who usually ran away here and there in his curiosity, was calmly sitting near the long dining table while Syryne tried to explain something to him and Clarisa.

    "We had twelve guards before you arrived, and then you recruited twelve more," the majordomo replied. "And now that Calubo has returned, we have twenty-five guards. That doesn''t include Hudan, Feroy and the two women we''ve hired as guards.

    "So excluding those who have left for the rescue mission, that leaves us with eighteen male guards here." Kivamus nodded. "That''s still a good enough number that now we can afford to send some more of them out from the village."

    "What do you have in mind, milord?" Feroy asked curiously.

    "I''ve been thinking about our food situation when Hudan returns with those stonecutters." Kivamus put his hand closer to the fire to heat them more. "I think we should start sending hunting parties now. Although it''s already snowing out there, any meat that they return with will only help us."

    He added, "Something also has to be done to provide better clothing for the villagers. While they might still survive the winter while wearing what they have on them, especially with the coal we are providing them for heating, this year I don''t want them to keep shivering in the cold like the previous winters. I''ve wanted to send a few scouts to look for losuvil vines in the eastern hills for some time now, and hopefully they will find some sheep there, which we can bring to the manor and use their wool to make some warm clothing."

    "While it would be a good idea to try to gather some sheep," Gorsazo commented, "usually their fleeces are sheared only after the winter, when they are at their thickest. So it wouldn''t be a good idea to shear their wool at this time even if we did manage to find some of them."

    "That does make sense," Kivamus muttered, not having thought about that.

    "While I''m no expert in that," Gorsazo continued, "I also believe it''s a complex process, which involves many steps to make woolen clothing."

    Kivamus tried to remember the process of making clothing from what he had read somewhere on the internet in the past. "You are right. From what I remember, there are indeed multiple steps involved in the process - from getting their wool, carding and spinning it into yarn, then weaving them into fabric, and eventually cutting and sewing it into clothing."

    Suddenly, he noticed that everyone was looking at him in surprise, except for Gorsazo who had a knowing grin on his face. "What?" He asked uncertainly.

    "I''m just surprised you know that much about sewing and uh... spinning, you know?" Feroy commented with a chuckle. "I never thought a noble would know that much about something which is usually only left to commoners like us, and mostly to women at that." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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    Although Kivamus had indeed spent a lot of his time reading about random things, it was on the internet and not in any library here, but that explanation would suffice for them, once again. He also wondered if there was a reason why he had been transported into the mind and body of someone who had spent a lot of his time alone, even though the original Kivamus'' reasons for spending time in the library was only to hide from his brothers.

    He laughed. "Well, you already know I spent most of my time in the libraries back in Ulriga palace. And one benefit of that is that I know a lot of obscure knowledge about well... commoners'' things."

    Duvas chuckled as well. "Yeah, you have told us about that before, but it was still surprising. Usually even those nobles who like to read often spend their time reading books about military strategies or such manly things." He added, "It''s not that I mind it, of course, since my old bones would certainly prefer to have warmer clothing - especially if we make them ourselves - which would mean they would be very cheap, instead of buying it from a place like Cinran, which costs a lot. Leah should be able to sew them too."

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    "Well, let''s not get ahead of ourselves here," Kivamus reminded them. "We don''t even know if we will be able to find any sheep there. But yes, if we are indeed able to start sheep farming in Tiranat, and assuming we are able to make good quality woolen clothing from them, we can even start selling them to merchants who visit here, which will add another source of revenue to our coffers."

    "I like that plan," Duvas said with an excited nod. "More revenue is always welcome! Especially since our expenses will go through the roof after the winter, when the Count sends someone to ask for taxes from us, not to mention the extra wheat we will need to buy to complete the sowing, since their prices will also be quite high at that time."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said.

    He knew that it would be a long and complex process to make woolen clothing, or basically any kind of clothing from the raw materials like wool or cotton, and he wasn''t sure if they even had the knowhow for that here. He didn''t think that they could grow cotton here in this climate, but if he could buy it from somewhere else for cheap, that would have a much bigger scope for manufacturing and exporting clothes, compared to things made from wool.

    He had already bought more than enough parchment and ink from Pydaso, and he had the full winter to design and get those machines built here. He didn''t remember the exact design of the machines, but he had still read enough on the internet about how new machines began to be invented on earth that his background in mechanical engineering would allow him to design them from scratch here. And if he really could get the local carpenter and blacksmith to make such machines - like a power loom, a cotton gin and so on... the possibilities were endless.

    In fact, that was how the first industrial revolution had started on earth! And who knows, if they were really able to produce such machines here, they would multiply the productivity of workers by a big enough factor that it might just kick off an industrial revolution in this world as well! He was already getting excited thinking about it, and he couldn''t wait to start drawing the designs for those machines.

    He looked at the majordomo. "That being said, why didn''t anyone search for sheep there, in the past?"

    Duvas shrugged. "The same reason as why we didn''t look for losuvil vines too far from the village. As you know, this area was unexplored and uninhabited before Tiranat was founded, and the previous baron spent more time in Cinran with other nobles than he did here. And there was also the fact that even if we had gotten some sheep here, we wouldn''t be able to make clothing from them anyway, since nearly all of the people who migrated here were coal miners in the past, and we didn''t get many skilled craftsmen here."

    He continued after a moment, "Even then, I had still asked the previous baron''s permission to look for sheep here, since I knew having those hills and the mountains in the east meant that there certainly should be many sheep there, and we could at least sell the wool to the visiting merchants. But he had denied me immediately, saying that he didn''t want to make his manor look even more like a shanty town, so he didn''t allow us to keep any more animals here than what we strictly needed."

    He added, "That''s the same reason why he used much costlier double-planked walls in the manor instead of making them directly from logs, since he didn''t want other nobles or any visitors from Cinran to think like he was living in a hovel - those were his own words."

    Kivamus sighed. "You did tell me that he didn''t really want to become the baron of Tiranat, and he only came here because it was an order from the count. Well, let the past stay in the past." He added, "Whatever the previous baron''s priorities might have been, I don''t want to leave any good opportunity unexplored here."

    "And I am thankful for that, my lord," Duvas added with a grin. "I can already see our strongbox overflowing with gold in the future... Maybe we would even have to buy another strongbox in the future!"

    Everyone laughed at that golden vision for a while.

    Once they had calmed down, Kivamus looked at them seriously. "Okay. So I think we should start with two hunting parties from today, and when Hudan returns with other guards we can send more of them to hunt."

    He looked at Feroy. "You have quite a lot of experience living in the wild, so what do you think the makeup of the hunting parties should be?"

 150. Hunting Parties

    Feroy thought about it for a while before replying, "Since the hunters would already be armed with bows and arrows, I think we should add two swordsmen in each group. And with four men in each hunting party, they should be able to take on most of the animals there."

    "Alright, four it is then." Kivamus looked at Duvas. "You mentioned that there were a couple of hunters in the village. Send a servant to them so they can get ready to leave within an hour."

    "We''ve already hired Yufim - who used to be a hunter - as a guard," the majordomo replied, "but I''ll send a servant to the other one. There aren''t any more hunters in the village though. No one had the money to buy too much meat anyway, so even those hunters only brought in barely more than what was necessary to feed their family, not that they wanted to venture into the forests alone any more than necessary."

    "But that''s still only two archers." Kivamus added, "We need two more to form a second group."

    "Well, Nurobo is our other archer," Feroy commented, "so we can send him as well. Apart from him, there are a few more guards who are decent shots with bows in their hands, so I''ll add the best ones amongst them to the other hunting party. The warbows we got from the bandits would be very helpful for us here. And I''ll also provide a few spears to each group as well."

    "Good idea," Kivamus said. "While one group can choose which direction to go, the other group should always go to the east for now, so that they can also keep an eye on the local plants and see if they can find any losuvil vines there. They should also be on the lookout for any sheep, which are likely to be found only in the east, between the hills, or maybe even further in that direction."

    Feroy nodded. "I''ll let them know about it."

    "But how will they carry the animals back to the village," Kivamus asked, "especially if they get lucky and catch something big like a deer? What did they do about it in the past?"

    "Usually they only caught rabbits, squirrels and such small game," Duvas replied with a shrug, "since there wasn''t much of a demand for meat here. And those can easily be put inside a small burlap backpack."

    Feroy suggested, "We could make some simple stretchers here which would allow the hunters to carry back a lot of meat, especially since there will be four men in each group. It''ll just need two straight pieces of strong wood, and some sturdy pieces of ropes to tie between them. I''ll go and tell a few servants to find some suitable ropes for this, and to bring in some straight pieces of wood from the north of the village."

    "That''s a good idea, you should do that immediately after this meeting," Kivamus said. He continued, "When Taniok gets some free time, we''ll tell him to make the stretchers properly, by cutting straight pieces of wood, and with proper handles. Later on, we will even get a few sledges made for bringing in even bigger animals after some snow has gathered on the ground. But for now, those wooden sticks should do the task well enough. Also, make sure to give some rope to the hunters to tie those animals to the stretchers."

    "Of course," Feroy nodded. "Every hunter takes some rope with them anyway, even if only to use as a snare."

    "That reminds me," Kivamus said, "why aren''t we setting up such traps here?" Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

    "The hunters are already doing that," Duvas replied, "and that''s how they get most of their meat - including what we ate earlier in the feast. I did tell you earlier that they don''t go too deep in the forest, but they do put some traps and snaps just inside the tree line. Although, now that we are clearing the forest all around the village, that tree line keeps shifting away, so they have to keep searching for new places to put those traps, which has reduced the amount of meat the village is getting."

    "Alright, we can''t stop clearing the forests, but we can certainly try to make it more sustainable," Kivamus suggested. "For example, we can capture some wild rabbits and create an enclosure to raise them here. Even putting half a dozen of them inside a rabbit pen would mean we would start to get a lot more of them after they start breeding. And after the rabbits in the first litter have grown up in a few more months, we will regularly be getting meat and fur from them." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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    He added with a shrug, "I''m certainly not an expert in this, so I''m just giving some rough estimates. But I am sure one of the hunters would know a lot more about this than I do, and he can help us in raising the animals. Still, it''s very much doable and the rabbits could become quite productive for us within a few months."

    Then he noticed that Gorsazo was smirking at him.

    "What?" Kivamus asked him with a frown.

    Gorsazo tilted his head and grinned. "Nothing. I am just surprised to hear that there is something you are not claiming to be an expert in."

    Kivamus knew that Gorsazo was saying this even after knowing about his origin and the reason behind most of his knowledge. He had even told him many more things about life on earth in some free time, and Gorsazo had seemed completely fascinated with everything about life on modern Earth - including the internet and the kind of information that was available there, so he realized that the jibe was only meant as a joke.

    He laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Even I don''t know everything, no matter how much I enjoyed reading in the past."

    Others gave good natured chuckles as well at his reply, even though they had no idea about the thing called internet.

    "Anyway," he continued, "I''ll add making a small rabbit pen inside the manor to the ever-growing list of things we need Taniok to build. He will need to add wooden bars on all sides including the floor, so they don''t just dig their way out. Once we have it ready along with a few rabbits inside it, one of our maids can take care of them with the help of a hunter - perhaps even Yufim." He added, "And later on, we could even make a dedicated barn or a warehouse to raise the rabbits at a much larger scale, but that''s far in the future."

    "I can already see the benefits in that - not to mention it might become another small source of revenue for us," Duvas replied. "I''ll tell the hunters not to butcher any rabbits they catch from now on. And we can just keep them inside our cattle feed storage barn or maybe within the cattle shed itself until that pen is made."

    "That''ll work," Kivamus agreed, "although I think that the enclosure should be made inside one of the barns or maybe as a covered extension of the cattle shed, since it would be too cold for them outside in the snow. "

    Duvas nodded. "We''ll ask the hunters for their suggestions before we build it, but either way, we will have to keep the rabbits indoors."

    Kivamus gave a nod, but then he remembered something. "Actually, now that we will be regularly sending all our hunters out of the village, who will take care of the traps from now on?"

    Duvas shrugged. "It''s not really a problem, my Lord. Once the hunters have found a good place to put the snares, putting up any new trap barely takes any time. And then they only have to check the traps once in a while to see if something has been caught. So I''ll tell the hunters to put traps every time before they leave for hunting with the other guards, and then someone else from their families, or maybe their wives can check the traps occasionally."

    "Alright, that should work," Kivamus replied. But there was something he was getting curious about. He asked, "I know the previous baron wouldn''t have allowed you to raise rabbits when he was here - for the same reasons he didn''t allow you to keep too many animals here - but why didn''t you do it in the past few months? At that time, you already knew that he was dead and couldn''t stop you from keeping more animals here."

    Duvas sighed. "We just couldn''t afford to keep any hunted animals alive for too long when most of the people were already starving here. Anything the hunters caught was usually consumed on the very same day, and it simply wasn''t feasible to keep them for the future when everyone was close to starvation."

    "Right... Well, that''s in the past now," Kivamus replied, trying not to think about those dark times in the village. "Now that everyone is getting proper meals every day, we can easily afford to do this."

    After a moment, Feroy said, "Milord, I have a suggestion. I think we shouldn''t send the hunters too deep into the forest for now. They don''t have much experience in going too far inside the forests - which will be much more dangerous compared to the edges they go to put the traps in."

    He continued, "Also, it has started snowing here now, and even though we got many new fur coats from the bandits, we have already given them to Hudan and the other guards who left for the quarry. And without such fur coats it would be difficult for the hunters to brave the freezing nights inside the forests, you know?"

 151. Sketching

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Let them know that until Hudan and the others return, they should keep the hunting trips short and target to return by evening or early night every day. That will also allow them to properly warm up their bodies indoors after enduring the cold throughout the day, since they would get a proper fireplace burning with coal here, unlike in the forest where they might not even be able to light a fire for various reasons."

    He continued, "And once we are able to provide them with fur coats - by which time we''ll also try to get some sledges made - they can go deeper into the forest on longer trips, along with the sledges to try to hunt and bring back bigger game."

    "I''ll tell them about this," Feroy replied with a nod. "By that time they would also have some experience of hunting in coordination with the guards, and hopefully, by then they should be able to start catching bigger animals like any isolated wolves or moose. At that time, once they''ve found a sizable prey, the archers can try to shoot down the beasts from afar, and then the swordsmen would move in up close to make the kill on the already wounded animals."

    "That''s a good plan," Kivamus commented. He looked at others. "Once we are able to send more hunting parties in the coming weeks, along with raising a good number of rabbits by the summer months, we should regularly start getting a good amount of meat from them. And at that point, we should get enough fur from them that we might be able to provide proper winter clothing to everyone by the next winter. Maybe we could even sell the best quality furs to any visiting merchants or directly to the Cinran''s market to get some extra gold."

    "I always like hearing about a new source of revenue," Duvas remarked with a grin. "And since the process of making winter coats from fur is much less complicated than making new clothing from wool, Leah should be able to sew up that fur by herself."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus observed, "but when it comes to making new clothing, getting that much wool is a much bigger problem. Even If we don''t have the proper tools or knowhow to make woolen fabric from it, we can just put that wool directly between two layers of cotton or linen clothing and sew them up to make a decent woolen coat. That would still be much better than the clothing villagers wear these days."

    "I understand that," Duvas replied. "But either way, hopefully we will be able to get some extra gold in the future from these projects."

    Kivamus nodded. "That being said, with eight guards out on the rescue mission, as well as those who''ll go on the hunting trips, we will be a little short on guards again until Hudan and the others return. So getting a few more women to join up as guards soon would be very helpful for us. So I wanted to ask if there is any progress in recruiting any more women, apart from the two we''ve already hired?"

    Duvas gave a reluctant shake of his head. "Not really, my lord. I have already made a few announcements in the village square about this, but they are still reluctant to join us."

    Kivamus nodded as he watched Madam Helga take away the cutlery from the long dining table. And that gave him an idea. "You know what, so far only men have made the announcement to recruit women, whether it was done by the guards or you. But that''s not likely to work - as we have already seen, since you can''t give the perspective of women. So I want you to take a few women with you when you go to the market square to make the announcement next time. And they should give their views about this."

    He continued, "Madam Helga can tell about the risks and hazards of living in a dangerous place from her own experience, while Madam Nerida can tell them about the perks and benefits of living inside the manor. Whatever our current financial insufficiencies might be, life inside the manor would still be much more comfortable and safer for the women of the village - especially those who are living alone. And another time, you should take a couple of younger women from the manor to speak at the market square. Even the sisters whom we have already recruited can tell about the training they are going through, the kind of meals they regularly get here and how they are treated in the manor, as well as what they like and dislike about working as the only female guards."

    Finally, he added, "Hopefully that should give some motivation to the other woman to join us as guards."

    Duvas nodded. "I still say that recruiting female guards might just be a pointless undertaking at best, but I''ll do as you say."

    "Don''t worry about that," Kivamus said with a smile, "you will come around to my viewpoint when we start making crossbows here, which are going to make women just as effective guards as men."

    Duvas snorted. "I''ll believe it when I see it."

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    *******

    It had been four days since Hudan and the other guards had left for the quarry, and so far there was no news from them. But Kivamus had expected that it would easily take more than a week for them to return, so hopefully, there was no need to worry about them for now.

    The snow had been falling continuously since then, and by now small patches of snow had started to gather on the ground as well. While it wasn''t quite a winter wonderland outside, it did mean that it was biting cold all the time. But so far the light amount of snow gathered on the ground wasn''t enough to stop any of the construction process or the clearing of forests.

    This was Kivamus'' first winter in Tiranat, but from what he had learned from the others, it was rare for more than a few inches of snow to gather in this village, except for the years with particularly harsh winters which deposited a lot more snow than usual. Hopefully, this won''t be one of those years. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Being motivated by the personal viewpoints of their female guards and the older women from the manor, they had also gotten two more women as recruits. They had also been allotted to live in the upper floor of the servants'' hall along with the other maids, where Isomi and Savomi were living as well, and Kerel had slowly started to include them in running and other basic physical exercises and stretches.

    The hunting parties had been going out every day, but so far they hadn''t been very successful in catching anything sizable. But the small game which they had been bringing in was still a noticeable improvement over the past. Apart from a small amount of meat which they kept for their own use in the manor, most of it was now being added to the stew which was provided to the elderly villagers and the children as free meals every evening.

    By now, the hunters had also brought two rabbits which they had been able to catch alive, and they had given it to the maids to keep safely within the manor. It was only a start, but if they were able to catch more of them, they should hopefully be able to start raising rabbits here.

    That was the good news. The bad news was that Feroy still hadn''t heard anything about who had entered the manor in the dark and killed Sejkil - even if by accident. Whoever the culprits were, they were keeping completely silent instead of bragging about how they had taken revenge against the bandit. But hopefully, Feroy would be able to get some hints in the future from the ample time he spent in the market square and the alehouse of the village.

    Apart from that, another undesirable news was that the hunters who had been going to the east of the village hadn''t sighted any losuvil vines or any sheep in that region so far. But there was still hope for the future, since they had barely covered a small area, and there was a lot of ground to cover in that direction. Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

    Kivamus regularly joined the guards in the mornings for some running and light training as well, though he didn''t stay there nearly as long as the guards themselves. He had also noticed that the four guards whose blunders had caused Sejkil''s death to happen were being run ragged every day in the training.

    Right now, it was approaching evening but there was still some time before it got fully dark. And for the past few hours Kivamus had been alone inside the manor hall, which had become his makeshift office in recent weeks. He was leaning over the long dining table, which also doubled as a workbench for him, while sketching on a piece of parchment. Along with the fireplace burning on one side of the hall, a few more braziers had been kept in the corners of the large room, to make it warmer, as well as to give some more light inside for him to work.

    Today, he was working on another iteration of a blueprint for the seed drills he wanted to get built here. Once he was done with the sketch, he stood up straight, and gazed at the diagram again, but he still didn''t feel satisfied with it. It was only a rudimentary design, which he had sketched keeping in mind the capabilities of the local craftsmen, and it should be able to do the task it was meant for.

    But after gazing at the diagram for a few minutes, he shook his head. Something still felt missing to him in the sketch. Giving a loud exhale, he dragged the used parchment to one side to a slowly growing pile, and pulled up a new one to start from scratch.

    Right at that moment, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Duvas walked inside with a huge grin.

    "There is good news, my lord," the majordomo reported. "The construction of the first longhouse block is finished."

    "What?" Kivamus said with surprise. "That''s wonderful!"

    "It certainly is," Duvas agreed with a smile. "A laborer had just come running to the manor to report it. He told me that Taniok has nailed the last of the bunks to the walls, and with the other things already completed there, the longhouse block is now ready to move in."

    "This is certainly good news!" Kivamus echoed. "We should go and take a look at it."

    "As you wish," Duvas said with a nod. "I''ll tell Feroy to gather a few guards to accompany us."

    Kivamus nodded. "Tell Gorsazo to come with us as well. I think he had gone to talk with Madam Helga again."

    The majordomo nodded. "I''ll send a servant to fetch him."

    "Okay, then. I''ll meet you at the gates soon," Kivamus said before Duvas exited the outer door.

    Kivamus took another look at the parchment where he had just started sketching another design for the seed drill. Eh, it could wait. The longhouse block was the first major project they had embarked on after his arrival in the village, so he was very excited to see it.

    He picked up his fur coat where he had draped it above a chair, and tightened it firmly around him. And with that, he exited the outer door as well. The longhouse block awaited him.

 152. The First Longhouse Block

    The setting sun cast long shadows across the clearing as Baron Kivamus Ralokaar approached the newly constructed longhouse block. The air was thick with the smell of burning coal and damp earth, while the rhythmic thud of hammers somewhere in the area punctuated the silence. Smoke curled lazily from a couple of braziers kept in front of the building, where a group of villagers were warming up their hands.

    Although the snowfall seemed to have stopped for now, small patches of snow gathered on the ground here and there told him that the temperature still remained below freezing. He believed that most likely it was only a short respite from the snowfall, until the time it would undoubtedly start again later on.

    Further ahead in the north, he could see that the new village walls seemed to be standing tall in that direction - along with a gap in the middle for the new gatehouse which would be built there - though he didn''t know how far those walls extended yet. It would still take quite a bit of time to complete them.

    As he reached closer and stepped over the newly dug drainage ditch using a couple of planks which had been kept there for that purpose, a hush fell over the laborers who had been working nearby. His two guards, faces grim and alert, flanked him, their eyes scanning the small crowd for any signs of trouble.

    Kivamus, however, was more interested in the longhouse block itself. It was a sturdy structure, its walls built from rough-hewn logs with their barks removed, and the gaps between them patched over with a blend of mud and straw to prevent the icy winds from entering the building. Its slanted roof built with planks sloped steeply on both sides, and was designed to shed the heavy snowfalls that would inevitably come.

    The laborers, a combination of men and women, watched him with awe and apprehension as he scrutinized the construction. He also noticed a small group of children huddled near the entrance, their eyes wide with wonder as they watched the baron approach. He smiled at them, offering a gentle wave. The children, emboldened by his gesture, shyly waved back. It was a small gesture, but Kivamus knew its importance. These children were the future of Tiranat, and it was his duty to ensure that they had a safe and prosperous future.

    "Let''s look at it from the inside as well," he said to the others who had accompanied him from the manor. They gave nods, and walked along with him as he moved towards the entrance.

    As he passed through the heavy wooden gates, he found himself in a square courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, a gnarled Bilona tree stood stark against the twilight sky, its thick branches reaching out widely, devoid of leaves in the winter months. There were some small clumps of snow gathered on the ground here as well, but once spring arrived, there was enough space here for the residents to easily cultivate some vegetable patches to add a variety to their diets.

    A few laborers were still busy loading some tools - hammers, saws, and chisels - into a waiting wheelbarrow, while Taniok gave orders to some other men and women on one side. When the carpenter noticed them, he said something to the laborers and immediately started walking towards him.

    "You are here already, milord!" Taniok exclaimed. "I thought you''d only visit tomorrow. We still have to do some cleaning up here..."

    Kivamus chuckled. "I couldn''t wait to see the result of your hard work."

    The carpenter seemed a little embarrassed at the praise, and rubbed the back of his balding head. He did have a thick wooly hat to cover his pate - unlike most of the laborers - but he was holding it in his other hand for now.

    Taniok gestured towards one of the doors there. "Let me show you the insides as well."

    Kivamus nodded and followed behind him along with Gorsazo and Feroy, while Duvas stayed behind to talk with some villagers. As he reached closer, he noticed the intricate details - the carefully crafted wooden doors, the small windows, with planks of the wooden floor meticulously attached together like a jigsaw puzzle. There was a series of wooden bunks attached to each side of the building - one above the other - while each pair of bunks was separated from the next two by a vertical section built of planks as well.

    As he looked to the other side, these bunks extended to the end of that section - which would have been the first longhouse before he had decided to convert them into a single longhouse block. This single block should still be able to house the majority of the villagers who had been homeless before he arrived here.

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    A few laborers had also followed them inside curiously, and they followed behind him as he walked around. He asked a few simple questions to them as well, to make them feel included. The laborers, keen to impress their lord, eagerly answered all his questions, their voices filled with a newfound sense of pride. He was glad to see the people of the previously scared and hungry village coming together and feeling the accomplishment of completing this building.

    Soon, he returned outside to the courtyard, and noticed that there was a small crowd gathered near the outer gates, with Duvas standing in the middle of them.

    Curiously, he began walking towards them, followed by Feroy and Gorsazo. Once the villagers noticed him, they parted aside, and he saw that a laborer was typing a thin rope to the two sides of the open gate.

    Once he reached there, Duvas began with a grin, "My lord, I thought this would be a good time to get this building inaugurated by you. I couldn''t find anything like a ribbon here, but you should still cut the rope in front of all the villagers. It''s tradition, my Lord."

    So that''s what the crowd was doing! He wondered how the same tradition had been preserved in this world as that on earth. But he would likely never know the answer to that.

    Despite everything, Kivamus was still not habitual of being treated like a big celebrity or politician, and considered himself a normal person like he used to be on earth. But, the fact remained that he was the Baron of Tiranat now, and for the villagers here, he constituted the only real figure of authority in this region. And that meant any events like cutting ribbons to inaugurate the longhouse block fell to him. He was still not sure whether he liked it, but he knew that he didn''t dislike it anymore.

    He looked at Gorsazo and whispered, "Does this really need to be done by me?"

    Gorsazo shrugged. "It will barely take a moment, but it will boost the morale of the villagers to see even a simple event like this. It will make them feel like they have really accomplished something, since it is being inaugurated by their baron - a noble."

    Giving an uncertain nod, Kivamus bent down below the rope and walked to the outside of the building, followed by others. This was the first construction project which had been finished under him, and its completion signified that no one would have to sleep in the open anymore. Perhaps it was a good idea to make an event of its inauguration after all.

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    He looked around him, and saw that one of the villagers here must have told about his visit to others working in the north, and by now there was a sizable crowd gathered outside the longhouse block. But the immediate area around the gates had been cleared of people by his guards, and only Duvas and Gorsazo were standing next to him, with Feroy keeping an eye on the crowd. A murmur of approval rippled through the crowd as he took a pair of slightly rusty iron scissors from Duvas.

    As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the clearing in a warm, golden light, Kivamus turned to the villagers. "It is a fine structure," he declared, his voice carrying across the gathering. "You have all worked tirelessly, and the results are truly impressive. Well done!" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The villagers, their faces illuminated by the fading light, beamed with pride. They had built this longhouse, log by log, plank by plank - a symbol of their resilience and their unwavering hope for a better future. And they couldn''t be happier to be praised by their baron.

    Once Kivamus saw the villagers were all looking at him with cheery anticipation, he grinned as well, and deciding not to make them wait anymore, he walked a step further and cut that thin rope joining the two ends of the open gates, and immediately, the crowd erupted in cheers of joy.

    Some of them were clapping in happiness, while others were pumping their fists in the air - likely those laborers who were part of the construction team for this block. The few children who were standing at the front of the crowd had also started jumping in happiness, even though they might not understand too much about the event - but such a rare day of happiness was easily infectious.

    Slowly, the cheers started to die down, and the crowd started milling around, hoping to be the first to enter the longhouse block after its formal inauguration. Immediately, his guards surrounded him and cleared the way to a side for him. He and the others moved a little further back from the crowd, letting them enjoy the moment.

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Although we tried our best, we were still late in completing this before the start of snowfall. So it was a good idea to house the homeless people temporarily with other villagers."

    Duvas nodded. "We have to start shifting villagers here from tomorrow, so we have to decide who will move here first, since there still aren''t enough bunks for everyone here."

    Kivamus agreed with a nod. "My calculation was that there would be one hundred and twenty-four bunks in each longhouse block." He looked at Taniok who had also followed them. "Is that still accurate?"

 153. Additions

    The carpenter nodded. "It is, milord." He added, "And there should be no problem cooking meals for that many people here, since the kitchen and storage room of the longhouse block are also ready."

    "That''s good to hear." Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "Calubo told us that there were twenty-six stonecutters at the quarry, so we have to keep that many bunks empty for them. That leaves us with ninety-eight bunks. So we should prioritize shifting those people here first who have been living in the most congested houses, and the other villagers who have only taken in one or two homeless people can keep them for a while longer." Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

    Duvas nodded. "I''ll refer to my notes where I had written down the name of every villager who had been housing someone else. I''ll sort them according to what you said, and I''ll send someone to let those people know that they can start shifting here from the morning." He added, "Also, now we won''t have to pay grain and coal to those people who had been housing the homeless until now, so it will ease up the spending of our grain stores on them."

    "That''s true," Kivamus said, "but make sure to keep providing it to those people who are unable to shift their temporary tenants to the longhouse block for now."

    The majordomo gave a nod. "And what should we do about the free meals we distribute after shifting people to the longhouse?"

    Kivamus thought about it for a moment. "It''s just a small amount, since the laborers are already earning their meals. The only difference will be that their food will now be cooked together in the common kitchen of the longhouse block, instead of them cooking it separately at their homes. But I still think the time is right for us to start scaling down the free meals now."

    He continued, "Here is what we''ll do. Instead of providing cooked meals directly, we will provide an equivalent amount of wheat and vegetables free of cost to the longhouse block - enough to feed all the elderly and children who are going to live in it. This way that free grain we provide will be added to the stores of each longhouse block, so that they can cook the regular meals in their kitchen for everyone who is living there."

    Kivamus added, "Making the elderly and the children walk everyday in such cold weather from the longhouse block to the manor isn''t a good idea anyway. So this will help to prevent that as well. This will also ease the pressure on our maids to cook that much food, which will free more of their time for other tasks. However, there will still be some of the elderly and children who are going to be living with other villagers even now, because of a shortage of space in the first longhouse block, so we will still keep cooking a small amount of extra food to provide to them regularly."

    "I''ll do as you say," Duvas said with a nod. "I''ll tell the servants to transfer a few sacks of grain and coal to the longhouse block in the morning. The wheelbarrows would be quite helpful in this."

    He added, "I''ll also designate a reliable person as the storekeeper for the longhouse''s storage room like we discussed earlier - preferably one of the elderly villagers since they don''t have to work as a laborer - so they can stay at the block for most of the day. Only he will have the key for that room, so that he can ensure that the grain storeroom of the block will be safe, and he''ll also keep a track of what is remaining there, so that they can ask the manor to provide more grain or coal in case the storeroom is getting empty."

    "Good!" Kivamus asked, "What about the new braziers I had asked to be made for the block?"

    "Cedoron had sent someone to tell me that they''ll be ready by tomorrow," Duvas answered. "And as we discussed, these will only use an iron tray with wooden supports, to save on some iron."

    Kivamus nodded. At that moment, he saw the old priest of the village with his patched robe ambling slowly towards them. He had put the cowl of his robe on his head to prevent the cold from seeping in, but his long white beard made him recognize the priest easily. Others immediately gave bows of respect to him. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Bless you all," Father Edric spoke with a raised hand. Reaching closer, he looked at Kivamus and pointed to the inside of the longhouse block which was visible from where they were standing. "You have done a good thing for the villagers. It will ensure everyone has a roof this winter." He added with a grandfatherly smile, "May the Goddess bless you and give you the strength to keep providing for the villagers."

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    Kivamus gave a short bow as well in respect. "Thank you, Father Edric. I''ll keep trying to do my best for them."

    "I know you will, milord, I know you will." Father Edric continued, "Well, I should meet with the other villagers too. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the old priest slowly walked towards the gates of the longhouse block, with other villagers immediately surrounding him to ask for blessings.

    As Kivamus turned around to leave, he saw that standing quite apart from the small crowd gathered around the priest, there was one little girl - probably no older than five - reaching out a hesitant hand to touch the rough bark of the Bilona tree. She might have been homeless in the past, Kivamus thought, with the way she gazed with wonder at the newly constructed building. But then he smiled, knowing that it was now a thing of the past for her.

    This was the future of Tiranat - these children, full of hope and promise. He had a responsibility to ensure that they had a bright future, a future free from want and despair. Then he got an idea while looking at a worker who was pulling down a rope which had been put on a branch of the bilona tree.

    He looked at the carpenter. "You must have a few extra planks remaining with you, right?"

    Taniok hesitated. "I had only cut enough planks to complete all the bunks, but there might be a couple of them still lying around. Why, though?"

    "I want you to make something else tomorrow," Kivamus replied. "Don''t worry, it will barely take any time. Just take a sturdy plank, and after making sure it''s smooth and in a good condition, make two holes at each end of it."

    He pointed inside the longhouse block. "Then loop two strong ropes around a horizontal branch of the tree, and attach the end of those ropes with that plank to make it a seat. This way children can play with it as a swing." He added, "Most of their parents go to work during the day, so they might get bored otherwise. But this way they will have something to distract them, and it will be a safe play area where the children can be left to their own devices without their parents worrying too much about them."

    Taniok nodded slowly. "It''s simple enough. I''ll build it tomorrow."

    Kivamus looked around for a moment, and finding the middle aged foreman for the north, he called him closer.

    Yeden jogged towards them slowly, and asked, "What is it, milord?"

    Kivamus said, "There is something I want you to do. Tell a few workers to gather some dirt in a wheelbarrow tomorrow morning, then put it around the trunk of the Bilona tree at its base. You should gather enough dirt that it is around two feet high from the ground, and perhaps three feet wide. You can use some smooth stones at its edges to give it strength if needed. This will become a place for the older residents of the longhouse block to sit in the winter and soak in the sun - whenever it does come out."

    He added, "And in the summer, when the leaves come back on the tree, this will be a place for them to sit around in the shade, while keeping an eye on the children who will have to stay at home while their parents are out working."

    Yeden gave an immediate nod. "I''ll do it in the morning, milord. It''s easy."

    Then Kivamus looked back at the carpenter. "Your next task is to build an isolated jail room in the manor. Duvas will give you the details, but in short, while it only needs to be big enough to hold five or six people at a time, it should be sturdy enough that escaping from it shouldn''t be feasible. And you can simply use the logs for this, instead of planks, to finish it quickly."

    Taniok frowned. "Are you sure about that, milord? The previous baron wanted everything built only from planks in the manor."

    Kivamus chuckled. "Yeah, I am very sure. I don''t care about the aesthetics as long as something does what it is meant to do."

    Taniok nodded. "While the planks have to be cut either by me or my apprentice, the cutting of logs by other workers hasn''t stopped at all. We already have gathered a big pile of them ready to use as the walls for the second longhouse block. So it should be easy enough to move some of them to the manor using the log-mover." He added after a moment of thought, "I think I can build the jail by tomorrow evening, and if not, then certainly by some time next day."

    "Good." Kivamus continued, "After that, you have to start working on the second longhouse block. There is no point in building the gatehouses until most of the village wall is already complete."

    He looked at the foreman of the north. "How long is that going to take from now?"

 154. Recon

    Yeden thought about it for a moment. "Give or take a month, I''d say. By then the wall should be fully completed, apart from the gatehouses."

    Kivamus nodded, and continued speaking to the carpenter, "We will postpone the gatehouses until after the wall is finished. For now, you should work on the second longhouse block only. And make sure to keep training a few apprentices along with you, so they can take over building simple things to free up more of your time."

    Taniok nodded. "I''ve already selected one of them and described to him how to build a wheelbarrow tray and its wheels from wood. Assuming he does well - and I believe he will, since he is a talented lad - he should be able to regularly build new wheelbarrows from scratch just by himself, as long as the blacksmith provides him with the few iron parts he will need."

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus praised. "And of course, Duvas will let the blacksmith know about it. Getting many more wheelbarrows built cheaply during the winter is going to help us a lot when we start sowing seeds in the spring."

    He looked around him again, feeling glad by the villagers'' enthusiasm for the new longhouse block, which was also going to be the new home for many of them.

    "Let''s return then," he said to the others, and started walking back towards the manor.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests southwest of Cinran ~

    Calubo pulled up the reins of his horse to stop it from moving. They had been traveling continuously for four days now, and they still hadn''t caught any sight of the quarry. It had been much more difficult than he had thought it would be.

    He was the one leading the group of guards, so others stopped behind him as well once he slowed down. He looked around him for a moment trying to see if he recognized anything here. But it wasn''t easy in this forest where all the trees without leaves looked similar to him, even though he had come many times to hunt outside the quarry with some other bandits. But even though it was quite cold, at least it wasn''t snowing yet, or it would be nearly impossible to find their path if everything looked the same around them after being covered with white snow everywhere.

    The fur coats that Lord Kivamus had given to all of them had been very helpful to them, and because of them the guards had been able to keep moving for longer, instead of stopping regularly to light a fire and heat up their bodies. Truthfully, he was still surprised that the baron had given it to them instead of keeping it for himself. Maybe the rumor he had heard from other guards about the baron treating even the commoners under him like humans really was true. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

    "Do you see anything you recognize?" one of the guards asked in a tired voice.

    Calubo just shook his head reluctantly, and prodded the horse to start moving again, with others following behind him after a moment.

    It was nearly dark already, so they would have to stop for the night soon. While he knew for sure that they were going in the general direction of the quarry, he still hadn''t been able to find something which would give him a reference of the locations.

    As they kept moving for a while, he saw something further ahead of them which he thought he recognized. He slowed down, and looked at that small bluff carefully, while turning his horse towards it. As he came closer, he spurred his horse to move around the bluff, and right after he reached behind it, he saw the fedarus tree with a broken branch that he had expected to find there.

    Grinning with happiness, he turned to the other guards and pointed at it. "We are very close now. The bandits and I had rested right there a few times when we had come to hunt." He looked around him for a moment, and suddenly the location started to make sense to him. He recognized a clump of trees maybe a hundred feet away from them which they always passed when coming or going from the quarry to this place.

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    "We should reach the quarry by the time it gets dark," Calubo told the others. "It''s not far away now."

    Hudan nodded. "Let''s move then." He looked at the other guards. "And be careful from now on, and keep an eye on your surroundings. It''s possible that one of the bandits might have come here to hunt again."

    The guards nodded in reply, and Calubo turned his horse towards that clump of trees, with others following close behind him.

    Before long, he passed around another small bluff, and pulled the reins of his horse again when he saw one side of the quarry just around fifty feet away from him. By this time it was nearly dark, and they were lucky that they had reached here by now, or it would be difficult for them to keep going in the night.

    Not making any noise, he held up his hands to stop others behind him, and pointed at it.

    Hudan nodded, and gestured to all of them to get off from their horses and to gather closer. All of them had a hand on the hilt of their swords now - just in case.

    The guard captain spoke in a hushed voice, "Calubo and I are going to take a look first. You all wait here until then and try not to make any unnecessary sounds."

    The other guards nodded, and on Hudan''s gesture, Calubo started walking towards the edge of the forest ground surrounding the pit. Soon, he saw the dense thicket of trees at the edge which he was looking for, and pointed towards it to Hudan. The guard captain nodded and both of them dropped down to the ground and started to crawl towards that thicket.

    Once they had reached near the edge, they hesitantly put their heads ahead of the edge, and finally saw the bandit camp on the sloping path going to the pit of the quarry.

    And the situation didn''t look good at all. Although it hadn''t snowed here yet, he saw that there was only a small, single fire around which the stonecutters were huddled together on one side, with the bandits sitting on the other side. That was quite unlike the time he used to live here, when they used to burn two big fires to keep the people warm from both sides. It was probably because now there were so few bandits here that they couldn''t afford to send someone to bring much firewood because of a fear of the slaves running away, as well as Nokozal''s certain punishment if that happened.

    As he looked closer, he noticed with relief that there were only four people wearing the fur coats, which meant that Nokozal and the runt hadn''t reached here yet. And that was very good news for them, since that huge bastard was a very dangerous fighter even alone.

    He also saw that the two nodors were still there, tied to the huts on one side, along with their two limestone carrying wagons kept nearby. But looking at the state of the people sitting hunched up together near the measly fire in their threadbare clothes, it wouldn''t be long before the bandits thought of butchering the poor animals, or burning those wagons as kindling. It seemed the guards had reached there on time, after all.

    He was also carefully trying to look for Hyola, hoping she was okay. But he couldn''t recognize anyone from this far, especially in the darkness, since all of them were using some cloth to cover most of their heads and faces from the cold. But when he counted them, he was relieved to see that there were still twenty-six slaves, which meant that she had to be here! He just hoped that she was still okay, and the bandits hadn''t tried anything.

    Soon, Hudan, who had been observing the bandit camp with keen eyes, poked him on his shoulder, and gestured him to return towards the others.

    Reaching there, the guard captain gathered all of the guards closer, and explained the situation in a hushed voice, including the fact that there were only four bandits here. Hudan continued, "But we still have to keep watch on the quarry for some time. Our plan will be to attack the bandit camp around an hour before sunrise, when they will be the least prepared for a battle."

    One of the guards asked, "But it''s already dark now. Shouldn''t we just rush towards their camp and surprise them? We can take them with our numbers!"

    Hudan grunted. "No, we don''t have enough information yet. It''s possible that there are more bandits who might have gone outside to hunt or relieve themselves. And we cannot take the risk of them flanking us, especially since it''s their home turf. So we need to wait and find out everything about them."

    The guard captain looked back at him. "How many people do we need to keep an eye on the area? And is there any other entrance we couldn''t see?" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 155. A Silent Approach

    Calubo didn''t have to think long before replying. "Two of us should be more than enough. The pit of the quarry is huge, but as you saw, all the huts are located on the path which goes down towards the pit from the surrounding ground of the forest, to prevent them from flooding in case of another thunderstorm. And there is no other entrance to the pit. So we should be fine with just two men."

    Hudan nodded. "Alright. We are going to keep a watch on that entrance of the quarry in turns. Two of us will go closer to the edge of the ground surrounding the pit. That will be Calubo and me in the first shift, since I need to ask more details from him about the terrain of the pit. That leaves six of you here. You all will take our supplies and the horses somewhere nearby and tie them there. But there''ll be no fire for us tonight, as you can guess."

    Some of the guards grunted in displeasure, but everyone knew the importance of staying undetected here, so none of them opposed the order.

    Hudan continued, "You all should eat some dried meat so you will have energy for the battle later. Calubo and I will just eat later on after our shift is over." He added, "And try to take some good rest in turns, with five men sleeping at a time, and one of you awake to keep an eye on the horses as well as your surroundings - just in case there is another bandit who''s already outside and wanders there for some reason."

    After the guards nodded in reply, the guard captain continued, "We will change our watch shifts after every two hours or so. While we don''t have the temple bells to tell time here like in our village, whoever amongst you is going to be awake should just wake up another two men after roughly that time. Then those two of you should come to relieve us so we can get some rest as well."

    The guards gave grunts of acknowledgements. After telling them to move on to their tasks, Hudan beckoned Calubo to follow him towards that thicket again. It was going to be a long night.

    *******

    "Wake up, Calubo."

    "Wake up man! You can''t keep sleeping now. It''s time."

    Calubo blinked open his eyes, and saw that it was another guard who was trying to wake him up. He gave a nod in reply, and sat up slowly while trying to look around him. He noticed that it was still completely dark, but it must be getting close to morning now, since that guard was the one who was selected for the last shift to keep an eye on the bandit camp.

    Taking a deep breath, he remembered that he had gone to sleep a few hours earlier when his shift was over. He looked around him again and in the faint light of the moon which was still hidden behind the clouds, he saw that all of the guards were already up, and they were checking their weapons and tightening their leather armors to get ready for battle. It seemed he was the last one to wake up.

    Rubbing a hand over his cropped black hair, he stood up quickly and looked around for a water skin, since he was already feeling thirsty. Once he had taken a few big gulps, he made the necessary checks for his gear as well. He saw another guard offering pieces of dried meat jerky to others, and with a nod of thanks, he took a few of them as well. Soon he noticed that Hudan was calling up the guards to gather closer, so he walked towards them while chewing on the salted jerky.

    "This is the situation," the guard captain began. "All the guards who were on watch have told me that at most three of the bandits are awake at any time, while the last one seems to be sleeping. They also haven''t been moving much, and around every hour they just go for a cursory check of their camp, and return back near the fire."

    Hudan continued, "The good news is that no other bandit came to the quarry until now, which means we only have to deal with those four bastards. And even if there was another lowlife or Nokozal coming here, they will only start moving after sunrise - which should be around an hour away from now - so we have until then to take the quarry from these lowlifes."

    The huge guard captain gazed at each of them once before he pointed to a new guard. "You will stay here to keep an eye on the horses. Stay alert."

    Once the guard nodded in reply, Hudan gave a savage grin. "Now let''s go and send these bastards to the Goddess!"

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    One of the guards raised a fist upward, and spoke their newfound rallying cry in a low voice, "For Lord Kivamus we fight!" S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Immediately others repeated the same with confident grins, and the rescue plan was in motion.

    Hudan beckoned them to follow him towards the quarry again. Once they were closer, he sent a guard to the edge of the pit to see the current state. The guard nodded and crawled towards the edge to take a look.

    And before long, he returned back and gave his report. "Nothing''s changed so far," the guard described. "One bandit seems to be sleeping near the fire, and most of the stonecutters also seem to be huddled inside those huts for now."

    "Good," Hudan nodded. "Let''s move then. We don''t have time to waste." He looked at Calubo. "Lead us towards the entrance of the pit."

    Calubo gave a quick nod, and with his hand on the hilt of his sword, he turned around, trying to remember the terrain from his time in the quarry. But thankfully, he remembered enough that it didn''t take him long to lead everyone to the start of that path going down into the pit, while making sure to stop at a place where the bandits couldn''t see them yet.

    He whispered to others, "We are here. On the right side of this path, which slopes downwards slowly, is the edge of the quarry, and on the left side is the pit itself. Everyone make sure not to slip over on that side."

    Hudan gave a nod, and after crouching low, he moved a few steps further. Once he had taken a quick look, he returned back.

    "Be mentally ready for an immediate battle," the guard captain ordered, "but keep your sword sheathed for now. The good thing is that we don''t have to worry about any archers or being flanked right now since this is the only path here."

    Hudan jerked his thumb towards the bandit camp. "And those idiots are staring into the fire right now, so they wouldn''t be able to see well in the dark. But even though we outnumber them seven to four, I want to avoid any serious injuries amongst us, so we will crawl on the ground to move undetected as close as we can to them." Then he dropped down to the ground, and after beckoning others to follow him, he started crawling slowly downwards on that path.

    This was the moment of truth, Calubo thought as he also started crawling behind the guard captain, with other guards following as well. He just hoped that Hyola would be okay.

    Before long, they reached the makeshift barricade which had acted like a gate for the quarry when he lived here, mainly to prevent any wild beasts from going down on that path in the night. But he easily noticed that this barricade looked much smaller than earlier, probably because the bandits had taken some of the branches from here to burn them for heat. It seemed that being so low on manpower here was already working against the bandits before the fight had even started.

    He had to wait for a while until Hudan figured out an easy way through that barricade, so they could keep moving without having to move any branches, since that would make unnecessary sounds. But soon, Hudan looked towards them and grinned, while pointing at a gap in the barricade which was big enough for a person to crawl through. Then the guard captain was the first to cross the barricade, and others followed behind him one by one.

    Once Calubo reached the other side, he saw that Hudan had stopped maybe a dozen feet ahead of him. Slowly he and the other guards crawled next to the guard captain, who was looking towards the bandits.

    When Calubo looked towards the fire, which was not far from the dilapidated huts, he saw that a few stonecutters were still sitting around the fire. The fire was probably just around thirty or forty feet away from them at this point by his estimate. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

    Hudan looked towards the guards, and gestured to them to stand up, before slowly rising up to a crouch as well and pulling out his sword. But right at that moment, one of the stonecutters who was probably still awake, turned his head and looked directly towards him, making everyone freeze right where they were.

    Calubo thought that the stonecutter was going to shout immediately, but he put a finger on his own lips to indicate to him to stay quiet. It was probably only a short moment, but it felt like an eternity to him as he waited for the stonecutter''s reaction. If the man alerted the bandits, they might just take someone hostage when they realized they were outnumbered, and he wanted to avoid that possibility.

    He didn''t know if the stonecutter recognized him as someone who had lived with them, or if he understood that they had come to kill the bandits and not them, but thankfully he kept quiet and the moment passed.

    Giving a sigh of relief, he stood up into a crouch as well, and formed up in a broken line with the other guards side-by-side, all of them facing the bandits now. The stonecutter was still looking at them with wide eyes, but he hadn''t made any sound so far.

    They kept moving quietly towards the bandits with their swords ready in their hands, but as they came closer to within a dozen feet of the fire, suddenly, one of the bandits sneezed loudly. As the man wiped his face on his sleeves, he turned his head towards the guards, and looked directly at them with his eyes opened wide in surprise.

 Chapter 1 - 1. Prologue

    Map of Southern Reslinor:

    "Wake up, my lord."

    "We have to leave soon, my lord. Please wake up!"

    Darkness pressed against Steven''s eyelids. A creaking sound filled his ears, punctuated by the distant whinny of a horse. Disoriented, he cracked open an eye. Instead of the familiar white ceiling of his London apartment, he saw rough-hewn wood and a dimly lit interior.

    He sat up, drowsily looking around while his head throbbed with pain. He realized that he wasn''t in his home. He was inside a wooden carriage with some small bags and a few empty glass bottles lying around him. He looked around and from the partially open flap of the carriage, he could see that it was nearly dark outside. There was a middle-aged man standing right outside the carriage, and he was the person who had been calling him to wake up. The person was wearing a tunic of some kind, and unless Steven was still drunk, he did not seem to be speaking in English. Despite that, Steven could understand him perfectly, even though he didn''t even know which language it was! The tunic did seem to be out of a medieval period drama though. He finally thought that he was still dreaming and began to lie down again.

    "No, no, my lord, you can''t go to sleep again! We need to leave soon," the man urgently reminded him again.

    "Alright, alright. I''m up. Just give me a minute," grumbled Steven.

    The last thing that he remembered was going to sleep after a night spent binge drinking with his friends in London, to celebrate his long-awaited promotion. He did expect to have a mighty hangover in the morning, but not this, whatever this situation was. For a moment, he thought his friends might have somehow placed him inside a medieval movie set as a prank. But in that case, how did he even understand what this man was saying? Steven didn''t know any language other than English, apart from a semester in college which was mostly wasted trying to learn how to pronounce unpronounceable French words. But it was neither of those languages. And apart from the last night, his memories were very cluttered, and he couldn''t remember much else.

    Taking a moment to steady his mind, he sat up again on the mat with his back resting on one of the side benches and noticed that he was wearing a similar-looking tunic himself as well. However, it seemed to be of a much better quality than the one that the other man was wearing. Perhaps it was related to how the man kept referring to him as ''my lord''. His hands also didn''t have any of the calluses he had gathered all over his hands while working in his job as an engineer. It felt as though he inhabited someone else''s body entirely! He shook his head in disbelief, attempting to dispel the weird thoughts, and scolded himself for overindulging, attributing these bizarre notions to his excessive drinking last night. The idea of body-switching seemed utterly ludicrous!

    Noticing that the man was starting to speak again, he said, "It''s okay, I''m awake now. I just need a moment to gather my thoughts. Would you mind waiting outside the carriage for me?"

    The other man looked surprised for some reason. "Are you feeling better now, my lord? You appear... improved. More composed, perhaps."

    "Really? I''ve got this pounding headache that won''t stop, and I have no idea where I am. Somehow, I''m talking in a language I''ve never heard before, and to top it off, someone keeps addressing me as a lord! So, no, I''m far from okay. Could you please leave me alone for a while? I need some time to clear my head," Steven grumbled, his head still throbbing as he spoke.

    Surprise was etched on the other man''s face. "As you wish, my lord. I will be nearby, so please call for me if you need anything." He bowed to Steven and gently closed the carriage''s flap. Soon, Steven could hear the man''s footsteps as he walked away.

    Steven was still trying to get a grasp of the situation he had found himself in when a throbbing pain seized his head. He instinctively reached up, pressing both hands to his temples in a futile attempt to ward off the ache. Cursing his forgetfulness, he patted the pockets of his tunic, searching for the familiar relief of ibuprofen. But a search of his tunic pockets yielded only a handful of yellowish coins mocking his misery.

    A fresh wave of agony, worse than anything he''d experienced before, tore through Steven''s skull. His vision blurred as a pounding throb threatened to burst his skull. Instinctively, he reached for the carriage bench, but his legs buckled, sending him crashing to the floor. A wave of memories slammed into his mind, forcing a groan from his lips.

    He remembered growing up as Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, unending childhood torment from his two older brothers, the solace from his sister, and the ever-present ache of his mother''s absence. His once intimidating father, the Duke, had retreated into a shell of grief after his mother''s death, leaving the Duchy at the mercy of Kivamus''s manipulative and power-hungry brothers.

    Eventually, on his twenty-first birthday, Kivamus was exiled in all but name, and given the meager title of Baron of a backwater village called Tiranat. Although the proclamation to grant the title of Baron of Tiranat to him was signed by his father, he was quite sure that the actual idea of sending him away from Ulriga was from one of his brothers. They must have wanted to send the third son of the duke away from the capital so he couldn''t become a thorn in their side to become the rulers of the duchy. It was a bitter birthday gift, which he had celebrated, or rather, drowned, with alcohol.

    The next day, he and Gorsazo, his long-time mentor and teacher, had to leave on a horse-drawn carriage along with some money that Gorsazo had managed to save for him in the past. From then onwards, he couldn''t live again in the palace he had called home all his life. Long ago, when he had become old enough to know that he would never inherit the duchy, being the third son, it had all seemed irrelevant, and something which was far away in the future. But finally leaving the palace the day after his birthday had been too much and he had barely managed to hold back his tears while leaving. That his father hadn''t even come to see him off, had been mostly expected, but it still stung a lot.

    As the cart rumbled through the markets of Ulriga, he had used his meager savings to buy the strongest alcohol he could find. The vendors had watched him with a mix of sadness and disgust, probably familiar with his drinking problem. The next two days were a blur of travel and Kivamus'' relentless drinking. Gorsazo''s attempts to intervene were only met with anger and rebuke, and after three days of trying to stop him from drinking, even Gorsazo gave up eventually.

    As they stopped near Fort Aragosa on the evening of the third day, Kivamus stepped out of the wagon. However, upon seeing the imposing fort, he was once again struck by the reminder that one of his brothers would inherit that as well. The wounds of the past few days reopened, the weight of it all crushing him completely. Tears streamed down his face as he slumped outside the carriage. His future, a bleak existence as a minor baron in some obscure corner of the kingdom, felt even more miserable when compared to the lives of his privileged brothers. He went back inside the carriage and tried to drown his sorrows in bottle after bottle, yearning for oblivion. He didn''t know how much he drank and when he passed out. That was the last thing he recalled from yesterday.

    But wait!

    No. That wasn''t the last thing that he remembered!

    A different memory flickered to life. He remembered his happy childhood with his family and the good memories he made with his friends while working as a mid-level mechanical engineer in London. And then, a flash of the previous night''s celebration, the clinking glasses, the warm glow of friendship marking his promotion.

    He held his pounding head in his hands and tried to make sense of his jumbled-up memories. Where was he? Near Fort Aragosa or in London? More importantly, who was he? Was he Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, or Steven, the recently promoted engineer? His head was aching so much that he couldn''t think clearly.

    A guttural groan escaped his lips as he clutched his head in pain. He stayed like that for a while, simply existing, hoping the pounding in his skull would recede.

    He lost track of time while sitting in that state, the throbbing in his head slowly giving way to a dull ache, allowing him to regain some clarity of thought. The first thought in his mind was to get out of the confines of the carriage.

    He stepped out and saw the sun starting to come up behind the mountains far off to his right. He looked around and while it was still a little dark, he was able to see the silhouette of the walls of the mighty Fort Aragosa standing tall in what had to be the east direction, towards the mountains. The wagon he just came out of, was unhooked from a pair of horses, which were grazing nearby.

    He saw Gorsazo standing a little distance away talking to another man next to him. That must be the carriage driver. Or was he called a wagoner? He wasn''t sure. The carriage itself had been stopped close to a dirt road, which seemed to be going in a north-to-south direction. It might be too much to call it a road, though, since it was just a narrow track of packed dirt, likely flattened by horses and the wheels of passing wagons. It was following a river running parallel to the road in the west. As the sun rose further, he saw that there was some patchy grass around the area, although the grass didn''t grow much where they had parked the carriage. It seemed like it was a regular stopping area for wagons and carriages going on that route. He decided to walk around a little to stretch his legs and think about what had happened to him.

    He walked aimlessly without choosing any particular direction, and soon he came to a small cliff that overlooked Fort Aragosa in the east. He sat down near the edge with his legs dangling over the cliffside. It wasn''t a particularly tall cliff but it still seemed like a nice place to watch the rising sun over the mountains, with the Fort visible in the distance. He saw a few people who might be soldiers, or maybe knights in this seemingly medieval era, walking near the fort, which was perhaps a kilometer away from him.

    He tried to think and find a reason for what had happened to him. He was an engineer, so he had a habit of tackling problems step by step. But no matter how much he tried to think about how he had somehow vanished from the Earth and had seemingly reached another planet, he couldn''t find any way to explain how it could have happened. No scientific theory in his mind supported or could have made all this possible. He wasn''t ready to believe in the possibility of a supernatural entity or aliens having done this to him. And yet, despite it being contrary to everything he knew about the world and its laws, here he was.

    There was also the matter of having the memories of another person in his mind. Indeed, this wasn''t his own body at all which he knew from all his life on Earth. It seemed as if his mind was snatched from his body on Earth, and was somehow amalgamated with the mind of the previous owner of this body. Steven was brought up in a decently well-off family, and he had a good career before somehow waking up here, but it was still a far cry from being a noble like the son of a duke, or even a baron. But somehow, Kivamus was dead now, or at least his mind was, and Steven was in the body of a newly minted baron.

    He watched the sun rise higher in the east. The clean, fresh alien air scraped his lungs with every breath he took, a harsh contrast to the familiar tang of city pollution he craved. He had no real idea about life in this world, but he could easily guess that life here, in what seemed like the medieval era, was likely much, much harder than it was in modern London. Even surviving here would be a daily battle. Panic gnawed at the edges of his newfound mind. He was adrift in a foreign world, a castaway in a life that wasn''t his. How did he end up here, in this ramshackle carriage on a backward planet? He didn''t know at all. He had no idea how to get back to Earth, the world that now felt like a distant dream.

    He had to get back. Back to the familiar ache of his own body, the comforting hum of his city, the people he¡­

    Regret, a fresh wound, bloomed in his chest. There was so much left unsaid, unfinished.

    A choked sob escaped him, a sound that felt alien in this unfamiliar world. He forced a breath in, willing the panic to recede. Maybe it was denial, a desperate attempt to shield himself from the terrifying reality. He was a man of logic, a creature of routine, and this¡­ this was anything but.

    Still, somewhere beneath the cold dread, a spark flickered. Hope. A stubborn, defiant ember refusing to be extinguished. He wouldn''t accept this twisted fate. He had to find a way home. And until he could, he had to survive.

    But for now, a single tear traced a warm path down his cheek, a testament to the life he''d lost and the desperate hope for the one he clung to. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 2 - 2. Acceptance

    Soon enough, Gorsazo noticed that Steven was outside the carriage now.

    Seeing Gorsazo coming towards him, Kivamus wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his tunic, hoping Gorsazo didn''t notice. He took another look at his long-time advisor and mentor in the early morning light. Gorsazo looked to be in his early to mid-forties, perhaps, with a full head of graying hair. He had the build of a scholar and looked to be of a similar height as him.

    "You are awake now, my lord."

    "I am. But can you please stop calling me ''my lord''?"

    "Of course not, my lord! It would be shameful not just for me, but for all my family, who have faithfully served your family for generations now! I can''t do that." He paused for a while, then said, "But may I ask why? You have never asked me not to call you ''my lord'' in the past."

    "I am not sure I could explain it even if I tried." Steven sighed. "Let''s just say that last night was a¡­ revelation, of a sort, for me."

    "I know that the past few days must have been very difficult for you, my lord. And, when you kept drinking so much, even though I tried to stop you many times¡­"

    "Wait, wait, I need to¡­" Steven couldn''t stop himself from throwing up everything he had in his stomach, as if hearing about drinking had reminded his body about the excessive drinking that Kivamus had done in this body.

    After a while, when he felt like there wasn''t anything more to throw up, he slowly walked a few steps away from that place and sat down on the grass nearby, nearly falling on the ground in the process.

    "Here, my lord." Gorsazo offered him a water skin that he was carrying.

    Steven washed up his face and felt a little better. Damn that drunkard Kivamus! Couldn''t the guy have stopped drinking sooner? He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. "Thank you for the water, Gorsazo."

    "My lord is thanking me? That is new," muttered Gorsazo. "While you do seem better, my lord, you also seem¡­ different."

    Steven decided that saying anything about Earth would not only be met with disbelief but could also lead to him being labeled insane. And life on a whole new planet, particularly in the medieval era, was going to be hard enough as it is, without him needing to add something like being considered crazy.

    "I am indeed feeling much better, Gorsazo. The past week has been very difficult for me to accept and adjust to, and the drinking that I did last night certainly didn''t help it. But I also came to a revelation that being miserable about it wouldn''t change the situation I''m in. You already know that going to live my whole life in a remote village in a corner of the kingdom was not what I wanted for my life, but if I don''t accept it, my life is only going to be even harder. So, I''ve decided to accept everything that has happened recently, including all my past life as Steven, and from now on, I will try to live my life peacefully in¡­ uh, what''s the name of the place we are going to, again?" Steven asked embarrassedly, having forgotten the name of the place after the recent drinking by Kivamus.

    "It''s Tiranat, my lord. And it''s very good to see that you are not going to be repeating last night''s drinking. Am I right, my lord?" Gorsazo said with a small smile on his face.

    Steven felt as if he might need to empty his stomach''s contents again if he kept hearing about alcohol. "Ugh¡­ don''t even remind me about it. And no, I''m not going to be repeating that anytime soon. I just regret that you needed to be uprooted from your life in Ulriga too, along with me."

    "It''s... okay, my lord. My children have grown up now and don''t need me as much these days. It would have been a different matter if we had to leave a few years in the past, right after my wife had died." Gorsazo had a faraway look in his eyes. "It is not that I won''t miss my home and my children, but it is my duty and also my desire to see to your well-being. Maybe in the future, I will consider going back to Ulriga, but that''s after you have adjusted to a new life in Tiranat. It would be shameful for me if I just left you alone now, right after you were uprooted from your home and would need help in adjusting to a completely new place." Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "And you don''t even know how true the last part is," Steven muttered under his breath.

    Steven vaguely remembered from Kivamus''s memories that Gorsazo''s wife had died soon after her fever didn''t go down for many days. It was so unfortunate that if they had some simple antibiotics or even common medicines like ibuprofen or paracetamol, it might have saved her life. But he realized that life on Earth in the medieval ages was likely just as difficult, and they didn''t have modern medicines in that era either. "Thank you Gorsazo, for coming along with me and also for taking care of me all my life," he said earnestly. He knew how valuable the help of someone like Gorsazo would be in adjusting to a new life in such a vastly different place, and era.

    Gorsazo waited for a moment, and said, "My lord, seeing you drowning yourself in alcohol day after day broke my heart. I tried so hard to help, to say something that would make you stop, but nothing worked. I confess, the thought of returning home to my family, after accompanying you to Tiranat, did cross my mind. I thought that if listening to my advice won''t help you, then maybe the absence of it would make you reconsider." He looked at Kivamus carefully for a moment. "However, now it seems like my concern wasn''t really needed since today you seem better than you''ve been in ages, my lord. I think I haven''t seen you this relaxed and calm since the day you found out that you wouldn''t inherit the title of duke. So I have to apologize for thinking about leaving you alone, my lord."

    Steven realized how difficult it must have been for Gorsazo to see someone he cared for like his own child, trying to drink so much like he wanted to die. From the few memories of Kivamus that Steven had seemingly inherited, he knew that Gorsazo was the person who had put in the most effort in trying to raise him since Kivamus was a child. Although Kivamus himself was not grateful for it, Steven knew how important Gorsazo was in his life. Even if the patchy memories he had now about this world were of Kivamus, not of Steven himself, he decided to thank Gorsazo anyway.

    "Don''t worry about it Gorsazo, you don''t need to apologize for it. I know I didn''t make it easy for you either. I apologize as well, for causing you to worry so much. Trust me, I''m going to live very differently from the past," Steven said with a smile, not intending to repeat the drinking habits of Kivamus anytime soon.

    "Thank you, my lord, but you don''t need to apologize to me. It is my duty and an honor to serve you," Gorsazo said while bowing to him. "By the way, my lord, earlier when you said you would accept your past life as¡­ Steevenn, you meant Kivamus, not this¡­ Steevenn, right?" Gorsazo asked with a completely normal voice and a calm face.

    "Uh, yeah, of course. Haha, I meant my past life as Kivamus. Of course. Hahaha¡­" Steven tried to laugh it off, only now realizing his earlier mistake. But it seemed to him that somehow, Gorsazo understood more than he was letting on, even if there was no way he could have known about the existence of Earth or London. Having taken care of Kivamus since he was a child, meant that Gorsazo knew the duke''s son better than anyone else, and would catch on to such slip-ups easily. He didn''t know what the norms were in this country about dealing with people who were seemingly possessed, but it couldn''t be pleasant. He had to try not to make such a mistake again.

    And it did remind him that he needed to start thinking of himself as Kivamus, not Steven. And until he could find a way to return to Earth, he was going to be living as the newly made baron, Kivamus, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga. Not that it was going to make living in this world any easier, he thought, while he tried to bite some rock-like hardtack biscuits that Gorsazo had offered him.

    *******

    Soon they went and sat inside the carriage after Gorsazo told the carriage driver that they''d be moving now. This time Gorsazo accompanied Kivamus to the inside of the carriage, instead of sitting in front with the carriage driver like in the past few days.

    Although his headache had receded a lot compared to when he had woken up, Kivamus still wasn''t feeling completely normal. But he was still glad to be feeling better now. He had kept the flap of the carriage open so he could watch the scenery outside.

    The river in the west which the road was following was named Kal River, as he remembered from previous memories of the original Kivamus. It started from the Arakin mountain range further in the south and flowed towards the northwest direction to end in the Dujtaar Ocean, right where Ulriga was located. There were some sparse grasses and shrubs all around them.

    The road they were traveling on was essentially a well-trodden dirt path only. It was probably wrong to even call it an actual road, but in this medieval-like era, this was probably the quality of road that the people of this world had access to. The weather was pleasant enough, but there seemed to be a chill in the air, at least right now in the morning. He could still see the stone walls of Fort Aragosa becoming distant in the north. Although he had vague memories of the country, or rather the kingdom, from the original Kivamus, he wanted to gain more information about the world he would be living in from now on.

    "Gorsazo, you know how I''ve not been in the right state of mind for the past few weeks. And the drinking I''ve been doing certainly didn''t help. But now that I''ve decided to accept my past, and try to live better, I want to know more about the kingdom."

    "I know, my lord. And I''m glad that you have made this decision." Gorsazo continued with a twinkle in his eyes, "And that means you weren''t paying attention when I was teaching you about the politics of the kingdom and other topics."

    "Haha, yeah, I know," Kivamus said embarrassedly. "At that time, you know I didn''t believe that I would really have to leave Ulriga."

    "That''s¡­ true, my lord. But like you said, let''s leave the past behind." He paused for a moment, and asked, "What do you want to know about, my lord? I don''t think I can teach you everything that you may have missed in a single conversation."

    "No, no, that''s not what I meant. I only want to know about some basic things for now. Actually, which season is it right now?" Kivamus asked while rubbing his arms when a gust of cold air suddenly gave him a chill. Being from London, he was accustomed to cold weather, but he hadn''t ever liked the winter season on Earth.

    "You don''t even remember that, my lord? Hmm¡­ your drinking might have taken a bigger toll on your mind than I thought. It''s late autumn right now, my lord. Although the northern towns and the capital city would already have seen some snow by now."

    "The capital, that''s Dorastiz, right?"

    "Yeah, it is Dorastiz¡­" Gorsazo said with an expression that he couldn''t believe that Kivamus didn''t even clearly remember the name of the kingdom''s capital.

    "What? You know that my memories are a little jumbled up after the recent drinking¡­"

    "I know, my lord. I''m sorry about it," Gorsazo said with a slight bow of his head.

    "By the way, when will we reach Tiranat?" Steven knew the medieval standards of traveling speed would be quite slow, but he didn''t know exactly how far they had to travel or how fast they would be traveling.

    "Hmm¡­ we will have to stop tonight on the road again, and then by tomorrow evening we should reach Cinran, which we will be passing through on the way to Tiranat. As you might remember, my lord, Tiranat is a barony that falls under the domain of the Count of Cinran. And now, you will be a new baron under the Count. From Cinran, it should be a three-day road journey to Tiranat, based on what I know about this region."

    "That''s a long time though. Couldn''t we have traveled using a boat on the Kal River?" Steven had seen a few boats and even small ships with sails moving on the Kal River earlier. He wasn''t sure about which kind of ships they were, though.

    "That''s actually difficult to say. His Highness, the Duke of Ulriga ordered you to leave for Tiranat, but it was likely one of your brothers who would have organized your travel to Tiranat. I shouldn''t speak ill of my betters, but perhaps¡­ they wanted you to endure the journey in a carriage which would be much more uncomfortable and slower than a journey through a boat."

    "They are hardly anybody''s betters if they still resort to such petty tricks even though they are older than me," Kivamus muttered.

    "Perhaps, my lord."

    "Well, where will we stay in Cinran? We didn''t rent a room in an inn even in the previous village we passed."

    "I should apologize for that, my lord. That was actually my own decision, made after seeing that you were not going to stop drinking. You were not in a sober condition by the evening and I decided that the public shouldn''t see you in that condition. I thought one more night''s discomfort by sleeping in the carriage was better than a lifetime of jokes about a son of the duke who couldn''t control his drinking."

    "Yeah¡­ perhaps it was for the better." Steven couldn''t help but blame the original Kivamus once more inside his mind, for losing himself inside a bottle.

    "As for Cinran, my lord, we can rent a room in a good inn for you there, but it will cost more coins, and your finances are not good enough now for you to keep splurging, my lord. Normally, the Count of Cinran should give you a room in his manor for you to stay, but I doubt he will. Perhaps he still would give a room if you ask for it, but I believe it won''t be a room fit for nobles so that he can indirectly insult the duke in front of his court members."

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus and continued, "I advise you not to do that, my lord. I think it''s not a good idea to show weakness to others in the court of the count, since from now on, even while living in Tiranat, you will have dealings with them instead of the court of the Duke, in Ulriga, and them taking you lightly isn''t going to help you in the future, my lord."

    "But why does the count seem to be against me already? I don''t think I''ve ever met him before at all." Steven wasn''t completely sure about this, since Kivamus''s memories and his own memories were still muddled together, but knowing that Kivamus seemingly wasn''t very interested in politics, it was a reasonable guess for him to make.

 Chapter 3 - 3. Approaching Cinran

    Gorsazo explained, "The thing is, my lord, that he has never been a big fan of the ruling family of Ulriga. Being the most powerful count in the duchy of Ulriga means he is the main rival to the duke''s power. At some point, the news got out that your brothers would inherit the duchy and the fort both, and you would be made a baron in a far-off village, instead of being kept as a spare heir in Ulriga, as is the norm. Since then, the other nobles would probably have started thinking that there was no point in currying favor with you anymore since the duke himself had seemingly abandoned and even exiled you." Gorsazo looked at the scenery outside the carriage for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

    He continued after a while, "And as for the Count of Cinran himself, I believe he would prefer to ignore or even scorn you, to humiliate the duke''s family in front of the other nobles in his court, knowing that he will get away with it since you seem to have lost the favor of the duke now."

    "Hmm¡­ my brothers must have had something to do with all of this as well. Perhaps they thought their positions would be more secure if I was far away from Ulriga." Kivamus breathed a sigh of relief. "It could be much worse though." At least they didn''t just murder him to secure their titles. Kivamus shuddered thinking about the literal cut-throat politics of the medieval era. Still, he would have to learn to survive in this, even as a baron of a remote village.

    "Perhaps, my lord. Maybe it''s better this way since you will have far more freedom to live your life as you want in Tiranat than you would have had in Ulriga. I know you have never been interested in politics, and living in Ulriga would have meant being a part of the court and the duchy''s politics, whether you wanted to or not. At least in Tiranat, you won''t have your brothers watching your every step to check if you are going to become a thorn in their paths in the future."

    "That''s true enough," said Kivamus. "Earlier you mentioned that I''m short on money. How much do I have?"

    "As you know, my lord, for the past few years, you had told me to manage your money, so even though your recent drinking took a big share of it, I managed to save something regularly from the small monthly allowance you got from the duke. Right now, you have around twenty-three hundred Reslinor crowns, which are the gold coins, in case you don''t recall, my lord," Gorsazo said with a slight smirk, which was quickly hidden.

    He continued, "That is a small fortune for any common person, including me. Still, it''s a very small amount if you are going to live in Tiranat for the rest of your life at anything resembling the luxury of the Duke''s Palace in Ulriga. You or your brothers would easily squander a similar amount in a few months in Ulriga." He hesitated for a moment. "I also don''t think you are going to get any more of an allowance from now on, my lord."

    "Hmm¡­ that''s quite likely. It''s also certainly true that I never thought of saving money for the future, since I never had to think about managing my day-to-day expenses before," at least not on this planet, thought Kivamus. "You know I never believed that I''d really be living in Tiranat in the future. But I simply can''t afford to live in luxury, like I did in the past, if I''m going to make the money last longer." After thinking about it for a minute, he continued, "I will let you hold my money as earlier until I learn more about life in Tiranat. I don''t even know the regular prices of anything in the markets and would likely be overcharged without even realizing it. But I do want to know about what the money is being spent on, from now on."

    It wasn''t as if Kivamus thought that Gorsazo might be pilfering from his money since he was the only person who had really seemed to care about Kivamus in the past. But he had to know more about this world if he was going to survive in it.

    "Of course, my lord. That would be wise."

    There was a comfortable silence in the carriage afterward as they watched the scenery rolling by them while the carriage was pulled by the horses. They continued their journey towards Cinran with thoughts of all kinds rolling through the mind of Kivamus, the former engineer from Earth.

    *******

    It was their second day on the road since Steven had inexplicably found himself in the body of Kivamus, the recently exiled third son of the Duke of Ulriga. After a stop yesterday night on the banks of the Kal River, where they ate some meat jerky and hardtack biscuits once more, they were again on the move since the morning. They passed a branching of the road, going towards the east soon after starting. Gorsazo told him that it went towards the southeastern border of the Reslinor kingdom and the contested region of Tolasi Hills.

    They kept moving most of the day with only a few breaks to relieve themselves or stretch their legs. Kivamus could readily attest that relieving himself in the open with only some bushes to hide behind and no piped water supply was one thing that he already disliked about this world. It was a stark contrast to the modern conveniences he took for granted for all his life and a constant reminder of how much he missed his old life. But it wasn''t something that he could do anything about for now.

    It was evening now on the second day. After another full day on the road, while sitting on a constantly jumping carriage bench with no suspensions and barely any cushioning to speak of, Kivamus knew what a luxury even his decade-old car was, back on Earth. At this rate, it seemed like he would keel over once again if they had to continue traveling like this on such bumpy dirt roads. It certainly reinforced the idea that the original Kivamus had lived a life of luxury till now without any thought towards remaining healthy or keeping fit, Kivamus thought while moving his hand over the slightly protruding belly of his newfound body. He realized that it would take a lot of work to get this new body in shape, but it was something that he promised himself to prioritize once he was settled in Tiranat. He just couldn''t afford to stay as he was right now if his new life consisted of traveling for days in such poor conditions.

    Throughout the day as they moved southwards, the Arakin mountain range became visible further in the south. There was some sparse snow visible near the top of the mountains, but not much. Gorsazo had told him earlier that it would have snowed already in the northern towns of the Reslinor kingdom. However Tiranat was near the southern border of the kingdom, so Kivamus didn''t know about the climate there.

    "Gorsazo, how cold is it in Tiranat? I know Ulriga gets some snow nearly every year, but what about places further south, like Cinran or Tiranat? You know I don''t like the cold very much." Kivamus said the last part before realizing that his own preferences and those of the original Kivamus might not be the same at all. Still, he couldn''t do anything about it now, other than to hope that Gorsazo didn''t notice the last sentence much.

    "As you know my lord, it''s late autumn right now. I have visited Cinran a few times to meet a friend who lives there, and I heard from her that the climate of Cinran is quite similar to Ulriga. It was starting to get chilly in Ulriga in the nights when we left, so it should be like that in Cinran too, I think. Although it shouldn''t snow until the middle of the winter, since it is located southwards from Ulriga." He paused to think about something for a moment and continued, "However, I haven''t ever been to Tiranat before, so I can''t say for sure about it. It is located further south than Cinran, so it might actually be warmer there, at least in the summers, considering that the cold winds in Cilaria Island, in which the kingdom of Reslinor is located, come from the northeast. However, the coal mines around which Tiranat village exists, are located close to the Arakin mountain range, so it might still get much colder there in the winter as well. I can''t say for sure, my lord."

    "I guess we will find out when we get there," Kivamus said while being thankful that Gorsazo didn''t notice his slip earlier. Or maybe the preferences of the original Kivamus and him were similar, at least regarding the cold. He didn''t know how to feel about that.

    Their carriage continued moving and soon enough the driver told them that they were getting close to Cinran now.

    *******

    As they approached the town of Cinran, which was situated on the other side of the Kal River, they saw more wagons, carriages, and some carts on the road coming from and going towards the Cinran town. Some were empty, while others were covered with oilcloth to protect their goods from dirt and rain. Occasionally, a rider on a horse would pass close to their carriage while kicking up a plume of dust on the road. The Kal River itself had much more traffic this close to Cinran, as various canoes and boats slowly oared towards the docks which were now becoming visible on the other shore of the river. There were a few small ships with sails on them as well, and those looked much bigger than the row boats. They were either loading or unloading their goods or waiting for their turn on the small riverside docks.

    Slowly their carriage approached the narrow wooden bridge on the Kal River and they joined the haphazardly formed line while waiting for their turn to enter the town. It seemed like a fairly long line to Kivamus. There were maybe around a dozen wagons and carts in front of them as well as some of their owners who had also stepped out to look around. There were also quite a few other people who were carrying goods on their backs or heads. Most of the people seemed to be wearing patched and heavily repaired tunics, although some of them were dressed in newer clothes and looked like merchants of some kind. However, the haphazard line of wagons and people going into the town seemed to be moving quite slowly. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    To learn more about the situation, he and Gorsazo stepped out of their carriage. It was evening time and the sun had dipped below the stone walls of Cinran on the other shore of the river. The rickety wooden bridge on which they were now standing didn''t seem very wide or sturdy to Kivamus. He just hoped that it wouldn''t give way suddenly, even though the other people didn''t seem bothered about it. A few small water mills were also visible on some buildings on the other shore of the Kal River. There was a drawbridge on the other side of the wooden bridge, just before the gates of the Cinran town. It reminded Kivamus that now he was indeed in a medieval world, where armies attacked and laid siege to towns and drawbridges were ready to be raised at a moment''s notice.

    "Is it always this crowded here? That''s a lot of people going into Cinran at the same time," Kivamus said.

    "They seem like farmers and laborers from nearby areas, my lord. Usually, there would only be a wagon or two at a time, especially this close to the night. However, the harvest season has ended recently and the farmers are coming in droves now to sell their produce and grains. And soon it will be dark anyway, my lord, and nobody wants to be caught outside the town walls in the night. Bandits are quite rampant in the forests, especially this far south in Reslinor."

    "Bandits?" Kivamus exclaimed. "But we stopped next to the road for each of our stops at night! You mean we could have been ambushed anytime and you didn''t even mention it?" He had realized that this world would be more dangerous than Earth in many ways, but knowing that bandits were so prevalent that it was dangerous to stay out in the dark or you might easily be kidnapped or murdered was quite different from his modern London sensibilities of safety and security.

    "No, no, my lord, if the danger was that high on our journey, I would have told you. Bandits are indeed quite common in the forests and in the areas away from any major cities or towns. But we traveled from Ulriga to Cinran right next to the well-traveled Kal River and passed Fort Aragosa on our way, you remember?" Gorsazo replied. "This particular road is quite safe, my lord, at least till Cinran. The duke maintains regular patrols from Ulriga to the fort and there are some patrols further to Cinran as well, although the bandits won''t dare to attack people near the fort anyway. Forgive me for mentioning this, my lord, but you were in such a drunken haze at the beginning of the journey that you might not have noticed the patrols by Duke''s horsemen on the road. Even in the past two days since you stopped drinking, my lord, you have slept so soundly that you must have missed the horse-mounted knights patrolling the road."

    "That''s true enough." Kivamus was indeed so tired yesterday that once he went to sleep he had only woken up in the morning without any disruption to his sleep. This journey on a carriage was so uncomfortable to someone like him who was unused to traveling on wooden carriages on a bumpy dirt road, that he had taken a nap many times, even during the day. Although he did recall seeing a pair of mounted horsemen in plate armor rushing past them once or twice, he had thought that they were just knights going alone to fulfill a task given to them. "But what about after Cinran? We still have a few days'' journey ahead of us, don''t we?"

    "That''s the difficult part, my lord. You see, the road from Cinran going further south to Tiranat goes right through the middle of the forests. And that is indeed a dangerous journey, especially for those traveling alone. That''s why merchants and travelers usually join a caravan going south, instead of traveling alone. So far we haven''t needed any guards, but it might be better to hire a few trusted men for our journey further south. Even though I''m not sure how much we can trust mercenary guards anyway." He seemed to hesitate for a second, but made up his mind and continued in a somber tone in a low voice, "You would have found this out sooner or later anyway my lord, so I''m telling you about this now before we start our journey through the forests. Do you remember why you were sent to the barony of Tiranat and not to some other place?"

    "Uh¡­ I''m not sure, Gorsazo. I thought that''s what the Duke, I mean, my father wanted?"

    "Well yes, my lord. But still, your destination was the barony of Tiranat, because the barony had conveniently been without a baron for the past few months. So, instead of removing a baron from his lands and giving them to you, which would have caused resentment among the nobles if the Duke started taking away their titles on his whims, he sent you to Tiranat, which doesn''t have a baron right now. It''s a different matter that coincidentally, it was probably the most dangerous barony in the duchy of Ulriga which happened to be without a baron. To add to it, it was not a natural event that made Tiranat leaderless. The previous baron and his family were killed a few months ago in a bandit attack while traveling on the road from Tiranat to Cinran."

    "I didn''t know that."

    Kivamus had thought that at least the nobles would be safe from the bandits in this world. One way after another, this world continued to seem more and more dangerous to him. He missed his previous life on Earth every new day, not that there was anything he could do about it, other than trying to survive in this world for now.

    Then a thought came to his mind, but it was not something he wanted to discuss out in the open. He saw that their carriage driver had also stepped off his seat in the front of the carriage and was now standing a little distance away from it, probably trying to see what the delay was. Although there was nobody else near them, he gestured to Gorsazo to climb inside the carriage and then followed him inside as well. He closed the flaps of the carriage after taking a look around that nobody nearby was trying to listen to them.

 Chapter 4 - 4. Discourse

    "Why did you say that Tiranat is one of the most dangerous baronies?"

    "Mainly because of its location, my lord. It is surrounded by forests on all sides, and forests in southern Reslinor are known to be full of bandits and even armed mercenaries. It is also situated far away from any major town or city so the rule of law doesn''t mean much there. So far, I know of only a single barony, whose baron died of something other than natural causes in recent times, outside of war, of course. Also, after Cinran, it is one of the closest places in the kingdom to the Tolasi hills, where all three major kingdoms of Cilaria have claims and where skirmishes happen frequently between them for control of the hills. And while the southern forests will make it difficult if the Kingdom of Girnalica ever decides to invade Reslinor from the south, Tiranat would be the first place they''ll encounter in our kingdom."

    "I see, there are multiple factors at play. It really doesn''t seem like a place I''d like to live, not that I have any say in the matter." This world seemed more and more intent on killing him soon. He decided to ask about the thought that had given him a pause earlier. "Tell me, does it not seem suspicious that the previous Baron was killed by bandits so soon before I was sent here?" Kivamus asked in a low voice.

    "My lord, it is not my place to cast suspicions on the Duke or his family, even though I have my doubts about it. In fact, even talking to you this much is not something I''m used to, my lord, outside of the lessons I used to give to you in the past."

    Kivamus had realized by now how difficult it must have been for Gorsazo to deal with the ever-drunk Kivamus in the past. While it was true that Kivamus''s drinking got out of control only a few weeks ago, the original Kivamus had indeed liked drinking a lot in the past. However, he knew that to survive in this harsh world he would need all the help Gorsazo could provide him, and that wouldn''t happen if he was not comfortable talking to his¡­ uh¡­ liege. It was still difficult for him to think of himself as a noble, whom others called a "lord".

    "I realize that now. But like I said yesterday, consider this a new beginning to my life. I am not going to repeat the mistakes I made in the past and I need you to be as open and frank with me as you can. We are both going to Tiranat now and we have to be able to talk to each other freely if we are going to survive this."

    "I''m very glad to hear that, my lord," Gorsazo said with a small smile on his face. He continued, "About what you asked earlier, my lord, although the official announcement was that the previous Baron of Tiranat was killed by bandits who were after money, there are whispers amongst people that he was actually ambushed by people to kill him. As a baron, he would always have at least a few guards with him, and even if the bandits decided to attack someone who had guards, I don''t think they would have killed a noble and even his family after realizing that it was a baron."

    Gorsazo paused for a moment, thinking. "My lord, although bandits are known to occasionally hold members of a noble''s family for ransom near small towns and villages, it is rare and only done by a big gang. And even then they don''t actually harm a noble or his family physically. That''s an unwritten rule that seems to be followed everywhere. Also, the guards would have tried their best to defend the baron and usually, the bandits would run off when they think it''s too tough a fight for them. They usually only try to go after less well-defended targets anyway. But in this case, nobody of the Baron''s retinue survived the attack. If you ask my opinion, my lord, I think the bandits knew who they were attacking and their actual target was to kill the baron, and not just to rob him."

    "After hearing about all this, that''s what I think as well. And not to leave even a single person of his retinue alive¡­ I''d say they didn''t want to leave any witnesses." Kivamus continued after a moment, "And since nobody survived to tell the tale, who''s to say that it was even bandits and not actual mercenaries hired to kill him?"

    "It''s certainly possible my lord. Their bodies were found by another merchant traveling on the road later that day. If¡­" Gorsazo hesitated before speaking, "If I may suggest this, my lord, it might have been arranged by one of your brothers, or even both of them. Since they might have wanted you to be sent only to Tiranat."

    "I told you Gorsazo, you can speak freely with me. And while it''s still possible that it might be a powerful gang who did it just for money, I don''t think it''s very likely from what you told me. Still, the baron was killed soon before I was going to be sent here, while bandits have seemingly started to kill nobles now. And thus, Tiranat, probably the most dangerous barony in the Duchy of Ulriga, was without a baron right when I was going to be sent away as another newly made baron¡­ All of this taken together seems too much to be just a coincidence, doesn''t it? It makes me think that my brothers are not satisfied enough by sending me far away from Ulriga. They might actually prefer a permanent solution to me."

    "So it seems, my lord. They may even have arranged for another such ambush on your journey." He thought for a minute and said, "In fact, it did seem unusual for a member of the Duke''s family to be sent to Cinran on a solo carriage without even a guard, instead of in a boat which would be faster as well as safer. Now that I think about it, the road till here might not have been as safe as I thought earlier... I apologize, my lord."

    "What''s done is done. And you know as well as I do that it''s unlikely they''ll leave a witness this time around either. That means neither of us is safe. We are in the same boat, so to speak. And indeed, unless we hire enough guards for our journey to Tiranat, which we probably don''t have the funds for anyway, we can''t deal with a bandit attack if it comes."

    "True, my lord. And hiring people we don''t already know, when there might be an imminent threat on you is too risky as well, since we can''t be sure where their real loyalties lie. But we should still stay in Cinran for tonight and see if we can find a merchant going south to Tiranat in the morning. We might not have to hire guards if he already has them."

    "But would he even want others to travel with them? Especially people he doesn''t know?"

    "Not always, my lord. Although it''s better to not let anyone know that you are the new baron before you reach Tiranat, just in case someone is waiting to get words to bandits about you, we might still have to tell the merchant about it. Since turning a profit is any merchant''s top priority, building a good relationship with a new baron would be considered advantageous by him in the long run. So, if we mention your title to him, he might be more likely to agree to our proposal."

    Gorsazo continued, "However, it is also possible that people might not want to take the risk of traveling with you if they know your title, because, after all, the previous baron was ambushed and killed as well. We''ll have to see in the morning, my lord. Thankfully, the clothes you''ve been wearing since we left Ulriga don''t immediately identify you as a noble, even though people can tell that you might be a rich landowner or a big merchant. So any watchers waiting for you won''t recognize you that easily by your clothes unless they remember your face."

    "That''s good, I guess," Kivamus said, having not given much thought to that until now. "But how will you even convince the people in Tiranat that I''m the new baron and not an imposter?"

    "I do have the Duke''s proclamation with me, my lord," Gorsazo said while patting a pocket on the side of his tunic.

    "But, anyone could claim that with a written document, right?"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus as if he was being daft again. "That''s not possible, my lord, rest assured. No one will dare to try and impersonate a noble, or he''ll be hanged when caught."

    "Oh¡­" Kivamus realized that this was indeed very different from modern London, where copying a document just required a good photocopy machine. But in this era, most people wouldn''t even own any paper and likely couldn''t read or write either. So, for most people in this world, a written document with the Duke''s seal meant it was genuine without any doubt.

    "By the way, do we need to meet the count while passing through Cinran, since the barony of Tiranat comes under his territory?"

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea, my lord. Although the count is not a supporter of the Duke, he might still be allied with your brothers, because by helping your brothers to get rid of you, he still removes a possible heir of the duke, while currying favor with your brothers at the same time, one of whom will be the future duke and other the commander of Fort Aragosa. This way, he''ll have favorable relations with them in case the kingdom of Binpaaz invades Cinran again in the future. Thus he can also expect help from the Fort quickly, while it still serves his long-term goal of supplanting the duke in the future. So I think we should try not to let anyone else know about you until we reach Tiranat." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We''ll do as you say. You know much better about these matters than I do."

    They decided to step outside to see if they were going to move again anytime soon.

    There was another thing that Kivamus noticed only after getting out of the carriage this time. It was a small line of filthy, disheveled people who had their hands in manacles attached to an iron chain that seemed to be connected to the manacles of all the people in that line. Earlier they were hidden from his view by a wagon which had moved forward by now. He couldn''t see their faces, but their shoulders were slumped with hopelessness. They were wearing tattered clothes and their bodies were gaunt with hunger. The way their heads hung low as if weighed down by the crushing weight of despair, twisted his gut. It was another harsh reminder of the kind of world that he had found himself in.

    "Who are they? Criminals?"

    "No, my lord. They seem like new slaves meant for sale, probably in Cinran," Gorsazo replied, seemingly habitual of seeing them.

    "Slavery¡­ they must still have done some crime to be put into chains, right?"

    "Not always, my lord. Some of them might indeed have been criminals, but many of them likely couldn''t pay back their debts, so they would have been put into chains by the debt collectors, to be sold to some merchant or landed farmer who needed extra hands. Of course, many families are even forced to sell their sons or daughters to have their debt written off." Gorsazo paused, "The situation is not good for the common people, my lord. Most people barely have enough to eat anyway, and just a single bad harvest puts them into debt or even in chains."

    "But why doesn''t the Count help them? Why doesn''t the Duke do anything!" Kivamus said, agitated.

    "Because they always have some¡­ better things to do. Forgive me for saying this, my lord, but did you ever think about such people before you left Ulriga for Tiranat?"

    While Kivamus knew that he wasn''t even on this planet or in this body before a few days ago so it wasn''t his own fault, he could still recall from the original Kivamus'' memories that he or his brothers or even their father, the Duke, had never talked about the common people. While the duke had nearly no interest in running the duchy after the death of Kivamus''s mother, his older brothers spent all their time scheming to grab more power or wasted it trying to seek more pleasure. What happened to poor people was just¡­ something that happened.

    "I realize that now, Gorsazo and I will try to do better in the future. But can we do anything to help them now?"

    "Not unless you had much more money, my lord. You could indeed free them by paying their debts, but as it is right now, you don''t have nearly enough money for that. Also, judging by the livery of the men guarding them, they are a part of the retinue of the Count himself. So it is out of your power and authority as a baron serving under him to oppose the Count or his men. Again, it is also possible that the slaves might not want to be free anyway."

    "What! How''s that possible?"

    "I told you earlier my lord, most of the common people don''t always have enough to eat, and they have to sleep on empty stomachs on many nights. But as a slave, they will at least be fed, even if it won''t nearly be enough. Whether it''s the slaver or a new lord who makes them work on a farm, they will at least get something to eat, which won''t always happen if they are free, my lord."

    "I had no idea the situation was this bad," he said softly, without hearing any response from Gorsazo.

    A crushing weight settled in Kivamus'' chest as he watched them stand in chains. The sight was a physical ache, but the deeper pain was his helplessness and his inability to intervene.

    Soon enough, another wagon moved forward and hid the line of slaves from his view. But it seemed impossible for him to get that painful sight away from his mind. Being unable to do anything to help them, he made a feeble attempt to distract his mind by watching the line of other wagons moving ahead slowly.

 Chapter 5 - 5. Cinran Town

    By this time the line had moved forward, but only a little.

    Around them, people were talking and muttering things like how long their journey was or how the guards seemed to be so slow in processing the line. At the mention of guards, he looked towards the town gates and noticed that there were indeed a few guards wearing some sort of leather armor. They were holding up the line at the gates of the town while questioning a man with a wagon who was standing next to them.

    "Do you know what''s taking them so long?"

    Gorsazo, who was well accustomed to this world, unlike Kivamus, was quick to answer, "They''re just making a fuss over that merchant''s goods for no reason, my lord. It seems that the merchant doesn''t want to hand over a few coins to smooth things over. He really should though, or guards can hold the line for hours. All they have is time."

    "Ah, corruption and bribery. I guess that''s one thing that will be the same in every era," muttered Kivamus.

    The sun had only set recently and it was getting dark on the eastern side of the town. Kivamus squinted towards the gate, where a single flickering torch cast a meager light.

    Eventually, the merchant seemed to be fed up with the guards and just shook his head in resignation while handing over something to them. Kivamus strained to see the exchange happening beneath it, but the shadows made it impossible to see the number of coins changing hands.

    Soon enough, the line started moving again and Gorsazo and Kivamus sat back inside their carriage. The rest of the wagon drivers were quick to hand over some money to the guards on their turns, who didn''t seem as thorough in checking the goods of the merchants after they had gotten their due from them.

    Then it was their own turn and after their carriage driver dropped a few coins in the hands of the gate guards, they passed through the shadowed wooden gates and emerged into the unknown town of Cinran.

    The first thing that Kivamus noticed after passing the heavy wooden gates was how dark it was already. Unlike the fading twilight outside, the town inside the walls seemed to be covered in darkness. His first thought was that it must be a blackout, before remembering that there had to be no electricity in this era. As their carriage moved further, he saw that at least there was a single burning torch lit close to the first intersection that they seemed to be moving towards. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It''s quite dark inside the town, isn''t it?" he asked Gorsazo.

    "It is true, my lord. Even though Cinran is not a village, most of the towns are like this at night. I know that you have lived in the Palace of Ulriga all your life, and it was considerably more well-lit there, but this is how the rest of the places are, outside of the palace," Gorsazo told him, having no idea that Kivamus'' comparison was with London and not Ulriga.

    As their carriage moved further and turned left at the first intersection, he could smell more of the unfamiliar odors of the town. It was a heady mixture of the smells of smoke, sweat, and feces. It was intoxicating, and not in a good way. While he could still hear the creaking sound made by the wheels of the carriage on the packed dirt street and the hushed sound of conversations coming from the wagon ahead of them, it still seemed very quiet.

    "Should it be this quiet?"

    "As I said, my lord, it''s a town, not a city like Ulriga. It''s quite common for people to stay indoors after dark. I don''t know what''s the norm in Cinran, but the town patrol usually has a curfew soon after dark to prevent robberies and other crimes. Even so, I do think the last time I came to Cinran, it was more lively here." Gorsazo continued, "Having lived in the palace, you probably don''t know this but the previous year''s harvest in the duchy was not good, and it doesn''t look like this year is going to be any better. Work is hard to find these days for most people. The smithies, tanneries, and the like, operate fewer hours these days, even in Ulriga. So the conditions are likely the same here too, if not worse."

    "I had no idea¡­" Kivamus breathed. "All this time, nobles have lived in blissful ignorance, while the world suffered." As their carriage moved further, thoughts about how bad the lives of common people were, kept echoing in his mind.

    Their carriage continued moving on the streets for a while, making turns here and there, and soon enough he saw that while most of the houses had no lighting, one of them had a small earthen lamp mounted outside the door on a wooden post. A few people seemed to be coming and going from the place and he could even hear the sound of many people talking from inside the place.

    As they reached in front of the place, their driver stopped the carriage and stepped off his seat. He walked towards the rear of the carriage. "We are here, my lords. This is where I was told to drop you off."

    Before Kivamus could think of what to say, Gorsazo spoke up, "Thank you for bringing us here. I assume you were paid for this trip in Ulriga itself?"

    "Indeed my lord, one of Duke''s sons himself gave me the coin for this. I couldn''t believe my luck meeting the future Duke in person!" the driver said, seemingly awed by the memory.

    "Good for you!" said Gorsazo and he beckoned Kivamus to get out of the carriage first.

    Both of them got off the carriage and since they didn''t have any luggage apart from the few pouches and satchels that Gorsazo was carrying, they bid the carriage driver farewell, who bowed toward them and turned around the carriage, returning the way they had come from. For the moment, it was only the two of them outside the wooden establishment, which seemed to be an inn. While it looked far from being dilapidated in the feeble light of the lamp, it still seemed like a place to stay away from, according to his modern sensibilities.

    "Where would the carriage driver stay?"

    "He can''t possibly afford to stay at such a pricey inn my lord, he will likely know a barn or some similar place where he could stay and park his carriage to save money."

    "This is pricey? I thought we were in a run-down part of the town!"

    "You will have to become used to this, my lord. You might not see the luxuries of a palace anytime soon."

    "You''re indeed right. Well, we might as well go inside now."

    As he turned towards the entrance, Gorsazo pulled him away from the door and gestured to follow him.

    "What are you doing?"

    "My lord, did it not strike you as odd that your brother himself gave the money to the carriage driver?" asked Gorsazo in a hushed voice after taking both of them a little farther from the lamp.

    "Well, I didn''t think about it at the time, but now that you say it, yes, it does. Do you think¡­"

    "Yes, my lord. There must be at least one person inside who would be sitting there just to recognize you. And we don''t know who they will give this information to. That''s why we need to go to a different place."

    "That''s a good idea. But do you even know this locality? How will we even find a place in this darkness?" Kivamus glanced at his surroundings, but couldn''t discern one house from another in the darkness. "It doesn''t seem like a good idea to stay outside for long."

    "Indeed, my lord. Even though it''s been a few years since my last visit to Cinran, something about the route the carriage driver had taken sparked a memory. Thankfully, I do recognize this locality, and there is another inn nearby where we can stay. I know the owner there from a previous visit. It is smaller and gets fewer visitors, so there shouldn''t be anyone there who can recognize you, I believe." He continued, "Also, try to speak as little as possible when there are others around, my lord, since it would not be difficult for a person to surmise that you are a noble by your accent."

    "As you say, Gorsazo. I am counting on you to keep us both alive in this place."

    Gorsazo looked at him for a second, seemingly thinking of something, but didn''t say anything out loud. He gestured again to follow him and started walking in a particular direction.

    Despite his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, Kivamus was completely lost in this town. He had no choice but to follow Gorsazo blindly, unsure of where they were headed. Soon, Gorsazo beckoned him to enter a smaller alley and pointed at a similar lamp lit in front of another wooden building, located not too far inside the alley. They entered the small street and walked towards the inn. While walking, his boots seemed to squelch something but preferring not to think about what it could be, he kept moving.

    They reached the building and he followed Gorsazo inside. There were only a few small earthen lamps kept inside, keeping the room in semi-darkness. A few wooden tables with empty chairs around them were kept on his right, while on the left side, a single person was standing behind a wooden bar. The perpetual stench of the town was less noticeable inside the inn, but it was still present in small amounts, making him grimace about the hygienic standards of the place. But having no other option, he could only keep enduring the smells.

    He noticed that Gorsazo had started talking with the innkeeper in hushed voices. While he wanted to listen to what they were saying, the consistent threat of someone recognizing him and reporting to his brother''s agents in the town made him stay close to the shadows.

    Soon, Gorsazo passed a few coins to the man he was talking to and gestured to Kivamus to follow him. They climbed the stairs near the bar in the light of an earthen lamp the innkeeper had given to Gorsazo and went to the upper floor. It was quiet enough that it seemed the place was empty. Or nearly empty, anyway, since they passed another man walking down the stairs, dressed in a tunic.

    Gorsazo looked around the short corridor and soon unlocked a room with a key he had and they entered inside.

    It was a simple room, with only a single bedding, perhaps made of straw and covered with a semi-dirty sheet. Kivamus thought there would at least be a bed, but perhaps it wasn''t common in this place. It didn''t look sanitary at all to him, but he didn''t have any other options. Apart from the small earthen lamp that Gorsazo had kept near an empty corner, there was no other source of light. The room did have a closed window but it was made of wood with no glass pane on it, and it didn''t offer any extra light in the night. There was also a wooden chest kept near a wall. It made him think of a medieval movie set at first before he sat down on the straw bedding and realized modern mattresses weren''t nearly as uncomfortable.

    "Can we talk here?"

    "Of course, my lord, but try to keep your voice low." Gorsazo sat down nearby with his back to a wall. "Sound carries far through these walls and we don''t know who might be listening."

    "That''s true. Is this typical of beds in these kinds of inns?"

    "I''m sorry about that, my lord. The inn that the carriage driver brought us to would have had much better rooms which would be fit for a noble, or at least a rich merchant, but this place is far safer for you. I know this is not up to the standards of a noble, but that''s the reason your brother''s people in Cinran would never expect you to stay here. It doesn''t hurt that the rooms are much cheaper as well."

    "That''s true. But where will you sleep?"

    "Don''t worry about me, my lord. I will just rest a little like this. Someone has to keep watch anyway."

    "Are you sure? Can''t we ask the innkeeper for another such bedding?"

    "I told him that I was escorting the son of a merchant, my lord and that I was your servant. And no merchant will pay to get his servant a similar bedding as him."

    "You are not my servant, Gorsazo!" Kivamus exclaimed. "And I don''t mind that at all. We are in this together and spending a few more coins won''t affect our money much."

    "Thank you, my lord, and I know that. But while you don''t mind that, it would still be very rare and the innkeeper or one of his servants will remember that. And we aren''t in a position to be noticed in this town, my lord." He continued, "I have stayed in this inn before, but I don''t know the innkeeper well enough to trust him."

    "I didn''t think of that," Kivamus said.

    After a while, someone knocked on the door. Gorsazo got up and after checking who it was, brought back two wooden bowls with him.

    "Food, my lord," he said while offering one of the bowls to Kivamus. "I told them to deliver it to our room, so you wouldn''t have to sit in the open, where someone might still recognize you."

    "Thank you." Kivamus took the bowl and saw in the little light available that it was a soup of some kind with small lumps of meat and vegetables floating in it. It didn''t look very appetizing to him, but after eating dried rations for the past few days, it was at least a warm meal for a change. He tried it and decided that, while a little bland, it wasn''t too bad. It didn''t take long for them to finish it.

    "You should sleep now, my lord. We have a long journey tomorrow."

    "You mean longer than usual?" Kivamus asked. "Why?"

    "Earlier I had thought that the journey to Tiranat would be three days long by carriage, my lord. But our previous carriage driver told me we could make it in two days if we left early tomorrow and didn''t let up the pace. That way, we could make it to Helga''s inn before it gets too dark. The inn is around the halfway point to Tiranat, my lord, and it''s the only inn on the route. So it would be much better to stay there overnight instead of sleeping next to the forests on the road. Then it''s another day''s hard journey to Tiranat."

    "It would certainly feel much safer inside the inn, compared to sleeping in the open on the road," Kivamus said. "As you told me earlier, there are no patrols by knights on the road to Tiranat, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord. So, we would need to leave early enough tomorrow. If we can''t reach Helga''s inn by nightfall tomorrow, then getting there around noon the next day would be a wasted stop, since there would be no point in stopping there during the daytime. It would add an extra day to our journey as well, and we''d have to sleep in the open on both of the nights."

    "That''s true. Well, have a good night, Gorsazo."

    "You too, my lord."

    Kivamus lay down on the bedding, which felt just as uncomfortable as before. He kept thinking about those slaves he had seen earlier and thought it could easily have been him if he had woken up in this world as one of them instead of finding himself as the third son of the duke. It still anguished him to be unable to do anything to help them.

    Weariness from the long journey finally caught up to Kivamus, and it didn''t take long for him to drift off to sleep.

 Chapter 6 - 6. Road to Tiranat

    The next morning Gorsazo woke up Kivamus while it was still dark outside.

    "This is way too early, Gorsazo," Kivamus grumbled while sitting up. The bone-jarring jolts while riding in a wooden carriage on dirt roads for the past few days had taken their toll. His body ached in every muscle as if he''d run a marathon, though one entirely spent sitting. And the straw bedding he slept on the previous night hadn''t allowed him to get a good sleep. Adding to his misery, he had no idea where to get a cup of coffee to jolt him awake, or if coffee even existed in this world. "Do we really need to leave right now?" He hedged.

    "We do, my lord. We need to find a merchant willing to take us to Tiranat, my lord. And if a merchant is already leaving Cinran for Tiranat today, we need to be on that road before they depart so we can try to convince them to take us with them."

    "Alright, I''m awake now. Just give me a moment."

    Finishing up with their daily necessities, and visiting the privy of the inn, which consisted of a hole in a wooden bench, only made Kivamus miss his old apartment in London even more. Their meager breakfast of reheated soup and stale bread in their room, salvaged by Gorsazo from the inn''s kitchen before dawn, fueled their bodies for the journey ahead. With a final exchange of coins with the innkeeper, they stepped out of the inn and set off again.

    It was still mostly dark outside so Kivamus followed Gorsazo through the dirt streets which were still full of stench and decaying matter of unknown origins. Trying not to think about it, he kept following him until they reached the gate, and this time, the guards didn''t need to be paid their ''toll'' since they were neither in a carriage nor carrying any goods on a wagon to sell.

    Gorsazo had a quick discussion with the gate guards and this time they didn''t cross the wooden bridge they had passed yesterday. Instead, they took a dusty path that ran alongside the town''s wooden walls, heading south. Soon, they found a relatively clear place to sit on the grass next to the dirt road. It was starting to get brighter in the East by now, but there still weren''t any other travelers outside at this time of the day.

    Kivamus rubbed his hands together, wishing he had something warmer to wear against the chill of the morning air. The meager protection of his tunic was a stark contrast to the memories of his old life. He longed for the forgotten comfort of a warm coat, a silent yearning that bit at him as much as the chill.

    Before too long, they saw a wagon emerge from the gates but instead of turning south towards them, it crossed the wooden bridge to go to its destination somewhere on the other side of the Kal River.

    "The road to Tiranat would have much fewer travelers compared to the road going north, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord. We will be lucky if we can find a wagon going south soon."

    "There''s something I have been thinking about." After making sure that no one else was nearby for now, Kivamus said, "If my brothers really wanted to kill me, then why would they wait until we had left Cinran for Tiranat? They could have tried something before we reached here, couldn''t they?"

    Gorsazo thought for a while, and said, "My lord, were you to be harmed before reaching Cinran, it would reflect poorly on the Duke''s control of the Duchy. The other nobles would seize upon your death as proof of his ineptitude, claiming he couldn''t even safeguard his own son on a well-traveled road. However, if an unfortunate bandit attack were to occur after we left the safety of Cinran, particularly on the notoriously dangerous forest road to Tiranat, the narrative would completely change. While tragic, your demise would be viewed as an unavoidable consequence of the region''s lawlessness, garnering sympathy for the Duke, rather than condemnation. In fact, since most nobles are already aware of his seclusion from public life, their condolences would likely be directed towards your brothers, not knowing that they were the ones behind the attack."

    "How fortunate for my brothers," Kivamus grimaced. "And if bandits do attack us, it can only mean that my brothers have clearly planned this out well in advance," he murmured, a tremor in his voice betraying the unease he tried to mask. "Will we even be safe if we reach Tiranat? You did mention earlier that it was considered the most dangerous barony in the duchy."

    "I can''t be sure, of course, but I believe that for us the danger is mainly in reaching there. Your brothers, if they really have planned for a bandit attack to kill you before we reach Tiranat, then they wouldn''t expect us to reach Tiranat in the first place. So I don''t think they would have made any preparations to ambush us there as well. For now, our target is to reach Tiranat safely, if we can manage it at all. After that though, we should be safe for some time." Gorsazo chuckled nervously. "As for later in the future, only they will know more."

    "It seems all of this anticipation and dread will kill me before the bandits even get a chance," Kivamus muttered, a shiver crawling down his spine. "Will we ever be safe though, Gorsazo?"

    "I don''t know, my lord. But I too would like to see my children again." Gorsazo sighed.

    "Would it not have been better to have hired guards then?"

    "They would be mercenaries for hire, my lord. One can never be sure of the loyalties of those who fight only for coin. I still believe that traveling anonymously without a visible group of guards is our best bet for safety at this time, even if we might have to tell a passing merchant more, for him to give us a ride."

    The air felt thick and suffocating, mirroring the oppressive weight of the conversation and the ever-present dread that coiled in his gut. Kivamus massaged his temples, willing the beginnings of a new headache to subside. But there was no other choice for them than to keep going. In this brutal new world, the only sanctuary for him was Tiranat.

    They sat for a while and watched the rising sun in the east while waiting for a merchant or a caravan to come towards them.

    Soon, they saw another wagon exiting the gates, and thankfully this time it turned south and started moving towards them. It was a small caravan of just three wagons, each being pulled by a pair of horses. All the wagons seemed to be made for carrying goods and didn''t have a closed compartment, unlike the carriage they''d arrived in yesterday. The wagons were covered with an oilcloth to keep their contents safe from the elements and each of the wagons had a lone driver sitting on a bench in the front. As they came closer, Kivamus noticed that the driver of the leading wagon was the same merchant who was arguing with the gate guards yesterday.

    When the wagons reached close to them, both of them stood up and Gorsazo hailed the wagon driver to stop the wagon for a moment. The merchant in the first wagon slowly stopped his wagon and gestured for the wagons following him to stop as well. He looked at Gorsazo for only a moment, while his gaze stayed longer on Kivamus, perhaps noticing his better-quality clothing. The merchant himself was wearing a tunic as well, while the other wagon drivers had leather armor of some kind above their own well-patched tunics.

    "Greetings, friend! Are you all going to Tiranat, by any chance?" Gorsazo asked the merchant.

    "What is it to you? Are you also with those money-grubbing bastards at the gate looking for another toll? I already paid them their share, damn them!" he grumbled. He was a balding man of a mediocre height and with a short beard, looking to be in his late forties.

    "Not at all, my friend. We too had to pay an entry tax to those corrupt guards yesterday. In fact, we saw your argument with them yesterday. We despise such corruption too, not that the guards are going to change their habits anytime soon," Gorsazo lamented to the merchant.

    "Hmm¡­ that''s true enough. Well, why did you both stop me then? I doubt that you are bandits looking to raid my caravan, this close to Cinran," the merchant replied with a small laugh.

    "Well, you do know that Tiranat does not have a baron right now, don''t you? And about what happened to the previous one?"

    "Indeed. It was a sad affair. They didn''t even leave his family alive!" The merchant muttered, "If you ask me, I''d say the bandits knew exactly what they were doing."

    "And did you hear that Tiranat was going to get another baron soon in the future?" Gorsazo asked, carefully watching the merchant.

    "Now that you mention it, I did think that it had been a few months already, so the duke should have allotted the lands to a new baron by now. Those poor people in Tiranat surely need a leader there. But I can''t say that I heard it was going to happen anytime soon. Why do you ask?"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus for a moment, seemingly thinking about what to say. However, to Kivamus it seemed that in this corrupt place, a merchant who at least complained about corruption was probably a little more ethical than someone who would just accept it as a part of life. And they couldn''t keep waiting for the next merchant going to Tiranat, who may or may not even come here all day. So he looked at Gorsazo and gave him a small nod.

    Gorsazo nodded back, seemingly having come to the same conclusion, and said to the merchant, "I am Gorsazo, and as it happens, the new baron is right here," while gesturing towards Kivamus. "Meet Kivamus Ralokaar, the third son of the Duke of Ulriga, and the new Baron of Tiranat. If you want, I can show you the Duke''s proclamation," he added while patting the side of his tunic.

    For a moment, it seemed the merchant was either not going to believe them, or he was so surprised that he didn''t know what to say. However, he shook his head and called out to his companions, "You two, come here right now!"

    He leaped out of his wagon seat and immediately bowed towards Kivamus. "Forgive this man''s forgetfulness, my lord, and please don''t trouble yourself with the proclamation. I believe you. When I saw you, I thought that I had seen your face in the past, my lord. Now I recall it was on a visit to the Ulriga Palace some time ago. It is an honor to meet you in person, my lord."

    His companions, uncertain of what was happening, looked at the merchant. One of them was quite a tall and well-built man and looked to be in his thirties. The other man was much younger and looked to be barely out of his teens in the light of the newly risen sun.

    "Bow, you idiots!" The merchant admonished his companions, who followed him and bowed in front of Kivamus as well.

    For Kivamus, it was such a unique experience of people calling him a lord and bowing to him, that he had no idea what to say for a moment and looked to Gorsazo for help. However, Gorsazo had no way of knowing that this Kivamus was not the same person inside as the one who had lived surrounded by servants all his life as the third son of the duke. So he just stood looking at them.

    Kivamus took a deep breath, willing down a trace of hesitation. "Get up, you all. There''s no need for all that," he said, his voice steady despite the knot of tension in his stomach. "I don''t want us to be noticed."

    The merchant and the men with him stood up but they still had their heads bowed slightly. "As you say, my lord."

    Gorsazo finally came to Kivamus''s help, and said, "Well, tell us who you are. And we don''t need to make a spectacle here for any passersby, so just stand normally." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The merchant nodded hesitatingly, and said, "Forgive this one''s lack of manners, my lord. I am Pydas, a traveling merchant and these two are drivers I''ve hired for the other wagons, who also help out with keeping things safe."

    "Alright. Well, we are going to Tiranat, as you may have guessed. Can you take the two of us there? We will pay a fee, of course," Kivamus said.

    "It would be an honor, my lord! And how can I take money from you? I am going to Tiranat anyway, my lord, and I''ll be glad to take you both with us."

    Gorsazo spoke up before Kivamus could object, "I thank you for that, Pydas. Also, we don''t want to let anyone else know who we are until we reach Tiranat. So you three cannot mention a word about us to anyone else until we reach there."

    Pydas said, "Of course my lords. However, we should leave soon, if we are to reach Helga''s inn by nightfall." He hesitated, "Uh¡­ I''m sorry to say this, my lord, but I don''t have any place suitable enough for a noble in my wagon."

    "Don''t worry about that. We just need a place to sit," Kivamus said.

    "In that case, just give me a moment, my lord," the merchant replied hastily, scurrying back to his wagon. A flurry of hushed conversation and gesturing ensued between him and his companions. With practiced efficiency, they shifted a few hefty sacks and wooden barrels, redistributing the load between the wagons. Pydas beckoned them over and gestured towards two empty spaces on his own wagon, adorned with a scrap of rough cloth fabric, offering a marginal improvement over the bare wooden planks. "I''m sorry my lord, but this is the best I can do for now."

    "It''ll have to do, Pydas," replied Gorsazo. "Come on, my lord," he said to Kivamus, "it''s getting late so we should leave now."

    With ungraceful bumps, they clambered into the back of the wagon and settled onto the seats, a generous term for the thin scrap of cloth draped over the wooden planks. Kivamus winced as the rough fabric did little to soften the unforgiving wooden planks beneath him.

    And yet, complaints died on his tongue. The discomfort was a small price to pay for a place on this ramshackle wagon, their only hope for reaching the safety of Tiranat.

    Pydas and the other drivers settled into their seats, the reins growing taut in their calloused hands. With a flick of the reins and a chorus of creaking axles, the caravan lurched into motion. The journey to the south began, a balancing act between hope for safety and the ever-present threat that lurked on the untamed roads.

 Chapter 7 - 7. Helgas Inn

    It was around noon when the vast forest ahead finally came into view. Despite the clear sky, the dense trees cast a heavy shadow, making the area feel dark and foreboding. They stopped for a short rest before entering the forest, stretching their legs and grabbing a bite of their dried rations. Pydas, the merchant, even surprised them with a loaf of bread they all shared. Still, they couldn''t afford to wait too long, so they continued their journey soon after their rest.

    It was autumn, and trees had begun shedding leaves, creating a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground. As the three-wagon caravan approached the treeline, the creaking of the axles was joined by the crunching of the wheels over a carpet of dried leaves. Once they entered the forest, the dense canopy blocked most of the sunlight, creating a constant twilight beneath the trees.

    The colorful leaves, a mix of yellows, oranges, and maroons, blanketed the forest floor, almost obscuring the faint wagon tracks ahead. Pydas easily followed the tracks, navigating them with a practiced ease.

    It was nearing the evening, when Gorsazo muttered under his breath, "Damn it," his voice barely a whisper.

    Kivamus was nearly dozing off by this time, despite the discomfort of sitting on a wagon all day, so it took a moment for him to register that Gorsazo had said something. "Did you say something Gorsazo?"

    "Don''t be alarmed, my lord, but I think there are people following us."

    "What? Where? How can you tell?" Kivamus looked around the wagon for a moment, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart. "I don''t see anyone."

    "I''m not certain, my lord, but I believe I heard some crunching of leaves on our right some time ago. It might just be animals though, I can''t say for sure."

    Unable to hear anything but the sound of wagons moving over dried leaves, Kivamus sat up and strained to see into the dense foliage.

    After a while, when he had started to relax thinking it was a false alarm, Gorsazo suddenly spoke, "There! Did you hear it this time?"

    Kivamus still hadn''t been able to hear what he was talking about, but it was unlikely that Gorsazo had misheard it twice. "What should we do?" he asked, trying to calm his nerves.

    "Nothing, for now, my lord. They may only be scouting right now to see if this caravan can be a good target for them. I don''t think they would know about you specifically, my lord, since we don''t have a visible detail of guards with us."

    "Do we need to tell Pydas?"

    "He would have noticed it before even I did since he is used to traveling on such treacherous roads. And since he hasn''t stopped, we have to trust that he knows what he is doing." Gorsazo added, "Unless there is an imminent attack, I think getting to Helga''s inn quickly is the best way forward."

    "Then, shouldn''t we at least tell him to speed up?" Kivamus asked, at the same time he heard Pydas whipping the horses to make the wagon move faster.

    "Like I said, my lord, he knows what to do."

    The other wagons had also sped up to follow the lead wagon closely. As they continued to move, the sun gradually began to set, casting long shadows through the trees and cloaking the forest in a deepening twilight. Kivamus couldn''t help but feel a sense of unease as they trudged along the winding path, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding foliage for any signs of danger or movement. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of movement in the distance. Squinting through the dense underbrush, he thought that he caught a glimpse of what looked like a horse with a rider moving swiftly through the woods. Though he couldn''t be sure, the sight made his heart race with uncertainty and apprehension. It continued like this for a while, and they kept moving while the sun started to set, making it darker in the forest.

    By the time it had gotten dark enough that Kivamus thought it would be difficult to keep moving, he saw a glimpse of light a little way ahead on the path. "Is that¡­?"

    "Yes, my lord, I believe it must be Helga''s inn," Gorsazo said with a smile, "It seems we will be safe, after all."

    Slowly the wagon approached the two-storey wooden building in the middle of the forest. The flickering light of a lamp, perched on a wooden pole outside the building, served as a beacon in the encroaching darkness. Trees had been cleared around the inn to provide a clear view of the area, and a partially open structure to the left of the inn housed a single horse and some carts. A small, painted sign hung from a wooden pole. It displayed the symbol of a tankard and the words "Helga''s Inn" written in the strange script of the local language. The inscription would likely be unreadable to the majority of the people in his world if literacy was anything like that in the medieval era on Earth. However, thanks to the memories he''d inherited with the body, Kivamus could read it with ease.

    "We are here, my lord," Pydas announced with relief while turning around in his seat to speak. "We managed to reach Helga''s Inn safely after all. After that scare of riders following us, I thought we might be attacked right in the middle of the forests. But thankfully, we are safe."

    "Indeed, Pydas, and I thank you for taking us here," said Kivamus. "And remember, not a word about us."

    Pydas nodded respectfully. "Of course, my lord."

    Gorsazo admonished him in a low voice, "Don''t keep saying ''my lord'' from now on, it will defeat the purpose. If you have to say anything, just talk to me."

    "As you wish, Mr Gorsazo."

    Kivamus disembarked from the wagon with the help of Gorsazo, taking in the surroundings with tired eyes. The leaves made a crunching sound with each step and added to the whinnying of the tired horses. The other wagons had stopped nearby as well, with their drivers stepping out of their seats after sitting there all day.

    Hearing all this sound, the door to the inn opened and a teenage boy came out of the door to the inn. He looked around quickly and ran back inside, shouting, "Ma, we have visitors! Mr Hudan, please come outside!"

    Soon, a tall and burly man, who was perhaps in his early thirties, came outside. He had the build of a professional bodybuilder, with a few scars added all over. He was wearing a well-used leather armor with a chainmail above it. The huge sword he was carrying behind his shoulder only added to his intimidating appearance.

    "How many of you are here?" he asked.

    Gorsazo answered for all of them. "There are five of us, Mr¡­?"

    "I''m called Hudan," the huge man answered in a stern voice.

    "Well, the two of us are just catching a ride to Tiranat with Pydas, the merchant here," Gorsazo explained while pointing to Kivamus and Pydas respectively. "If you have free rooms, we would like to stay in your inn for the night."

    "I''m not the owner here, I''m here to help guard the inn against¡­ let''s say, unsavory characters," Hudan said with a frown. He took a moment to gaze over all of them. "I already know Mr Pydas, and both of you seem okay to me." He called out in the direction of the inn, "Feroy, Lucem, come here and help them inside."

    "Thank you," Pydas saidwith a nod.

    "You''re a pal, Mr Pydas. Of course, you''re welcome here."

    Soon another man came outside along with the boy they had seen earlier. He was dressed similarly to Hudan, but he looked to be a few years older than him and had an average build, quite unlike the hulking body of Hudan. The boy, who looked to be in his early teens, was wearing a well-patched tunic.

    "This is Feroy," Hudan said while pointing to the man. "He helps guard the place along with me." He gestured to the boy, "And this is Lucem, the son of the owner, Madam Helga."

    Before the conversation could continue, they heard the sound of leaves crunching nearby in the forest, and suddenly an arrow whizzed close to the face of Kivamus.

    "Down, my lord!" Gorsazo shouted while harshly pushing Kivamus to the ground, seemingly forgetting his own instructions to not call Kivamus a lord.

    Soon, they heard the sound of more men coming from the same direction and five figures emerged from the trees, shadows given form by the dying embers of the setting sun. One of them, a hulking brute with a longsword, bellowed, "There he is! Get him!" while pointing at Kivamus, who was still on the ground. Two others, wiry and mean-looking, hefted their bows, their arrows aimed with deadly precision. The remaining two, clad in mismatched leather armor, brandished shortswords, their expressions feral.

    While Kivamus was like a deer caught in headlights, having no idea what to do, it only took a moment for Hudan to assess the situation. "Lucem, take them inside and block the door. Feroy, with me." He looked at the other two wagon drivers who had taken out their own short blades by now, and said, "You two, circle around and try to get the archers." He had taken out his longsword from his back and was holding it with both hands while crouching a little. Feroy took out his own shortsword and stood next to Hudan while trying to block the path of the bandits from going toward the unarmed people.

    Panic flickered briefly in the eyes of the wagon drivers, but they did as told, and started to move around the wagons to get behind the bandits.

    Gorsazo managed to get Kivamus up and in a crouch and ran with him towards the door of the inn. He kept his own body in the way of any more incoming arrows to protect Kivamus. They were joined by Pydas and Lucem shortly, who pointed towards the door of the inn and shouted for someone to get it open.

    Hudan reacted fast. He roared a challenge and moved forward with his own blade drawn out. Feroy, though older, followed suit with his own shortsword.

    The bandit archers let loose more arrows, only one of which even came close to Kivamus and his companions in the darkness. Thankfully, no one seemed injured. They ran faster towards the door, while still crouching, to present a smaller target to the archers.

    Hudan, a veteran of such fights, bellowed as he cleaved through the air, his weapon connecting with the sword of the brute. At the same time, Feroy let loose a flurry of strikes against the two other bandits with shortswords, managing to hold both of them back for now.

    The archers shot more arrows close to the running men and suddenly Lucem cried out in pain while holding his left arm. "Don''t stop running!" shouted Pydas as they neared the door to the inn. There was a young woman standing inside the entrance with a fearful face while holding the door open for them.

    The fight devolved into a chaotic dance of steel and frantic movement. One of Feroy''s strikes managed to hit a bandit''s shoulders with a sickening thud. The man screamed and fell back, clutching his wound. Hudan and the largest bandit kept exchanging strikes with no clear victor.

    As Kivamus and others reached the door another volley of arrows passed close to them, with no one else hurt this time. Hurrying inside the inn, they slammed the door shut. The young woman, working with others, secured it with a heavy wooden bar.

    By this time the wagon drivers had reached the archers who had drawn their own short blades and began to exchange strikes against them. The taller wagon driver managed to disarm one of the archers with a swift maneuver, the man collapsing with a yelp. And it became a fight of two against one for now, making the other archer lose ground.

    The largest bandit who was fighting against Hudan managed to hit him on his side, drawing blood, and making Hudan fall back a little while holding his side. Feroy, whose strikes were faster, killed the injured bandit with a quick jab against his chest and pulled back his sword to engage with his remaining opponent.

    The wagon drivers, with a two-to-one advantage now, had the upper hand, but the archer was quicker and managed to stab one of them in his thigh. But the other driver took this opportunity and got to his side and killed him with a quick strike to his neck. At the same time, the fallen bandit got up again after picking up his own dagger.

    Feroy, who had circled around his remaining opponent by now, kept engaging against him, while Hudan roared back against the largest bandit. Despite being hit, he kept exchanging strikes equally until the bandit stumbled against a rock on the ground, in the barely visible light of dusk. Not missing this opportunity, Hudan jabbed into the chest of the bandit, who crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide with shock.

    Hudan looked around and saw Feroy still engaged with his opponent and moved to help him. With the two of them, it didn''t take long until they managed to kill the remaining bandit as well.

    At this point, only the second archer was alive amongst the bandits, who looked around to see all his companions on the ground. "I yield!" he shouted and held up his hands, dropping his blade. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Looking around and making sure that no other bandits were coming, Hudan sat down on the ground while clutching his bleeding side. Feroy took charge of the bandit who had surrendered and told the uninjured wagon driver to bring a rope to tie him.

 Chapter 8 - 8. Aftermath

    Inside the Inn, Kivamus'' heart was still hammering after the recent scare of having arrows shot at him, along with swordsmen coming to kill him. He didn''t know how he had managed to stay alive through this, but he thanked the heavens and whoever else was listening, that he was still breathing!

    He and Gorsazo had found empty chairs to sit inside the hall. The young woman they had seen earlier was still scolding Lucem while applying a scrap of cloth on his bleeding arm. An older portly woman, with many white hairs on her head, had come there and taken charge of everything and organized seats for everyone inside.

    Pydas spoke up soon, "There are no more sounds coming now, it seems the fight is over."

    A gruff voice echoed from outside the door, followed by a knock. Pydas, with a nod from the older woman, unbarred the door and opened it. Hudan came inside while still clutching his side, and was followed by the younger wagon driver who was injured in his thigh.

    "Don''t worry, it''s not serious," Hudan said to the worried older woman, finding another empty chair to sit on.

    "Are Feroy and others okay?" the older woman asked.

    "We all are fine, Madam Helga. All but one of them are dead." He said while grunting as Pydas helped him to apply another scrap of cloth as a bandage around his chest.

    The older woman said to the young woman, "Syryne, bring this man a bandage too," while pointing to the younger wagon driver, who had been injured.

    "Yes, ma," she said and brought another scrap of cloth and gave it to him to tie around his injured thigh.

    Kivamus felt his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the events unfolding around him. He had been caught in the middle of his first battle in this strange new world, and the rush of adrenaline was almost too much to bear even now. It was only through the timely intervention of the inn''s guards that he had managed to survive. As he struggled to catch his breath and calm his nerves, he couldn''t help but think of his old life back in London. The memories flooded back, and he longed for the familiarity and safety of the world he had left behind. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Watching the way the people here used any cloth scrap as bandages, he felt a surge of relief for his own lack of injury. At the same time, a pang of sympathy struck him for the others who had to make do with whatever scraps they had. Without any modern medicine and a hospital, recovery from wounds here was going to be more dependent on luck than anything else.

    As he struggled to steady his pounding heart, he took a moment to survey his surroundings. After spending a restless night in a shabby inn in Cinran last night, he had already anticipated that the comforts of his home on Earth would be far out of reach in this unfamiliar world. But as he glanced further, this inn looked even more decrepit than the previous one. The large hall he was seated in had wooden walls and a scattering of tables and chairs on the right. However, even in the dim light of the two lamps, he could see that only a few of them were in usable condition. The rest were damaged or broken and were pushed aside to create more space in the middle of the hall. The wooden walls were patched with scraps of wood or just old clothes in many places. On the left side of the hall was a rickety wooden bar, with a kitchen that looked like it had seen much better days. Stairs close to the opposite wall led to the upper floor. It was unmistakable that the people living here were struggling.

    Soon enough, everyone injured had gotten bandaged and the older woman, now known as Helga, the owner of the inn, asked Hudan, "Where''s Feroy?" She glanced at the visitors to her inn for a moment. "I saw the attackers through a window earlier. It''s rare for them to attack immediately instead of asking for money or food as they always do. Were they just bandits?"

    "Feroy is with the remaining bandit, he''ll get all the information out of him soon enough," Hudan grimaced. He looked at Kivamus and Gorsazo for a moment. "Anything you both want to tell us? One of you called someone else a lord earlier¡­"

    Kivamus barely knew these people, but whether it was because of the fading adrenaline or because they had just saved his life, he decided to trust them for now. "I didn''t plan on mentioning it, but I think¡­"

    Before he could finish speaking, Gorsazo said to him, "Are you sure¡­?"

    "Gorsazo, they just saved our lives. If they were with those people who want me dead, I doubt we''d be having this conversation in the first place." He looked at all the people around him, and spoke up, "I am Kivamus Ralokaar, and I have been granted the Barony of Tiranat by the Duke of Ulriga. That''s where Gorsazo and I are going, along with Pydas who''s giving us a ride on his wagons till Tiranat." It still felt odd to him to call himself a noble, along with the title he had been given.

    Pydas and the wagon driver already knew about this, but the inhabitants of the inn seemed struck by this revelation.

    The owner of the inn, Helga, recovered first. "What are you all doing? Bow to Lord Kivamus, right now!"

    Immediately, Helga, along with her son and daughter bowed in reverence to Kivamus. At the same time, Hudan grunted as he tried to get up from his chair while still holding the side of his chest.

    While Kivamus had mostly expected this reaction by now, he still found himself stopping them. "No, no, you all don''t need to do this!" Kivamus had stood up himself and tried to make Hudan sit back on his chair. "You are injured, just sit down and get some rest!"

    "But¡­" Syryne and her brother Lucem tried to speak at the same time, while Hudan was looking at him with a sharp gaze.

    "It''s okay. It is fine." Kivamus took a deep breath. "Just take a seat, everyone."

    As others sat down where they were sitting earlier, Helga pleaded, "My lord, forgive all of us for not knowing about you and any disrespect we may have caused. My kids couldn''t have known, my lord, it was my fault. Please don''t punish them."

    "What? Why would I punish them?" Kivamus was again surprised by this strange new world and the even more strange mannerisms of its inhabitants.

    "Because¡­" Helga took a deep breath and said, "Forgive me, my lord, for being presumptuous. The previous baron was¡­ not good towards other people, especially if they weren''t of a noble birth. It is very unusual for us to be talking to a noble like this."

    "Don''t worry about it. I''m just a human being, like all of you," Kivamus commented.

    "Excuse me, my lord," Lucem said, "You said your surname was Ralokaar. Does that mean¡­?" he trailed off.

    "Yes, my father is indeed the Duke of Ulriga. But please don''t make a big deal of it."

    "Uh.. big deal, my lord? What does that mean?" Lucem asked.

    Kivamus sighed. "Just forget what I said. It''s not important."

    "But you are a son of the duke, my lord! Why are you even going to Tiranat?" Syryne asked.

    "The only reason I''m going to Tiranat is because I''m a son of the duke!" Kivamus exhaled heavily. "I was sent there basically as an exile. And to the best of my guess, my brothers are the ones who sent those people after me."

    "I wondered why the bigger bandit had pointed out to you earlier, telling others to kill you," Hudan mused. "Now it''s more clear."

    "Also, thank you all for helping me. You and your companion saved my life without even knowing anything about me," Kivamus said gratefully to Hudan.

    "It''s no problem, my lord," Hudan said. "You must know about how the previous baron and his guards were killed by such people. My cousin was amongst those guards killed by the bandits."

    "I''m really sorry to hear that, Hudan. I think that those attackers and the ones whom you killed today might be a part of the same group, likely with my brothers behind them."

    "If you say so, my lord. I just hope my cousin''s spirit rests easy after today. May the Goddess save his soul," Hudan whispered. He continued, "Feroy will have gotten out everything that the remaining attacker knew soon enough, so we''ll hopefully find out more then."

    Shortly, the door opened again and Feroy along with the taller wagon driver, who looked pale now and kept giving nervous glances towards Feroy, entered inside. "You won''t believe what gibberish he was spouting!" Feroy spoke up loudly, while the two of them took an empty chair each.

    Meanwhile, Syryne, along with Lucem who seemed fine by now, brought a few mugs of ale for everyone on Helga''s order. Kivamus took a welcome sip after the recent ordeal, even if he wasn''t sure he liked the taste of it.

    "Tell us Feroy," Hudan said.

    "Yeah. So get it, the guy was saying that" he took a big gulp himself from his wooden tankard, "they were after a son of the duke himself!"

    "It''s true, Feroy," Hudan smirked. He gestured towards Kivamus, "Meet Lord Kivamus Ralokaar, son of our esteemed Duke. He has recently been granted the Barony of Tiranat, where he is traveling to take over as the new Baron."

    "You are surely jesting!" Feroy glanced at Kivamus for a second, then said, "Really?"

    When everyone else just looked at him, without saying anything, he suddenly stood up and bowed to Kivamus, "Shit! Uh¡­ I''m sorry, my lord! Please forgive this one''s moment of insanity," while unknowingly splashing his ale a little in the process.

    "It''s okay, Feroy. Just take a seat and tell us what you found," Kivamus sighed.

    "Uh.. yeah, thank you, my lord. So, where was I," he sat down on his chair and spoke seriously now, with all traces of fun gone from his face. It was the face of a seasoned veteran now. "He said that one of them was following your wagons from the morning. They didn''t know you by sight, so they were told to kill any young person with good clothing amongst the passengers, at all costs, and not to leave anyone else alive if possible."

    "Did he tell you how he got this information?" Gorsazo asked. "And, uh¡­ where is he?"

    "Don''t worry, he won''t be killing anyone else in the future," Feroy stated, making others around him grimace at the implication. "And no, he didn''t know the name of the person who gave him this information. He just said that it was a contact in Cinran he met a few days ago who always gave them tips about vulnerable targets traveling on the road. That person always met them in a dark alley with their cloak''s hood up, so the bandit didn''t know his contact''s identity." He took another sip from his mug, "However, this time these bandits were caught unprepared because they weren''t expecting you to leave Cinran for at least another day, my lord."

    "It seems it was a good idea to travel as much as we could in the past few days, Gorsazo," Kivamus interrupted. "Even if my body hates me for it," he muttered under his breath.

    Gorsazo nodded, "Indeed, my lord. We could have stopped at inns every night on our journey from Ulriga to Cinran, but I decided not to, so we could leave early and travel farther each day. I had no idea what could be waiting for us on the road, and it always pays to be more cautious."

    "That''s certainly true." Feroy continued, "Their original plan, according to the schedule their contact had given them, was for their whole party of more than a dozen men to assemble by tomorrow and leave around the same time as you, whenever you left Cinran, and then ambush you later that day. But they were expecting you to rest for a day or two in an inn there, my lord, as most nobles do if they''ve traveled as far as from Ulriga to Cinran. They had a scout watching a particular inn as well, where they were expecting you to stay. Though he didn''t know why specifically that inn, my lord."

    "That was Gorsazo''s doing," Kivamus told him. "It was an excellent idea, Gorsazo, that you didn''t let us stay in the inn where the wagon driver dropped us in Cinran. Or they would have known about us since yesterday and would have been much more prepared."

    "Thank you, my lord," said Gorsazo, accepting the rare praise. "Well, carry on then, Feroy."

    "Yeah, so their scout was passing near the gates in Cinran by chance this morning, and recognized you leaving my lord, and so the bandits, or rather, the mercenaries, had to gather whoever they could, and attack you today itself. They immediately sent word to those members of their group who were living in or around Cinran but only a few of them had reported by around noon. So their leader, the big guy, decided to leave Cinran with just three other mercenaries around noon, not counting the rider they had dispatched earlier in the morning to follow you on the forest road. Since their scout had told him that you only had a single escort, their leader was confident enough to finish his task but because they had left late, their group only caught up with you by the evening when you had reached close to this inn. That''s why there were only five of them who attacked us. If they had their full strength, we would have stood no chance, my lord."

    "That seems very true. Now I know why my brother didn''t send any guards with me since they had planned all this in advance. I was so distraught about leaving Ulriga that I didn''t question it then," Kivamus mentioned. "And thank you both again, for saving our lives. It''s the first time I''m going to Tiranat, and as you all can guess, I have no power in Ulriga anymore. But still, if any of you need my help in the future, and it''s in my power, I will do whatever I can to help you."

    "We were only doing our duty of protecting the inn and its visitors, my lord," Hudan said. "And I can already say it was a good decision. You are nothing like that bastard¡­ uh, the previous baron, my lord. Forgive me for saying that, but it''s true."

    "He''s right," Helga said. "In the time you''ve been here, my lord, the previous baron would have muttered enough obscenities to shame a sailor while berating others and trying to lay his grubby paws on Syryne. You are nothing like him, my lord."

    "After hearing about the kind of person he was, I''m very glad." Kivamus glanced at the others in the hall. "Now would you please serve us all a warm meal, Madam Helga? And as many pitchers of ale as they can handle!" he boomed, his voice ringing through the rafters of the inn, "I''ll pay for everything tonight!" and the small inn was filled with the sound of cheers and praises for Lord Kivamus.

 Chapter 9 - 9. Allies

    The next hour was lively as Helga made herself busy getting a few tables cleared with the help of Lucem, while Syrene helped by making a meal for everyone.

    Before long, they were all served a warm bowl of soup with a few small parts of meat and vegetables floating in it, along with some freshly baked bread. Everyone got another tankard of ale as well.

    It didn''t take long for them to finish their simple meal. Helga approached the table where Kivamus was sitting along with Gorsazo and Pydas. "Forgive me for the poor meal, my lord, but this is the best we can do. The past few years haven''t been good for us."

    "Not at all, Madam Helga. A warm meal was all we needed," Kivamus replied. "However, if you don''t mind, I would like to know more about this place."

    Helga hesitated for a moment, then took an empty seat at the table. "I am grateful that you are the new baron, my lord. And I''m not saying this to earn your favor." She took a deep breath, "We used to live in Cinran in the past, my lord, where my husband was an innkeeper and I was a cook. That''s where Syryne and Lucem were born. We tried to make do with what little we had, but soon we couldn''t afford to stay inside Cinran anymore with the increasing food prices and rising taxes. We were traveling south, uncertain of where to go, when we met the previous owner of this inn during our stay here. Despite his advanced age, the man understood our hardship. When he learned my husband used to be an innkeeper too, he took our family in." She had a faraway look in her eyes now. "We had some good times here, my lord, with our children running around and the previous owner as a grandfather figure for them. Business was good too in those days. That was nearly a decade ago..."

    Pydas reminisced, "I crossed paths with them once while traveling through here. Good folks, they were."

    "Please go on, Madam Helga," Kivamus said gently.

    "It wasn''t to last, of course. It was around three years ago that everything changed. One day I was out in the forests with my children to gather wood for making food." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "When I returned in the evening, they were dead, my lord. My husband, and the owner, both of them. Bandits had come here and taken everything we had saved, after killing my husband and the owner, brutally. I am only glad that I was outside then, and our children were spared. Even imagining my children like that¡­"

    "I am really sorry that you had to go through that, Madam Helga." Kivamus tried to say more but found himself short of words. He hadn''t realized the depth of hardship in this world. Living in London, concerns about food and basic survival had never crossed his mind. Yet, Helga''s story revealed a reality so harsh it shook him to the core, igniting a determination to act. He vowed to do whatever he could to help them.

    It took some time for her to continue after she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It wasn''t your fault, my lord. You don''t need to be sorry for it." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Since then, the three of us have been making this place our home. At separate times, Feroy and Hudan joined us here too and I couldn''t be more grateful to them, but their stories aren''t mine to tell." She exhaled deeply. "In the past few years, food prices have kept rising due to many successive bad harvests, my lord. We had been scraping by with the limited income from what little traffic we used to get on this road. But after the previous baron and his family were killed nearby a few months ago, hardly anyone is traveling on this road anymore."

    Pydas added, "It is true, my lord. Even I rarely travel on this road now. I am only going to Tiranat after many months to try and sell what I can before winter hits and snow makes travel too difficult."

    Helga continued after a minute, "My lord, this year we don''t even have enough grain stocked up to last the winter. We''ve exhausted nearly all our savings buying food from Cinran these past few months. With barely any income these days, we simply can''t afford to buy more food." She spoke softly, "I don''t know what I am supposed to do anymore to make sure my kids don''t go to sleep on empty stomachs, my lord. And after today''s attack, we probably need to leave this place too, in case the bandits come again to take revenge for those we killed. Feroy and Hudan barely managed to hold them back today with the help of the wagon drivers. Next time it might be beyond them." Helga shook her head, perhaps trying to clear her mind, and said, "Forgive me, my lord, I got carried away there. It is my burden to bear and I will find some way."

    Kivamus could only think of the miserable conditions of the slaves in chains he had seen outside Cinran. And it was not difficult to imagine that at the current rate, this family would be in a similar condition not far in the future. Being unable to help those slaves still gnawed on his heart, even if it had been out of his hands at the time. But he knew these people, and they had even saved his life. He couldn''t imagine seeing Lucem and Syryne in chains, or worse¡­

    It didn''t take long for him to make up his mind. "Why don''t you all come with us to Tiranat, then?"

    A flicker of surprise crossed Helga''s face before she responded. "What do you mean, my lord?"

    "It''s simple," he continued. "If you wish, you can accompany Gorsazo and me to Tiranat."

    "But we don''t have the money to buy or even rent a place there, my lord!" Helga insisted. "And how will we even earn a living in Tiranat?"

    "There should at least be a manor house there for the baron, right Gorsazo?" Kivamus asked.

    "I haven''t been there yet, my lord. But I think so." Gorsazo replied. "Pydas, you must know better about it. Can you tell us more?"

    Pydas thought for a moment, then replied, "The previous baron indeed had a manor in Tiranat. But I was never invited inside its walls, so I don''t know any details about it."

    "Well, there you have it, then," Kivamus said to Helga. "There should be enough living space in the manor, so you all can stay there as well. While I''m not yet sure of what awaits us there, Madam Helga, I believe we should be able to find some work for you all." Kivamus continued, "From what you''ve told me, there simply aren''t enough travelers on this road anymore for you to break even, right?"

    Helga just nodded in reply.

    "Pydas, you must have traveled many times through here. Can you tell me about the travel conditions on this road in the winter?" Kivamus asked the merchant. "Will the road be passable in the winter?"

    "My lord, there''s a good chance it''ll start to snow in most places near the Arakin Range in a few weeks. That includes this inn and Tiranat, along with the road joining them. While wagons might still get through for a few weeks, the snow will get too deep soon after that. Give it around a month, and most of the road from Cinran to Tiranat, and beyond that to Kirnos will be completely blocked for wagons," Pydas explained. "The coal which Tiranat is known for is exported only before the winter hits and the snow makes travel impossible, my lord. And their trade with Cinran starts again only after the snow melts in the spring. I know this, my lord since I''m one of the merchants making that trade every year. So, I''d say there wouldn''t be any more traders passing through this road after a month."

    "It''s true enough, my lord. And even in summer, this road rarely sees lone travelers. Most of our income is from passing merchants and traders who stay here overnight. Although after the baron''s murder, hardly any traders have passed through here to buy coal from Tiranat." Helga hesitated, "But I''m not sure about this, my lord."

    "Like I said, Madam Helga, I can''t guarantee anything, but I will certainly try. And from what I can see, the alternative for you all isn''t any better. It is up to you, Madam Helga." Kivamus added, "I think you should sleep on the decision. We don''t leave until the morning, so you have all night to make your decision. Please let Hudan and Feroy know that they are welcome too. I know I will need trusted guards in the future if my brothers'' methods are any indication, and those two have already saved my life once."

    Helga nodded. "I will let them know, my lord. But what they decide is up to them. I can only speak for my family."

    "That''s okay, Madam Helga." Kivamus stood up from his chair, with the others following him. "And thank you again for the meal. Now would you please send someone to guide us to our rooms?"

    Helga stammered, bowing apologetically. "My lord, I''m terribly sorry, but a severe thunderstorm heavily damaged the roof and windows of the inn around a month ago, and it''s not safe for anyone to occupy the upper floor now. We haven''t been able to scrounge up the money to fix it just yet. It pains me to say it, my lord, but we really are quite strapped for coin. However, if you''ll give me a few minutes, I''ll prepare bedding for everyone here in the hall."

    Working together, Lucem, and Syrene, with the help of others, managed to create makeshift beds for everyone on the inn floor after shifting the tables aside. Straw bedding, covered with threadbare sheets, provided a semblance of comfort. Feroy, Hudan, and the wagon drivers then established a watch schedule to ensure someone was always on guard near the door, throughout the night. Although all the bandits had been dealt with, there was still a risk of another group trying to take advantage of the darkness to try again.

    Once again, Gorsazo woke up Kivamus before daybreak. The world outside was still cloaked in darkness, with the inside of the hall illuminated only by the faint orange glow of a few earthen lamps. Around him, others were already up and packing their belongings. He could hear the sound of people arguing near the kitchen of the inn and looked there.

    "I don''t want to go there, ma!" Lucem whined.

    "You don''t understand our situation, Lucem. We can''t stay here anymore, you know that much!" scolded Helga.

    "But I don''t want to leave¡­ No, I won''t go!" Lucem crossed his arms and petulantly yelled back.

    "You will do as I say, and that is it. Now go and finish what you have to pack or you''ll be leaving without it." Helga finally used the voice of a mother and sent him away to pack. She noticed Kivamus was awake and hurried over, eyes bright with relief. "My lord, I''m glad to see you''re awake now. My kids and I have discussed your offer, and we''ve decided to join you on your journey to Tiranat. I still can''t thank you enough for offering us a place there."

    Taking a moment to compose himself, Kivamus rose to his feet. "It is simply the right thing to do, Madam Helga. And I''m pleased you''ve chosen to come. What was that argument about?" Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Helga sighed. "Nothing important, really. Syryne, at twenty, knows why we must leave, my lord. But as for Lucem... this inn, it''s the only home he''s ever known. He was barely a toddler when we left Cinran a decade ago. It''s hard for him to imagine leaving everything familiar behind."

    "That is never easy, I can certainly attest to that. I do hope he''ll come around soon." Kivamus looked around the inn in the light of the small earthen lamps. "And what about Hudan and Feroy?"

    "I''ll let them answer for themselves, my lord. Hudan! Can you come here for a moment?" Helga called out to the huge man.

    Hudan stopped his work and walked towards them.

    "Where''s Feroy?" Helga asked. "And Lord Kivamus wants to know your decisions."

    "He''s outside, Madam Helga, readying our wagon and the horses." Hudan looked towards Kivamus. "My lord, I thank you for offering us a place in Tiranat. Feroy and I have decided to join as well. It wasn''t hard to see that it was very difficult for Madam Helga to provide for us as well, despite her generosity." Hudan bowed towards Kivamus. "I do not know what awaits us there, my lord. But you have a kind heart, that much I can tell, even if I haven''t known you for long. I have faith that you''ll do your best for all of us. Thank you for offering us a place, my lord."

    Despite his newly found noble status, Kivamus still felt a discomfort he couldn''t quite place. He looked at Hudan bowing to him, unsure if this newfound respect was truly something he deserved. "I''m glad to hear that you''ll be coming with us as well, Hudan. I give my word that I will do everything I can to help you all."

    After letting Hudan go to continue his work, Gorsazo offered him a wooden bowl, "You should eat my lord. Others have nearly finished their preparations, and we will be leaving soon."

    Lucem and Syrene were still bustling around trying to pack their meager belongings, with the help of Hudan. Kivamus sat down on an empty chair. Taking a sip of reheated lukewarm soup from yesterday, along with the now-stale bread, he braced himself for another grueling day on the wagon.

    As dawn''s first light painted the sky outside, Helga announced they were ready to depart. Kivamus stepped out from the inn, emerging into the crisp morning air. Feroy, already fussing around the lone wagon of Helga, reiterated his desire to join them. That wagon seemed to hold all of the worldly possessions of Helga''s family and the former inn guards. However, it was hitched to four horses, unlike the two horses pulling Pydas''s wagons. There were also a couple of more horses nearby, loaded with saddlebags.

    "Where did the horses come from, Gorsazo? I only saw a single horse here yesterday," Kivamus asked.

    Hudan, who was nearby, answered in place of Gorsazo. "They are the horses of the bandits, my lord. We found them tied a little distance away. We only had one horse earlier, and we simply couldn''t afford any more of them, but getting possession of five new horses helped make our decision to join you. All of the mercenaries had a horse it seems, so we took them as well as the swords and other supplies from them, my lord, unless¡­ you need them for yourself, my lord?"

    "No, no, you should keep them," Kivamus shook his head slowly. "Consider it part of your reward for saving my life. And at least the mercenaries were helpful in something," he quipped, which got a chuckle from the others.

    As they moved towards the wagons, Lucem climbed onto the driver''s seat of the only wagon owned by the inn, now being pulled by two pairs of horses. Helga and Syrene settled in the back of their wagon after locking the inn with a large iron key they had, a reflective silence settling over them. Hudan and Feroy perched aboard the two other horses, while yesterday''s spots on Pydas''s wagon were reclaimed by Kivamus and Gorsazo. Hudan took his horse in the front of the caravan, while Feroy took his own towards the back end.

    With a flick of the reins by Pydas, their small caravan of four wagons accompanied by two riders lumbered southwards toward Tiranat. As the familiar landscape gave way to the forest road, Helga and her family couldn''t help but look back with a mixture of sadness and hope. A decade of memories flickered in their eyes, the laughter shared within the inn''s walls, the comfort of routine, and the lives they had built in this place. They were trading it all for the unknown, a weight of unspoken emotions pressing down on them. Yet, beneath the bittersweet ache, a flicker of hope was ignited. Tiranat, a new horizon, promised an unknown future, but a future nonetheless.

 Chapter 10 - 10. Interlude: Dwellers of Tiranat Village

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir sighed, the sound heavy and defeated in the dusty confines of his small shop.

    He stood inside his shop, his bony hand resting on the rough-hewn wood. He ran a weary hand over his thinning gray hair, the dust inside the shop clinging to his calloused fingers. Unlike the plump, overflowing sacks that used to lean against the wall, only a few meager bags of grain lined his shelves, their coarse texture a pitiful representation of what his store usually held. They were a stark reminder of the slow decline that had gripped their isolated little village since the murder of the baron a few months ago.

    His normally bustling shop, filled with the murmur of bartering and the clatter of coins was silent now. The villagers, once lively and eager customers, had become gaunt with hunger and worry, their pockets as empty as their stomachs.

    A few months ago, news had slowly traveled to Tiranat about the baron''s demise. Although he was a greedy wretch with little interest in his people, preferring to spend more time in Count Cinran''s court than here in his own village, his presence had at least ensured a trickle of merchants coming to the village seeking its coal. But ever since the brutal murder of the baron at the hands of bandits, the village had sunk into a suffocating fear. If even a baron was not safe in these parts, what would become of his family or the villagers?

    He sighed, the heavy silence in the village broken only by the occasional cough or the mournful cry of a hungry child. Traders and merchants, once a regular sight on the muddy path in front of his shop, were rarely seen now. The roads lay silent, while the coal kept piling up in the barns. But without traders coming to buy it from the village, it was a worthless treasure. And with all the coal stored in the barns of the manor being the baron''s property, the villagers had to buy it from him if they wanted to use it. With people in the village barely having enough coin to buy food, they couldn''t afford to pay for the coal as well, and had to go to the surrounding wild forests, filled with dangerous beasts, to gather firewood. Damn the miserly bastard! He cursed the previous baron again.

    Tiranat wasn''t a farming community. Unlike other villages nestled amidst sprawling farms, Tiranat, being surrounded by vast forests, offered no bounty of crops. The livelihood of most of the villagers relied entirely on the coal mines that burrowed deep under the eastern hills, and the hunting of deer and moose by brave souls venturing into the bandit-infested forests.

    News traveled slowly in these remote parts. But it had been months since the baron''s demise, and still, they hadn''t heard about the village lands being handed over to another noble, even if he was not likely to be any better than the previous baron. Bandits, emboldened by the lack of authority, had raided the village a week ago, leaving behind a trail of fear and dwindling food supplies along with many burnt houses. The few remaining guards in the baron''s manor had watched with fear, not daring to oppose the bandits as long as they left the manor alone. Thankfully no blood was shed, but the robbed supplies had left a gaping wound in their meager reserves. Kigeir knew it wouldn''t be long before the bandits returned, emboldened by their easy victory.

    With each passing day, villagers stopped bartering for his wares, their pockets as empty as their stomachs. No one had much coin left anymore. They were all clinging desperately to what meager savings they had. Kigeir himself had enough grain tucked away to feed his wife and three kids through the approaching harsh winter. But that was meager comfort in these times. Had the Count, a man rumored to be more interested in lavish court entertainments than the welfare of his people, even noticed the baron''s absence in Tiranat? Kigeir wasn''t even sure that the count remembered this forgotten corner of his domain. He feared the village had become a mere speck on a dusty map, forgotten and fading with each passing day in an uncaring world.

    This barely known village, once a minor exporter of coal, now felt like a ghost town, shrouded in fear and an uncertain future. He worried the coming winter wouldn''t just be a test of survival, it would be a fight for their very existence.

    He was gazing at the empty road when he heard a commotion about wagons coming from the north. Even though it wasn''t likely to change anything, he chose to take a look at the coming caravan. With hardly any goods to sell and without any customers, he really had nothing better to do, after all.

    A sigh escaped his cracked lips, as he told his oldest son to watch the shop and began to walk towards the north end of the small village.

    ~ Tesyb ~ S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb, a man of just twenty-two with a face that told a different story, looked weathered by life''s hardships. The lines that creased his brow and framed his eyes spoke volumes of the anxieties that gnawed at him. He was sitting outside what remained of his house, unlike the other villagers who chose to stay inside in the chilly wind. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the deserted street before him, mirroring the hollowness in his own stomach.

    Tesyb had spent most of his life in the belly of the earth, hacking away at coal seams in the hills east of Tiranat. The work was backbreaking, the air perpetually thick with coal dust and the musky smell of sweat in the suffocating darkness. His muscles, forged in the depths of the earth, spoke volumes of his grueling labor. The meager wages he got with each swing of his pickaxe, each shovelful of coal, barely yielded enough to feed his aging parents. Saving was a luxury and yet he''d always scrimped, a small voice whispering caution in his ear. Hard times lurked around every corner for people like them.

    The news of the baron''s murder by bandits a few months ago, had arrived slowly in the village. At first, Tesyb hadn''t thought much of it. After all, what did the death of a greedy noble change for the likes of him? Life had continued, albeit under a growing unease. The mines continued to churn out coal, a growing black mountain piled high in the barns.

    But that normality had proved to be a fleeting comfort. Only a few traders had come to Tiranat through the dangerous roads since the baron''s murder, and what little coal they purchased barely made a dent in the stockpiles. The coal they mined kept piling up, like an unwanted monument to their labor.

    Then came the violent thunderstorm that ripped through the village a month ago. Roofs were damaged, crude shelters demolished, and worst of all, the mines flooded. Usually, a few days of backbreaking work with buckets would clear the water. But this time, Tesyb witnessed Mr Duvas, the baron''s harried old majordomo who oversaw the mine as well, visit the site. His face pinched with worry, the majordomo had a long discussion with the foremen and delivered the gut-wrenching news. With the coal stockpile overflowing and no buyers, there was no money to pay miners to empty the flooded mine corridors.

    Tesyb had felt the world tilt on its axis. All the miners, the lifeblood of the village, were suddenly without work. He and his fellow miners had dug into their meager savings, built on sweat and sacrifice. But every day, with each meager meal, that lifeline dwindled until a single meal a day became the norm.

    And then, to add to their misery, a group of bandits raided the village a week ago and what little the villagers had saved, they had to give up or lose their lives. With the baron dead and his guards, who provided a semblance of security from the bandits, dead along with him on that journey, they had no way to deal with those bandits anymore. He had tried to plead with them to leave at least some food for the villagers, before giving up most of his remaining savings and the stored grains under threat of death, just like others. But that hadn''t been enough for them. Those bastards! Riding on horses with burning torches, they had put on fire many of the houses when leaving the village, including his own. He and other villagers had tried to put out the fires, but the wooden walls hadn''t taken long to burn to ashes, leaving him homeless, along with many others.

    He looked at his parents sitting inside what little remained of the burnt house, their once-proud figures now hunched with age and hunger. How would he manage to feed his frail parents, even with a single meal a day? A single, tear-filled sob escaped his lips, swallowed by the oppressive silence outside. He was thankful to the Goddess that at least his sister had found work as a seamstress''s helper in Cinran. The last few copper coins that he had clutched in his palm, the last of his reserves he had managed to hide from the bandits by burying them under the mud, felt like a cruel joke. How many more meals would it buy? Fear gnawed continuously at his insides. Winter, a monstrous season that demanded even more food, was on its way. How in the world would they survive?

    He breathed deeply, sitting with hunched shoulders. He didn''t know how yet, but he had to find a way. His parents, his only family here in Tiranat, depended on him. He just had to. He simply didn''t know how¡­

    When it was nearing sunset, he heard a commotion from people about wagons coming from the north road. He sighed deeply. What would it change? Still, Tesyb slowly got up and ambled toward the north end of the village, joining others in watching the oncoming wagons.

    ~ Maisy ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy clutched her little brother, Timmy, closer. A caravan was coming from the north and it had many wagons. They looked to be full of stuff and they probably had food too. Two scary-looking guards were riding horses on the sides. She was here since it was rare to see wagons coming to Tiranat now, and sometimes they threw scraps to stray kids like her.

    Many villagers may be hopeful but for Maisy, that spark didn''t last very long. She clutched Timmy closer, her threadbare clothes barely concealing the bony frame beneath. Years of patching and mending had turned them into a patchwork quilt of faded colors. Her once bright eyes, usually filled with a spark of defiance, were now clouded with worry. Hunger had etched itself onto her face, her cheeks sunken and her lips chapped. Timmy, smaller than most eight-year-olds, clutched a tattered cloth for warmth, that may have been a blanket far in the past. His face was pale and streaked with dirt.

    They were standing close to the garbage heap which was stinking a lot, with flies buzzing near her. A few dogs who looked very hungry with their ribs showing, were digging in the garbage behind her.

    Maisy stared at the caravan approaching slowly. Her stomach was making sounds now. She squeezed Timmy''s hand, his thin fingers cold and clammy in hers. He hadn''t stopped asking about the caravan since spotting it.

    "Maybe they''ll have leftovers," he whispered, his big eyes shining with a hope Maisy couldn''t share. Leftovers were a luxury they couldn''t afford to dream about. Their usual dinner came from the garbage thrown out from other huts around their makeshift shelter. Maisy bit back the familiar despair. No point in crushing his spirit before reality did. She''d seen that hopeful look too many times, only to watch it fade with each empty stomach, each cold night huddled together.

    Winter was coming soon and it scared her a lot. A month or two and snow would start falling. They had been living in their aunt''s hut since their parents had died from fever a year ago, even if the hut didn''t really stop the wind or rain. Their aunt, who was their last living relative, had died too at the end of last winter. Since then they had been eating the food that other villagers used to throw away, but for the last few months, even that had become rare. Then, a month ago, a fierce storm had reduced the hut to splinters, leaving them exposed on the cold, muddy ground between the other huts. They''d been living out in the open since then, staying in the small gaps between other huts, and sleeping on the cold and wet ground. But it had started to get really cold at night since the other huts didn''t stop the chilly winds at all.

    The fat baron who used to live in the big manor hadn''t come back since he''d left with his family and his guards a few months ago. She hadn''t seen many wagons coming or leaving the village since then. The villagers themselves had started to look bony, with smoke rising only once from most chimneys. Most of them were now scared of going too far in the forests to gather wood for fire. Looking at their gaunt faces, Maisy saw her own fear reflected back. Fear for the coming winter, fear for Timmy, fear for herself.

    When the bandits had attacked, she had hidden between the garbage heap and the shack next to it, clutching Timmy hard, hoping they didn''t notice them under the garbage that she had thrown over themselves. Thankfully, they hadn''t, or they would have joined other children who had been taken by bandits in the past.

    Every new day was a battle to stay alive now. Scraps and spoiled food thrown away by villagers had reduced to nearly nothing now. She hadn''t eaten for two days. Scavenged from behind a crumbling hut, a sliver of moldy bread had been her only find yesterday. Seeing Timmy''s once-chubby cheeks now hollowed with hunger, she had given it to him. The urge to keep the bread for herself, a selfish whisper in the face of starvation, was quickly silenced by the sight of him. He had never looked so frail before.

    Maisy didn''t know how she and Timmy would survive the coming winter. Their bodies, already weak from hunger, wouldn''t withstand the relentless cold. Her body ached with a constant hunger, but it was Timmy''s wide, hopeful eyes that truly terrified her. How could she shield him from the coming cold and the growing hunger that threatened to consume them both?

    A chilling fear colder than any winter wind ate at her heart. A fear that this winter might just be their last. The weight of responsibility pressed down on her small frame, a burden far too heavy for a ten-year-old girl. But she was all Timmy had. And for Timmy, for his innocent hope that still flickered, she would fight. She had to.

 Chapter 11 - 11. Arrival in Tiranat

    Their small caravan had been traveling southwards since the morning on the road to Tiranat. They had remained unscathed from any bandits or mercenaries so far, despite their fears of being attacked. The road to Tiranat had taken them closer to the Arakin mountain range, with dense forests surrounding the road as they traveled. The late autumn months meant most of the trees were bare now, revealing their towering forms against the fading light of the setting sun, their colorful leaves now carpeting the forest floor. In a few places where the forest had thinned, they could glimpse the towering mountains to the left, their peaks dusted with snow.

    Around noon, soon after they had started their journey again after a short rest for a meal, Kivamus shuddered as a low, guttural growl echoed through the dense forest, silencing the birdsong. His eyes darted to the side of the dirt road, his heart pounding with a sudden fear. Through the thick curtain of trees, he could see them not too far away from their forest route - hulking beasts the size of small bears, yet possessing the unmistakable grace and pack mentality of wolves. Their fur, a mixture of brown and gray, rippled over powerful muscles as they loped through the forest. For a heart-stopping moment, the travelers held their breath, fearful of the beasts noticing them. Minutes stretched into an eternity, and then finally, as abruptly as they had appeared, the great beasts veered off into the tangled depths of the forest.

    The travelers sagged in relief, a shared sigh whispering through them. They were harrowed, yes, but for now, they were safe. Gorsazo told him later that they were called adzees. Similar in their habits to the wolves found more commonly through the forests of Reslinor, adzees were a rare sight. They were the apex predators of the forests, and usually, it took a small group of knights dispatched from a nearby town to kill even a single adzee, if it was seen near a farm or a village.

    At some point in the afternoon, Kivamus saw the vast silhouette of a flying creature soaring towards the Arakin mountains. It looked enormous even from a distance, making him worry before he realized that it probably couldn''t see the wagons moving in the forest from such a great height. He was told that it was a Bakkore, a huge bird-like beast, that lived and hunted near mountains or tall hills. They seldom came close to human habitations, but farmers in remote farms had often reported them stealing their goats or sheep and flying away with their catch.

    Kivamus forced in a deep breath, trying to quell the unease that gnawed at him. This world was nothing like the Earth he left behind. Here, danger lurked not just in the shadows of men, but in the very creatures that roamed the wilds. Monstrous beasts roamed freely, creatures that would send shivers down the spine of even the bravest soul back on Earth. Survival in this harsh medieval world was already a challenge, but the presence of these monstrous predators added a terrifying new layer of difficulty. He swallowed hard, the weight of his new reality pressing down on him. It would be far harder to stay alive here, but that wouldn''t deter him. He would have to learn to adapt, to understand the dangers that stalked these lands if he was going to survive here. And he will survive.

    Although the weather had been mild during the daytime, a noticeable chill had settled as evening approached. Kivamus tightened the cloak Feroy had generously offered him, grateful for the extra warmth. The air grew colder with each passing mile, its chill seeping through his clothes. Tiranat, nestled closer to the Arakin mountains, promised a winter far harsher than what he was accustomed to in his life on Earth.

    As they crossed the treeline and exited the forest, the pitiful village called Tiranat came into view, giving Kivamus the first glance of what was going to be his new home from now on. The huge trees of the forest surrounded the village, wrapping it from all four sides. The Arakin Mountains, their peaks still ablaze with the fading sunlight, dominated the eastern horizon. Their snowy crowns, usually stark white, were now awash in a golden light. Smaller hills, some gentle and verdant, others steeper and more rugged, stretched from the east of the village towards the majestic range.

    He looked at the Tiranat village itself. It was a heartbreaking sight, with no wall to protect it from the dangers of the surrounding forests. The few wispy rays of the setting sun that still managed to break through the dense forests illuminated a scene of profound poverty. Most of the dwellings were little more than one-room huts built with a desperate mix of mud and whatever scraps of wood the villagers could scrounge in the hopes of keeping out the biting wind. Their thatched roofs, uneven and patchy with missing straw, offered little protection from the elements. Smoke, thin and wispy, curled from a few misshapen chimneys fashioned out of crooked sticks. The air itself held a faint tang of woodsmoke and manure, a rustic fragrance that spoke of a life lived close to the earth, scraping by on its meager bounty.

    Dotted amongst the mud huts were a few sturdier structures - a small number of wooden houses offering a touch of relative comfort in the desperate poverty of the village. Even these structures, however, were warped and weathered, their windows patched with ragged pieces of cloth and the wood chipped in places. A communal well, its mossy rim worn smooth by generations of hands, stood next to the road as the village''s lifeline amidst the gloom.

    As the line of wagons came closer to the huts, a few of the villagers who had started to gather nearby, gazed at the caravan with eyes mixed with hope and desperation.

    All of a sudden, Hudan stood up on his saddle and declared in a booming voice, "Hear ye, hear ye! Your new liege, the Baron of Tiranat has arrived! Make way for Lord Kivamus Ralokaar!"

    Soon, Feroy, Pydas, and the other wagon drivers joined him in yelling as well, and more and more villagers started to come out of their houses to look at the passing caravan. A few of the villagers had a hopeful look on their faces on hearing about Kivamus and started to clap hesitantly.

    It was an otherworldly experience for Kivamus, being praised and cheered for, just because he had somehow found himself as the son of a Duke. Being entitled and getting privileges just because of noble birth went against everything Kivamus stood for in his life on Earth. Yet, for now, this was his life and he had to adjust to it, whether he liked it or not.

    Nevertheless, it was impossible not to notice that the majority of villagers still had a subdued silence, punctuated by a few scattered claps or nervous cheers. Some of them did seem to have a curiosity about their new baron, yet it was full of apprehension.

    The wagons kept moving and slowly passed the small crowd of villagers through the muddy road, their clothes patched and faded, mirroring the dullness in their eyes. In front of a stinking pile of garbage, a girl who looked to be barely ten years old was clutching a smaller boy to her side, her eyes full of weariness which had no place on any child''s face.

    As they moved further through the alleys, charred remains of some houses came into view, standing between other undamaged huts and wooden houses. Homeless families huddled in doorways of what remained of their homes, their faces etched with hopelessness.

    "What happened here?" Kivamus breathed.

    Gorsazo, who was sitting on the other side of the wagon, was also looking at the burnt houses. "I can''t say, my lord. But Tiranat is not an easy place to live for anyone, that is certain."

    On the muddy paths that wound between the dwellings, villagers moved with weary steps to look at the passing caravan, their faces etched with worry lines deeper than any a simple life should carve. Children, their clothes hanging loose on their thin frames, played sluggishly with sticks and stones, their laughter dull and infrequent. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus saw the exhaustion in their eyes, the way their shoulders slumped under the burden of their lives. He swallowed hard, as the full weight of Tiranat''s despair settled upon him. He''d seen hardship before, but the sheer depth of despair in their eyes was a new kind of pain. It wasn''t just fear in the villagers'' eyes, but a resigned acceptance of a life lived perpetually on the brink. The air itself seemed to carry the weight of their despair, a thick fog of hopelessness that permeated every corner of Tiranat.

    As it became darker, the tall trees of the forest surrounding Tiranat loomed like a silent threat in the fading light of dusk. Tiranat was a village on the precipice, a testament to the harsh realities of a life lived on the fringes of civilization, where every sunrise brought a renewed battle for survival. But amidst all the despair, Kivamus saw something else in the eyes of a few villagers - a spark of hope, faint and fragile, but present nonetheless. As their eyes met, a silent plea passed between them. A plea for change, for a leader who wouldn''t simply squeeze them dry but offer a lifeline.

    Kivamus took a deep breath to calm his mind. The truth remained that he hadn''t chosen to be here, on this planet, or in this village. Yet, he was here now and that was not going to change anytime soon. He could crumble and give up on everything after being uprooted from his happy life in London through no fault of his own. Or, he could use his knowledge to do something good for these people.

    A surge of resolve ran through Kivamus. He wouldn''t be just another medieval lord, another burden on their backs. These people, broken but not defeated, deserved better. He would be their shield, their champion, a beacon of hope in this suffocating darkness. He would fight for them and this dying village. He squared his shoulders, a newfound determination etching itself onto his face. Tiranat was his home now, and he wouldn''t let it crumble. He would help them rebuild, not just their homes, but their lives.

    These villagers were his subjects, his people now, and they depended on him. The weight of responsibility pressed down on him, but it wasn''t a burden. It was a purpose, a chance to make a real difference in the lives of these desperate people. The journey ahead would be difficult and full of challenges, but that yearning look in the eyes of those villagers had fueled a fire of determination within him. He wouldn''t let them down.

 Chapter 12 - 12. The Barons Manor

    The caravan of wagons was slowly guided by Pydas towards the manor of the previous Baron on the east end of the village. As they reached closer, the wooden palisade walls of the manor finally came into view. Two guards were standing in front of the gate, clad in weathered leather vests above well-patched tunics, each having a sword behind their shoulder. They straightened their postures as they noticed the approaching caravan. Surprise was visible on their faces, but it was quickly replaced by a practiced alertness as they awaited the newcomers. There was a single burning torch mounted on a wooden pole near the gate for light, while a few people who seemed to have followed the caravan through the village, stood nearby watching the wagons approach the gate.

    When they reached closer to the gates, the guard on the left bellowed toward them, "Halt! Who goes there? What business do you have here?"

    "I know you." The other guard said, looking carefully at Pydas in the front wagon. "You''re that trader who comes here sometimes. Who said you could come towards the Baron''s manor?"

    "It is not for me that I come here. I bring with me your new lord, the Baron of Tiranat," Pydas replied while getting off the seat of his wagon.

    Hudan and Feroy also got down from their horses and held their reins. Kivamus climbed down from Pydas''s wagon, followed by Gorsazo, and walked towards the gate guards, while Hudan stayed close to them. The loose gravel crunched under his boots as he walked, but at least it wasn''t muddy like the rest of the village.

    Gorsazo gestured towards Kivamus and spoke to the guards, "This is the third son of the Duke of Ulriga and the new Baron of Tiranat, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar." He took out a scroll from a pocket of his tunic and offered it to the guards. "Here is the duke''s proclamation giving the ownership of this barony and all the surrounding lands to Lord Kivamus."

    The guards, who looked completely out of their element dealing with a new lord, didn''t seem to know what to do for a moment. However, the guard on the left, who was older, gained his wits first and bowed towards Kivamus, with the other, younger guard joining him. He took the offered scroll reverently but didn''t open it yet. "Please wait here for a moment, my lord. I can''t read so I will have to fetch the majordomo for this. Only Mister Duvas has the authority to admit anyone inside the manor." He looked to the younger guard, "You, run along now and tell Mister Duvas to come here. Go now, fast!"

    The other guard opened the wooden gates a little and ran inside, while the first guard bowed apologetically to Kivamus again, "Please forgive me for the delay, my lord."

    "No, it''s okay. It is a good thing that you don''t believe anyone with a tall claim," Kivamus replied. "We''ll wait for the majordomo."

    While they were waiting, Kivamus couldn''t shake the image of the destitute villagers, many of them homeless, facing the harsh evening chill without a roof over their heads. Gorsazo''s confirmation that it was still late autumn only intensified his worry. Seeing how close the village of Tiranat was to the Arakin Mountains where it was already snowing, had made it obvious that winter was not far away. And the villagers, in their current state, might not survive the harsh winter months. He didn''t know what to do about the situation yet, but the thought of leaving them to face that fate was unbearable. These people depended on him now. He had to help them, somehow.

    He looked around the area in the dusk. The walls of the manor were made of wooden logs taller than the people standing there. It extended for a small distance on both sides of the gates, but it was hard to see too much in the approaching darkness. The road that they had followed to come here through the middle of the village, ended at the gates of the manor. It may be too much to call it a road though, since it was just an empty path full of mud, that meandered between the huts and wooden houses of the village. At least the area near the gates was covered with gravel though.

    Soon, the younger guard reappeared, ushering through the gate a harried man who appeared to be around sixty years old. Thinning white hair, along with a small beard framed his face which was etched with lines that spoke of years under the unforgiving sun. He wore a simple tunic, the fabric well-worn and carrying the faint stain of what could have been ink. His gaze swept across the group gathered outside the gate, his squint deepening with concentration until it landed squarely on Kivamus. A flicker of recognition crossed his features when he saw him. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Oh, it is you, Lord Kivamus!" He exclaimed and bowed to him. "What are you doing here? I didn''t expect to ever see you here, my lord."

    Kivamus was surprised. "You recognize me?"

    "Of course, I do, Lord Kivamus. Forgive me, my lord, for not introducing myself sooner. I am Duvas, the majordomo of this manor. I have been to Ulriga a few times in the past to give a tally of our taxes paid to the Duke. You might not remember me, my lord, but I have seen you and your brothers there in the Ulriga palace." He frowned for a moment. "Are you the new Baron of Tiranat, my lord?"

    "I am indeed. We can talk more later." Kivamus gestured to the guard who was still holding the scroll Gorsazo had given to him. "Would you take a look at the Duke''s proclamation first? The guards refused to let me enter before you had verified it. All of us are tired and would like to rest soon."

    "Excuse my forgetfulness, my lord." He took the scroll from the guard, who looked shaky now and tried to look at it in the flickering light of the torch. "It does have the Duke''s seal, my lord, and I do recognize you already. But my eyes aren''t what they used to be, so I''ll take another look at it inside the manor in better lighting. But please come inside first, my lord." He gestured towards the gates, then turned to the guards. "And you two! You should have at least brought Lord Kivamus inside! He is the son of the Duke, for Goddess''s sake!"

    The younger guard, barely a man himself, gulped and stumbled back a step, his face draining of color. The shock was mirrored on the older guard''s face, his weathered features paling beneath his grizzled beard. With shaking legs, both guards dropped to their knees before Kivamus.

    "Forgive us, my lord!" the younger guard blurted, his voice cracking with fear. "We... we did not recognize you. And the seal... we cannot read, my lord, and with the recent troubles¡­ We beg your forgiveness, my lord! Please, have mercy!"

    The older guard, his voice gruff but steady, took over. "We meant no disrespect, my lord. It is our duty to protect the manor, and these are uncertain times since the previous baron was ambushed. We could not, in good conscience, allow anyone inside the gates without proper identification, and neither of us recognized you, my lord."

    Kivamus raised a hand, silencing their pleas. His gaze, though calm, held an undeniable weight of authority. He surveyed the scene for a moment, taking in their obvious fear and the sincerity in their apology. The guards were only doing their jobs properly, and even if it still chafed at his modern sensibilities to see others kneeling before him, he was now a baron in a medieval world and had to act like it.

    "There''s no need for apologies, guardsmen," he said, his voice calm and reassuring. "It''s an admirable display of caution and vigilance." Relief washed over the guards'' faces, replacing the fear with a mixture of gratitude and curiosity.

    "We won''t be punished then, my lord?" The younger guard asked with a hopeful face, while the older one still looked uncertain.

    "What is wrong with the nobles in this world?" Kivamus muttered under his breath. He replied to the still-kneeling guards, "Get up, both of you! Of course you won''t be punished for doing your duty as guards! Now lead us inside."

    The older guard, emboldened by Kivamus''s forgiving nature, rose to his feet, a sheepish grin breaking out on his face. "Aye, my lord. We wouldn''t want to keep our new Baron waiting outside the gates, now would we?"

    The younger guard scrambled to his feet as well, his previous fear replaced by a newfound respect and admiration for his new liege.

    As the guards began ushering Kivamus and others inside the manor gates, Pydas, the portly merchant, cleared his throat and spoke up. "My lord," he began, "it seems this is where our paths separate. It was a pleasure to have met you, and a most fortunate coincidence that brought us together."

    Kivamus turned to Pydas, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Parting ways so soon, Pydas?" he asked. "Why not join us inside? I''m sure there''s room for you and the other wagon drivers. Where would you even stay at this late hour?"

    Pydas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, my lord, I need to get down to business, you see. I need to find out if any of the local merchants are interested in buying my goods before they close shops for the day. And there used to be a small alehouse in the village. The wagon drivers and I can find a room there for the night."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "That''s sensible. I appreciate the lift you provided to us. Speaking of which, are you certain about not accepting any fee for bringing us here?"

    Pydas chuckled a warm sound that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Quite certain, my lord. Consider it a¡­ gesture of goodwill."

    A smile tugged at the corner of Kivamus'' lips. "Well, I can''t let you go hungry after such a journey. At least join us for a meal tonight. It''s the least I can do for you and your men."

    Pydas hesitated for a moment, considering the offer. "Very well, my Lord," he finally conceded. "We wouldn''t want to refuse your hospitality."

    "Excellent!" Kivamus said. "As for your wagons, why not bring them inside the manor walls for safekeeping? No need to risk them sitting unattended in the village. Is that fine with you, Duvas?"

    "What?" Duvas looked surprised to be asked the question. "Of course it is, my lord. It is your manor, after all!"

    Relief washed over Pydas'' face. "That would be fantastic, my lord. Much appreciated." He looked back at the two wagon drivers, then continued, "In that case, I''ll take one of them along with me to talk to the merchants. Hopefully, some merchants will still be open. I will leave Levalo, the younger one, here to take care of the wagons and horses. We will return in around an hour for the meal you offered so generously," Pydas said with a bow.

    "Great! I''ll await your return."

    With a final nod, Kivamus turned back to follow the guards, leaving Pydas to make arrangements with his men and his goods. The others, including Helga''s family, the former inn guards, and Gorsazo followed Kivamus inside into the safety of the manor walls.

 Chapter 13 - 13. Meeting The Residents

    As they passed through the manor gates, Kivamus took a moment to gaze at the view in front of him. To their left, a sizable shed offered shelter for weary beasts of burden. Further ahead on the left, there was a larger barn with a sloped roof, its sturdy wooden frame promising ample storage space for hay and grain.

    To their right, a small well stood near the gates, its bucket creaking rhythmically as a young maid drew water from it. Just beyond, near the corner of the manor, a small two-story wooden building identified itself as the servants'' hall, a place for them and the guards to gather and rest. A plume of smoke was rising from its chimney promising a warm kitchen with a fireplace within. Further along the palisade walls on the right, another wooden building stood, which was perhaps a second barn.

    In the center of this bustling courtyard stood the heart of the manor, the Baron''s manor house itself. Constructed entirely of wood, the two-story manor boasted a multitude of rooms, with its sloping roof forming a picturesque silhouette against the twilight sky. Torches mounted on wooden poles around the courtyard cast a warm, flickering glow, chasing away the encroaching darkness. And unlike the muddy road outside the manor, the interior had a gravel path connecting the various structures.

    As they entered the courtyard, a flurry of activity surrounded them. Servants, maids, and a few guards, alerted by the approaching figures, abandoned their tasks, gathering around the newcomers with curious gazes. Their clothes were well patched, and the guards'' leather armor looked like it had seen much better days.

    Duvas stepped forward and cleared his throat. "People of the manor," he boomed, his voice carrying across the courtyard despite his age, "lend me your ears! I present to you, the new Baron of Tiranat, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar!"

    A beat of surprised silence followed, then a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Immediately, a wave of bows and curtseys rippled through the onlookers. Kivamus, unused to such a display of deference, raised a hand awkwardly, unsure how to respond to this sudden surge of attention. He had never considered himself a man of power, and being the focus of attention was slightly overwhelming to him.

    "Welcome, my lord," the oldest maid, her face etched with wrinkles that spoke of years of service, said in a respectful voice. A chorus of similar greetings echoed around him.

    Regaining his composure quickly, Kivamus raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Please, everyone, rise. There''s no need for such formality," he said, his tone warm and friendly. "I am grateful for your welcome."

    A hesitant smile spread across the faces of the manor residents. The arrival of a new Baron was a significant event, one that could bring either prosperity or hardship. Kivamus'' genuine humility seemed to put them at ease.

    Kivamus let them return to their tasks, while he took a moment to look around the manor he was going to be living in from now on.

    As the servants and guards returned to their previous tasks, a flurry of activity commenced. Strong arms unhitched the tired horses from the wagons, leading them towards the welcoming shade of the animal shed, a place of fodder and a well-deserved rest for them. The clatter of wooden buckets and the excited whinnies of the horses filled the air as the grooms went about their work. Pydas, along with the older wagon driver walked back towards the gates, while the younger driver stayed inside to help with the horses.

    Hudan and Feroy handed over the horses pulling the wagon of Helga''s family as well as their own rides to the grooms, while Helga and Syryne climbed out of the wagon as well, joining Lucem.

    With a final nod to the gathered crowd, Kivamus turned towards the doors of the manor house, following Duvas. Gorsazo fell into step beside him.

    Helga, looking unsure for a moment, called out to Kivamus. "My lord! What about us?"

    Kivamus turned to Duvas, a question already forming on his lips. "Duvas," he began, "these are my companions, and therefore, our guests. Do you have any available living quarters for them?"

    Duvas stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The manor house itself has been essentially empty since the previous Baron and his family left on that ill-fated journey, my lord," he explained. "We''ve kept it clean and maintained, of course. And currently, I''m the only one occupying a room in it." He gestured towards the two-story building on the right. "There''s also the servants'' hall. It has a large hall on both floors, which offers enough space to house all the manor''s servants and the off-duty guards. Traditionally, the women take the upper floor, and the men reside on the ground floor. It is your decision, my lord."

    Kivamus considered both options for a moment before a smile played on his lips. "In that case," he declared, "they can all stay in the manor house with us. The rooms are empty after all, and it wouldn''t do for our guests to feel relegated to the servants'' quarters."

    Helga hesitated. "My lord," she interjected, "are you sure about that? Staying in the actual manor house might be... well, a bit much for us. It is not necessary for you to house us there, my lord."

    Kivamus smiled reassuringly. "Think nothing of it, madam Helga. The rooms are empty, as Duvas said, and there''s no reason for them to stay unused."

    Helga exchanged a glance with Syryne and Lucem, who both seemed to perk up at the idea. A small smile tugged at the corner of her own lips. "Very well, my lord," she conceded. "We will gratefully accept your hospitality, but only until we get back on our feet and find a place in the village itself."

    "Of course," Kivamus replied, nodding. "It''s entirely up to you, and I respect your wishes. In the meantime, please consider yourselves welcome in the manor house for as long as you need to stay."

    He turned his gaze towards Hudan and Feroy, who were still standing nearby. Before he could speak, Feroy spoke up with a determined tone.

    "Thank you for your generosity, my Lord," he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "But we''ll find a place with the other guards. No need to worry about us." He and Hudan bowed in unison, expressing their gratitude. "We will also talk with the guard captain here, to tell him to add us to the watch schedule for the manor. We do need to earn our keep, after all."

    "That will be helpful. You both can certainly hold your own against any enemies." Kivamus looked to Duvas, "Can you let the guard captain know about them?"

    Duvas hesitated for a moment. "I''m sorry to say, my lord, but there is no guard captain in the manor anymore. The previous baron had taken the former guard captain with him, along with a majority of the other guards on that journey. As you know, my lord, no one survived that trip, and since then we are already short on trained men. We have barely been able to manage a full watch schedule for the manor with the remaining guards with a few servants helping as well, and we couldn''t even help the villagers when bandits attacked the village around a week ago. Although thankfully, there were no killings in that raid, they still looted away a lot of the stored food and money of the villagers. When leaving on their horses, they also set a few houses on fire, so the villagers would be busy putting out the fires instead of pursuing them."

    "That explains the burnt houses," Hudan said regretfully. "And the way they looted so much from the village without any opposition from the guards, makes me think that they might get bold enough and raid again, perhaps soon."

    The sight of those villagers, their gaunt faces etched with fear, huddling in what remained of their homes was burned in Kivamus'' mind. Poverty, he knew, was a cruel reality for most in this world, and it was already a constant struggle to survive each new day. But the looming winter here in Tiranat, so close to the already snowing Arakin Mountains, meant those homeless people wouldn''t survive the bitterly cold winter months without help. A pang of guilt pierced him. In his comfortable life in London, thoughts about people living in such hardship had rarely crossed his mind. Now, the contrast twisted his gut. He, an outsider thrust into this medieval world, would be well-provided for as a Baron, even as the villagers faced starvation and freezing temperatures.

    Others in his position might choose to accept this disparity, maybe even reveling in their newfound noble status, but Kivamus refused to turn a blind eye. He knew little about this world, but one thing was certain, he wouldn''t turn a blind eye to suffering. He wouldn''t just sit idly by in his warm manor house while others lived in misery. A gust of wind rattled the manor, making Kivamus pull his cloak tighter, a physical echo of the resolve hardening within him.

    "We have to discuss this again later on," Kivamus said with a resolute voice. "Hudan, remind me about this tomorrow, and we''ll decide on what protective measures we can take to defend the village. They are my people now and we won''t abandon them."

    Hearing that, Helga, as well as others, couldn''t stop their faces from getting a smile.

    "Of course not, my lord." Duvas added, "However, only the baron has the authority to promote someone to a guard captain, so I have been managing the watch schedule by myself since then. It would be very helpful if you chose to promote a guard, my lord." Duvas gave a tired smile. "I have been taking care of too many things by myself, and it hasn''t been easy for me."

    "Of course, tomorrow we will see what can be done about that as well." Kivamus looked towards Hudan and Feroy. "For tonight though, you both should take a good rest."

    "Thank you, my lord," Hudan said and joined Feroy in giving another bow to Kivamus.

    The oldest maid, a woman around Helga''s age, approached Kivamus. "My lord," she said, her voice carrying a hint of concern, "the previous Baron had taken his cook with him on that tragic journey," she continued apologetically, "so there''s no one suitable for preparing a proper noble feast right now. But give us an hour, and we''ll have the kitchen in the manor house up and running, and something cooked for you soon."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. He glanced towards the servants'' hall, where a plume of smoke rose from the chimney. "But I see smoke coming from the servant''s hall," he pointed out. "I thought you had started preparing food for everyone already."

    The woman offered a sheepish smile. "We had, my lord," she admitted. "But it''s just simple porridge and some soup, for all of us common folk."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment with a thoughtful expression on his face. "That''s perfectly fine," he declared. "There''s no need to prepare an entire new meal just for me. I''ll gladly share what everyone else is having."

    The old maid, along with the other curious servants and maids who had gathered nearby, stood speechless. Eventually, the old maid recovered her voice. "But¡­ but my lord," she stammered, "it''s just plain porridge! It wouldn''t be proper for a noble like you!"

    Kivamus waved a dismissive hand. "Nonsense! It''s food, and I''m hungry. It''s a waste to prepare a meal again just for me anyway. When it''s ready, just bring me what everyone else is having."

    His words had a profound effect. That simple act of humility caused a wave of relief and a hint of joy to wash over the old maid and the other servants who were standing nearby. Here was a lord who wasn''t a tyrant or an oppressor.

    The old maid, her initial shock replaced by a hint of warmth, nodded in acceptance. "Very well, my Lord," she said and turned to head back towards the servants'' hall to continue cooking.

    The other servants, their curiosity satisfied for now, got back to their duties as well, a newfound respect and perhaps even a hint of fondness evident in their smiles. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Lucem and Syryne, who had been watching the exchange with keen interest, couldn''t help but smile as well. Even Helga, her initial reservations fading, shared in their sense of relief and hope. Perhaps, just perhaps, their new life in Tiranat wouldn''t be so bad after all.

 Chapter 14 - 14. A New Home

    The doors of the manor house stood in front of them, promising some respite from the chilly evening air. Kivamus and Gorsazo fell into step behind Duvas, their boots crunching softly on the packed dirt path. Helga and her family followed close behind, a mix of apprehension and curiosity swirling in their eyes.

    The heavy doors creaked open with a sigh, and a scene of rustic warmth greeted them. The floor, constructed from broad, uneven planks, creaked softly beneath their footsteps as they entered. The large hall doubled as a living and dining area, its thick wooden beams stretching overhead. A massive stone fireplace dominated the wall on the right, its flickering flames casting long, dancing shadows across the rough-hewn wooden walls. The air hung heavy with the scent of smoke, a familiar and comforting aroma in this weather. A young man in a tunic, probably a servant of the manor, was putting more coal in the fire. A thick chimney loomed above it, its blackened stone testament to countless fires in the past.

    A long wooden table, its surface worn smooth by countless meals, was kept on the left side of the room. Animal pelts, mostly of wolves and bears from the surrounding forests, adorned the floors and walls, adding a touch of warmth and texture to the otherwise spartan space. A much bigger pelt, likely of an adzee that Kivamus had seen for the first time today, was spread on the floor as well. The windows, devoid of any glass pane within them, were closed at this time to preserve the heat. Closer to the fireplace, a group of sturdy wooden chairs awaited them.

    Duvas gestured towards the chairs closest to the crackling fire. "My lord," he said with a bow, "please, make yourselves comfortable."

    Kivamus nodded his thanks and settled into one of the chairs, Gorsazo taking the seat beside him. The warmth from the fire seeping into their chilled bones was a pleasing experience for everyone. Helga and her family hesitated for a moment, unsure of their place in the manor''s hierarchy. Seeing their discomfort, Kivamus gestured toward the remaining chairs with a smile. "Please, everyone," he invited, "take a seat. There''s room for all of us." Nodding obligingly, Helga and Syryne took the remaining chairs, while young Lucem sat on the edge of a pelt on the floor, his wide eyes taking in everything with a mixture of apprehension and wonder.

    Kivamus eased himself into his chair, the weight of his new title settling upon him with a mix of excitement and trepidation. This was his new home now, a far cry from the life he once knew, but a challenge he was determined to embrace.

    "Thank you so much, my lord, for allowing us a place here," Helga said gratefully. "When we left the inn, I wasn''t sure what awaited us, but you have been more kind than I could ever have imagined. We are forever in your debt, my lord."

    "Of course not. I''m just trying to do my part to help," Kivamus replied. "After we have eaten, Duvas will show you your rooms."

    Duvas nodded to that. "There are many rooms here, my lord. Your own bedchamber is upstairs, along with a few more empty rooms on the upper floor. I stay in one of the guest rooms on the ground floor, and Madam Helga and her family can stay in another guest room there. Mister Gorsazo can take a room anywhere he wishes, as well."

    "I''d prefer to stay on the upper floor, in case Lord Kivamus needs any help."

    "Of course, Gorsazo," Duvas added.

    They all sat there near the welcoming warmth of the fireplace, waiting for the simple dinner to be ready.

    "Duvas, why don''t you take a look again at the Duke''s proclamation in the light of the fire? It will be better to get it over with," Kivamus said.

    "Oh, forgive me, my lord, I nearly forgot! Like I said earlier, my lord, it is only a formality at this point, but I should confirm it anyway," Duvas said. He walked to the bigger table where he had kept the mentioned scroll earlier and brought it near the light of the fireplace. He sat down again on his chair, reading the scroll carefully.

    Kivamus stared at the rolled-up parchment in Duvas'' hand, the rough, leathery texture a stark contrast to the smooth, cold feel of the touchscreen he was accustomed to. Back in London, promotions or new positions came with an impersonal email, a sterile notification that did little to stir emotions. Here, in this world bathed in the flickering firelight, such pronouncements took on a tangible form - a weathered scroll, perhaps of bark or cured animal hide, imbued with the weight of tradition. The official announcement outside the manor house, delivered with such reverence by Duvas, seemed like a relic from a bygone era to Kivamus.

    A pang of longing shot through him. He missed his phone, a pocket-sized portal to the world at his fingertips. He missed the comforting hum of his computer, with the familiar glow of its screen. Here, such technology would be seen as the work of witchcraft, as foreign and unbelievable as little green men landing from an alien ship in Trafalgar Square. Would he ever see such gadgets again? A wave of homesickness washed over him with a yearning for the familiar comforts of his old life. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas carefully rolled the scroll back up, his weathered face etched with seriousness. "Everything appears in order, my Lord," he declared, his voice a steady rumble in the firelit hall. "No cause for concern with this record. Welcome to Tiranat, my lord, once again," Duvas added, a hint of warmth in his voice.

    Duvas'' words, meant to be reassuring, only emphasized the vast gulf between his two lives. Welcome. The word felt hollow in this unfamiliar world. The comfort of his past life was a distant memory, replaced by the harsh realities of this new one. This new life, so different from anything he''d ever known, presented a formidable challenge.

    Yet, as he looked around the room at the concerned faces of Helga, Gorsazo, and the others, he realized that he wasn''t alone in this. He might be a stranger in a strange land and his past a distant dream, but he wouldn''t let nostalgia cripple him. And perhaps, just perhaps, he could forge a new and meaningful path in this strange land. After all, a welcome, no matter how different, was still a beginning. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders, ready to embrace whatever challenge this strange new world had in store for him.

    Despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling within him, he managed a grateful smile for Duvas'' welcome. "Thank you, Duvas," he said, his voice sincere. "I may be new to this, but I assure you, I''ll do everything in my power to make life better for everyone here in Tiranat."

    A glimmer of hope sparked in the eyes of Helga, Duvas, and the others around the fire. A genuine smile touched Helga''s lips, a stark contrast to the worry lines etched on her face just moments ago. Kivamus recognized the weary fatigue in their expressions.

    "It''s been a long journey," Kivamus continued. "Everyone must be exhausted. After we''ve eaten, let''s get a good night''s sleep. But from tomorrow," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the room, "we begin the hard work of rebuilding Tiranat. There''s much to be done." His voice held a quiet determination, a stark contrast to the previous Baron''s perceived apathy.

    Gorsazo added, "Indeed, my Lord. Looking at the faces of the villagers today, I couldn''t help but think the previous baron had been mismanaging the barony. Even if the coal mines are the only major source of income for the barony, surely there could have been something more done to ensure the villagers weren''t on the brink of starvation." Gorsazo cleared his throat and continued with a touch of remorse in his voice. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but I believe most in the village would be relieved that he''s gone."

    Duvas nodded. "Indeed, my lord. I tried on numerous occasions to bring the villagers'' plight to the previous Baron''s attention. However, his mind was always set on the next grand trip to Cinran. As you might have heard, my lord, Count Cinran is well known for his extravagant celebrations, and his court is a beehive of nobles vying for his favor. The previous Baron, unfortunately, preferred that company to the needs of his own people."

    Kivamus nodded, gesturing for them to continue.

    Helga leaned forward, her brow furrowed in concern. "My lord," she interjected, "perhaps the most pressing matter is taking stock of what resources we have remaining. We need to assess the grain stores here in the manor. Even if we have to purchase additional supplies from Cinran, we need enough grain reserves to sustain the village through the winter. Once the snow falls, as Pydas mentioned yesterday, all the roads near the Arakin mountains become treacherous, and the route from Tiranat to Cinran usually gets impassable for wagons."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but feel a surge of gratitude for the people around him. These were the advisors he needed around him, honest, capable, and deeply invested in the well-being of Tiranat. People who understood the land and its challenges, and were already offering solutions to the problems he could only begin to grasp. "Excellent point, Helga," he acknowledged, his gaze flickering between them all. "We''ll talk in detail about these matters tomorrow morning. Additionally, Duvas, I need a complete picture of our financial situation. Knowing the exact amount of gold crowns at our disposal will be crucial in determining our next steps."

    Duvas''s nod held a hint of resignation as he spoke. "Certainly, my lord," he said. "However, Tiranat is a small barony, one of the poorest in the Duchy, I dare say. We have no grand treasury to speak of. All we have is a simple iron strongbox which I used to keep the Baron''s funds. And on that ill-fated journey to Cinran¡­" he paused, his voice trailing off for a moment.

    "The Baron took most of it, didn''t he?" Kivamus finished the sentence for him, a grim understanding settling on his features.

    Duvas sighed. "Indeed, my Lord. He needed it to pay the annual taxes to the Count. Normally, I would have accompanied him for such matters, but on that occasion, a sudden illness kept me bedridden." A hint of relief flickered in his eyes. "In hindsight, perhaps it was a blessing from the Goddess. If I had gone with the Baron on that journey, I wouldn''t be sitting here now."

    "Duvas, I''m grateful you''re alive and well. But those damned bandits! Without a decent starting sum, doing anything to help the village is much more difficult."

    "There''s more, my lord," Duvas added. "Unfortunately, on that journey, the Baron took most of what we had, to pay the annual taxes to Count Cinran. And while the Count hasn''t sent any riders so far to demand the taxes that were due to him for this year, it might not be long before he does."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly, a wave of frustration washing over him. "We can only hope that the approaching winter prevents him from doing that. He has to know that the village was barely standing in the absence of the Baron! We can''t afford to pay any taxes right now!"

    Gorsazo spoke up. "It may be fine, my lord. By now, the news must have gotten to Count Cinran that this barony was given to you, a son of the Duke. And even if any apparent goodwill to you doesn''t last for long, we can hopefully still ask him to waive off the taxes for at least this year, if that rider does come with the demand."

    "I hope so, Gorsazo, I really hope so." He looked at Duvas. "But even then, we would have to pay the taxes the next year, won''t we?"

    Duvas replied, "Indeed, my lord. Usually, the taxes are paid in spring, but if we ask for an extension, the Count may allow us more time to pay, as long as we don''t skip paying for another year."

    Kivamus turned his gaze to Gorsazo. "You have kept my personal savings securely with you, right Gorsazo?"

    "Of course, my Lord," Gorsazo replied, his hand instinctively going to the hidden pouch at his waist.

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, the weight of the situation settling upon him. "At least that''s a start," he muttered.

    Syryne, unable to contain her surprise, blurted out, "My lord, you''d use your own savings to help the village?"

    Kivamus met her gaze with unwavering determination. "Without a doubt, Syryne. We have no other choice at the moment. Tiranat is my village now and these are my people. I won''t leave the survival of villagers in the hands of fate this winter."

    A warm smile spread across Helga''s face, mirroring the expressions of others around the fire. A sense of hope, fragile yet persistent, bloomed in the room. They had a leader, a strange one perhaps, but a leader who, unlike the last, seemed to genuinely care for the welfare of his people. He was a man willing to put his own well-being on the line for the betterment of Tiranat. Tonight, with a meager starting point and a whole lot of determination, the future of Tiranat began to look a little less bleak.

    As the fire crackled and the last embers of the day died down, they waited for the simple dinner to be served to them with all kinds of thoughts passing through their minds. The discussion had also served as a stark reminder of the challenges that lay ahead of them. And yet, the air also held the warmth of a new beginning, of shared purpose, and perhaps, just perhaps, the spark of hope that a better future was within reach.

    Soon, a young maid, a girl in her early teens, entered the sitting hall of the manor house while carrying a big wooden tray with a single bowl. She came near the people sitting close to the fireplace, and after performing a quick curtsy to Kivamus, held the tray in front of him. She looked waif thin and took a moment to speak, seemingly shy before her new liege. "This is for you, my lord. Madam Nerida, the head maid, said to bring it to you first, my lord, since you might be hungry a lot." She took a deep breath, as if willing herself to continue speaking. "The food for others will be brought soon too, my lord."

    Kivamus took the bowl from her with a gentle smile and kept it on a small table next to him. "Thank you, uh¡­ what''s your name?"

    "I''m Clarisa, my lord," she squeaked.

    "Well, thank you, Clarisa." Kivamus added, "And would you please thank Madam Nerida as well for me, Clarisa?"

    "I will, my lord," she said and with another quick curtsy turned away to go back.

    "You should start eating, my lord, we will wait for our food," Syryne said to Kivamus.

    "No, no, it''s fine. I''ll just wait until we can all eat together," Kivamus added.

    All of a sudden, Helga, who was watching the maid going back, spoke loudly, "Hey! Are you okay, Clarisa?"

    Kivamus also looked towards the door, when Clarisa, the young maid, who was holding the wall near the door for support, lost her balance completely and fell on the floor, the tray in her hand clattering on the wooden planks nearby.

    Helga, who was the first to reach her, took a single look at her foaming mouth and convulsing body, and weakly said to others, "Poison..."

 Chapter 15 - 15. Revelations

    The world seemed to slow down as others rushed to her aid, their faces etched with a mixture of fear and determination. Helga forced the girl''s mouth open and immediately made her vomit to remove any more poison from her frail body.

    Kivamus, being unable to think about how to help, watched helplessly as minutes stretched into an eternity. At some point, the convulsions subsided, leaving the girl pale and trembling, but she was still alive. Helga''s quick thinking, forcing the girl to vomit, brought a hint of relief to Kivamus'' heart, as she might have just saved the poor girl''s life.

    Relief flooded the room, punctuated by Helga''s questions to the girl. Clarisa managed to speak a little through gasps and tears. "Please forgive me, my lord."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide the surprise from showing on his face. "Why are you apologizing, Clarisa?"

    Sobs prevented her from speaking for a moment, before Helga managed to calm her, telling her to continue. "It must be the Goddess punishing me, my lord!" She hiccuped. "But I was so hungry¡­ Madam Nerida says there isn''t enough grain anymore for us to eat twice, but I hadn''t eaten anything since morning, my lord!" She couldn''t stop her tears. "I only took a single sip from your soup, my lord! It was just one sip only!"

    "What did you just say¡­?" Kivamus said to the still sobbing girl, surprised again.

    It only took a moment for a chilling realization to dawn on him. He looked back towards the fireplace where he had kept that unassuming bowl of soup on the table. The soup, which was meant for him. The warm, inviting meal that promised respite after a long journey, had poison mixed in it. Poison. Here, in his own manor house, on his first night as Baron.

    He shuddered, thinking about the implications. This wasn''t a world of fairytales and noble deeds. This was real, and a stark reminder of the treacherous nature of medieval politics. Here, power was a deadly game, where even his own brothers sent bandits to kill him. And just to be sure that he died, they had a backup option to poison him if he managed to reach Tiranat somehow. At least he thought that his brothers were behind this. But what if there was someone else who wanted him dead too? What if it was someone already living in this manor? S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Fear, cold and primal, coiled in his gut. Somehow, he was still alive even after two attempts to kill him, but he didn''t know if this was the end of it or if there was another nasty surprise waiting for him in the future. How could he navigate this treacherous landscape when he didn''t even know the players? He took a deep breath, trying to slow down his racing heart. He hadn''t anticipated this. He''d arrived here wide-eyed, filled with a naive hope of helping his people. The memory of the desperate villagers flashed in his mind, with their gaunt faces and threadbare clothes. He was their only hope, and now, someone already wanted him dead before he even tried to do something to help them.

    The poor girl looked scared by now. "Please don''t beat me, my lord, I won''t do it again! I promise!"

    Kivamus'' mind was brought to a sudden halt after hearing that. "What¡­? I''m not going to hit you, Clarisa! Why did you even think that?" he couldn''t help but ask her.

    "You won''t my lord?" She asked with hopeful eyes. "But I drank from your bowl of soup¡­"

    Kivamus took a deep breath to calm himself. "No one is going to hit you, Clarisa, I promise you," he spoke with a gentle voice. "Now can you tell me why you thought that I was going to beat you? Do others in the manor hit you? You can tell me, Clarisa, I won''t be angry at you, I promise." The fearful look in the poor girl''s eyes anguished his heart.

    Clarisa looked at Helga for support, who was still holding the girl in her lap. Helga smiled at her while running a hand soothingly over her head, and nodded to her. Clarisa looked like she was trying to gather her courage before she spoke. "It was the previous baron, my lord. He always used to beat others when he wanted to punish them or even if he was angry. But it was only him, my lord, who beat the servants and maids." Her tear-streaked face had a mixture of fear and hope. "I thought you would be like that too, my lord. Would I really not be punished for drinking from your soup?"

    The poor girl who was so hungry that she couldn''t stop herself from taking a sip from his soup bowl had unintentionally saved his life, nearly dying herself in the process. If she had drunk any more of it, she truly might have died. And she was still scared that he would punish or beat her for that¡­ What the hell is wrong with the people of this world, he thought with anger. Helga, who was still holding Clarisa, had a similar pain in her eyes after hearing about the young maid''s past.

    Kivamus knew this world was a harsh place to live, especially for the poor people. The memory of the villagers huddling in the burnt doorways, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hope was fresh in his mind. And the previous baron who should have been taking care of them, used to beat twelve-year-old girls. A wave of anger washed over him. He had never been a violent person in his life, but every new day here brought a revelation that made him want to strangle those who enjoyed the suffering of others. He had to force himself to take a few deep breaths once more, to calm his mind.

    Kivamus was still fearful of those who kept trying to kill him, no matter who they were. He was a novice in this world of medieval treachery and its cut-throat politics. But he also had a strong will to survive. He might not have chosen to come to this world, but now that he was here anyway, he wouldn''t let those people succeed in their tasks.

    Slowly, his fear gave way to a steely resolve. He wouldn''t just survive these power struggles, he would thrive. He would be a baron worthy of his people''s trust. He would become a beacon of hope for those who depended on him in this harsh world. He would make this place better, where children didn''t have to fear that they would be beaten if they tried to eat to prevent themselves from starving.

    It took a minute for Kivamus to gather his thoughts. His gaze swept over the room, taking in the worried faces of Helga and Gorsazo, and the confused anxiety of Lucem and Syryne. They were all looking to him for direction, for a sign of strength. He wouldn''t let them down.

    Clarisa, who was still waiting with anticipation to hear the decision of her new liege, was looking at him with eyes full of hope.

    "Lucem, run outside and get Hudan and Feroy here, fast. Tell them it''s an emergency and to come prepared," Kivamus said to Lucem, who nodded but looked a little confused. "Just say that to them, and come back. Now go, quickly."

    Kivamus then bent down and sat on his knees to get to Clarissa''s height, who was still lying in Helga''s lap. He spoke to her in a soft voice. "Clarisa I''m really sorry that you were so hungry that you had to steal food. In the future, I''ll make sure that you''ll never be hungry again. And no one will ever beat you." He smiled at her to ease her mind. "Never again, I promise. Now would you please let Madam Helga take you to a place where you can sleep?"

    Clarisa simply nodded at him.

    Kivamus stood up again and looked to Duvas. "Is there an empty room nearby where Madam Helga can take her?"

    Duvas was surprised. "Here in the manor house, my lord? But she is a maid!"

    Kivamus looked at him with an unflinching gaze. "Yes, here in the house itself. Or do you have a problem with it, Duvas?"

    "What? No, my lord, of course not. I was just surprised." Duvas pointed to another door inside the hall. "There are a few rooms there, my lord. All but the first one, where I live, are empty as well."

    "Good. Madam Helga, can you and Syryne take her there to rest? Please make sure she has everything she needs."

    Helga, who had a smile on her face now, managed to get Clarisa to walk slowly, with Syryne and her supporting the young maid from both sides and left the hall through that door.

    Soon, Helga returned and told Kivamus that Syryne had stayed back with Clarisa to watch over her. Hudan and Feroy entered the hall from outside, their faces grim and alert. Lucem came inside as well, and on Gorsazo''s gesture, locked the hall''s door from the inside.

    "Hudan, Feroy. Come inside." Kivamus said, his voice surprisingly calm considering the turmoil within. Briefly, Kivamus explained the situation, his gaze sweeping across everyone present.

    Kivamus addressed the room. "Everyone here," he declared, his voice cutting through the tension, "except for Duvas, I trust you with my life."

    Duvas, his face pale with a mixture of fear and confusion, stammered out a denial. "My lord," he croaked, "I assure you, I had nothing to do with¡­"

    "I believe you," Kivamus interrupted, his gaze unwavering. "Duvas," he continued, his tone softening slightly, "I understand your fear. You are an elder, and at your age, I don''t think you''d be doing something like this. Still, until we find the culprit, you will remain inside with us, just to be sure. Hudan, you will keep watch over him."

    Duvas'' face crumpled with relief. "Thank you, my lord," he stammered, his voice thick with emotion. "I assure you, I had no part in this."

    Kivamus just nodded to him. "Hudan, stay close to the door to this hall and don''t let anyone else enter, at any cost. We don''t know who we can trust here, and it''s better to be safe than sorry."

    The tension in the room remained palpable. Hudan, with a curt nod, positioned himself near the door, his hand resting discreetly on the hilt of his sword, which he had kept right next to him now, so he could draw the sword at a moment''s notice.

    "Feroy, you go outside and gather information. Start with the servant''s hall. That''s where the soup was being prepared. And stop anyone else from drinking it, we don''t know if it was just my bowl of soup that was poisoned or the whole pot."

    Feroy, who had the look of a seasoned veteran now, nodded. "Trust me, Lord Kivamus, it won''t take too long." He gave a quick bow and left the hall.

 Chapter 16 - 16. In Times Past

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir had seen the caravan winding its way through the muddy road in the village earlier, going towards the baron''s manor. But what had truly surprised him was the figure sitting in the first wagon of the small caravan. Tall and broad-shouldered, a young man with an air of quiet authority about him had been announced by his guards as the new baron of the village.

    The surname of the new Baron spoken throughout the village, Ralokaar, the same as the Duke of Ulriga''s family, had sent a tremor of apprehension through Kigeir. Was he a nephew? A distant cousin? Or could he be a son of the Duke himself? Kigeir couldn''t fathom why a Duke''s kin would ever leave the opulent halls of the Ulriga Palace and come to this desolate corner of the Duchy, to govern a poverty-stricken backwater like Tiranat. The only explanation that made any sense was punishment. Exile.

    A shiver ran down Kigeir''s spine. Tiranat was a village barely clinging to survival by its fingernails. If the Duke, or even the power-hungry Count of Cinran, decided to punish them further by raising taxes¡­ Well, Kigeir didn''t dare voice the horrifying thought that flickered through his mind.

    Kigeir had recognized the weathered face of Pydas, the traveling merchant, perched on the seat of the lead wagon. He had clearly seen an opportunity in the changing guard of Tiranat. Kigeir had come back to his shop after the rare spectacle of a new caravan coming to Tiranat was over. He sighed, a sound heavy with worry. Just then, Pydas emerged on the muddy road walking towards his shop alongside another man, presumably a guard.

    "Greetings, Pydas," Kigeir called out to the merchant as he entered his shop, his voice strained but welcoming. "It''s been a while since you''ve graced Tiranat with your presence."

    Pydas, a man bronzed by years spent on the road, chuckled. "Indeed it has, my friend. But with the previous Baron¡­ Well, let''s just say I wasn''t eager to risk these treacherous roads until things settled down."

    Kigeir nodded in understanding. "A wise decision," he agreed. "Though it seems you braved the journey after all."

    Pydas''s smile faltered slightly. "Necessity more than bravery, I''m afraid. Winter approaches, so I decided to make a trip to Tiranat once again, for a last trade before the snow blocks the roads." S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kigeir nodded grimly. "These are perilous times though, particularly for Tiranat."

    Pydas sighed, his weathered face etched with concern. "The times are tough everywhere these days, my friend."

    Kigeir couldn''t help but shift his gaze toward the east, in the direction of the baron''s manor. Curiosity gnawed at him. "Speaking of which, tell me about the new Baron. How did you come to be giving him a ride? Shouldn''t he have arrived with a grand retinue, a caravan befitting his station?"

    Pydas sighed again, laden with unspoken knowledge. "It''s not a very good situation for Lord Kivamus, I''m afraid."

    Kigeir leaned in, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean? Surely, a Baron wouldn''t arrive alone?"

    Pydas shook his head. "I found him just outside Cinran, with only one companion, likely an advisor or a guard. They were¡­ hitching a ride, to put it mildly."

    Kigeir''s eyebrows shot up. "So the rumors are true then?" he blurted, his voice barely above a whisper. "He truly is an exiled son of the Duke?"

    Pydas shrugged, his expression guarded. "I don''t know the full details, but that''s certainly what it seems like to me." They exchanged a few more words, the weight of the revelation hanging heavy in the air.

    "Now, about the reason for my visit, Kigeir," Pydas began. "I have thirty sacks of grain with me and some mining tools, as usual, mainly shovels and picks. Although the prices are higher because of the bad harvests, at four gold crowns and six silver coins per sack of grain, I imagine you''ll still be needing all of it, right?"

    Kigeir''s heart sank. As much as the village desperately needed these supplies, his meager earnings barely kept him afloat. "Pydas, my friend, as much as I''d love to take it all," he admitted, his voice laced with helplessness, "I simply don''t have the coin. Nor does anyone else here, from what I know. The situation in Tiranat is worse than you might imagine, especially after that bandit raid a week ago." He paused after seeing a grimace on Pydas'' face, but reluctantly added, "The mines have also been shut down since the storm flooded them, so, there''s no demand for tools these days. As for the grain¡­ I could buy perhaps three or four sacks if you can keep the price low¡­" He trailed off, unable to voice the harsh reality anymore. Even at a discount, Pydas''s prices were likely out of reach for most villagers, including Kigeir himself.

    The weight of their conversation hung heavy in the air as Pydas'' expression grew weary. He had clearly anticipated a brisk sale, assuming the village would need all the supplies it could get. "I¡­ I wasn''t aware things were this bad, Kigeir. The grain wasn''t cheap in Cinran, and I can''t offer much of a discount." He flopped down on an empty chair with his head in his hands, a hint of desperation on his face. "You are the only big merchant in Tiranat¡­ If even you don''t have the coin to buy it, how am I going to sell anything here¡­"

    After Feroy had left the hall, Kivamus exhaled hard and sat on a free chair, gesturing to others to sit as well. He looked to Helga. "How is she, Madam Helga? Will she be okay?"

    Helga, who looked exhausted, wiped the sweat from her brow despite the cold weather and sat on an empty chair near the others. "She''ll be alright by tomorrow, my lord," she replied with a hint of relief in her voice. "She just has a slight fever now. She had only taken a small sip from the bowl, and I managed to get most of it out quickly. By tomorrow, I believe she''ll be back on her feet."

    "I can''t tell how grateful I am for your quick thinking, Madam Helga. You saved her life. I''m not sure what I would have done if something had happened to her through no fault of her own, other than being hungry." He shook his head slowly, "To think someone didn''t even wait for a day before trying to poison me¡­"

    Duvas spoke to him, "For what it''s worth, my lord, I''m really sorry that it happened." He looked at the ground as if lost in his thoughts. "Even if I''ve been swamped with one task after another trying to keep the manor and the village up and running, even if barely, I still can''t believe someone here would try to do something like this. No one here had any reason to do this at all."

    Kivamus sighed, "But it still happened, Duvas. If Clarisa hadn''t drunk from the bowl, I might be dead right now." He took a look at the offending bowl of soup, still sitting on the table near the fireplace. "That reminds me, what should we do with that soup?"

    Hudan, who was listening to them, spoke from his place near the door. "I think we should bury it, my lord. Somewhere outside the manor, I''d say."

    "Hmm¡­ You''re right. Once this is over, I want you to do it tonight itself. We can''t leave the soup here, just in case some other hungry person thinks of drinking it."

    "As you say, my lord," Hudan nodded.

    Kivamus looked to Helga. "How did you act so quickly, Madam Helga? I was so startled that I couldn''t think of what to do at that moment, but you acted immediately, saving the girl''s life."

    Helga reminisced, "I have some experience with poisons my lord." Noticing Kivamus'' surprised face, she quickly added, "It''s not what you''re thinking, my lord. When my family came to live in that inn, Lucem was only a toddler. He had a habit of walking all around the inn and the nearby grounds whenever he found a chance, and he ate any leaf or other plants that looked tasty to his three-year-old mind." She shook her head, "Not all of those plants were edible, of course. Thankfully, there was nothing too poisonous around the area, but many times, I had to make him vomit to get rid of what he had eaten. That''s why I immediately recognized the signs of eating something bad in Clarisa and made her throw up as well."

    Kivamus nodded. He looked at Lucem with a smile, "I''m guessing you don''t do that anymore, do you Lucem?"

    Lucem, who had taken a seat near them as well, blushed immediately and quickly shook his head. "No, no, Lord Kivamus, I don''t!" He looked to Helga with a glare that only young teenagers can manage at their parents, and muttered, "Ma speaks too much sometimes..."

    Helga just gave a warm laugh along with others in the room on hearing that, marking a welcome change in the mood inside the hall.

    However, the incident had already cast a dark shadow over the evening, and the change in atmosphere didn''t last long. The warmth that had initially enveloped Kivamus had vanished, replaced by a cold awareness of the dangers that lurked beneath the surface of his new life.

    After a while, Syryne returned to the hall. Noticing others'' questioning gazes, she said "She''s sleeping now, my lord. She should be okay, I think."

    Kivamus sighed with relief. "I''m glad. Take a seat Syryne."

    Kivamus cast a glance towards the hulking form of Hudan, who sat by the door like a sentinel. The flickering firelight danced across his broad shoulders and the hilt of his ever-present sword. "Hudan," he began, his voice low, "do you think Feroy might require assistance?"

    Hudan snorted, a sound devoid of amusement. "No, my lord," he rumbled. "Feroy''s a master at extracting information. Doubt anyone could keep a secret from him once he''s determined to pry it loose." He paused, noticing the curious faces of Kivamus and the others in the hall.

    "You might not be aware of this, my lord," Hudan continued, "but my family hails from Ulriga too. Of course, we only had a place outside the city walls. Throughout my childhood, I saw Knights in their shiny armor coming and going on a major road near our house. And just like every other boy my age, I dreamt of becoming a knight. All the glory, the respect, hearing the tales of their chivalry - it seemed like a life worth living."

    A wry smile played on Hudan''s lips for a fleeting moment before fading. "However the best I could manage was a position as a squire for a knight in Cinran." A hint of bitterness tinged his voice. "But when the time came for promoting me to a Knight, I was passed over in favor of¡­ others. Even after years of service, I never got chosen to be a knight myself. Eventually, the position as a squire wasn''t an option anymore, and I had to leave and seek new pastures."

    He shot a quick glance at Helga, a flicker of warmth softening his gruff features. "After a while, I ended up at Madam Helga''s inn. What I mean to say, my lord, is that since my childhood, I''ve been looking up to knights and the tales of their honor and kindness, like most young boys in the Kingdom. But Feroy, he''s a different breed altogether, my lord. He¡­" Hudan hesitated, searching for the right words.

    "He¡­ well, he used to be a mercenary," he finally said, the word hanging heavy in the air. "He''s seen the world, my lord, and fought for all sorts of folks in all sorts of places. As you may have heard, my lord, mercenaries are well known to be very brutal towards the defeated sides. But from what he has told me, he grew disillusioned with the way mercenaries treated civilians after a victory. He tried to change the ways of the group he was with, but¡­" Hudan shrugged. "Let''s just say it didn''t work out."

    "So, he left them," Kivamus finished the thought. "And ended up at the inn?"

    Hudan nodded. "Aye. Drifted from place to place until he stumbled upon Madam Helga''s inn one day. Seems it felt like home, and he never left." A wry smile touched Hudan''s lips. "So you see, my lord, Feroy knows how people work. He can read them like a book, making them tell their deepest, darkest secrets before they even realize they''re spilling their secrets. Years of experience, I''d say."

    Kivamus considered this, nodding slowly. Gorsazo''s earlier warnings about mercenaries echoed in his mind. "From what I''ve gathered," he said cautiously, "mercenaries are a fickle bunch, their loyalty bought by the highest bidder. Can we truly trust him?"

    Hudan met Kivamus'' gaze with an unwavering expression. "I''d stake my life on him, my lord," he declared with full conviction. "We''ve known each other for many years now, through thick and thin. He may not be a knight in shining armor, but he has a code, a sense of honor that some knights I''ve known could only dream of possessing."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment, the firelight reflecting in his eyes. "Very well," he finally conceded. "We will place our trust in Feroy and his abilities. Let''s hope he finds some answers soon."

    After a while, there was a knock on the door. On hearing Feroy''s voice outside, Hudan stepped up and opened the door, letting him inside.

    Feroy looked at the worried faces of the people sitting in the hall for a moment, and said to Kivamus with a grimace, "I found the person, my lord, the one who poisoned your soup."

 Chapter 17 - 17. Unraveling Schemes

    "Who was it?" Kivamus demanded, a cold edge creeping into his voice.

    "You won''t believe it, my lord," Feroy replied, his voice devoid of its usual gruff humor. "It''s Levalo, the young lad Pydas left here to watch over the horses and wagons."

    Kivamus'' brow furrowed in disbelief as Feroy ushered the young man inside. Levalo, a man barely in his twenties, stumbled through the doorway, a whimpering cry escaping his lips. His hands, bound with a rough rope, scraped against the floor as he fell to his knees, his entire body wracked with sobs.

    Disbelief morphed into a cold fury in Kivamus'' gut. Pydas, the seemingly harmless trader who''d offered him safe passage, couldn''t be behind this, could he? The man had been nothing but helpful since meeting him. Yet, here they were, with Pydas'' hired hand as the culprit.

    Gorsazo mirrored Kivamus'' outrage. "Pydas? But¡­ but why?" His voice was mired in confusion. "He had countless opportunities if he wanted to harm you, my lord. Yet, he seemed genuine in his support all along!"

    Levalo''s choked sobs intensified at the mention of Pydas'' name. "No, my lord! Mister Pydas had nothing to do with this! Please, you have to believe me, my lord! He doesn''t even know! I¡­ I did it alone! Please forgive me, my lord!" he begged with his head on the ground, as he broke into another fit of sobs and tears.

    Feroy interjected. "I tend to agree, my lord. This reeks of desperation, not a calculated plot. I think he acted alone." He punctuated his statement with a swift kick to Levalo''s back, sending the young man sprawling before Kivamus in a new wave of tears.

    The action, though harsh, served to focus everyone''s attention. This sniveling mess, barely a man, was the one who had poisoned him? The image of Clarisa, the young maid, trembling in pain flashed in his memory. This wasn''t what he''d expected. He''d braced himself for a hardened criminal, not this quivering mess of fear and regret. This was no cunning assassin, no seasoned conspirator. This was a frightened boy, barely a man, whose bravado was shattered. Kivamus felt a surge of unexpected frustration. This was not the answer he''d anticipated. Levalo''s pathetic display left him feeling more bewildered than threatened.

    Levalo, his voice thick with tears and hiccups, began to plead. "Forgive me, my lord! Forgive me! I had no choice, truly I didn''t! I¡­" His voice trailed off, dissolving into another torrent of choked sobs.

    Gorsazo, a man who rarely lost his composure, seemed on the verge of exploding. "Choice? How dare you say that! You nearly ended Lord Kivamus'' life, and of a child''s too for good measure! What could justify such a heinous act?"

    Levalo''s cries escalated into a pathetic wail. "Forgive me! I swear I had no choice!"

    Just as Gorsazo was about to yell at Levalo again, Feroy stepped in with a firm voice. "Please let him speak, Mister Gorsazo. We need to understand what drove him to do this. It may be vital in preventing something like this from happening again."

    Kivamus, his initial anger giving way to a cold curiosity, found himself nodding in agreement. This sniveling mess of a man might hold the key to a much larger conspiracy, a conspiracy far more intricate than a simple poisoning attempt by a disgruntled guard of a traveling merchant.

    Feroy growled at Levalo, "Speak now, you sniveling little cretin!"

    Levalo hung his head, his voice trembling as he spoke. "My lord," he began, his words punctuated by choked sobs, "I saw you go to the manor house to wait for your meal. When that young maid arrived with the bowl of soup, I¡­ I confirmed from her that it was for you."

    Under the harsh scrutiny of the others gathered in the room, Levalo crumbled. Tears welled in his eyes as he stammered, "Please¡­ forgive me, my lord."

    Feroy added curtly. "Keep talking, Levalo. Leave nothing out."

    Drawing a shaky breath, Levalo continued his confession. "I needed a moment alone, so I told the maid it wouldn''t be proper to deliver food to the Lord without even a tray to hold the bowl. When she hurried back to fetch one," he choked back a sob, "I¡­ I offered to hold the soup for her, claiming I didn''t want her to spill it and anger the Baron."

    He squeezed his eyes shut, his voice barely a whisper as he recounted his actions. "She left for the tray, and while she was gone, in a dark corner away from the torches¡­ I added a few crushed Jocinaq leaves to the soup, my lord."

    A collective gasp rippled through the room as Feroy cut in, his voice hard. "That is a very poisonous plant. Where did you find it, Levalo? It only grows within deep forests."

    Levalo sniffled, wiping his tears with a grimy sleeve. "I¡­ I spotted it growing close to the road when we stopped to rest on our way to Tiranat, my lord."

    Kivamus, his voice heavy, pressed on. "Continue, Levalo."

    "That''s all, my lord," Levalo finished, his voice barely audible. "When the maid returned, I handed the bowl back to her."

    Feroy asked coldly, "Was this the first time you tried to kill Lord Kivamus? What about when the bandits had attacked, or when we were on the road?"

    Levalo looked at Kivamus with eyes full of tears. "I never found you alone earlier, my lord, even on the road. And during that attack, you had already gone inside the inn."

    Kivamus, his initial shock giving way to a wave of cold anger, leaned forward. "Why, Levalo? Why would you do something like this?"

    The young man collapsed to his knees, his entire body wracked with sobs. "Forgive me, my lord! I¡­ I had no choice! My family are serfs, bound to the land of Baron Zoricus in the west of Cinran. We barely have enough to scrape by, and our debt keeps growing. We were on the verge of starvation!"

    He looked at Kivamus with pleading eyes, his voice thick with despair. "A few weeks ago, the noble¡­ he offered a deal through another person. If I did this¡­ if I came to Tiranat and managed to kill you, he said he would consider our debt paid in full. That''s why I was in Cinran, my lord, searching for a caravan heading south since a week ago. When Mister Pydas hired me for the trip to Tiranat, I couldn''t believe my luck. You were in the same caravan! Please, my lord, forgive me!" He had bent and put his head on the floor in front of Kivamus, begging for forgiveness in between the wracking sobs and tears he couldn''t stop from flowing.

    Kivamus sank back in his chair, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The weight of the situation settled on him like a suffocating cloak. This wasn''t a villain with grand ambitions or personal vendettas. This was desperation, raw and primal. This world was nothing like the place he''d grown up in, a world of opportunity and progress. Here, in this harsh kingdom, a young man''s life could be reduced to a single, desperate act for the sake of his family''s survival. He looked at Levalo, his youthful face etched with fear and regret. Levalo''s story painted a bleak picture of this world.

    In another world, another era, Kivamus thought, Levalo could have been studying at a university, preparing for a future filled with possibilities. But here, in this brutal new world that he''d found himself in, his family was bound to the land as serfs to a ruthless noble in Cinran, their fate tied to his whims. It had chained him to a life of backbreaking labor and crushing debt, forcing him to contemplate murder for their survival.

    Kivamus sighed, the sound heavy with a newfound understanding of the harsh realities he now faced as the Baron of Tiranat. He stared at the trembling figure lying on the floor before him as a war raged within him. The anger at the attempted murder was undeniable, but it was overshadowed by a wave of unexpected empathy. This wasn''t a villain, he was just a product of a broken world, a world where basic necessities like food were a luxury for many.

    Kivamus spoke in a voice laced with exhaustion. "Take him away and lock him up somewhere. I need time to think."

    Duvas shook his head apologetically. Clearing his throat, he said, "My lord, unfortunately, we lack a proper prison here in Tiranat. There''s never been a need for one, given the size of the village."

    Feroy stepped forward with a glint in his eye and said, "Not a problem, my lord. We can tie him to a pillar in the barn. Won''t go anywhere there."

    Gorsazo said, "One last question before you take him." He looked at Levalo. "Do you know who that person was? Can you tell me his name?"

    Levalo shook his head, and answered between sobs, "As I told you, my lord, my family works the lands of Baron Zoricus. His land holdings are very big to the west of Cinran, and he has a lot of people working for him. But the man who gave me that offer was someone I had never seen before, who said he was acting on Baron Zoricus'' behalf. But at this point, I don''t know if he was speaking the truth. I had never seen him before, my lord, and I don''t know who that was."

    After a quick nod from Kivamus, Feroy marched towards the sobbing and babbling Levalo, who continued to plead for forgiveness. He practically dragged the young man out of the hall, the echoes of Levalo''s apologies fading into the distance.

    A tense silence had descended upon the room, broken only by the crackling fire.

    A few minutes later, the door creaked open and Feroy re-entered, his brow furrowed but a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "Levalo is secured in the barn, my lord," he reported. "I''ve also instructed one of the guards to keep an eye on him."

    Kivamus was sitting in a chair near the fire, his fingers steepled together and his brow furrowed in contemplation. His features etched with a mixture of anger and something akin to pity, he finally addressed Feroy after his return. "How did you manage to apprehend him so quickly, Feroy?" he inquired.

    Feroy, wiping his hands on his roughspun trousers, launched into a detailed account. "As you instructed, my lord, I went straight to the kitchens in the servants'' hall. The first thing I did was spread the news about the attempted poisoning."

    "And how did they take it?" Gorsazo inquired.

    "Shock, mostly," Feroy replied. "There was a fair bit of fear mixed in too, understandably." He continued, "One of the maids who was helping in the kitchen mentioned that when Clarisa, that''s the young maid who delivered the soup, returned for the tray, she was berating herself for forgetting it in the first place. This particular detail piqued my curiosity." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus leaned forward, intrigued. "Interesting. Go on."

    Feroy continued, "So, after giving Clarisa the tray, the maid in the kitchen decided to keep an eye on her. From a nearby window, she observed Clarisa speaking with the wagon driver who had arrived with you, my lord."

    "The driver, of course," Kivamus interjected, piecing together the puzzle, "had to be Levalo, since Pydas still hasn''t returned with the other driver."

    "Precisely, my lord," Feroy confirmed. "The maid saw Levalo holding the very bowl of soup and talking with Clarisa."

    Syryne interjected, a hint of frustration in her tone. "Why didn''t this maid report this suspicious behavior?"

    "Asked her the same thing, Syryne. Apparently, the poor girl never thought to doubt someone who had traveled all the way from Cinran with you, my lord. She did apologize profusely, though, along with the others in the kitchen. They all wanted to come and apologize to you in person for letting it happen, but I figured it best to keep them inside until the culprit was caught."

    Kivamus nodded, his gaze flicking toward the empty space where Levalo had been moments ago. "So, you located Levalo after that?"

    "Well, my lord," Feroy chuckled, "after questioning the servants and piecing things together, I easily found Levalo tending to the horses. He denied everything at first, of course. But when I mentioned that several people had witnessed him speaking with Clarissa and handling the soup bowl, his resolve crumbled. He confessed to the entire scheme."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide his surprise. "He gave up that easily after doing all this?"

    Feroy chuckled humorlessly. "Of course not, my lord. But I think it''s best if we skip some details¡­"

    Kivamus grimaced, understanding the hidden implications. He let out a heavy sigh, the weight of the situation pressing down on him.

    He considered the reasons behind Levalo''s actions, the desperation that had driven him to such a deed. "And the rest of the soup?" he finally asked with a concerned voice. "Is there a chance Levalo did something to poison the whole pot?"

    "No worries there, my lord," Feroy reassured him. "The other maid confirmed she never left the pot unattended near the fire, and the others, including Madam Nerida, confirmed it as well. Levalo, according to them, never even entered the kitchen in the servants'' hall."

    He continued, "Just to be doubly sure, though, I made him down a bowl of soup from the same pot before bringing him here. He gulped it down without a second thought, and as you saw, he''s no worse for wear."

    The hall was quiet for some time, as they thought about the incident and its implications.

    After some time, Helga asked, "Why did they even send Clarisa, such a young maid, to bring the soup in the first place? An older maid would have easily become suspicious of a wagon driver asking to hold a noble''s soup. And this wouldn''t have happened at all."

    "That is precisely because she was young, Madam Helga. I asked about it too. They said Clarisa was so excited to meet the new baron that they couldn''t say no to her when she eagerly said ''I will take the soup to Lord Kivamus, and it is final!'' "

    Helga nodded, "I can understand that. It''s hard to deny children''s wishes sometimes¡­"

 Chapter 18 - 18. Decisions

    Duvas posed the question that hung heavy in the air. "What should we do with him, my lord?"

    Hudan spoke first. "Typically, my lord," he rumbled, "the punishment for poisoning a noble would be the gallows. But in this case," he conceded, "Levalo wasn''t successful. It was an attempt, nothing more." He scratched his beard. "So, execution wouldn''t sit right with me. I think it may be a good opportunity to show the people that you can be merciful, my lord."

    The weight of the judgment settled heavily on Kivamus'' shoulders. He turned to Gorsazo, seeking his counsel. "What are your thoughts on this, Gorsazo?" he inquired.

    Gorsazo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Both options have merit, my lord," he began. "On one hand, executing Levalo would send a clear message that trying to harm the new Baron will not be tolerated. It would establish your authority with an iron fist."

    A trace of unease crossed Kivamus''s features. That approach felt barbaric, a far cry from the justice system he was accustomed to on Earth.

    "On the other hand," Gorsazo continued, "Levalo did fail in his task. He showed remorse, and it seems clear he was acting out of desperation, not malice. If you show him mercy, it would demonstrate your compassion to your new subjects. It would establish you as a fair and just leader." He concluded, "Ultimately, the decision is yours, my lord."

    Kivamus found himself wrestling with a dilemma unlike any he''d ever faced. He didn''t have the benefit of legal training, nor the comfort of established procedures to make the right decision. Back on Earth, such a crime would be handled by a proper legal system, a process with checks and balances. Here, in this remote corner of this harsh new world, the law seemed to be a matter of the ruler''s will. There were no police, no courts, and no juries here. In this world ruled by "might is right," powerful nobles could order murders or executions with impunity, their power a shield against any form of justice while the innocent suffered in silence.

    The weight of this responsibility gnawed at him. Levalo, a young man burdened with the responsibility of his family''s survival, had been forced into a terrible choice. The act itself was deplorable, but the root cause - the crushing weight of serfdom and the cruelty of a distant noble, twisted Kivamus'' guts with a strange mix of anger and empathy.

    He took a deep breath to calm his mind. He was no judge, no legal scholar, but for now, the mantle of leadership rested on his shoulders. Finally, after a minute of thinking, Kivamus addressed the room, his voice firm. "I''ve made my decision. Levalo did attempt to poison me, that much is true. However, he failed, and thankfully, Clarisa will be fine as well." He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the faces of others, gauging their reactions.

    He continued, "It''s clear he acted out of desperation, forced into this situation to save his starving family. And from what I''ve seen, he seemed genuinely remorseful for his actions, and so I will not put him to death."

    Hudan inclined his head in respect. "A wise decision, my lord," he rumbled. Helga, her eyes filled with understanding, gave a subtle nod of agreement.

    Feroy, who was silent till now, remarked, "My lord, I don''t mean to overstep my boundaries, but I think you are being too lenient. If even someone who tried to murder you isn''t put to death, what''s to stop others from trying this again?"

    Kivamus had never been a violent person in his whole life, and despite everything that happened, could he truly order the death of someone who, in a desperate act, tried to keep his family from starving? He did realize there was a chance that Levalo could try it again if he remained alive, but after seeing his regret, he didn''t think it was likely. And how could he, someone who worked in a normal office job all his life, suddenly start ordering people to be executed¡­ He sighed. It hadn''t even been a week since he arrived in this world and he already had to make a life-and-death decision.

    He looked at the faces of others in the hall for a moment. "I realize that the usual decision would be to put him to death. Another good solution might be to put him in prison for a long time. But there are no jails in Tiranat, and it is already difficult to feed the people in the manor without adding someone we have to feed for years without him doing anything to earn his meals." After thinking for a minute, he concluded, "And I don''t want to be a ruler who executes people who are only trying to feed their family."

    This last sentence resonated with others, with probably most people in this world having done something against the rules, no matter how small, to ensure their children went to sleep on a full stomach.

    Feroy suggested, "Then perhaps we could put him to work in the coal mines, my lord. For trying to kill a noble, he could work there for, let''s say¡­ five years. And assuming his behavior is good enough during that time, he can be let go after that."

    Kivamus did not want to have a system of forced labor under his rule, but it still seemed like a more acceptable solution compared to executing Levalo. Thinking about it for a moment, he nodded. "That''s a good idea. We''ll do that." He added, his voice stern, "Keep him locked in the barn for now, until we can find a way to put him to work in the mines."

    Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he looked at the others. He had made a difficult decision, one that balanced justice with mercy, and it seemed to have found acceptance with most of his new companions. Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Now that we know who was behind the poisoning, you don''t have to worry, Duvas. And I hope you don''t mind what I said to you earlier."

    Duvas nodded, "Thank you, my lord, but it doesn''t matter anymore. I understand why you had to say that. I agree that it is always a good idea to be cautious." He continued, "Might I suggest you address everyone outside, my lord? By now the news would have spread to others in the manor and they would be worried and fearful."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a good idea." Standing up, he walked towards the door, others accompanying him.

    Hudan and Feroy soon had most of the residents gathered in the courtyard. Nervous faces, a mixture of servants, maids, stablehands, and a few off-duty guards stared back at Kivamus. Taking a deep breath, he addressed them, his voice calm yet firm.

    "I''ve called you all here to explain a recent event," he began, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. He kept his explanation brief, outlining the attempted poisoning, Levalo''s capture, and ultimately, his decision.

    Relief washed over their faces as they learned of Kivamus'' and Clarisa''s well-being. Many servants, their faces etched with genuine concern, expressed their joy at his safety. Others, their voices trembling slightly, offered hesitant praise for his decision to show mercy. Here, in this harsh world, a leader who valued life, even that of a would-be assassin, was quite rare.

    With the announcement concluded, Kivamus dismissed the gathering and the servants and maids returned to their duties, while whispers of "thank the Goddess" and "a terrible near miss" filled the air.

    Madam Nerida, the head maid, approached him, her face etched with worry and a deep sense of responsibility. She bowed deeply and spoke to him, her voice thick with emotion, "I humbly apologize for letting it happen, my lord. Please forgive us all. It won''t happen again."

    Kivamus offered her a reassuring smile. "It was not your fault, Madam Nerida. Thankfully, no real harm was done." S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    His stomach rumbled in a reminder of the ordeal. "Now," he began, his voice tinged with exhaustion, "I believe we''re all quite famished. Perhaps it''s time we all finally had some food and retired for the night. A good night''s sleep is exactly what we all need right now."

    Madam Nerida nodded in agreement. "Of course, my lord," she said, her voice regaining its usual efficiency. "I shall personally see to it that your supper is delivered immediately." With a determined glint in her eye, she turned and marched back towards the servants'' hall.

    ??

    Kivamus watched her and other lingering servants going back to their duties, a weary smile gracing his lips. Despite the harrowing events of the evening, a strange sense of normality, however fragile, seemed to be returning to the manor. The servants scurried about their duties, the tension slowly dissipating. Perhaps, just perhaps, they could put this episode behind them and focus on rebuilding their lives in this place.

    As they waited for their meal in the manor hall, Kivamus, unable to stop thinking about the attempted poisoning, muttered under his breath, "Why can''t they just leave me alone? My brothers managed to get me banished to this remote corner of the kingdom, isn''t that enough for them? What more do they want?"

    He pinched the bridge of his nose, a deep sigh escaping his lips. "And we still have no idea who that man could be. Was it really Baron Zoricus who ordered this? I don''t know why he could be trying to murder me when I don''t even know the man!" He added with exhaustion in his voice, "And we can''t even say for sure the intermediary was working for Baron Zoricus."

    "There are many possibilities, my lord. It could easily be one of your brothers behind this as well," Gorsazo suggested. "Or maybe it''s the Count himself, wary of a new, strong baron in Tiranat. You are, after all, a son of the duke, unlike the other barons who can''t rival his influence. And Count Cinran is well known to be hostile against the Duke''s family. So he may have tried to get rid of you before you were properly established in Tiranat."

    Duvas spoke with a cautious note. "We can''t rule out the possibility that Baron Zoricus has his own reasons, independent of your brothers or the Count. Without more information, it''s difficult to say for certain."

    Their conversation was interrupted by a discreet knock on the door. A guard entered, his face stoic. "My lord," he announced, "Pydas has returned."

    Kivamus sighed. There was no point in speculating about it without more information. "Let him in," he instructed.

    The door creaked open further, and Pydas shuffled into the hall, his brow furrowed with worry. "My lord," he stammered, "I¡­ I come to beg forgiveness for the actions of my wagon driver, Levalo. I had no knowledge of his intentions, and I assure you¡­"

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "It''s alright, Pydas, I know everything now. You couldn''t have known about Levalo''s plan. Thankfully, no real harm was done."

    Relief washed over Pydas''s face. "I heard you didn''t execute him, my lord. You¡­ you''ve forgiven him?"

    "For now," Kivamus confirmed, gesturing towards a chair at the long wooden table. "Please, have a seat. Join us for a meal."

    Pydas stammered his thanks, collapsing gratefully into the offered chair. "I¡­ I am truly grateful for your mercy, my lord." He cast a quick, curious glance around the room, likely taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of the manor hall.

    The sound of footsteps announced the arrival of Madam Nerida. She was accompanied by another maid, both carrying steaming bowls and wooden plates. A simple yet hearty meal of porridge and soup awaited them.

    Kivamus turned to her. "Madam Nerida," he inquired, "is there enough food for everyone tonight?"

    Hesitation was visible on her face, but she nodded nonetheless. "Yes, my lord," she confirmed. "I¡­ I increased the amount I was preparing after your caravan arrived. However, I''m afraid it won''t last long if we continue feeding this many people."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "We''ll address the food situation tomorrow," he assured her. "For tonight, let everyone eat their fill. No one should go to bed hungry."

    The warm expression on Madam Nerida''s face conveyed the gratitude she felt. "Thank you, my lord," she breathed, before bowing and leaving the room along with the other maid.

    As they scraped the last remnants of porridge from their bowls, Pydas rose from his chair, a mixture of gratitude and worry etched on his face. He bowed deeply. "Thank you once again for your hospitality, my lord."

    Kivamus offered him a reassuring smile. "Think nothing of it, Pydas. Now, tell me, do you have a place to stay for the night?"

    Pydas nodded. "I have a room arranged above the alehouse, my lord."

    "Excellent," Kivamus replied, though his keen eyes detected a hint of unease on Pydas''s face. "Tell me, Pydas, is there something else troubling you?"

    Pydas shuffled his feet awkwardly, his gaze darting around the room before settling back on Kivamus. With a deep breath, he finally spoke. "Well, my lord," he began hesitantly, "to be honest, I''m quite worried about selling my goods. Since I had heard that traders were rarely coming to Tiranat for the past few months, I brought a considerable amount of grain with me, hoping to sell it here."

    Disappointment clouded Pydas''s face as he continued, "Unfortunately, Kigeir, the only big merchant in Tiranat who usually buys it from me, told me he couldn''t afford to buy more than a few sacks of grain. And without selling my stock of grain, I simply can''t afford to buy any coal to take back with me."

    Kivamus exchanged a knowing glance with Gorsazo, who offered a silent nod of confirmation.

    "Tell you what, Pydas," Kivamus said, a hint of a plan forming in his mind. "Why don''t you return here tomorrow, around mid-morning? We might just have a solution to your problem."

    A spark of hope ignited in Pydas'' eyes. "A solution, my lord?" he echoed, his voice tinged with a newfound optimism. "You mean you might be interested in buying some grain yourself?"

    "Something like that," Kivamus replied with a hint of a smile. "Come back tomorrow, and we''ll discuss what can be done."

    Pydas didn''t need to be told twice. A trace of relief was easily visible on his stressed face. "I¡­ I would be most grateful for the opportunity to trade directly with you, my lord. Thank you again for the meal and your kindness. I''ll be sure to return tomorrow morning."

    With a final bow of gratitude, Pydas exited the hall, his steps lighter than they had been all evening. Kivamus watched him go, a thoughtful expression on his face.

    Finally, after a day filled with tension and revelations, Kivamus stood up from his chair and stretched, his muscles protesting. "Well," he announced, his voice tired but firm, "this has been a very long day. I think we can all agree that sleep is a necessity right now. Let''s get some rest. We''ll need all our strength for whatever tomorrow brings."

    One by one, they rose from their chairs, their faces etched with a mixture of exhaustion and anticipation. The attempted poisoning had cast a dark shadow on their arrival to Tiranat, but Kivamus'' decision to show mercy, coupled with a potential solution to their grain shortage, offered a fragile sense of hope for a more peaceful future, and a hope for a new beginning, a new dawn for Tiranat.

 Chapter 19 - 19. A New Beginning

    "Wake up, my lord."

    "It''s getting late, my lord. Please wake up."

    Kivamus blearily opened his eyes, blinking at the unfamiliar ceiling. This is getting old¡­ he thought as he saw that it was Gorsazo who was waking him up, again.

    Seeing that Gorsazo was going to speak again, he added, "Alright, alright! I''m awake now. Give me a minute." For a moment, he felt a sense of deja vu, before he remembered the near-poisoning of the last night and getting to his bed on the upper floor, after a quick meal of porridge and¡­ soup.

    Slowly, he sat up on the bed, looking around the room. It was a simple enough room but had an actual bed, unlike the inns he had stayed in until now. The wooden window, without any glass in it, had been opened in the morning to let in some light, and it was around¡­ he looked around at the walls by habit, searching for a clock, before remembering where he was. Right¡­ no accurate clocks in this era.

    The room was decorated by many pelts on the floor as well as the walls, along with a few fur coats hanging on a hook on one side of the room. There was a small wooden table, along with two chairs, kept close to the window. A few decorative items including a vase, perhaps made of silver, were placed on it. There were also a few wooden chests on one side of the room.

    "You should have some breakfast, my lord," Gorsazo said. "Madam Nerida has told me that she''ll bake some bread today."

    Nodding in reply, Kivamus left the bed finally, starting the first day of his new life as the Baron of Tiranat.

    Kivamus pushed open the heavy oak doors leading into the manor''s sitting hall, the resulting creak a jarring contrast to the silent efficiency of his modern London apartment. He winced, the memory of the ramshackle privy''s rough wooden bench still fresh in his mind. Indoor plumbing was a necessity, not a luxury, and he made a mental note to address the issue as soon as possible.

    Inside the hall, a warm fire crackled in the hearth, casting a glow on the faces of those already gathered. Gorsazo and Duvas were already seated at the long table, talking in a low murmur. Madam Helga was sitting nearby, along with Syryne and Lucem.

    "Good morning, my lord," Duvas greeted, a hint of concern in his voice. "I hope you slept well."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but chuckle wryly. Compared to the comfort of his modern apartment in London, everything here was practically a medieval nightmare. But considering the alternative of sleeping in wagons and on straw beds, he replied, "It wasn''t so bad."

    Madam Nerida entered the hall at that moment, flanked by another maid. They were carrying a basket overflowing with freshly baked bread and trays laden with steaming bowls of porridge mixed with some meat and vegetables, and a surprising sight - several boiled eggs. The aroma of food filled the air, a welcome change from the trail rations he''d been surviving with, on his journey. Kivamus'' face broke into a smile after looking at the food. And he also didn''t have to worry about his teeth breaking since he didn''t have to eat hard-tack biscuits anymore!

    "Good morning, Lord Kivamus," Madam Nerida said, her voice a touch hesitant. "I prepared breakfast. I hope it meets with your approval."

    "It looks delicious, Madam Nerida. Thank you." He gestured towards an empty chair at the table. "Please, join us for breakfast."

    Madam Nerida blinked in surprise. No lord in Tiranat had ever invited a maid to share a meal. Yet, something in Kivamus'' sincere demeanor put her at ease. With a hesitant nod, she took a seat at the edge of a chair, her posture stiff with unaccustomed formality.

    Around the table, murmurs of gratitude filled the air, their faces creased with a genuine appreciation for the shared meal. Lucem, wide-eyed with wonder, alternated looking at Kivamus and his breakfast with a mixture of curiosity and hesitation.

    Turning to Helga, Kivamus inquired, "And how is Clarissa this morning?"

    With a gentle smile gracing her lips, Helga replied, "Much better, my lord. The fever has gone down, and I gave her some soup before putting her to sleep again."

    As they ate, the clattering of bowls and spoons filled the room. The freshly made food was a welcome change from the dried rations and meat jerky they had on their journey.

    The door of the hall swung open suddenly, shattering the calm that had settled over the group. A guard, his face flushed and chest heaving, stumbled into the room.

    "My lord!" he gasped, bowing clumsily. "Levalo, the wagon driver¡­ he''s escaped!"

    Kivamus, startled by the abrupt announcement, shot upright in his armchair. "What!" he boomed, disbelief laced in his voice. The news sent a jolt of tension through the room.

    Feroy burst through the doorway moments later, his face contorted in fury. "Did I hear that right?" he thundered, his voice low and dangerous. "Levalo escaped? How in the blazes did you let that happen?"

    The guard, now thoroughly flustered, stammered out an apology, bowing low before Kivamus. "Forgive me, my lord," he stammered, a tremor in his voice, "I¡­ I went inside the barn when I thought to give him some water, but he was gone!"

    Feroy let out a frustrated growl. "That''s impossible!" he interjected, his anger simmering back to the surface. "Those knots I tied him with, they wouldn''t have budged!"

    Kivamus held up a hand to silence Feroy''s tirade. "Calm yourself, Feroy," he commanded, his tone firm yet pacifying. "Let the guard explain."

    He turned back to the trembling guard. "Tell me what happened," he ordered gently. "Don''t be afraid, just tell us the truth."

    The guard shrunk back under Feroy''s glare, his nervousness intensifying. "It¡­ it might be my fault, my lord," he gulped, his eyes darting around the room. "Levalo woke me up in the middle of the night, begging to go outside to relieve himself. I didn''t make him do his business right there, you see, because of the grains we store in the barn. Didn''t want him messing it all up."

    He continued, his voice barely a whisper, "So I took him to a corner outside the barn, with his hands still tied. After he was done, I locked him back in the barn after tying him to a wooden post again. I¡­ I fear I didn''t tie the ropes as securely to the post as I should have in the darkness."

    Feroy''s anger flared anew. "This wouldn''t have happened if you hadn''t untied him in the first place!" he bellowed. "My knots wouldn''t have budged! Why didn''t you call for the guard captain?"

    The guard flinched at Feroy''s outburst, his eyes darting between him and Kivamus. "There''s¡­ there''s no guard captain right now, sir," he stammered. "Usually we go to Mister Duvas to ask what to do, but I didn''t want to disturb Lord Kivamus''s sleep by waking up Mister Duvas who stays in the manor house too."

    A tense silence descended upon the room. Kivamus, his brow furrowed in thought, weighed the situation. Levalo''s escape was a complication they could ill afford, but assigning blame wouldn''t solve anything. "We''ll address the lack of a guard captain later today," he assured the guard. "But even if Levalo managed to untie the ropes somehow, he was still confined within the barn. How did he escape from there?" S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy spun on the nervous guard, his anger barely contained. "Did you abandon your post at any point during the night?" he barked.

    The guard, his face reddening, shook his head vehemently. "No, sir! I remained by the door the entire night," he defended himself.

    Just then, another guard who was older than the first one, entered the hall. He bowed respectfully to Kivamus before speaking. "My lord," he reported, "we found a loose plank in the back wall of the barn. It appears Levalo used that to escape."

    The guard continued, his voice grim. "We also couldn''t locate the ropes we used to bind him inside the barn. It seems he used them to climb over the palisade fence behind the barn and then disappeared into the forest under the cover of night."

    Kivamus rubbed his temples in frustration. "Can we organize a search party to track him down?"

    The older guard shook his head regretfully. "I already dispatched a few men upon learning about the escape, my lord. They found tracks leading north into the forest, but the fallen leaves made it difficult to follow it for long. By now, it''s been several hours and he''d likely have covered a significant distance already. And a thorough search would require venturing deep into the woods. Unfortunately, we simply lack the manpower to effectively search such a vast area."

    Feroy added, his voice low but firm. "He''s right, my lord. These forests are sprawling and treacherous. As much as I loathe to say it, spending any more time searching for him would be futile now. Instead, we should focus on tightening the manor''s security."

    Kivamus, after a moment of consideration, gave a firm nod. "Agreed, Feroy. See to it that the security measures around the manor are bolstered immediately. We need to ensure such a thing doesn''t happen again."

    After bowing to him, Feroy along with the two guards exited the hall, leaving them to their now cold meal.

    Breakfast passed in companionable silence, broken only by the clinking of spoons and the murmur of conversation from Helga''s kids. As the breakfast dishes were cleared, Kivamus rose from the table, his gaze sweeping across the room. Madam Nerida, her earlier nervousness replaced by a newfound respect on her slightly wrinkled face, stood up as well.

    Kivamus stretched, his muscles protesting silently after a night spent on an unfamiliar mattress. He moved towards the plush armchairs nestled near the fireplace, the warmth inviting him.

    "Duvas, Gorsazo, Helga," he invited, "join me by the fire. Syryne," he added, turning to the young woman, "perhaps you could keep an eye on Clarisa for a while?"

    Syryne, with a small smile, nodded and left towards Clarisa''s room. Lucem, being curious, followed Kivamus like a shadow, eager to soak up everything he could about this new place and his new liege.

    Kivamus turned to the head maid. "Madam Nerida," he began, gesturing towards a chair near the smoldering fireplace. "Please, do not leave just yet. I would like to discuss a few matters with you."

    Madam Nerida hesitated for a moment, the ingrained hierarchy of lord and servant battling with the genuine warmth in Kivamus''s eyes. Finally, with a small nod, she settled into the offered chair, her gaze unwavering.

    Concern flickered across Kivamus''s face as he spoke. "How are our grain stores?" he inquired.

    Nerida''s smile faltered slightly. "Until recently, my lord," she began, "we still had enough to ensure everyone had two meals a day, even if we couldn''t afford to eat three meals like in plentiful times. But our reserves have dwindled considerably. To conserve what little we have left, we had to cut back to one meal a day not long ago."

    Kivamus winced. One meager meal a day was hardly enough to sustain a population, especially with the physical demands of manual work in this era. He needed to get a handle on the exact situation.

    "How much grain do we have remaining in the barns?" he inquired, his voice firm. "And how long will it realistically last us?"

    Nerida fidgeted with her hands. "Last I checked, my lord, we only have about three sacks of grain remaining." She continued hesitantly, "To feed everyone in the manor now, even with only one meal a day, that might stretch for at most two months. If we go back to two meals a day, it would last half of that."

    Kivamus grimaced. The situation was far worse than he had anticipated. Three sacks wouldn''t even make a dent in feeding the entire manor for an extended period. He had to find a solution, and fast. He had to. The lives of his people depended on it.

    Kivamus asked Duvas, "What is the situation in the village? Do they have enough to eat in the winter?"

    Duvas sighed with a deep rumble that spoke volumes. "They do not, my lord, but the village''s problems are even worse than just low grain stores," he admitted, his voice heavy with worry.

    Kivamus''s brow furrowed. "Even worse? Explain yourself, Duvas."

    The majordomo cleared his throat and launched into a detailed explanation. "Around a month ago, my lord," he began, "a fierce thunderstorm wreaked havoc on Tiranat. The rains were relentless, and unfortunately, they flooded the mineshafts. We were lucky to get everyone out safely, but¡­" he trailed off, his face etched with a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

    "But?" Kivamus prompted, a knot of dread forming in his stomach.

    "Since then, the mines have been unusable," Duvas finished grimly. "And with hardly any traders willing to brave the bandit-infested roads to buy our coal in the past few months, both of our coal barns are nearly filled to capacity. That''s why I had to make a difficult decision¡­" The implication hung heavy in the air.

    "You stopped mining altogether¡­" Kivamus breathed.

    Duvas nodded with a trace of sadness in his eyes. "There was no choice, my lord. We couldn''t afford to continue mining and pay the miners if we were unable to sell what we''d already extracted."

    "And the miners?" he asked, his voice grim. "What about the men who rely on the mines for their livelihood?"

    Duvas shook his head, his expression filled with sympathy. "They''re out of work, my lord. Most of Tiranat''s workforce relies on the income from working in the coal mines. With the mining halted, they have no other source of income, and that is what has led to the current dire situation in the village."

    A heavy silence descended upon the room. Coal mining was the lifeblood of Tiranat''s economy. Without it, the already precarious situation had become a full-blown crisis. The lack of trade wasn''t just affecting their food stores, it was crippling the entire economy of Tiranat. The image of families struggling to survive, their hearths growing cold as winter approached, painted a bleak picture in his mind.

    Duvas leaned forward, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "The meager funds we have left would barely be enough to pay the miners'' wages for a full month, my lord. We simply can''t afford to reopen the mines until we manage to obtain more money by selling the coal we already have. We won''t be able to pay the miners otherwise¡­ We simply don''t have the funds for it, my lord."

    He looked at Kivamus with a worried gaze and continued, "I could have let the mines run for a few weeks longer, my lord, but I had to hold on to some of the money, in case we got an opportunity to purchase some grain. We couldn''t risk being completely depleted if a trader did come here."

    Dwindling food supplies, unemployed workers, and a crippled economy - the situation was far more grave than he had initially imagined. The village was teetering on the brink of collapse. Kivamus, a man from a world of plenty, now faced a battle for survival in a land where every resource, every decision, held the potential for life or death. He gripped the arms of the chair, knuckles turning white. Winter was approaching, and without a drastic change in fortunes, many in Tiranat wouldn''t survive the harsh season.

 Chapter 20 - 20. A Surprised Owner ofâ€¦

    Kivamus forced himself to take a deep breath.

    "Duvas," he began, his voice firm but laced with concern, "did you get a chance to find out what remains in our treasury?"

    Duvas nodded grimly. "I have, my lord. Although we have a lot of coal stockpiled in the barns, which we could sell for more money if an opportunity arose to trade it, we have less than two hundred gold crowns remaining in actual currency."

    Kivamus sighed, the meager sum doing little to ease his growing anxiety. "That''s¡­ not much at all," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "However," he continued, a hint of determination in his voice, "at least with my personal savings, we should have something to work with."

    He looked at Madam Nerida once more. "How much grain do we need to feed the entire manor two meals a day, for the winter?" he asked. He thought for a moment, and continued, "Let''s say for four months. That should be long enough for the snow to melt and for us to trade again. Isn''t that right, Duvas?"

    Duvas nodded. "It will be more than enough, my lord. I think it should be around a month until the snow starts falling, and after the snowfall gets heavy, the road to Cinran would be blocked for roughly another month after that. And then it''ll take a few weeks for the snow to melt enough that traders can start coming again. So if we have enough grain stocks to last us three months, it might be enough to tide us over through the winter. But if we can afford it, it is always a good idea to have enough stored grain to be sure that we won''t starve even if the winter lasts longer, or if the traders don''t start coming right after the winter ends. Although, I think by the time winter ends, enough time would have passed since the previous Baron''s murder for traders to visit regularly again."

    "That will certainly be helpful." Kivamus declared, "And four months it is then. So how much do we need Madam Nerida? To feed the manor for four months."

    Taking a minute to think it over, Madam Nerida replied, "Twenty sacks, my lord. That will easily feed the uh¡­ around forty people now living in the manor, for four months. If we can add some meat to the meals from hunting, we can make it last even longer."

    Kivamus nodded solemnly. "Alright, so twenty sacks to feed the manor." However, that was just a starting point, since he had to think about the whole village as well. "Duvas," he began, his voice firm despite the knot of worry twisting in his gut, "how many people live in the village?"

    Duvas blinked, surprised by the seemingly simple question. "We''ve never done an exact count of the villagers, my lord," he admitted after a moment''s hesitation. "But at my best guess, I''d say around three hundred people live in the village itself. Then, of course, there are the forty or so who reside here at the manor now, and that brings the total to around three hundred and forty."

    Gorsazo added with a thoughtful frown. "However, my lord," he interjected, "if we''re planning to feed the entire village, it might be wise to err on the side of caution. Grain can spoil or be eaten by rats during storage, and there''s always the chance our initial estimate for the population is a bit low. It wouldn''t hurt to factor in a buffer."

    Kivamus appreciated his caution. With a nod, he acknowledged the point. "Indeed," he agreed. "Let''s plan for three hundred and fifty people, and four months, to be on the safe side. That ought to be enough for the village to survive this winter."

    He took a deep breath, the enormity of the task settling in. Feeding hundreds of people through the harsh winter was a daunting challenge, a far cry from the small teams he had managed back in his London life. Yet, there was no room for self-pity. These people, his people, were depending on him.

    "Right," he continued, his voice unwavering. "Based on that number, we''d need approximately¡­ one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain in total to last us for four months, based on what Madam Nerida told us." His gaze moved towards Duvas. "How much would that cost?"

    Duvas grimaced. "Last season, my lord," he replied, "the price for a single sack of grain hovered around three gold crowns and eight silvers, after accounting for the cost of transporting it here. However, if we were to purchase such a large quantity in bulk, there''s a chance the seller might be willing to offer a slight discount." sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He paused, scribbling some figures on a piece of parchment kept on the table next to him. "That still means we would require¡­" He trailed off, his brow furrowed in concentration.

    Before he could voice the figure, Kivamus cut in, the answer already forming in his mind. "Around six hundred and fifty gold crowns," he said, his voice steady. "Perhaps a little less if we can negotiate a better price for purchasing in bulk."

    Duvas sighed, a sound of weary agreement. "Your estimate seems right, my lord." He cast a sympathetic glance at Kivamus. "Unfortunately, as you know, our current treasury holds a meager two hundred gold crowns."

    Kivamus offered a tight smile. While the cost of feeding the village over the winter would significantly deplete his savings, which was all he had to secure a long-term solution for the village''s many problems, it would ensure no one starved over the winter. It would buy them time, time to find that solution, and time to get Tiranat back on its feet.

    "So be it," he declared, his voice firm with newfound determination, "we''ll add my savings to the treasury. Gorsazo, see to it after this. While it is not a permanent solution, buying enough grain to feed the village through winter is our first priority. We''ll deal with finding a long-term solution once we can ensure that the village will survive the winter."

    Kivamus leaned forward, his full attention on Duvas. "But why did you let the grain stocks fall so low in the first place?"

    Duvas explained, "Pydas is one of the very few traders to visit Tiranat since the previous Baron''s murder, my lord, either from Cinran or Kirnos. We simply haven''t had an opportunity to buy a good amount of grain or sell enough coal in months."

    Kivamus already knew that the road from Cinran to Tiranat was rarely traveled now, from his discussion with Madam Helga and Pydas when he stayed in her inn. But it seemed that these days traders were rarely visiting Tiranat from other places too. He nodded, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. "That explains the lack of supplies," he murmured. "But why haven''t you purchased more grain from Cinran, then? Surely you could have sent someone there if traders weren''t willing to come to Tiranat?"

    Duvas''s expression turned grim. "We did try, my lord," he explained. "I dispatched a guard on horseback on three separate occasions. The first time, soon after the previous baron''s demise, the guard returned from Cinran with unsettling news. That was before the harvest, so prices of grain were sky-high, and no merchant was willing to risk the journey on this dangerous road to transport it at that time."

    He continued, "That was a frightening time for us, my lord, since everyone here was terrified after the previous baron and his whole retinue were murdered, and I did not know at the time if there would be an attack here as well. So during that time, I didn''t want to take the risk of sending too many guards away from the manor to escort a grain wagon ourselves, and risk being caught without enough guards here to defend the manor in case an attack did happen. We had enough grain at that time as well, and I decided to wait until the situation had normalized." He took a deep breath. "Thankfully, there was no attack on the village after the baron''s murder, and it was only recently that we got the first bandit raid since then. However, since we couldn''t defend the village in that raid due to a shortage of guards, now there is a constant risk of another bandit raid."

    "Indeed, and later today, we''ll try to find a solution for that too. But what about Kirnos?" Kivamus inquired, hoping for a better outcome from the neighboring barony. "That was also an option to buy grain, wasn''t it?"

    "I did send a rider there as well, my lord. Unfortunately," Duvas continued, his voice heavy, "the news from Kirnos wasn''t much better. There''s a grain shortage there as well, and the prices are exorbitant. Also, Kirnos is only moderately larger than Tiranat itself, and wouldn''t have enough surplus to meet Tiranat''s needs anyway. That''s why we buy our grain from traders coming from Cinran, which is a much bigger place compared to our village."

    A cold dread settled in Kivamus''s stomach. Not only was Tiranat close to starvation, but the surrounding areas were also struggling. Things were far worse in this world than he had initially imagined.

    Duvas''s face hardened as he continued. "The last guard whom I sent to Cinran for buying even a small amount of grain to carry with him on his horse, never returned, and that was only two weeks ago. I fear that he fell victim to bandits along the way."

    Kivamus sank back in his chair, the weight of the situation settling heavily upon him. The near-empty grain stores, the dwindling coin reserves, a ruined economy, and the dangerous state of the roads all painted a bleak picture. Yet, there was some hope now.

    "Thank goodness for Pydas then," he finally said, a hint of relief in his voice. "At least with him here and with his grain, we can buy some time to find a better solution."

    Stepping out of the manor hall, he looked around the place once again in the light of the morning sun. This was his first day in Tiranat as the new Baron. The ground, damp with the dew of the previous night, squelched softly beneath his boots as he walked. Kivamus took a deep breath of the crisp morning air. It was chilly, a stark contrast to the warmth of the fire he''d just left behind. He pulled his fur coat tighter around him, the luxurious material a welcome comfort against the morning chill.

    The imposing Arakin Mountains dominated the eastern horizon, their snow-capped peaks gleaming in the morning sun. The trees in the surrounding forest had shed most of their leaves, revealing their bare frames reaching skyward.

    The sky was a clear, vibrant blue, promising a bright day ahead. A short distance away, Pydas'' wagons were parked under a weather-beaten shed close to the stables. Hudan stood in conversation with the gate guards, their voices a low murmur against the backdrop of chirping birds, while Feroy was nowhere to be found.

    Life bustled around him while he stood watching the manor, as the servants and maids went about their morning duties. The rhythmic clatter of cleaning implements and the murmur of hushed conversations drifted through the air. A feeling of normalcy, however fragile, seemed to be returning to the manor.

    A sense of quiet determination settled over Kivamus as he surveyed the scene. The challenges before him were daunting - a starving village, a crippled economy, and the constant threat of bandits¡­ and he didn''t know what other surprises might be waiting for him in the future. But the resilience of the people, the breathtaking beauty of the land, and the glimmer of hope offered by Pydas'' arrival all fueled a growing resolve within him. He wouldn''t let Tiranat crumble.

    "There is a kitchen here in the manor house as well, isn''t it, Mr Duvas?" Helga asked.

    "There is, right next to the hall we were sitting in earlier," Duvas replied. "But at the moment, it sits unused."

    Helga looked towards Kivamus. "My lord, if you allow me, I''d like to take care of your meals from now on, along with Syryne. We do have a lot of experience cooking food, and it would help us feel useful as well."

    Kivamus didn''t take long to answer her. "Of course, I was thinking about that myself. It would help you to settle in, as well. You can start from today itself, Madam Helga. We will work out the wages for you both later, after consulting with Duvas." Helga looked happy to hear that, while Syryne had a smile as well.

    "You are already providing us with lodgings and food, my lord. I couldn''t even have imagined yesterday that I''d be living in a baron''s manor house today! My family and I are very grateful for that itself, my lord," Helga said to him. "You don''t need to pay us a wage as well."

    Although Kivamus had a lot of experience working in a team as well as managing it, back in London, he wasn''t the owner there. And hiring employees was not something that he knew much about. But one thing was certain, no matter what the standards were about that in this world, he wouldn''t make people work for him without giving them a wage.

    "Nonsense, if you are going to work for me, you''ll get a wage. I''m not going to have people working for me without paying them like they were slaves!" Kivamus exclaimed.

    Duvas hesitated for a moment. "But my lord, you do have slaves here. The previous baron was their owner earlier. But now that you are here as the new baron and the owner of all the surrounding lands, the slaves are now also owned by you."

    It was such an unexpected statement, that it took a moment for Kivamus'' brain to process it. He abhorred the practice of slavery and never in his mind, he could have imagined that all of a sudden he would become a slave owner.

    "What did you say?" he boomed. "I will not tolerate slavery under me for even a moment! I was unable to help them the last time, and that still eats at me. But when I can do something, anything, about it, I will not let it happen." He ordered, "Bring them all here, right now. Bring every last person in the manor who is a slave."

 Chapter 21 - 21. Freedom

    It was the first time others had heard Kivamus take such a strong stand about something and give them a direct order. But despite any hesitation they may have had, their habit of immediately following the orders of their liege kicked in. Duvas rushed away along with a few other servants who were nearby and started to give them orders to find specific people around the manor and to bring them to the courtyard in front of the manor house.

    While Duvas was away to fulfill his command, Kivamus found himself lost in a sea of contemplation. Here, in this world, a seemingly insurmountable chasm separated the privileged few from the desperate many. The common folk toiled endlessly, barely scraping by to fill their bellies, while nobles like himself reveled in a life of relative luxury. It was a stark imbalance, a system that reeked of injustice. By now, he knew very well that this world was a harsh and unforgiving place. Poverty gnawed at the very fabric of society, forcing people to the brink of starvation. It was a constant companion, a suffocating weight that stole the joy from life and left people barely clinging to existence. But as if that wasn''t enough, he thought bitterly, the barbaric practice of slavery was stripping people of their freedom and dignity.

    The injustice of it all burned within him. The very notion of slavery, so deeply ingrained in this society, filled him with a cold fury. These people, no different from him in their desire for a decent life, were denied basic freedoms, and treated as mere possessions. The fear he had witnessed occasionally in the eyes of some of the servants, their uncertainty about his intentions, was a stark reminder of the cruelty inherent in such a system.

    The casual acceptance of human ownership, the complete disregard for the basic rights of another human being - it all left a bitter taste in his mouth. How could an entire society function under such a system? How could these enslaved people have any hope for a better life living like this?

    Looking at the servants running around the manor now, some oblivious to what was happening, others betraying worry in their eyes, solidified his turmoil. He couldn''t help but wonder which of them were slaves, and what their lives were like, constantly at the beck and call of their masters, their freedom a mere illusion.

    He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to focus on the task at hand. He yearned for answers, for a solution to the crisis at hand, and perhaps, a way to rectify the injustices he now witnessed firsthand.

    He glanced around the courtyard, his eyes landing on the slowly gathering throng of servants and maids around him. Their expressions were a mixture of confusion and unease. Some, unaware of the recent commotion, had gathered out of curiosity, drawn by the flurry of activity. Others, who had overheard his earlier outburst, seemed to shrink back, their expressions laced with a subtle fear.

    He let out a heavy sigh, the sound lost in the murmurs of the gathering crowd. He longed for the bustle to subside, for Duvas to return with the slaves, so he could finally address this issue head-on. He had a big decision to make, a choice that would set the tone for his leadership in the future. It would lay the foundation for the kind of ruler he would become in Tiranat and would influence the lives of its people for years to come.

    Duvas returned to the courtyard soon after, with five figures trailing behind him. Three were male servants, one of whom Kivamus recognized as a stablehand from earlier. The other two were young women, their eyes downcast and their faces betraying a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. News of the gathering had spread quickly, and by now, a small crowd of servants - cooks, maids, and even a couple of guards, had gathered at the edges of the courtyard, murmuring amongst themselves, their daily tasks forgotten for the moment.

    Duvas cleared his throat, his voice carrying across the hushed crowd. "My Lord," he announced, "as requested, these are five of the six slaves currently residing within the manor. There is one other maid, but she has gone on an errand in the village. I will bring her to you once she returns later."

    Kivamus observed the group, his gaze lingering on each individual. While they were undeniably thin, their features etched with the same worry lines he''d seen on many others lately, it seemed a consequence of the recent food shortages rather than any deliberate cruelty. Unlike the gaunt, hollow-eyed slaves he''d glimpsed being transported near Cinran, these individuals, while nervous, held a spark of life in their eyes. They huddled together, seeking silent comfort from their shared circumstance.

    They were slaves, and his property, according to the law of the kingdom, yet he couldn''t reconcile himself to the concept of owning another human being for even a moment, nor would he allow it to happen under his watch. Not anymore. Taking a deep breath to steady his churning emotions, he addressed the group.

    "From this moment forward," he declared in a booming voice ringing with authority, "slavery is abolished and forbidden in all the lands falling under my domain. Defying this rule is outlawed from now on, and will have criminal consequences." He looked at the people around him and their varied expressions for a moment. He continued in a loud voice, "We are all human beings, and no one deserves to be owned by another person. Slavery is an abhorrent thing, and it should never have been allowed. But even if it is not in my power to put an end to slavery everywhere, I will never allow it where my word is the law."

    Duvas interrupted, "But¡­ but my lord, you can''t just do that!"

    Kivamus glared at the majordomo. "Why?"

    "Because¡­ That is how it is my lord! It has always been like this!"

    "Do you think human beings deserve to be owned and traded like animals, then?"

    Duvas was indignant. "It does not matter what I think, my lord! His majesty, the King of Reslinor, has allowed it. I don''t make the rules here!"

    "No, you don''t, Duvas. I do. I make the rules in Tiranat, and this is my final decision." He looked at the majordomo for a moment, trying to determine his seriousness about opposing him. "This is not negotiable, Duvas. If you can''t accept this and are unable to continue working alongside me to support me in my decisions, you are free to resign from your position. Even though I''m new here, this is far from the last thing that I will do, which may go against the customs of this place. It is entirely up to you to decide whether you are with me in this or not."

    The majordomo seemed to be considering his options and it took a minute for him to make his decision. In the end, Duvas sighed and gave a deep bow to Kivamus. "Forgive me, my Lord, if I was overstepping my boundaries. I will accept your decision and would be glad to continue serving you."

    "Good," Kivamus replied. "I do value your suggestions, and you can always offer your advice wherever you think it is necessary, but the final decision will be mine."

    Duvas nodded in reply, while Gorsazo seemed to have a thoughtful frown on his face.

    Kivamus looked at the slaves standing in front of him, who were thoroughly surprised by now. "As of this moment, you all are free from your servitude and are no longer the slaves of anyone. All of you are free to leave this manor and forge your own paths in the world."

    A stunned silence descended upon the courtyard. The former slaves stood frozen, the meaning of his words slowly sinking in. Slowly, tentative smiles began to bloom on some faces of the onlookers. Just as Kivamus expected a surge of relief and perhaps even joy, tears welled up in the eyes of some of the newly freed slaves. For a fleeting moment, Kivamus thought his words had brought tears of happiness. However, there was a deeper emotion beneath the surface, a chilling mix of fear and despair. Confusion clouded his features. Weren''t they happy?

    One of the maids, a young woman, could not contain her emotions and erupted into sobs. "No, my lord! Please!" she cried, her voice thick with desperation. "Don''t send us away! Please, I beg you, let us remain as your slaves!"

    Kivamus was taken aback by her outburst. This wasn''t the reaction he''d anticipated... Freedom, a concept he so deeply believed in, was met with this kind of fear?

    "Why?" he asked, his voice full of confusion. "Why wouldn''t you want your freedom? I thought this is what you all desired!"

    The woman wiped at her tears with her sleeve, her voice trembling. "My lord," she stammered, "what will become of us if we leave the manor? We have no coin, no land, no family to take us in¡­ We would starve on the streets... Here, at least we have food and shelter. Even a single meal a day that we get here is much better than starving outside the manor as free people. Please, my lord, I beg of you, don''t cast us out!" she pleaded, dissolving once more into tears.

    Her words hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the harsh reality these people faced. Freedom, while a noble ideal, couldn''t fill empty stomachs or provide shelter from the coming winter.

    The fear in the maid''s eyes wasn''t defiance, but raw terror of an unknown future. Kivamus recalled his earlier conversation with Gorsazo, and the chilling truth he had told about some slaves clinging to their servitude in the face of freedom. Now, witnessing their raw fear firsthand, he understood.

    Taking a deep breath, Kivamus addressed the hesitant group. "Please, understand," he began, his voice gentle, "I am not forcing you to leave the manor. This is your home, and you are welcome to stay and work here as long as you wish. However," he continued, "you all are now free people. You have a choice. You can continue with your current duties, or you can choose to leave and pursue another path. It is up to you now." He paused, letting his words sink in. The weight of this decision, the power to shape their own destinies, must have felt overwhelming after years of servitude.

    The maid, her eyes red-rimmed from tears, looked up at him. "Are you¡­ are you truly not sending us away, my lord?" she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "We can¡­ we can stay?"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but smile, a genuine, heartfelt smile that warmed the chilly courtyard. "Yes," he confirmed, "this is not a trick. You all can stay and continue your duties as before, but now as free people."

    The weight of his words seemed to settle on the group. The fear that had clouded their faces slowly began to dissipate, replaced by a hesitant curiosity.

    Kivamus felt a surge of determination after witnessing firsthand the depth of their fear and the harsh realities of their world. He would never allow this system of slavery to stand under his watch, even if it was ingrained in the people. But simply freeing them wasn''t enough. He needed to offer them a path forward, a future built on dignity and choice.

    He turned towards Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought. "Duvas," he inquired, "were these people ever paid for their work?"

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my lord. It has always been the custom everywhere that slaves only receive food and lodging in exchange for the duties they perform."

    Kivamus frowned. "And the other servants?" he continued. "Do they get wages?"

    "Indeed, my lord," Duvas responded. "Their wages are based on the duties they perform. Depending on their skills, most of them get between eight to twelve coppers a day. Of course, the cost of their food and lodging is deducted from it, which is around half of it."

    He sighed. "However, as you know, my Lord, in the past few months we were unable to generate more money by selling coal. So I had to make a difficult decision to temporarily pause the payment of wages, for everyone in the manor. I had to save the money we had left to buy some grain, my Lord, in case we got an opportunity to trade."

    Kivamus grimaced. Not paying wages while making people work for him left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was still true that their current situation didn''t allow them to spend any money which was not vital for the survival of the village and its residents. He looked around at all the servants gathered near him. While there was nobody who could be called fat by any estimate, they still looked well-fed compared to the villagers living outside the manor. In this poor village, even having enough to eat was a luxury. And while nobody here would be happy that their wages had been stopped, none of them would want to switch places with any villager living outside the manor walls.

    The village''s current situation left him with no other choice than to ask them to continue working as unpaid laborers for now. It was something he hoped to remedy as soon as possible, but the least he could do right now was to offer them some hope for the future.

    Taking a minute to think about it, he declared, "From now on, just like others who work in the manor, the freed slaves will also receive a wage based on their duties." Despite not liking what he was going to say even a little bit, he continued, "However, as you all know very well, the current situation has left our coffers nearly empty. So just like the other workers in the manor, their wages will also be paused temporarily, until we can ensure that our situation has stabilized. I cannot say how long that will take, but I will do everything in my power to bring this barony back on track."

    Turning back to the former slaves, his voice carried a newfound warmth. "Speak with Duvas later," he instructed, "to discuss the specifics of your wages, and what each of you are entitled to. I promise you all that when the wages are finally paid to others, you will also get the wages for the duties that you perform. Of course, the food and lodging provided to the other servants and guards will also be provided to you, with appropriate deductions from your wages. You are no longer slaves, but valued members of this household."

    The former slaves, overwhelmed with this unexpected turn of events, could barely contain their emotions. Perhaps it was less than what they could have gotten if the situation was normal, but it was much more than what they could have ever dreamt under the previous baron. Tears of gratitude welled in their eyes, tears that were not born of fear but genuine relief and hope. "Thank you, my lord!" they all added. Through sniffles and choked sobs, they managed a deep bow together, their voices thick with emotion as they expressed their heartfelt thanks.

    A ripple of acceptance spread through the gathered crowd and soon the courtyard was booming with the sound of joyful clapping and chants of "All hail Lord Kivamus!"

    Even Duvas, his initial reservations forgotten, wore a smile of approval. Slowly, the courtyard emptied as people returned to their duties. The former slaves, now free men and women, walked with a newfound lightness in their steps and a smile gracing their lips - the first genuine smiles they''d likely felt in a very long time. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    This rare moment of joy, shared by all the residents of the manor even amidst the constant threat posed by bandits and the food shortage, spoke volumes of the immense change that had transpired within the walls of the manor.

    Kivamus watched them go, a seed of hope blossoming in his chest. A new chapter had begun for them, a chapter filled with the promise of choice, dignity, and a future free from the shackles of slavery.

 Chapter 22 - 22. Grain Deal - Part I

    Pydas, who had been observing the gathering from a distance, approached Kivamus with a respectful bow.

    "Good morning, my lord," he greeted, his voice warm and genuine. "I couldn''t help but overhear your proclamation."

    "Morning, Pydas." Kivamus asked, "What do you think about it?"

    "Initially," Pydas replied, "I admit, I shared the surprise and hesitation everyone else felt. Such a significant change is bound to raise questions. However, I firmly believe this is a noble act. I can only imagine the weight of this decision, but know this, my lord, you have my full support."

    Kivamus offered a curt nod. "Thank you, Pydas."

    Pydas'' voice dipped into a somber tone. "A long time ago," he reminisced, "when after a drought damaged the harvest badly in the village my family lives in, many of my neighbors, along with their children were sold into slavery by the debt collectors. My own family and I could have easily met the same fate on that day, my Lord, when I tried to evade them by hiding in a nearby thicket along with my scared children. Thankfully, the Goddess smiled upon us that day, and we remained free." He shook his head slowly. "Although I managed to pay back my debts later on, the scars of that experience, and the way my children, who were very young at the time clutched me with fear, have never truly faded. Slavery is an abhorrent practice, my lord, and I wholeheartedly support your decision to abolish it in Tiranat."

    Pydas leaned forward, a question lingering in his voice. "Yet, if I may be so bold, my lord, what caused you to make such a decision?"

    "Perhaps," Kivamus admitted, thinking about the time when the original Kivamus inhabited this body, "in the past, I might have simply accepted slavery as an unfortunate fact of life."

    Gorsazo, who had been a silent observer throughout the exchange, leaned in, clearly interested in the conversation. "Indeed, my lord," he chimed in. "Your actions¡­ they differ from what I expected of you. And I''m not sure if this will go down very well with other nobles when they learn about it."

    "Gorsazo," Kivamus continued with a hint of amusement in his voice, recalling the drunken days of the original Kivamus, "you, more than anyone else, should understand what I''m talking about. As you know, recent events have been¡­ transformative. Being sent to this remote village at the edge of the kingdom, after practically being exiled from Ulriga, has undoubtedly been a life-altering experience." Not to mention somehow being transported from Earth to this place, he added in his mind.

    "And just a few days ago, I saw something eye-opening. On my journey here," he added, his voice dropping to a low growl, "I witnessed a group of people being transported for sale outside Cinran like they were cattle!"

    Thinking about it, he added, "I realize that many of the servants and maids working in the Ulriga Palace must have been slaves, when I used to live there," or at least, the original Kivamus did. "But they never looked any different from the other servants. They were well fed and clothed there, and it would have been impossible to tell that they were actually slaves and not free men and women, without actually asking them about it," he recalled from the hazy memories of the original Kivamus. "For all it matters, slavery could be said to be just another form of employment, inside the Ulriga Palace."

    Taking a deep breath, he continued, "But when I saw that line of slaves outside Cinran, bound and cuffed with chains like animals, it was eye-opening to realize that that was the real situation in this kingdom, outside the walls of the Ulriga Palace. That is when I decided that it was not an acceptable thing to allow people to be reduced to an animal-like existence. I felt utterly helpless at the time seeing their miserable conditions and yet being unable to intervene and help those poor souls. But here in Tiranat, I refuse to tolerate the things I cannot abide by. This is where I draw the line."

    He continued, "Of course, most of the nobles would love to have the common people serving them as slaves, without paying them a single coin! Hah! Those bastards!"

    Kivamus added after a moment, "But I refuse to be like them, Gorsazo. Not anymore. And it''s not like I''m forcing them to accept it in their own lands."

    "I understand where you''re coming from, my Lord," Gorsazo added, "but they still aren''t going to like this decision when they hear about it, and it might cause problems for us in the future. The majority of people are usually opposed to anything which challenges the status quo, not to mention those who benefit from the current situation."

    "I have no desire to be liked by those cut-throat bastards anyway!" Kivamus snorted. "It''s not like many of them aren''t already trying to kill me¡­"

    He sighed. "We''ll deal with it when we have to, Gorsazo. But I just refuse to own people like they are animals. They are human beings and will be treated like humans, if not everywhere, then at least in my domain."

    Pydas'' face creased into a relieved smile. "I''m glad to hear it, my Lord," he said, his voice heavy with sincerity. "The people of Tiranat have been yearning for a leader who has their best interests at heart. They haven''t had that for a very long time."

    Pydas delved into the reason for his visit. "As you know, my lord, I brought with me three wagons laden with grain, hoping to sell it here in Tiranat. However, yesterday I could only manage to sell eight sacks in total, six to Kigeir and a meager two to others. I had brought thirty sacks with me, my lord." He shook his head, his brow furrowed in concern. "The situation here is far worse than I anticipated if they could only buy such a small amount."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "I understand Pydas. I saw it firsthand when we arrived here. But rest assured, I''m committed to helping the people of Tiranat in any way I can." He gestured towards the manor house. "Let''s return inside for now," he suggested. "We can discuss this further in the comfort of the hall."

    Pydas dipped his head in agreement. With a heavy silence hanging in the air, the group turned and began their walk back toward the manor house. Kivamus, deep in thought, led the way, with Pydas and Duvas trailing closely behind. Gorsazo and Helga followed, their faces etched with concern mirroring the weight of the situation. As they entered the manor house, Lucem ran off somewhere, to whatever had caught his fancy now.

    Inside, the warmth of the fire greeted them as they entered the familiar surroundings of the manor hall. They settled into the armchairs around the crackling fire, the warmth a welcome contrast to the chill that had settled over them outside.

    The fire cast dancing shadows on the walls as Kivamus surveyed the faces around him. Here, in this room, surrounded by his newfound advisors, the negotiations for securing Tiranat''s future were about to begin.

    "Alright, Pydas," Kivamus began, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Let''s turn this situation into something positive. We can start by striking a good deal, wouldn''t you agree?"

    Pydas straightened in his chair. "A good deal, my lord?" he echoed, raising an eyebrow in question.

    "Indeed," Kivamus confirmed. "Tell me, you still have¡­ twenty-two sacks of grain unsold, right?"

    Pydas leaned forward with a newfound interest. "I have, my lord," he confirmed, nodding eagerly.

    "Excellent," Kivamus declared with a decisive edge to his voice. "I propose to buy your entire stock of grain."

    Pydas''s eyebrows shot up in astonishment. "All of it, my lord?" he echoed.

    "Indeed," Kivamus affirmed with a nod. "Now, let''s discuss the price. From what I was told of last year''s prices, a single sack of grain cost around three gold crowns and eight silver coins, including the cost of transporting it here from Cinran." He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "So, for twenty-two sacks, that would come to¡­"

    Before Kivamus could finish his calculation, Pydas interjected, his voice laced with a hint of urgency. "My lord," he began, "with all due respect, the situation has changed considerably since last year. As you might be aware, this year''s harvest proved to be rather disappointing, much like the one before it. And so the grain prices have soared everywhere. In Cinran, a single sack of grain now commands a price tag of at least four gold crowns and two silver coins."

    Noticing the surprised expressions of others at the higher price, he continued, his voice taking on a pleading tone, "And that''s not all, my lord. The cost of transporting goods from Cinran to Tiranat has increased significantly after the previous Baron''s murder, due to the increased risk of bandits. So I also have to pay much higher wages for the wagon drivers and the rental fees for the wagons and horses than I did last year. To make a profit and ensure my family has enough to eat, I simply can''t sell them for less than four gold crowns, six silver coins, and five coppers per sack after taking everything into account."

    Duvas inhaled sharply, a grimace twisting his features. "That''s a very steep increase, Pydas," he remarked, clearly taken aback by the inflated price. "Far more than I anticipated."

    Pydas nodded, his expression filled with helplessness. "I understand, Mr Duvas," he replied. "But after two consecutive bad harvests, prices have risen everywhere. I have a family to feed, and I can''t afford to sell at a loss."

    Duvas wasn''t ready to give in so easily. "We understand the circumstances, Pydas. However, we are offering to purchase a significant quantity at once. Surely, there''s room for a bulk discount?" he countered.

    Pydas pondered for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he spoke, his voice measured. "Very well," he conceded. "However, the most I can offer is a discount of half a silver coin per sack. That would bring the price down to four gold crowns and six silver coins per sack." Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas grimaced slightly. "That''s¡­ still much higher than I anticipated," he grumbled, clearly disappointed.

    Pydas spread his hands helplessly and looked at Kivamus. "I truly cannot go any lower, my lord," he pleaded. "As a traveling merchant, I only manage to secure one or two good trades a month, at best. I have to ensure my family has enough to survive during lean times."

    With a gentle nod, Kivamus conceded, "Very well, Pydas. We wouldn''t want to offer a price that risks your family''s well-being." He turned to Duvas, who had been diligently scribbling calculations on a parchment with a quill. "So, Duvas," Kivamus inquired, "based on Pydas'' offer, what''s the total cost for the grain?"

    Duvas, after a quick final calculation, announced, "The total comes to one hundred and one gold crowns and two silver coins, my lord."

    Kivamus tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Pydas," he proposed, "how about we round down the total to an even amount of one hundred gold crowns? What do you say?"

    Pydas''s face remained impassive. "I can''t, my lord," he countered politely but firmly. "A hundred gold crowns is simply too low. However, in the spirit of a new partnership, I would be willing to accept one hundred and one gold crowns."

    Kivamus chuckled softly, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "A shrewd negotiator, I see," he remarked. "Very well then, Pydas. We have a deal. One hundred and one gold crowns for your twenty-two sacks of grain."

    But Kivamus wasn''t finished yet. Leaning forward, he addressed the more pressing issue. "However, Pydas," he continued, "our needs extend far beyond your current stock. You mentioned selling eight sacks already, which brings Tiranat''s total grain reserves to thirty sacks. Unfortunately, that''s nowhere near enough to sustain us through the winter. We estimate we''ll require roughly a hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain in total to make it through the harsh months."

    He paused, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. "That leaves us with a hundred and forty-five sacks that I still want to buy. Given your established contacts in Cinran, you might be able to acquire such a large quantity of grain faster than we could, and at much better rates." He raised an eyebrow in question. "So, what do you think, Pydas? Can you manage to purchase that much grain from Cinran and transport it here?"

    Pydas'' brow furrowed in contemplation as he digested Kivamus'' words. "One hundred and forty-five sacks," he murmured, the sheer quantity a daunting prospect. "That''s indeed a substantial order, my lord. It would require a significant amount of effort to transport such a large amount." A moment of thoughtful silence followed as Pydas calculated the logistics in his head. "I can manage it," he finally declared with a determined glint in his eyes. "But it won''t be a simple task."

    He launched into a detailed explanation, his voice laced with the pragmatism of a seasoned merchant. "Currently, I only have three wagons at my disposal," he began, "two of my own and an additional one I managed to rent from Cinran for my current visit here. Even if I dedicate all the space to grain sacks, my lord, a single wagon can hold no more than eleven sacks at a time, even if the wagons are filled to the brim. But that would be overloading the wagons and could cause injury to the horses, since they would be pulling the overloaded wagons continuously for weeks to transfer all the grain, particularly on the uneven forest roads. Not to mention, it could lead to a breakdown of the wagon or its axle, which would leave us stranded in the middle of the forest. And being unable to shift a full wagon load of grain to the other wagons, we would have to leave the grain there as well."

    Pydas held up a hand, forestalling any interruptions. "That''s why," he continued, "I only load ten sacks of grain per wagon, leaving some space for other necessities like tools for mining, some salt for preserving food, and some dried meat and water to sustain the journey. Of course, it also keeps the load on the horses manageable, so that they can pull the wagons even on long journeys without getting injured. That leaves space for thirty sacks of grain that I can manage to transport in one trip on the three wagons I have."

    Kivamus nodded and gestured for him to continue.

    Pydas leaned forward, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "The travel time is also a significant factor as it takes at least two days to reach here from Cinran. If I need to make another night''s stop to rest the horses, when we are traveling with the wagons fully loaded, it can stretch to three days. Then there''s the time spent in Cinran itself, where it will take at least a day to acquire and load the grain. And of course, the return trip takes another two to three days."

    Pydas sighed, the weight of the timeline pressing down on him. "That translates to a minimum of five days for a round trip, and that''s with clear weather without much rain, with an additional day needed to rest the horses before they''re fit for another journey. That means it''ll take around a week to transport just thirty sacks of grain along with some other necessities you might need, my lord, assuming everything goes smoothly. And that''s only until the first snowfall arrives."

    A collective grimace spread across the faces gathered in the hall. The harsh reality of the situation was sinking in.

    "Winter travel is a different beast altogether," Pydas continued. "Snow will slow the wagons considerably. I estimate a single round trip will take at least ten days after the snowfall." He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on Kivamus. "Realistically, my lord, I can manage two, and at most three trips, each taking a week before the snow arrives. After that, I''d be forced to brave the snow, extending the travel time to ten days per round trip."

 Chapter 23 - 23. Grain Deal Part II

    Duvas chimed in with a worried expression. "That means it would take five trips to transport all the grain from Cinran," he calculated, his voice tight with concern. "Even if you manage three full trips before the snow, we''d only have ninety sacks after three weeks, with an additional thirty sacks delivered every ten days after that, until the snow makes travel impossible."

    He ran a hand through his hair, his voice laced with urgency. "That gives us a timeframe of six to seven weeks, at least, my lord, to transport all the grain we need from Cinran. With the unpredictable winter weather, there''s a chance that we might only get three to four weeks before the roads become impassable. It might stretch longer if we''re lucky, but we can''t count on that."

    A tense silence descended upon the room. The gravity of the situation was clear, the very survival of Tiranat through the harsh winter hinged on acquiring enough grain. Kivamus'' jaw clenched tight, his expression a mask of grim determination.

    "That simply won''t do!" he declared, his voice resolute. "We need all that grain, every last sack of it! The village wouldn''t survive the winter without it."

    Kivamus continued, "We have to find another way." He looked at others around him. "Is there anything else we can do? Perhaps we can buy grain from other places too?"

    Gorsazo chimed in, his voice grim. "As Duvas informed us earlier, my lord," he pointed out, "purchasing grain from Kirnos is not really an option. They simply wouldn''t have enough of a surplus to provide us with that amount of grain. And with Ulriga, the distance is simply too great, and time is of the essence for us. Cinran truly is our only hope for acquiring the grain in time."

    Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought, spoke up. "There''s a possibility, my lord," he proposed. "If we could manage to increase the number of wagons per trip, we might stand a chance to buy all the grain we need in time." He turned to Pydas. "From what you mentioned," he continued, "we need fifteen fully loaded wagons to transport all one hundred and forty-five sacks. That means we could either have your three wagons make five trips back and forth, or utilize more wagons for fewer trips."

    "True," Kivamus acknowledged, his gaze fixed on the merchant. "Based on your experience, Pydas," he began, "with the limited time remaining before the snow blocks the road, how many trips can you guarantee that you can make to and from Cinran? I know that if the snowfall starts late this year, you might be able to make more trips, but we can''t count on it. And I need to plan in a way that I can be certain that we''ll get all the grain we require, even if the snow falls too early and blocks the roads sooner than usual."

    Pydas took a minute to think it through before replying. "Even if the snow falls very early this winter, my Lord," he admitted, "I can guarantee two trips from here to Cinran and back. That would allow me to return to my home near Ulriga before the worst of winter sets in. There''s a possibility of squeezing in a third trip and an even smaller possibility of a fourth one if the snow is particularly late in arriving, but I wouldn''t suggest relying on those options."

    Kivamus, his brow furrowed in thought, tapped a finger against the armrest. "We need a guaranteed solution, Pydas" he added. "We need to be absolutely certain that we get all the grain we need." He looked at others'' faces for a moment. "So we must plan to transport all the grain we need in just two trips. That means somehow assembling a caravan of eight wagons."

    A concerned frown creased Pydas''s face. "But my lord," he interjected, his voice laced with helplessness, "I simply don''t have eight wagons at my disposal! I only have two of my own wagons and the one I rented in Cinran."

    Kivamus turned to Duvas. He addressed the majordomo, his voice carrying a hint of urgency, "Can we do something about this?"

    "My lord," Helga interjected, "why not use the wagon my family traveled in from the inn? We''ve already unloaded our belongings, and it sits empty in the shed right now. Please use that wagon and the horses we brought wherever you need, my lord."

    "That''s a good idea, Madam Helga." Kivamus dipped his head in acknowledgment. "That''s one more wagon at our disposal." He turned back to Duvas. "That brings us to four wagons. Are there any others within the manor grounds that we could use?"

    "We do have two wagons in working condition now, my Lord," Duvas reported after a moment''s consideration. "There''s also a third one, but it''s in dire need of repairs before it would be fit for carrying anything on a long journey. Generally, we use those two wagons to transport coal from the mines to the coal barns here. Until now I didn''t want to spend our limited funds to send it to Cinran for repair since we don''t have a wainwright in Tiranat." He added with a frown, "Of course, we did have an actual carriage and one more wagon earlier, but we lost those in the attack on the previous baron."

    Kivamus nodded. "Since coal mining has stopped for now," he declared, "we can use those two available wagons for grain transport. And let''s use this opportunity to send that damaged wagon for repair as well. Even if it''s not ready in time for the first return journey of Pydas, it might help us in the next one."

    He continued, "With Helga''s wagon added to the mix, that brings us to a total of six wagons for the first trip. But we still need two more to make up the eight-wagon caravan we need. Are there any other wagons readily available in the village itself?"

    Duvas shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, my Lord," he replied. "There might be a couple of small carts here and there, but those wouldn''t be suitable for such a lengthy journey. They''re more for short trips around the village and can barely hold two or three sacks of grain at most."

    Kivamus turned his attention back to Pydas. "With six wagons confirmed," he began, his voice firm yet laced with a question, "Pydas, do you think it might be possible to hire two more wagons from Cinran itself? Perhaps speak to some of your contacts there and see if they''re willing to rent them out for the journey."

    Pydas hesitated for a moment. "I will certainly try, my Lord," he finally responded. "However, renting additional wagons at such short notice would be difficult, especially considering the approaching winter. It wouldn''t be easy but I''ll ask around, my Lord, to see if some other merchant is willing to rent me his wagon for some time."

    A tense silence descended upon the room as everyone absorbed this new information. The fate of Tiranat''s survival hung in the balance, resting on the possibility of Pydas'' ability to negotiate for those two elusive wagons.

    Concern crossed Pydas'' face as he continued. "While I am truly grateful, my Lord," he expressed, his voice sincere, "that you''ve given me this opportunity, there''s a reason why traders tend to avoid Tiranat these days."

    He paused, his gaze moving towards the windows as if searching for unseen threats. "As you know, my Lord, these forests are a haven for bandits now. And a large caravan like the one we''re assembling," he continued with a grave voice, "would be a prime target for the outlaws and a tempting opportunity for plunder."

    The weight of his words settled heavily on the room. The idea of their precious grain falling into the hands of bandits was a chilling prospect.

    "And that''s not all, my Lord," Pydas added. "Even if I manage to find additional wagons in Cinran, securing enough guards or mercenaries to protect the caravan would be another challenge. Not only would it significantly increase the cost of the journey, but with the approaching winter and food shortages plaguing the lands everywhere, those hired guards themselves might be tempted to steal the grain if they think they can get away with it. One can never be sure of the loyalties of those who fight for money, after all."

    Kivamus sighed deeply. The challenges seemed to multiply at every turn. "It seems nothing comes easy in these troubled times," he muttered, the weight of his responsibility pressing down on him. But he wasn''t one to give up easily. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He leaned forward, "What if I provided you with guards as well? Trained men who could not only drive the wagons but also ensure the caravan''s safety. Since their wages would fall on me, you wouldn''t have to worry about the additional expense of hiring more drivers or guards in Cinran."

    Pydas'' eyes widened in surprise. But before he could speak, Duvas interrupted, "But my Lord, we don''t¡­"

    Kivamus held up his hand to stop him immediately. "Later, Duvas". Looking back to Pydas, he asked, "What do you think about it?"

    "That would be a tremendous help, my Lord," Pydas admitted with relief. "The fewer people we need to hire in Cinran, the better. It would not only reduce costs but also lessen the risk of potential traitors within the group."

    "From what I heard earlier, my Lord," he continued, "Levalo ran away from the manor in the morning. Not that I would have wanted to travel with a known poisoner in the first place. So considering the wagon driver I already have, if you could provide six guards, that would give me enough men that we could drive all eight wagons, assuming I manage to secure the two additional ones in Cinran. And the presence of that many trained guards would send a clear message to any bandits who might be scouting near the road that this caravan is not to be trifled with."

    "I will make sure of it, Pydas," Kivamus assured him. "Consider it done."

    Duvas chimed in, seizing the opportunity. "However, since we''re providing the horses for our wagons, as well as three wagons themselves, along with enough drivers who will also act as guards," he pointed out, "wouldn''t that entitle us to a discount on the final grain price, Pydas? After all, you''ll be saving a considerable amount by not having to hire these yourselves."

    Pydas slowly nodded in agreement. "Your point is well made, Mr Duvas. With Tiranat shouldering such a significant portion of the risk, a discount on the grain is certainly merited."

    Kivamus boomed, "Excellent! Now, let''s finalize the price for the grain and then discuss what you''d be willing to offer for the coal you''ll be taking back with you."

    Pydas nodded. "Of course, my Lord. Taking into account the guards and wagons you are providing, how about¡­ four gold crowns, five silvers, and four coppers per sack?"

    Kivamus started to speak, but Duvas interjected with a shrewd glint in his eyes. "Hold on, my Lord," he interjected, a hint of concern lacing his voice, "the sheer volume of the order is so large, that it surely warrants a more substantial discount." He looked at Pydas. "After all, you will be able to secure a lower price per sack by buying in bulk from Cinran."

    Pydas let out a weary sigh. He cast a hesitant glance at Kivamus, silently pleading for understanding.

    However, sensing an opportunity to get an even better price, Kivamus readily acknowledged Duvas'' point. "Of course, of course." Looking at Pydas, he added, "We are clearly providing the services that you''d otherwise need to hire or rent from Cinran, thus saving you money. And considering the large amount we are ordering¡­" he trailed off.

    Pydas shook his head, a hint of resignation in his eyes. After taking a minute to think, he cleared his throat and continued. "Alright, then," he declared, his voice firm, "but consider this my absolute final offer. Since it''s a sizable order, and taking into account everything else, I''m willing to sell you each sack of grain for four gold crowns and five silver coins. It''s the very lowest I can go." He added, "Of course, this offer is separate from the agreement we made earlier for you to pay one hundred and one gold crowns for the twenty-two sacks of grain I have already brought here."

    He locked eyes with Kivamus, and added, "Honestly, my Lord, even if you choose to order from someone else, I don''t think you''ll find a better deal in these trying times."

    Duvas cast a questioning glance towards him, silently seeking Kivamus'' approval. The price, while higher than they''d hoped, was still within reason, especially considering the current conditions of a grain shortage everywhere. And if they continued to push Pydas for an even bigger discount, he was more likely to just leave Tiranat after selling his current stock. The harsh realities of the market meant traders were likely to prioritize larger, more profitable ventures, leaving Tiranat in the precarious position of struggling to find a supplier at all. Kivamus, after a moment of thinking, nodded slowly. The price, while hefty, was necessary to secure the village''s survival.

    Duvas wasted no time in documenting the agreed-upon price. He scribbled furiously on his parchment with a quill, his brow furrowed in concentration. "At a price of four gold crowns and five silver coins per sack," he muttered to himself as he calculated the total cost, "acquiring one hundred and forty-five sacks comes to¡­"

    He drew in a sharp breath as the final sum appeared on the parchment. "Six hundred and fifty-two gold crowns and five silver coins, my Lord!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with a hint of disbelief. He cast a worried look at Kivamus, leaving the unspoken concern hanging in the air.

    Kivamus understood the gravity of their situation. He had brought just twenty-three hundred gold crowns with him from Ulriga, which was everything that Gorsazo had managed to save for the original Kivamus till now. Including the two hundred gold crowns that were remaining in the treasury of the barony, they barely had around twenty-five hundred gold crowns in total. And for buying just four months of grain, they''d have to pay above seven hundred and fifty gold crowns, including the cost of the grain Pydas had already brought here.

    Once the coal mines were reopened, they''d have to pay wages to the miners, as well as the looming taxes that Count Cinran was surely going to ask for, if not immediately, then in the next spring for certain. And these were just the immediate expenses that he could think of¡­

    This purchase would leave a significant dent in their treasury, but the alternative, a village starving in the winter, was unthinkable. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the merchant. "Pydas," he began, his tone conciliatory, "given the substantial amount involved, I believe a slight rounding down wouldn''t be unreasonable, would it? Let''s settle on six hundred and fifty gold crowns."

    Pydas, after a moment of hesitation, offered a reluctant nod. "Very well, my Lord," he conceded. "We have a deal. One hundred and forty-five sacks of grain for six hundred and fifty gold crowns. However, with such a large order," he pointed out, "I would require around half of the payment in advance for each trip, to buy the grain swiftly from the suppliers in Cinran. Usually, I would buy it on credit with only a small advance payment that I''d provide myself, but winter is not far away now. So time is of the essence for me to buy and deliver the grain here before the road is blocked with snow, and the advance payment will allow me to secure the grain without any delays."

    Kivamus, understanding the logic behind the request, readily agreed. "Of course, Pydas," he confirmed with a nod. "We''ll arrange the down payment immediately. Now, with the grain situation settled," he continued, a hint of a smile gracing his lips, "let''s discuss what we can offer you in exchange."

    A sense of accomplishment, tinged with the lingering worry of the hefty price tag, filled the room. The first hurdle had been cleared. Now, they needed to secure a good deal for the coal Pydas would be transporting back to Cinran.

 Chapter 24 - Official Patreon Launch

    Hear ye, hear ye, future Barons of Tiranat!

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 Chapter 25 - 24. Two Meals A Day

    Pydas nodded in agreement. "Very well, my Lord. Including the three wagons you''ve provided, I can haul a total of six wagonloads of coal back to Cinran on this trip. Of course, while we''ll be taking the damaged wagon with us as well for repairs, it won''t be able to carry anything for now."

    "Indeed." Kivamus leaned forward, his voice tinged with curiosity. "And how much are you willing to offer for each wagonload of coal?"

    Pydas sighed, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "Under normal circumstances, my Lord," he began, his voice laced with a hint of regret, "I would offer twelve gold crowns per wagonload. However, with the rising food costs plaguing the land, the common people, as well as the blacksmiths and the like, are tightening their belts and have less money to spare for coal. That means a decrease in demand, I''m afraid."

    He grimaced slightly. "Considering the current market conditions, the best I can offer you this time is eleven gold crowns per wagonload." S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The offered price fell far short of Kivamus'' expectations. It barely made a dent in their financial woes. "Eleven crowns, hmm¡­?" he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "That''s a significant drop. Well, at least it''s something¡­"

    He forced a smile, masking his disappointment. While the coal sales wouldn''t significantly boost their coffers, Pydas would be returning in a week, offering them another chance to sell more coal. He did a quick mental calculation and said, "So, that means you''ll be able to transport sixty-six gold crowns worth of coal in your six wagons."

    Duvas chimed in with a sly smile. "But Pydas," he pointed out, his tone laced with a hint of challenge, "that price applies when you have to shoulder the cost of hiring guards and renting the wagons yourself. This time around, we''re providing both of those services, which translates to more savings for you."

    "Wouldn''t you agree," he continued, his gaze unwavering, "that this reduction in your costs justifies an increase in the price per wagonload?"

    A considering look crossed Pydas''s face. "You have a point," he conceded reluctantly. "At most," he finally proposed, "I can increase my offer by three silvers per wagonload of coal."

    Duvas nodded in satisfaction. "That''s certainly a step in the right direction," he acknowledged. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "But consider this, Pydas," he continued. "Usually, you''d have several traders competing for the available coal. With fewer buyers this time, you''ll be able to purchase a much larger quantity than usual, thus raising your profit."

    "Taking all that into account," Duvas concluded, "how about we settle on eleven gold crowns and five silver coins per wagonload of coal? I believe that strikes a fair balance for both parties."

    Pydas let out a chuckle. "You drive a hard bargain, Duvas," he admitted with a shake of his head. "Very well, it seems we have a deal. I''ll pay eleven gold crowns and five silver coins for each wagonload of coal I take with me."

    Duvas, a satisfied smile gracing his lips, looked towards Kivamus, who gave a small nod. "Excellent!" Duvas declared. He reached for his ever-present quill and parchment. "With that settled, let''s factor in the cost of the grain you brought with you. Since we''ll be filling your wagons with coal after unloading the grain, we''ll owe you the difference."

    He scribbled some figures on the parchment. "Subtracting the sixty-nine gold crowns you''ll be paying for the coal, from the one hundred and one gold crowns we owe you for the grain," he muttered to himself as he calculated, "leaves us with a remainder of¡­ thirty-two gold crowns to pay you, in addition to filling the six wagons with coal after we unload the grain."

    Duvas then shifted his focus to the larger grain deal. "Now, as per our agreement," he explained, "you''ll be bringing back between sixty and eighty sacks of grain on your first return trip, depending on whether you manage to secure those extra wagons in Cinran." He paused for a moment to scribble on the parchment. "The total cost for that grain, at a rate of four gold crowns and five silver coins per sack of grain, will range between¡­ two hundred seventy gold crowns and three hundred sixty gold crowns."

    "Since you asked for half of that in advance," he concluded, "we''re prepared to offer you an advance payment of one hundred and fifty gold crowns. How does that sound?"

    Pydas drummed his fingers on the table, his brow furrowed in thought. "One hundred and fifty gold crowns, is it?" he muttered to himself. After a minute of consideration, he finally spoke. "That will do," he conceded.

    Kivamus, relieved to have reached an agreement, offered a reassuring nod. "Excellent!" he declared. "Duvas will ensure you receive the full amount before you depart from the manor with the wagons."

    He leaned forward, his voice laced with a hint of curiosity. "Now, Pydas, before you head off," he inquired, "tell me, what other goods did you bring with you on this trip?"

    Pydas shrugged. "Just the usual goods, my Lord," he replied. "A good portion of it is salt, a necessity for any household. And the rest of it are tools - picks and shovels for mining, mostly. I also have a selection of smaller tools - nails, hammers, that sort of thing."

    A shadow of concern crossed his face. "However," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "I heard rumors that the recent heavy rains had caused flooding in the coal mines. With that in mind, I wasn''t sure if you''d still be interested in purchasing it."

    "Before we discuss anything else," Kivamus interjected, "tell me, when do you plan to set off for Cinran?"

    Pydas scratched his chin thoughtfully. "There are still a few tasks I need to attend to before I can leave, my lord," he explained. "Unloading the grain sacks here will take time, and I also have deliveries to make to merchants who purchased from me yesterday. Since my wagons were kept here overnight, I couldn''t make those deliveries yesterday as planned."

    He chuckled ruefully. "Then, of course, I have to load the wagons with coal. By the time I finish all that, it will likely be well into the afternoon. That would make it too late to depart today. So I plan to make an early start tomorrow morning."

    Kivamus nodded in understanding. "Since you''ll be here until tomorrow," he continued, "you should meet with me once this evening before you head back to the alehouse for the night. We can discuss those tools you mentioned, and if there''s anything else that I want you to bring back from Cinran, we can talk about that as well."

    Pydas readily agreed. "I''ll be sure to meet with you this evening, my lord."

    A wave of satisfaction washed over everyone. The successful negotiation with Pydas, coupled with the prospect of securing enough grain for the winter, brought a much-needed sense of optimism. With a resolute nod, Kivamus rose from his chair and extended a hand towards Pydas. Pydas returned the handshake with a respectful bow. It was a gesture of not only gratitude but also a symbol of a tentative partnership forged in a time of hardship. Together, they exited the manor hall, ready to oversee the next steps, while Helga stayed behind to check on Clarisa and to get started on the afternoon meal.

    Outside, a flurry of activity began as Duvas started barking out orders to a group of servants. They moved with practiced ease and started to unload the precious sacks of grain from the wagons, which were kept under a wooden shed near the stables on the left side. Pydas, with a final bow directed towards Kivamus, made his way towards the shed to oversee the unloading process.

    Soon, the once-quiet courtyard buzzed with activity as the sacks were carefully transferred from the wagons, loaded onto smaller carts, and then hauled to the grain barn located near the servants'' hall, on the right side of the manor. The servants moved with a purposeful movement, a testament to the collective effort required to secure Tiranat''s survival through the coming harsh winter.

    Kivamus watched the scene unfold with a feeling of quiet satisfaction. As the servants and maid continued their tasks, it was easy to see the relief they were feeling, as the worry lines on their faces eased slowly. The sight of the slowly filling grain barns foretold a future where hunger wouldn''t be a constant threat to their survival. The harsh winter may be approaching, but with careful planning and resourcefulness, they might just emerge from it stronger than before.

    Gorsazo stood beside Kivamus, a hint of a smile playing on his lips as he observed the activity. Duvas, meanwhile, his voice booming with authority, directed the servants with practiced efficiency. Not far from them, on the left side of the manor grounds, one of the coal barns creaked open on its rusty hinges on Duvas'' order. Here, another group of servants prepared to load the coal into the three empty wagons they already had. Seeing the sight of the fully stocked coal barns, brought a sense of relief to Kivamus. Though not their primary concern at the moment, it would still be essential for keeping warm during the cold winter months.

    Duvas, catching his breath after issuing a final instruction, approached Kivamus. "My Lord," he began, "I have told them to start loading coal in the two wagons that were used for transporting coal earlier, as well as in the wagon that Madam Helga brought with her."

    "Good work, Duvas," Kivamus commended, his voice carrying a hint of appreciation. "The unloading seems to be progressing smoothly. Try to ensure that the servants take breaks when needed. We don''t want anyone falling ill due to exhaustion just as we''ve secured these supplies."

    Duvas replied, "Of course, my Lord. I''ve already instructed them to rotate tasks and take short breaks every hour. The process will take some time, though. Loading coal is a laborious task, and I wouldn''t expect them to finish until the afternoon."

    A brief silence descended upon them for a while, as they watched the servants working with renewed vigor, their spirits lifted by the sight of the grain???? that had been so scarce in recent months.

    "I must say, my Lord," Duvas remarked, "just a single day ago, I couldn''t have imagined that we''d have this much grain going to be stored in our barns, not to mention the grain that is still coming. Truthfully, after being unsuccessful in buying the grain even after trying many times, we had all resigned to the fact that we would have to live with a single meal a day for the winter, if that. However, even though it hasn''t even been a day since you arrived here, I can already sense that a lot of changes are coming to Tiranat. You are very different from the previous baron, my Lord, and from most of the nobles that I have known in my life."

    He paused for a moment before continuing, "I am not sure if it will be easy to accept all of those changes, like what happened with freeing the slaves, my Lord, but you have my word, that I will be with you every step of the way."

    "Thank you, Duvas. However, I have to add," Kivamus remarked, "your negotiation skills were impressive today. I am not sure if we''d have been able to get those prices without you here."

    Gorsazo added, "Indeed, my Lord. I sensed that Pydas was trying to take advantage of the situation, being the only trader available to us. But Duvas'' sharp negotiating skills made sure that we got the best possible deal under the circumstances. We simply can''t afford to be wasteful with our limited money."

    Duvas nodded with a hint of satisfaction. "Thank you, my Lord," he replied with a grateful smile. "I''ve been handling negotiations for many years now, and I''ve learned to recognize a shrewd businessman when I see one. Pydas was certainly trying to raise his profits, but I couldn''t let him exploit our situation."

    The doors of the servants'' hall creaked open and Madam Nerida, the head maid, emerged from there. Stepping out into the crisp morning air, her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the sight of the numerous grain sacks being carted to the grain barn. Her face, usually etched with worry lines, now sported a radiant smile. She hurried towards Kivamus, her steps lighter than they had been in a long time.

    "My Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice brimming with joy, "Did we truly manage to acquire that much grain?"

    Kivamus offered her a reassuring smile. "Indeed, Madam Nerida," he confirmed. "And this is just the first shipment. More will be arriving in the coming weeks. You can start preparing two meals a day for everyone in the manor, from today itself."

    A wave of relief washed over Madam Nerida''s features. The news of additional grain deliveries brought a sense of security she hadn''t felt in a long time. "This is wonderful news, my Lord," she exclaimed, her voice filled with gratitude. She paused for a moment, uncertainty clouding her eyes. "But are you certain we will have enough grain for the entire winter, my Lord?"

    "While I can''t guarantee three meals a day for the entire winter just yet," Kivamus added, "two meals are well within our means for now. If the next grain shipment arrives in a week as planned, then we can go to three meals a day."

    Madam Nerida''s smile faltered slightly, but her gratitude shone through. "Even two meals a day will make a world of difference, my Lord," she assured him. "After surviving on a meager one meal a day, everyone''s morale has been at an all-time low. A second meal will undoubtedly lift their spirits and provide them with the energy they need to carry on."

    With a deep curtsy, she expressed her heartfelt appreciation. "Thank you, Lord Kivamus. On behalf of all the residents in the manor, I express our deepest gratitude."

    Kivamus, humbled by her words, shook his head in dismissal. "There''s no need for thanks, Madam Nerida," he insisted. "It is my duty to ensure the well-being of the manor''s inhabitants. But let''s not get ahead of ourselves. While this grain allows us to survive the winter, we still need to find a long-term solution to our food shortage problem."

    Madam Nerida nodded in agreement, a thoughtful frown replacing her earlier smile. "Indeed, my Lord," she conceded. Pointing to a spot near the eastern walls of the manor, behind the manor house, she added, "While I have managed to grow a small vegetable patch here within the manor walls with the help of some maids, it only provides a limited variety to our meals. The quantity is nowhere near enough to sustain everyone."

    She cast a wistful glance towards the dense forests that stretched beyond the manor walls. "If only we could cultivate crops here in Tiranat itself¡­" she mused, a hint of longing in her voice, "then we wouldn''t be at the mercy of traders from Cinran for our survival."

 Chapter 26 - 25. Guard Captain

    "But for now," Madam Nerida continued, her voice regaining its usual strength, "I will return to my duties and ensure the kitchens are well-prepared for the new meal schedule."

    With a quick curtsy, Madam Nerida excused herself and returned to her duties within the manor.

    Kivamus, left alone with his thoughts, pondered Madam Nerida''s words. While the immediate crisis was averted, the long-term food security of Tiranat remained a looming challenge. And the idea of self-sufficiency, of Tiranat growing its own food, was an enticing one. But with the surrounding lands covered with deep forests and overrun by bandits and wild beasts, the dream seemed far-fetched. Yet, the conversation had put a seed of an idea in his mind.

    He couldn''t help but steal a glance at the dense forests surrounding the village. The potential for growing their own crops there lingered in his mind, a tempting solution to their long-term problem of buying and transporting food on the bandit-infested roads. However, the challenges were numerous. Clearing land, acquiring seeds, and establishing proper irrigation were just a small part of the many hurdles they would need to overcome.

    Yet he knew they couldn''t afford to remain dependent on traders forever. As he gazed at the towering forest looming around the manor, he thought that perhaps, just perhaps, they could find a way to make it a reality.

    Kivamus'' gaze darted towards Hudan, who was engrossed in an animated conversation with the guards near the manor gate. A small cluster of off-duty guards, and even some servants, had gathered around him, their postures suggesting their fascination with his words.

    He summoned a nearby servant with a wave of his hand. "Bring Hudan here," he instructed.

    The servant acknowledged the order with a respectful bow and hurried towards the gate, his footsteps light and swift. Kivamus then turned to Duvas, his brow furrowed in thought.

    "Duvas," he inquired, "how much coal do we currently have in storage?"

    Duvas took a moment to think. "While I can''t give a precise figure right now," he admitted, "I can give you an estimate. As you know, my Lord, we have barely been able to sell any coal in the past few months. Although, a few of the villagers do buy a small amount from the merchants, now that winter is coming, along with the blacksmith Cedoron. And to supply them, the merchants buy the coal from us."

    "However," he added, "without any traders coming from Cinran to buy it in bulk, those small purchases barely make a dent in our stockpiles. As a result, both of our dedicated coal barns are nearly full at the moment. To give you a rough estimate, my Lord, I''d say we currently have¡­ somewhere between sixty and seventy wagonloads of coal stockpiled."

    "That''s a significant amount," Kivamus remarked. "Even with Pydas making multiple trips back and forth to Cinran, it''s highly unlikely we''ll be able to sell much of that coal before the snow blocks the roads. And with a gap of a few months before the snow melts and traders start coming again, it is not sensible to start coal mining again any time soon. I don''t see a need to buy the tools Pydas had brought with him either. Unless¡­"

    That stray comment from Madam Nerida about farming had planted a seed in Kivamus''s mind, a seed that began to sprout with an intriguing possibility. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Unless what, my Lord?" Gorsazo asked, mirroring the question in Duvas'' mind.

    "Duvas," he began, his gaze fixed intently on his advisor, "a question has been nagging at me. Why hasn''t farming ever been attempted here in Tiranat?"

    Duvas let out a weary sigh. "There are many reasons, my Lord," he explained.

    "Firstly," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the bustling scene of various servants unloading the grain sacks, "we simply never had the manpower for it. Most of our able-bodied villagers work in the coal mines, my Lord. There simply aren''t enough people in this village to spare for tending to farms. However," he added, "now that the coal mines are flooded and have been closed for the foreseeable future, we do have a village full of unemployed people right now."

    "Indeed," Kivamus commented. "Carry on."

    Duvas gestured towards the towering trees that bordered the manor grounds. "Secondly, as you can see, my Lord, Tiranat is enveloped by this dense, unforgiving forest. Clearing enough land for farming would be a monumental task that would require a significant number of workers that we haven''t been able to spare in the past."

    "Furthermore," Duvas continued, "Tiranat is a relatively young village. And the previous baron, the first to be awarded these lands after coal was discovered here, had little interest in its development." A flicker of disdain crossed his features as he spoke of the deceased baron. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead," he continued, "but the previous Baron, who hailed from Cinran, had his only focus on profiting from the coal mines. He viewed these lands just as a source of personal wealth, which he then squandered on a lavish lifestyle back in Cinran."

    Duvas shook his head in disapproval. "As a result, no effort was made to clear the surrounding forests. Speaking of the forests, they also pose a significant threat to any crops we might try to cultivate, not to mention, to the villagers themselves. Wild boars, wolves, bears, and even a few much more dangerous predators like adzees roam freely within these woods," he explained. "The promise of easy pickings in cultivated fields would undoubtedly draw many herbivores here, potentially destroying crops before they could even mature, while the carnivores would also come to hunt those animals themselves."

    "It''s also important to remember, my Lord," Duvas pointed out, his voice regaining its neutral tone, "that all these lands, including the surrounding forest, belong to the Baron of Tiranat - which is you now. The villagers themselves don''t even own the land their shacks and houses are built on. That means even hunting in these forests isn''t lawful without getting the baron''s permission."

    He paused for a moment, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "And even if the villagers were inclined to take up farming themselves, they would require the baron''s explicit permission to cultivate the land. And considering the previous Baron''s nature," he concluded with a wry smile, "I can assure you that getting such permission wouldn''t have been an easy thing, to say the least. Some villagers did try to do that, but the previous baron had refused to even make time to see them."

    Duvas continued, "However, a few of the more daring villagers did start small vegetable patches and such behind their houses, even without getting any permission." He looked at Kivamus carefully. "I could have told the previous baron about them, and forgive me for saying this, my Lord, but¡­ I did not do that. Most of the villagers in Tiranat barely have enough to eat anyway, and I saw no need to take even that from them. The same goes for the few brave souls who ventured into the forests to hunt, not that it would have been an easy thing to stop them without a wall surrounding the village."

    Kivamus just shook his head, thinking about the greed of the previous baron. "There is nothing to forgive, Duvas. You did the right thing."

    Hudan, his brow furrowed in concentration, marched purposefully towards Kivamus, Duvas, and Gorsazo upon hearing his name called by the servant.

    "You wished to speak with me, my Lord?" he inquired.

    Kivamus acknowledged the burly man with a nod. "Indeed, Hudan," he replied. "I''d like your honest assessment. How defensible would you say this village is? Could we defend Tiranat against a potential bandit raid?"

    Hudan, his gaze sweeping across the palisade walls that encircled the manor, pursed his lips in thought. After taking a minute to think, he spoke. "The palisade itself appears to be in good condition, my Lord," he admitted. "The wooden stakes are strong, and the construction seems solid," he conceded. "It would provide a formidable barrier against a small raiding party."

    "However," he continued, "our true weakness lies in the limited number of guards we have. While we might be able to hold the manor itself against a band of raiders, we simply don''t have enough well-trained guards to defend the entire village, let alone chase them back."

    He pointed towards the dense forest that surrounded the village. "The encroaching forest growth only amplifies the problem, my Lord," he explained. "Bandits could easily use the trees as cover, allowing them to lie in wait mere yards from the village, unseen and unheard, especially under the cloak of darkness. Such an ambush," he warned, his voice grim, "would leave us with little to no time to prepare a proper defense."

    Hudan paused for a moment, his gaze moving toward the guards scattered around the manor grounds. "Also," he continued, "we lack a designated Guard Captain, my Lord, someone with the experience and leadership qualities to effectively command the guards during a crisis."

    His voice firmed with conviction as he concluded. "My Lord, I strongly recommend promoting one of the more experienced guards to the position of Guard Captain as soon as possible. It''s a critical role that shouldn''t be left vacant any longer."

    Kivamus and Gorsazo exchanged a thoughtful glance, both recognizing the merit of Hudan''s observations. The immediate crisis of food shortage had been temporarily averted, but the ever-present threat of bandit attacks loomed large.

    "Yes, of course," he admitted. "The appointment of a Guard Captain was already on my mind."

    He observed Hudan thoughtfully, his thoughts lingering on the way the other guards had gravitated toward him earlier. "It seems the other guards hold you in high regard, Hudan," he remarked. "They were quite engrossed in your tales, weren''t they?"

    A hint of pride flickered in Hudan''s eyes as he offered a curt nod. "Indeed, my Lord," he confirmed. "They were curious about the rigorous training I had endured to hopefully become a knight. Unfortunately, none of the men stationed here have had the privilege of such formal training." He shook his head slowly. "Of course, it''s a different fact that I couldn''t eventually succeed in becoming a knight."

    Kivamus studied Hudan for a moment, a decision solidifying in his mind. "Hudan," he declared, "based on your experience and the respect you command amongst the guards, I am appointing you as the new Guard Captain."

    Hudan''s eyes widened in surprise. "Me, my Lord?" he stammered, his voice laced with disbelief. "But... but why? I haven''t led that many men before... Surely someone else here would be more qualified for this position?"

    A gentle smile played on Kivamus''s lips. "You provided the answer yourself, Hudan," he pointed out. "None of the other guards have gone through the training that you have."

    "The guards here already hold you in high esteem," Kivamus continued. "And as you know, we also need to significantly increase the number of guards we have. Only you possess the necessary skills and knowledge to properly train them."

    He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. "But most importantly," he continued, his voice dropping to a low, sincere tone, "you are amongst the very few people here whom I can trust with my life, Hudan. I believe you are the best person to lead our village guard."

    Hudan remained silent for a moment, his brow furrowed in contemplation. Eventually, he nodded slowly.

    "I understand your reasoning, my Lord," he conceded. "I will gladly accept this duty."

    He bowed deeply before Kivamus. "I promise to dedicate myself fully to protecting you, the village, and its inhabitants. You will not be disappointed, my Lord," he added, his voice firm with newfound resolve.

    A warm smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "I have no doubt about that, Hudan," he replied, gesturing for him to rise.

    Turning towards Duvas, he instructed, "Make an official announcement later. Inform everyone in the manor that Hudan has been appointed as the new Guard Captain."

    A frown creased Kivamus''s brow as he turned to Duvas. "How many guards do we have here at the manor, Duvas?" he inquired, a hint of concern lacing his voice.

    Duvas stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment before responding. "Currently, my Lord," he began, "we have eleven trained guards in the manor." He paused for a beat, then added, "However, if we include Hudan and Feroy, the total number increases to thirteen."

    Kivamus muttered, "Eleven trained guards, you say. Thirteen including Hudan and Feroy. That''s still a very small number to defend the entire village..."

    "The situation wasn''t always this dire, my Lord," Duvas responded. "Before the previous baron''s ill-fated trip, we did have more guards. However, as you are well aware, none of them survived that journey." A brief silence descended upon them after hearing that.

    Kivamus then shifted his focus to the present situation. "Currently, how are the remaining guards distributed?" he inquired.

    "Before that tragedy," Duvas replied, his voice tinged with a touch of nostalgia, "we maintained a more robust guard presence. We had four guards stationed at the main gate and three guarding the eastern entrance, where the coal wagons typically arrive."

    A shadow of worry creased his face. "However," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "the aftermath of that incident forced us to make difficult decisions. With fewer guards at our disposal, we could only afford to have two guards at each gate, and even then, we had to extend their watch hours, to compensate for the reduced manpower."

    "Also," he added, "when the coal mines were operational, we needed to send an additional three or four guards there to ensure security. Although, with the mines currently closed, we don''t have to send guards there."

    Kivamus took a minute to absorb this information. He then turned his gaze towards Hudan, his mind already formulating a plan.

    "Hudan," he started, "your first task as Guard Captain is to recruit new guards. We need more men who can be trained to fight effectively."

    "Understood, my Lord," Hudan replied, his voice resolute. "I will make an announcement in the village after our talk."

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "With so many people currently unemployed in the village, I believe you''ll have enough applicants to choose from. It is up to you to decide which of them possess the necessary skills and temperament to become a guard."

    Hudan, however, interjected with a thoughtful frown. "While increasing the number of guards is essential, my Lord," he began cautiously, "allowing a large number of complete strangers to stay within the manor walls during these uncertain times might not be a good idea."

 Chapter 27 - 26. Planning

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "Normally, Hudan, your cautious approach would be absolutely right," he conceded.

    A wry smile touched his lips. "However," he continued, his voice laced with a hint of pride, "I have been living here since this village was founded. Being a small village, there''s hardly a face I don''t recognize. Most of these young miners, the ones most likely to answer the call to become guards, I''ve seen them growing up since they were toddlers taking their first steps."

    Duvas''s gaze swept across the courtyard, looking at the servants and maids going about their duties. "Many of these people here have families in the village too," he pointed out. "They know the villagers well, and they wouldn''t hesitate to vouch for anyone with a good reputation."

    "That being said," he acknowledged, a hint of caution creeping into his voice, "before finalizing your selection, Hudan, it wouldn''t hurt to run the names by me first. That way, I can verify if a potential recruit is someone I know and can vouch for, or perhaps someone who only arrived in Tiranat in recent years."

    Hudan acknowledged Duvas''s point with a respectful nod. "I understand your reasoning, Mr. Duvas," he replied with a respectful nod. "I will definitely consult with you before finalizing any selections."

    Turning his attention towards Kivamus, Hudan inquired, "My Lord, how many potential recruits should I announce we''re looking for?"

    "Before I answer that," Kivamus began, "Duvas, can you tell me how much we currently pay our guards?"

    "Certainly, my Lord," Duvas responded. "For a new guard, the daily wage comes to eleven coppers," he explained. "That''s much better than the eight to ten coppers a day they typically earn as a miner. As for experienced guards," he continued, "their daily wages can range up to fourteen coppers, while we pay the Guard Captain eighteen coppers a day."

    He paused for a moment, then added, "Unlike the miners who receive their wages daily, all the permanent manor staff, including the guards, are paid on a monthly basis. However, we do deduct the cost of the food and lodging we provide from their wages. Taking that into account," he calculated, "the net expense for a new guard comes to seven coppers per day, or a total of twenty-one silver coins every month."

    "Now," he added, a hint of concern creeping into his voice, "this is assuming we offer them food and living quarters within the manor. If the new guards choose to buy their own food and stay with their families in the village when they''re off duty, then we''d have to pay the full eleven copper daily wage."

    Kivamus winced at the realization. "That can get expensive quickly," he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "For a dozen new guards, the monthly cost in cash alone would be over twenty-five gold crowns. And that figure nearly doubles if we have to pay their full wages without deducting for food and lodging."

    A sigh escaped his lips as the weight of financial constraints settled upon him. The task of bolstering the village''s defenses seemed to be getting more complicated by the minute.

    "My Lord," Gorsazo said, "we''ve already made a contract to buy enough grain to sustain the entire village through the winter. So¡­"

    "Indeed." Kivamus interrupted, a plan formulating in his mind. "We can offer grain as a form of payment instead of relying solely on coin."

    "Hudan," he instructed, "when announcing the guard recruitment, inform them that we will compensate the new guards with grain instead of cash. Madam Nerida will be the best suited to determine a fair quantity - enough to sustain a family. When distributing the grain, she can help us with that. Of course, if they choose to live within the manor, they would get food and lodging with no wages for now, like the other guards, instead of grain."

    "Announce that we will be recruiting a dozen guards for now, and possibly more later on." Kivamus added, "Make it clear that each guard we employ will receive a weekly allotment of grain sufficient to feed their family in case they choose to stay outside the manor with their families when they are off-duty. This system will remain in place throughout the winter. We will reconsider it after that."

    Duvas interjected, "My lord, usually, when we provide them with a regular wage, they would use the coin remaining after buying grains to purchase coal, for cooking and heating. However, they can''t do that now if we just provide them grain as payment and no coin. It would also be difficult for them to find the time to look for firewood in the forests when training and guard duty will take most of their time."

    He continued, "For those who live in the manor, it won''t be a problem, since their food will be cooked along with others'' meals by the maids, and there will be enough braziers for heating in the manor. So, I''d suggest providing a small quantity of coal as well, along with the grain rations, for those who''ll live outside the manor."

    Kivamus nodded, "That''s a good idea." He looked at Hudan. "Add that to the announcement as well."

    He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard, and the sacks of grain being transferred to the barns. "Thankfully," he added with a hint of relief, "we will have all the grain we need within two weeks if everything goes well. But even until then, we should have enough reserves now to compensate the new guards with grain rations. And of course, we aren''t going to have a shortage of coal this winter, so we can provide them with sufficient grain and coal for now."

    Hudan looked curious after hearing about the availability of grain but didn''t say anything. "I''ll ensure the message reaches every villager, my Lord," he pledged with a curt nod. "I will personally make this announcement to the villagers after our discussion."

    Kivamus, however, had a different plan in mind. "Hold on, Hudan. Just give the information to some off-duty guards, and they can spread the news throughout the village." He said in a low voice, "There''s something else I need to discuss with you."

    He cast a wary glance around them, trying to ensure that no one was within earshot. After seeing that a few servants were working nearby, he signaled for others to follow him toward a secluded spot near the manor walls. Hudan fell into step beside Kivamus as they moved towards the location, while Gorsazo and Duvas followed closely behind.

    Once they reached close to the walls, Kivamus looked around to confirm no one else was nearby and lowered his voice even further.

    "Hudan," he began, his tone serious, "there''s something you might not yet be aware of. I just struck a deal with Pydas to purchase additional grain from Cinran and have it delivered here."

    Hudan''s brow furrowed on hearing that. "Additional grain, my Lord?" he echoed, looking at all the grain being unloaded from Pydas'' wagons.

    Kivamus nodded curtly. "While buying the stock of grain Pydas had brought with him was a good start," he explained, "it simply won''t be enough to sustain the entire village through the winter. We need significantly more - around a hundred and fifty sacks, not including what we''ve already bought."

    Hudan inhaled sharply on hearing the amount of grain they still needed.

    "Don''t worry, providing the money for this is my concern." Kivamus paused for a moment, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "However, to achieve this, we need to organize two more trips to Cinran and back, each taking at least a week to complete. We''ll also be providing three wagons of our own on top of the three Pydas brought, to transport that big an amount." S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan looked towards the busy courtyard. "I did notice the servants loading coal into our own wagons as well."

    "Indeed." Kivamus continued, "Ideally, we needed there to be eight wagons in the caravan, but we''ll only have six of them, even including the three of ours. Although Pydas has said that he will try to rent more wagons from Cinran, I''m still sending another damaged wagon that we have here, to Cinran for repairs. It won''t be useful on the first trip, but hopefully, it will be repaired in time for us to use it on the second return trip from there, in case Pydas isn''t able to get more wagons."

    "It will make the caravan quite large, and thus, a ripe target for any bandits on the road. But this is the only way that we can stock up all the grain we need, in case the snow falls early this year." He continued, his expression grim. "So we must take every precaution to ensure the caravan''s safety. We just can''t let the bandits get their hands on it, or the village will starve."

    Hudan nodded. "Indeed, my Lord. But currently, Pydas only has a single guard with him, after everything that happened with Levalo."

    "I pledged Pydas to provide six guards." Kivamus thought for a moment and added, "However, I plan to send two guards for each loaded wagon we are sending. We just can''t afford to take any chances with the caravan. This would bring the total number of guards needed for the first trip to eleven, not including the one already with Pydas. Or, even more, if we can afford it."

    "My Lord," Duvas reminded Kivamus, "I tried to tell this to you earlier when we were negotiating with Pydas, but you stopped me from speaking at that time. We only have thirteen guards in total as I mentioned, even including Hudan and Feroy. Dispatching eleven guards for the caravan would leave the manor virtually defenseless. It''s just not feasible, my Lord!"

    "I realize that," Kivamus conceded. "But Pydas doesn''t know about it, nor does he need to know that we are so short on trained guards. This is not the kind of information that we should let any outsiders find out about. That''s why I cut you off at that time."

    "Frankly," he continued, his voice dropping to a low murmur, "if I hadn''t promised him to provide enough guards, he probably wouldn''t even have agreed to take this trip in these dangerous times, especially considering the size and value of the caravan. Apart from that, we''re also entrusting him with a significant amount of gold. So we need enough guards not just to protect the caravan from bandits, but also to keep Pydas from getting any thoughts of just taking off with our gold."

    "That''s true enough, my Lord," Gorsazo commented. "But the problem remains that we simply don''t have enough trained guards to protect the manor, and escort the caravan at the same time."

    Kivamus, after confirming no one else was nearby, leaned forward and interjected with a smirk, "I didn''t say that we needed eleven trained guards, did I?"

    "What do you mean, my Lord?" Duvas asked.

    "Let me explain," Kivamus continued, seeing the confusion etched on their faces. "Even if we sent half of our trained guards with the caravan, and we can barely afford to send even that many of them away from the manor, the reality is that a bandit attack could still result in many casualties. We already know from the bandits who attacked us at Helga''s inn, that their group could have mobilized up to a dozen men with prior notice."

    Hudan added, "It was indeed a big group, my Lord, but we did kill five of them, including their leader. And I''d say they were mercenaries more than bandits since many of them were staying in Cinran itself, waiting for contracts. So it''s unlikely that they would be trying to ambush caravans on that deserted road. That''s not to say there couldn''t be other groups of bandits roaming around."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. "However, a bandit group cannot know if or when a caravan will pass on that rarely traveled road, so it is unlikely they would have a dozen men lying in wait on just a single route. But even if they have just seven or eight men waiting to ambush the caravan, and we send half a dozen trained guards, we might not be able to protect the grain even after losing men to a fight."

    A shadow of concern flickered across his features. "We simply cannot afford to lose any more of our already limited pool of skilled fighters. They''re the backbone of our village''s defense right now. Even though I have told Hudan to recruit more guards, it will take time until they are ready to defend the village."

    He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across their faces. "But the thing is, whether the guards are seasoned veterans or raw recruits," he pointed out, "the difference in their training only becomes a factor if an actual fight erupts. So our primary objective in defending the caravan has to be deterrence. That''s why I proposed sending at least a dozen guards, including Pydas'' driver. And we''ll send Feroy to lead them as well. That number," he explained, "will serve as a powerful deterrent, forcing any bandit group to think twice before attempting an attack."

    "What I hope with this," he added, "is to prevent the situation from escalating to an actual battle at all, in case bandits are indeed scouting that road. From what I''ve heard," he continued, "bandits typically target easy prey - undefended caravans or lone travelers where they can plunder without risking their own necks. Engaging in battle with more than a dozen guards wouldn''t be a risk most bandit groups are willing to take, at least not without a significant advantage in numbers," he added with a hint of confidence. "They would much rather seek an easier target with a higher chance of success."

    Hudan offered a nod of agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he concurred. "Realistically, any bandit group targeting a caravan with a dozen guards would likely require a force of around eighteen to twenty to have a good chance of winning without taking too many casualties themselves. And a huge group of twenty bandits waiting in ambush along such a deserted road, where potential targets might appear only once every few weeks, seems highly unlikely."

    "If they did possess such a sizable force," Hudan added, "they would likely have focused their efforts on wealthier trade routes or targeted bigger towns within the kingdom. They wouldn''t waste their time lurking in this poor and sparsely populated region."

    "All of that makes sense, but how do we even get a dozen guards, my Lord?" Duvas asked.

 Chapter 28 - 27. Subterfuge

    "Here''s what I propose," Kivamus began, his voice low. "As I said earlier, we''ll need to send a contingent of a dozen guards with the caravan, but not all of them need to be seasoned veterans."

    He held up a hand to forestall any objections. "Hear me out," he said. "We''ll select half of those, that''s five men not including the guard Pydas already has, from our trained guards, to escort the caravan and provide genuine protection. These will be the veteran defenders we already have here at the manor."

    "Now, for the remaining guards," he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, "we primarily need bodies - men who can convincingly appear to be trained guards from a distance."

    "Think about it," he continued, upon seeing the uncertain faces of others, "bandit scouts would typically observe their targets from afar, usually from the fringes of the forest bordering the road. To maintain their element of surprise, they''re unlikely to get very close to the caravan unless they are going to attack immediately." He added, "And if all the guards, both seasoned and green, are outfitted with similar leather vests and armed with swords, shields, and bows, they''ll present a formidable appearance from a distance."

    "What I''m hoping with this," he added with a hint of optimism in his voice, "is that the bandits'' scouts, upon seeing a dozen guards protecting the caravan, will deem it too well-protected to attack it and will move on. It''s all about deterrence, not necessarily about having the most skilled fighters."

    Kivamus cast a wary glance around them, ensuring their privacy. "As for Pydas," he added, "we''ll simply tell him that we''re sending just a few new guards alongside the veterans as a training exercise so that they can gain experience, just in case any of the newer recruits are... less discreet about their recent addition to our ranks."

    He continued, "But he doesn''t have to be told the exact number of veterans and new guards. All he needs to know is that we are sending at least a dozen guards with the caravan."

    A thoughtful silence descended upon the group as they thought about the subterfuge.

    Gorsazo chimed in with a measured response. "My Lord," he began, his brow furrowed in concern, "while I understand the logic behind your plan, it does seem like a rather audacious gamble. There''s always the chance the bandits might see through the facade, and then the caravan could be in a dangerous situation."

    Hudan said, "I can''t say that I support the idea of sending untrained men to escort the caravan either. But since we barely have a dozen trained guards in total, it is necessary to keep at least half of them here to defend the manor." He paused for a moment, then added with a hopeful note, "But if the Goddess smiles upon us and it does work, my Lord, it would be a brilliant stroke of strategy. We would be able to protect our much-needed grain, and assuming we can deter an attack from happening at all, we would also prevent any casualties in the caravan guards."

    "Indeed," Duvas conceded. "But we''ll be stretched thin on manpower to defend the manor if we send half our trained guards with the caravan. However, the alternative is certainly unthinkable. We desperately need those grain supplies to see us through the winter. We simply cannot afford to have it fall into the hands of bandits."

    Kivamus offered a resolute nod. "I understand your reservations, Duvas. But like you said, the grain is essential for our survival. As for the manor''s defenses," he continued, "we''ll still have six of the trained guards remaining in the manor. Hudan will be here as well, along with the new ones that we will start training from today or tomorrow."

    He looked at Hudan. "Assuming we get enough new applicants by evening, those who show a good aptitude for this, we will put on duty from tonight itself to man the gates. One new guard paired with an experienced one on every shift. Of course, the best six of them will go with the caravan tomorrow, but the others can be put on duty immediately to give them some experience."

    Hudan confirmed, "I will select those who look dangerous," he said with a determined glint in his eye, "and can learn how to act tough by tomorrow to send with the caravan. As for the rest, I will start their training as soon as I have enough men."

    "Good," Kivamus said approvingly. "Hopefully, by the time Pydas returns in a week, we will have enough guards here who at least know the very basics of fighting."

    He then turned to Duvas. "Do we have enough armor and weapons to equip them?" he inquired.

    In a less than enthusiastic voice, Duvas offered, "I can''t say that our extra equipment is of top quality, my Lord," he admitted. "However, we should have more than enough to equip at least those six new guards we''ll be sending tomorrow." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "My Lord," Hudan reminded, "we also have the spoils of our recent victory at Helga''s inn." A triumphant glint flickered in his eyes. "We seized a decent amount of equipment from those bandits - seven swords and five well-worn leather armors. While their quality is far from great, they''ll serve our purpose."

    A hint of a smile played on his lips. "Equipping the new guards on the caravan with the looted armor will create the impression of seasoned fighters. From a distance, bandit scouts won''t be able to discern the true quality of the equipment anyway. All they''ll see is a caravan well-guarded by men who appear battle-hardened. But if they do come a little closer to observe, then because the armor bears the marks of previous battles," he reasoned, "it will lend an air of experience to the new guards."

    "This, in turn," he concluded, his voice firm with conviction, "will significantly enhance the illusion of strength we''re trying to create, deterring any potential bandit attacks. We can reserve our higher-quality equipment here at the manor for the new guards we''ll be training, my Lord."

    Kivamus, a smile spreading across his face, offered a nod of approval. "Excellent thinking, Hudan," he commended. "That will indeed support the illusion of a well-guarded caravan."

    He cast a glance at the group, ensuring everyone was on the same page. "Now, listen closely," he began, his voice laced with urgency. "Pydas departs with the caravan at dawn tomorrow. We need to be prepared to send the guards by then. Ideally, we should have at least eleven guards ready to escort the shipment, and more if possible."

    He turned to Hudan. "You have a single day to assemble this contingent. Scout both the servants within the manor and any potential recruits from the village who would have applied. By nightfall, I need you to identify the most suitable candidates for this. Prioritize those with prior fighting experience," he instructed, his voice firm. "But in their absence, select strong individuals who can convincingly pass themselves off as trained guards."

    Hudan acknowledged the task at hand with a curt nod. "Consider it done, my Lord," he affirmed. "We''ll send at least eleven guards with the caravan tomorrow, and the rest will start their training here under me." He looked at Duvas. "I''ll let you have the final say in the selection, Mr Duvas, to verify which of the recruits can be trusted inside the manor." Duvas gave a nod as a reply.

    Gorsazo interjected with a question. "But what about Feroy, my Lord?" he inquired. "Shouldn''t he remain here to assist with the training of the new recruits?"

    "No, it''ll be better to send Feroy to accompany the caravan," Kivamus declared. "We need a trustworthy individual to keep an eye on things. And if needed, they can take shelter at Helga''s inn for the night. After all, we can certainly trust Feroy with the keys to the inn."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Hudan replied. "I''ll go and find someone to make the announcement in the village." With a newfound sense of purpose and a plan already in place, Hudan hurried off.

    The weight of the plan hung heavy in the air. The fate of the grain shipment, and potentially the well-being of the entire village, rested on their ability to pull off this elaborate bluff - a daring gamble that hinged on creating a convincing illusion of strength. It could ensure their survival through the harsh winter, or leave them exposed and vulnerable.

    **********

    The tension surrounding the urgent discussions about the caravan and the limited number of guards they had, was interrupted by a servant''s arrival. He approached Duvas, interrupting their hushed conversation, and delivered a brief message.

    Turning back to the group, Duvas addressed Kivamus and Gorsazo. "The maid," he announced, "the one who was a slave, has returned from the village." He also gestured for the servant to bring the young woman to them.

    Their conversation paused as they turned their attention toward the approaching figures.

    A young woman, seemingly in her early twenties, walked hesitantly towards them, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Clad in a maid''s attire in a faded brown color, she appeared fragile and uncertain. Madam Nerida, the head maid, accompanied her, a hint of a reassuring smile gracing her lips.

    Before Kivamus could utter a word of greeting, the young woman, her voice trembling with emotion, blurted out a question. "My Lord," she stammered, her words tumbling over each other, "is it true? Am I truly free? I''m no longer a slave?"

    She cast a pleading look at them, her voice laced with disbelief. "The other servants told me about what you said earlier," she continued, "but I... I thought they were jesting¡­ They even said that I will be paid like the other workers from now on!"

    The raw vulnerability in her voice resonated with everyone present. The very concept of freedom, something most took for granted, seemed almost unreal to her.

    Kivamus, his features softening with empathy, offered a reassuring smile with a firm nod. "Indeed," he confirmed gently, "you are a free woman from now on and not a slave. And yes, when the situation improves, and we are able to resume a proper wage system, you will be compensated fairly for your work, just like everyone else in the manor."

    His words seemed to hit her like a physical blow. The weight of her newfound freedom, a concept she might have only dreamt of before, appeared to overwhelm her. As if the ground beneath her had vanished, her legs buckled beneath her, threatening to send her crashing to the ground.

    Before she could crumble to the ground, Madam Nerida, with practiced grace, darted forward and caught the young woman, steadying her before she could fall. The dam of emotions finally broke, and the young woman dissolved into open sobs.

    The sight of her unrestrained grief tugged at the heartstrings of those witnessing the scene. Sensing the others'' concerned gazes, Madam Nerida spoke in a calming voice. "There''s no need to worry, my Lord," she assured Kivamus. "She''s merely overwhelmed. The news of her freedom is a lot to take in, but I will take care of her."

    Kivamus, relieved to see the young maid in capable hands, offered a grateful nod. "Of course, Madam Nerida," he replied. "Please do. And give her a day off for today, if she needs it."

    Madam Nerida nodded with a grateful smile. She turned to the maid, attempting to gently guide her away. "Come, Leah," she said softly. "Let''s head back."

    Leah, however, surprised everyone by pulling back slightly, determination replacing the earlier vulnerability in her eyes. "I can stand, Madam Nerida," she declared, her voice still having a small tremor in it.

    A hint of concern lingered in Madam Nerida''s voice as she inquired, "Are you sure, Leah?"

    With a determined nod, for the first time since her arrival, Leah straightened her posture, her chin held high. In that single moment, a spark of newfound strength flickered within her - a testament to the transformative power of freedom.

    Kivamus had a smile on his face, with a sense of purpose stirring within him. The fight to secure the village''s future wasn''t just about protecting their walls, it was about building a future where freedom and hope could flourish, even amidst hardship.

    She turned back towards Kivamus and dipped into a curtsy, her voice thick with gratitude.

    "Thank you, my Lord," she stammered, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her worn dress. "Thank you for everything."

    A hesitant question escaped her lips. "Does that mean, my Lord," she asked, her voice still laced with a hint of uncertainty, "that I am free to leave?"

    Kivamus, his gaze filled with a newfound respect for the young woman''s spirit, offered a reassuring nod. "Indeed, Leah," he confirmed. "You are a free woman, and it is up to you now. You are no longer bound to this manor or any master."

    "But have you considered your options carefully, Leah?" he asked kindly. "If you choose to leave the manor and quit working as a maid, do you have the means to support yourself? To buy food and shelter?"

    Leah shook her head fervently. "No, no, my Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice tinged with panic. "That''s not what I meant at all! I would like to continue working here if you would allow me to. It''s just¡­" her voice trailed off, her words catching in her throat.

    With a deep breath, she managed to continue. "I simply cannot¡­ I cannot bear to live within these walls any longer¡­" she confessed, her voice barely a whisper.

    Kivamus, a hint of understanding dawning upon him, acknowledged her feelings with a gentle nod. The weight of her enslavement had undoubtedly left scars living inside this manor, particularly under the previous baron, who was not known to be kind to the servants. He remembered how little Clarisa was scared that he would beat her because the previous baron used to do that. The situation couldn''t have been any better for the former slaves either, under the previous baron''s rule.

    "I understand, Leah," he reassured her. "As I said before, where you live and how you live is entirely your choice now. It is your life to lead. However," he cautioned, "I would advise you to remain in Tiranat for the time being. The other nobles and slave owners in the region might not take kindly to the news of a freed slave." He added, "I''m not even certain they''ll tolerate the act of freeing slaves within my own barony, but it''s my burden to bear, and I will find a way to deal with it."

    Leah offered a grateful nod. "Of course, my Lord. I am an orphan, with no ties outside of Tiranat. I have no desire to leave. But," she suggested tentatively, "would it be possible for me to work here in the manor during the day, and then live outside in the village when I''m not working?"

    She instinctively turned towards Madam Nerida, a person she seemed accustomed to reporting in her role as a maid. "Madam," she pleaded, "would it be possible for me to live outside the manor grounds? Like the other villagers?"

 Chapter 29 - 28. Slave Price and Bounty Hunters

    Kivamus couldn''t help but notice a shift in Madam Nerida''s demeanor. The gentle, nurturing aura she had exuded earlier seemed to give way to the pragmatist in charge of managing the household staff.

    "Leah," Madam Nerida began, her voice laced with a hint of disapproval, "there is a reason all the servants and maids reside within the manor grounds. This ensures they are readily available to attend to their duties whenever needed."

    Leah, however, was undeterred. Her newfound freedom had ignited a spark of independence within her. "But Madam," she countered, her voice now tinged with a quiet resolve, "most of my duties involve sewing and mending clothes. Tasks that are best done in daylight. Working at night on that would be difficult, if not impossible."

    She pressed her case with a fervent plea. "I promise, Madam," she vowed earnestly, "I will complete all my assigned tasks during the daylight hours. Please allow me to live outside the manor when I''m not working."

    A hint of unease crossed Madam Nerida''s features. Caught off guard by Leah''s unexpected request, she instinctively turned to Kivamus for guidance, with the sudden deviation from tradition presenting a challenge to her well-ordered world. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Something as simple as reliable lighting would have eliminated the argument about nighttime work altogether, Kivamus thought. Electricity, a luxury he could only dream of in their current state, would allow for extended work hours regardless of daylight. It was a different fact that the servants and maids here probably worked very long hours anyway.

    "Madam Nerida," he began, his voice thoughtful, "as you rightly pointed out, most of the maids'' duties extend beyond daylight hours. However, if Leah''s primary task is indeed sewing and mending, then working at night wouldn''t be feasible anyway."

    He turned to Leah, a hint of a smile gracing his lips. "Very well, Leah," he declared. "If you wish to live outside the manor walls, that is your choice."

    A wave of relief washed over Leah''s features. "Thank you so much, my Lord!" she exclaimed, her voice thick with emotion.

    "But tell me, Leah," Kivamus inquired, "do you have a place to stay in the village?"

    The young woman''s face brightened as she nodded. "I do, my Lord," Leah replied with confidence. "I have a good friend, who''s the village blacksmith now. I can stay in his house until I can save enough coin to secure a place of my own."

    Seeing the uncertainty on others'' faces, Duvas added, "Cedoron is a decent fellow, my Lord. I''ve known him since he was a child. His father, who worked as the blacksmith since the village was founded, died of fever some time ago. Cedoron took over the smithy after that and knows the trade well."

    Kivamus considered her request for a moment. The potential benefits of a contented worker outweighed the slight deviation from tradition. "In that case," he agreed, "you may live outside the manor. However," he added, "you will still have to fulfill all your duties diligently during the day, as directed by Madam Nerida."

    Leah, overwhelmed with joy, curtsied deeply. "Thank you, my Lord!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes once more. "Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding! You have given me more than just freedom, you''ve given me hope for a future I never dared to dream of. I will work hard, I promise!"

    "My Lord," Madam Nerida interjected, "Although nobody in the manor is getting paid these days, everyone living here currently receives a portion of their wages in the form of food and lodging within the manor. If Leah lives outside, she won''t be receiving the same compensation as the others. That seems rather unfair."

    A frown creased Kivamus''s brow. "Indeed, that wouldn''t be fair," he conceded.

    "However," he continued, "as we are currently unable to spare additional coin, we were already planning to pay the new guards we are recruiting with a weekly grain and coal allowance. Perhaps we can extend the same offer to Leah. What do you think, Leah?"

    Leah''s face broke into a wide, grateful smile. "Oh, my Lord, absolutely!" she exclaimed, her voice overflowing with joy, "Even grain is more than I had hoped for, after gaining my freedom. I am truly indebted to your kindness."

    With a final, heartfelt curtsy directed at Kivamus, Leah turned to leave, her steps lighter and her spirits buoyed by this unexpected turn of events. Madam Nerida departed along with her.

    Leah, once a slave, now walked with the tentative steps of a free woman, while Madam Nerida, the embodiment of tradition, grappled with the unforeseen changes sweeping through the manor.

    Kivamus, his brow furrowed in contemplation, turned to Duvas. "Hypothetically," he began, his voice laced with curiosity, "let''s say that Leah decided to travel to Cinran after all. How likely is it that someone there would even discover her past as a slave?"

    Duvas cleared his throat and launched into an explanation. "Well, my Lord," he began, "every slave carries the burden of a slave price. This price, which is usually the same as the money that the owner paid to buy them, represents the sum they can theoretically pay their owner over many years, often decades, to earn their freedom. As you know, my Lord, the slaves aren''t paid any wages. That''s because the amount that would have been paid to them as a wage, after deducting the cost of food and lodging, of course, is said to be deducted from their slave price. So, it''s possible that every slave can eventually become free, once they have worked for long enough to earn their freedom from their owner."

    He elaborated on the system in place. "However, in most cases, if not all of them, the slave owner would continuously find ways to keep adding to the slave price, once it became low enough. It would supposedly be a punishment for the slave not performing his duties well enough, or the price of something that the servant broke or misplaced. But the result would be the same, that the slave would have to work just a few more years to pay the slave price, again and again. The previous baron did the same many times, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at him carefully. "And you never said anything?"

    Duvas shook his head slowly. "It''s not my place to question the baron, my Lord. My task is the proper administration of the manor, as well as the coal mines. And I try to do my best to manage and supervise everything here, to see that everything keeps running smoothly, within the bounds of the orders given to me. My personal opinion simply does not matter, my Lord."

    It made Kivamus remember that thinking outside the prevalent norms was not commonplace in this era, even on Earth. It was only during and after the Renaissance, from what he remembered, that common people started to question everything around them, giving rise to the scientific method, which eventually led to, well, nearly everything in the modern world. However, in the Middle Ages, it was probably typical for the common people to obey the orders and whims of their superiors, particularly the nobles, without questioning anything.

    Duvas continued, "Well, in the rare case that the slave price was indeed paid in full, a slave would typically receive a formal document - a piece of paper, no less - proclaiming their newfound freedom, and bearing the seal of the noble who owned the slave, or in whose domain the slave owner resided."

    "However," he added, "such instances of slaves buying their freedom are exceedingly rare, my Lord. Most remain bound to their owners for their entire lives. And as you might know, my Lord, the children of slaves are also the property of the slave owner."

    "That explains why they would rarely leave the confines of the manor or the farmlands they live in," Kivamus murmured.

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he confirmed. "Most slaves remain bound to their owner''s manor for their entire lives. And leaving the manor or the farm that confines them is a rare occurrence," he said. "The only exception might be when they are given an errand by their owner, whether it is to a nearby market or to some other place to deliver their produce. And in those cases, the owner knows precisely when to expect their return."

    "However," he continued in a grim voice, "any delays are met with harsh consequences, either by severely beating the slaves or in some cases, even branding them. And if a slave fails to return for many days, it results in a bounty being placed on their heads, which would carry their description."

    He elaborated on the bleak fate that awaited such runaways. "This bounty essentially brands them as fugitives," he explained. "Becoming an outlaw or joining the ranks of bandits becomes the only option for the desperate slaves seeking escape. But even then, the bounty hunters would relentlessly pursue them, making their lives a constant struggle for survival."

    Duvas''s voice softened slightly. "There is another option for them, my Lord, albeit a risky one. A slave could try to flee to a distant land, perhaps to another kingdom, or they may leave Cilaria entirely by enduring a long voyage on a merchant ship. But such a journey requires a lot of coin, a luxury most slaves simply don''t possess. And even if they somehow manage to reach a distant land, there is always the risk of their past being discovered."

    He added, "And if they do get recaptured by the bounty hunters after running away, their enslavers'' punishment would be swift and merciless. Often, it involves a brutal physical punishment like cutting off a limb, to serve as a grim reminder of the consequences of disobedience, and to set an example for the other slaves."

    Kivamus grimaced hearing about the dreadful condition of slaves, while Gorsazo was silent, likely already knowing the details.

    "So, to answer your question directly, my Lord," Duvas continued, his voice returning to a more neutral tone, "if Leah were to travel to a big place like Cinran or any other city, it''s unlikely anyone would suspect her past, as long as no one recognizes her there from her time as a slave. Particularly since the previous baron hadn''t needed to resort to branding the slaves which would make them easily recognizable, since none of them ever tried to run away from here, knowing they would likely die in the dangerous forests surrounding Tiranat far before they could reach another place."

    Taking a deep breath, he concluded, "The reason that no one would suspect her is simply that any other noble or slave owner would never free a slave out of goodwill, and if a slave were to flee, a bounty would undoubtedly be placed upon them by the enslaver. That would alert the authorities and bounty hunters alike, leading to a recapture of the slave, whether in Cinran or elsewhere. Of course, you seem to be an exception, my Lord."

    Kivamus, seemingly lost in thought, spoke after a while. "You said that slaves are not permitted to leave the manor, but Madam Nerida did allow her to go to the village," he pointed out.

    Duvas chuckled softly. "Indeed, my Lord," he conceded. "Madam Nerida has been a part of this village since its very foundation. The previous baron purchased Leah as a slave when she was a child, so Madam Nerida has known and trusted her for years. And as Leah herself mentioned, being an orphan, she has nowhere else to go even if she desired to escape."

    He continued, "When the previous baron ruled here, the slaves were escorted by a guard if they were ever sent to the village for an errand. However, as you know, my Lord, since that disastrous trip of the previous baron, we have been very short on trained guards. We barely had enough guards to man the gates till now, so we just couldn''t afford to send a guard to escort a slave as well. So Madam Nerida has had to trust the slaves that they would return if she ever sent them outside the manor."

    Kivamus nodded thoughtfully, the weight of Leah''s situation and the complexities of slavery settling in. He had only begun to scratch the surface of this deeply ingrained system, and the human cost associated with it. The path forward, towards a more just and humane future, was far from clear, but the decision to grant freedom to Leah and the other slaves was not something he was going to regret.

    He looked at Gorsazo and Duvas. "Perhaps it was indeed impulsive¡­" he conceded, a hint of doubt lingering in his voice. "Freeing the slaves so abruptly... it might not have been the most well-considered course of action."

    He glanced at Leah and Madam Nerida, who seemed to be in an animated discussion near the servants'' hall, with a smile playing on his lips.

    "But seeing the joy on their faces," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard where the former slaves bustled about with newfound vigor, their faces etched with genuine happiness, "it''s hard to believe I made the wrong decision. I stand by my decision."

    "However, the one thing that troubles me," he confessed, "is how Count Cinran will react to this news. This barony does fall under his domain¡­"

 Chapter 30 - 29. Borders Of The Barony

    Gorsazo offered his insights. "My Lord," he began, his voice steady and reassuring, "the decision to keep slaves rests entirely with the individual noble. It''s a matter of personal choice." He elaborated further, drawing on his knowledge. "I have heard of some places in the northern parts of the kingdom, where many nobles have chosen to forgo slaves altogether. However, these nobles usually allow others, like wealthy merchants or landowners, to own slaves if they so desire, for fears of a rebellion against them."

    A pause settled between them before he continued. "Now," he continued, his voice laced with caution, "your earlier declaration about abolishing slavery entirely within your barony," he clarified, "that''s a far more radical step than just freeing the slaves which you owned yourself. It essentially forbids anyone under your domain from owning slaves. This," he warned, "could incite rebellion amongst any current slaveholders in your domain."

    "Imagine this, my Lord," he added, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "Any slaveholders within your barony would likely rise up in protest, lodging formal complaints with Count Cinran. Should you refuse to back down," Gorsazo continued, his voice grave, "the Count holds the authority to strip you of your lands and title entirely."

    A wry smile played on Gorsazo''s lips. "However, slaves don''t come cheap," he added, casting a glance around the meager surroundings, "and considering the state of Tiranat, it''s unlikely anyone here possesses the means to purchase a slave in the first place, wouldn''t you agree, Duvas?"

    Duvas chimed in with a confirmatory nod. "Indeed," he agreed. "The previous baron was the only one in Tiranat who ever kept slaves. As of now, there aren''t any other slaveholders here. So the chances of anyone filing an official complaint with the Count are negligible." He added, "These days, most of the people here are more worried about where their next meal will come from, instead of thinking about ways to criticize or complain about the new baron."

    "At least there''s that," Kivamus sighed in relief. A contemplative silence descended upon the group as they mulled over it.

    "However," Duvas cautioned, "news of your actions will undoubtedly reach Count Cinran eventually. And how he reacts to this news remains to be seen. Although without a formal complaint lodged against you from someone within this barony," he pointed out, "the Count would be hard-pressed to impose any charges based solely on hearsay. But the ripples of your decision will certainly be felt amongst the nobility."

    Gorsazo offered a final thought. "There''s also the somewhat unusual circumstance of your appointment," he said. "While the Count holds a position of authority over Tiranat, it wasn''t Count Cinran who bestowed the barony upon you, it was the Duke himself. I believe being a son of the Duke should afford you at least some degree of leeway in this matter. But as Duvas mentioned, the other nobles, particularly in the south of the Kingdom, where Count Cinran''s domain lies, are sure to take a negative view of your actions."

    "Indeed." Kivamus acknowledged the complexities they faced with a slow nod.

    "Well," he declared, "let''s address those issues when the time comes. We have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment."

    The weight of their current predicament - securing the much-needed grain shipment and bolstering the manor''s defenses, settled heavily upon them. For now, their focus had to be on the immediate challenges that threatened the very survival of Tiranat.

    Hudan, the newly appointed captain of the guard, strode back towards them, his movements purposeful. "My Lord," he announced, his voice carrying a hint of pride, "I''ve dispatched a few guards to the village square. They''ll spread the word that we''re actively recruiting a dozen new guards."

    Kivamus offered a nod of approval. "Hopefully, by the afternoon or even this evening, we''ll have a good number of men interested in becoming a guard." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He turned to Duvas. "Once we have a decent pool of potential recruits," he continued, outlining the next steps, "you and Hudan can then conduct a proper selection process and pick the most capable and trustable men for the job as we planned earlier."

    "However," he added, his voice turning serious, "we need to devise a solution for feeding the rest of the villagers as well. Hiring new guards and offering them grain and coal as their wages is only a start."

    He cast a thoughtful glance towards the servants, their movements imbued with a newfound sense of purpose as they transferred the precious grain sacks. Their renewed energy, a stark contrast to the listlessness that had gripped them before, served as a reminder of the positive impact that having enough food could have on people.

    He elaborated on his concerns. "We need to create more opportunities for work in the village," he continued, his gaze connecting with others. "That way, we can provide the villagers with the means to earn their keep and ensure they have enough grain to survive. So," he inquired, "where were we in our discussion before Leah''s arrival?"

    "We were discussing the surrounding lands, my Lord," Duvas clarified.

    Kivamus, his mind buzzing with possibilities, stood silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the dense forest that encircled the manor and the village. The servants, diligently working nearby, seemed to fade from his vision as he contemplated the vastness of his domain.

    As if struck by a sudden realization, Kivamus turned back to Duvas, a question forming on his lips. "Duvas," he began, his voice filled with curiosity, "how far do the borders of this barony actually extend?"

    Duvas chuckled softly, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "That, my Lord," he replied, "is where things are a little peculiar. As you well know, baronies typically encompass a relatively small area of land. However, Tiranat finds itself in a rather¡­ unique situation."

    He elaborated, "While being nestled within these vast, dense forests undoubtedly poses significant dangers, it also presents a unique opportunity. These sprawling woodlands remain entirely unclaimed."

    "Technically," he clarified, "these forests still fall under the domain of Count Cinran. However, in all of my experience here since the barony was founded, as long as the baron of Tiranat fulfills his obligation to pay the taxes owed by him," he added, "Count Cinran has never shown any interest in exerting control over these treacherous lands."

    "So," he added with a sly grin, "there are no other barons in the vicinity to challenge your claim if you were to, shall we say, expand your territory, my Lord."

    Kivamus''s mind reeled as he processed this new information. "So, you''re saying¡­" he began, a hint of awe creeping into his voice, "that all these lands, as far as the eye can see, could easily be mine?"

    Duvas, still grinning, only gave a nod in reply, while Gorsazo and Hudan had satisfied smirks on their faces.

    The reality of the situation took a moment to sink in. Back on Earth, the mere notion of buying the apartment he was renting, seemed like a distant dream, with the astronomical housing prices. But here, in this strange new world, he found himself the owner of a vast expanse of land, the likes of which he couldn''t even have imagined on Earth.

    However, he reminded himself, this was not Earth, and Tiranat was not a nice and cozy nature resort where people went for vacations. All kinds of dangers surrounded them in the middle of these uncharted forests, from ferocious beasts to ruthless bandits. And who knows what other threats lay hidden within these vast forests¡­

    Yet, amidst the dangers, a seed of hope bloomed within Kivamus. These vast, unclaimed lands held the potential to not only secure his own future but also build a brighter destiny for the entire barony. He already had the knowledge of a technologically advanced world, the likes of which these people couldn''t even dream of¡­

    Perhaps, with careful planning and hard work, he could transform Tiranat from a struggling barony into a thriving domain. And if he could harness the full potential of these lands, cultivate them, or exploit their resources strategically, it could be the key to their survival and eventual prosperity. The possibilities were endless¡­

    ~ Cedoron ~

    Cedoron grunted with exertion as he struck repeatedly against the red-hot metal with a rhythmic clang of his hammer, the bulging muscles in his arms flexing and rippling beneath his tanned skin. With a final, resounding blow, he brought his hammer down upon the glowing metal kept on the anvil, shaping the sword with practiced ease.

    He reached over with a pair of tongs, gingerly gripping the glowing blade, examining it from all angles. A grunt of approval escaped his lips. It wasn''t perfect, but it was close enough. Satisfied with its form, he plunged the metal into a waiting barrel of water, a hiss of steam erupting as the hot metal met the cool liquid.

    He sank back onto his workbench with a sigh, wiping his brow with a sweat-soaked sleeve. Though the midday sun hung high in the sky, a persistent chill lingered in the air, a constant reminder of the approaching winter. But despite the chill, sweat beaded on his forehead, a result of the intense heat generated by his glowing forge. He reached for a wooden mug resting on the workbench and took a long, satisfying gulp of cool water, the refreshing liquid easing the dryness in his throat.

    As he drank the water, he thought about his current circumstances. Work had been slow for a while now, but the past few months had been particularly bleak. Usually, a steady stream of miners came to his shop, bringing broken tools - shovels, pickaxes, and the like, for repair. But ever since the flooding of the coal mines, work had become scarce. With the mines closed, there were no miners, and without miners, there were no broken tools to repair. Now his days were often spent in quiet solitude, punctuated only by the sound of his hammer against metal. He wasn''t one to sit idle, though. Each day, he forced himself to find some task, no matter how trivial, to keep his skills sharp.

    News of the new Baron''s arrival had reached Cedoron yesterday, but he hadn''t been able to join the crowd that flocked to watch the caravan. He''d been too engrossed in his work, being unable to leave it in the middle or he would have had to start again from the beginning.

    He didn''t know what to expect from the new Baron. The future of Tiranat, and by extension, his own livelihood, rested on the decisions this new leader would make. He sighed, wiping the sweat on his face again. All he could hope was that the coal mines would reopen soon, and with that, there would be enough work for him along with a return to normalcy.

    *********

    Cedoron glanced out towards the street, his gaze falling upon a familiar figure skipping towards his workshop. Leah, his childhood friend, hurried down the street towards his shop, a radiant smile illuminating her face. They had only spoken an hour ago, and Cedoron couldn''t imagine what had brought her back so soon.

    As Leah drew closer, he noticed a hint of moisture in her eyes which glistened in the afternoon sun. A frown creased his brow. Leah had always been strong, and seeing her so emotional sent a jolt of worry through him. Although they didn''t get to meet very often, their friendship had endured through stolen moments between her duties in the manor.

    Before he could voice his worry, Leah threw herself into his arms, her sobs muffled against his sturdy chest. Taken aback, Cedoron instinctively wrapped his arms around her trembling form.

    "Leah? What happened?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. "You just left here a while ago. What''s wrong?"

    But instead of replying, Leah''s sobs intensified, her body wracked with silent tears. Cedoron, at a loss, could only hold her close, patting her back in a comforting rhythm. Slowly, her sobs subsided, replaced by a shaky sniffle.

    Pulling back slightly, Leah looked up at him, smiling with a teary face. "I''m free, Cedoron," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

    Cedoron furrowed his brow in confusion. "Free?" he echoed. "Well, of course, you must be free," he said with a chuckle, "since you found the time to visit me twice in the same day! Not that I mind it¡­"

    He tilted his head, a playful glint in his eyes. "Did the new Baron decide you weren''t cut out for sewing and send you packing?"

    Leah giggled and shook her head. "No, silly!" she exclaimed, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand. "I mean, I''m not a slave anymore! I''m free now!"

    Leah, the shy girl he had known since they were children, who was easily his best friend now, and perhaps even more, had been a slave nearly all her life. As a slave, she couldn''t choose where to live or who to live her life with. At times, they had even talked about running away together to another place, even though continuously hiding from the bounty hunters would have made their lives a living hell. And that would be if they were even successful in running away in the first place. But¡­ could it be true? Could she really be free?

    Cedoron''s heart hammered against his ribs. He stared at her, his mind struggling to grasp her words, leaving him speechless for a moment. He held Leah at arm''s length, his gaze searching her teary face for any hint of a joke. But the raw emotion in her eyes told the truth.

    Over the next few minutes, Leah poured out the details of her extraordinary day. As she recounted the events - the proclamation of freedom from the new baron, the disbelief she felt, and the overwhelming sense of liberation - Cedoron felt a lump form in his throat. Tears welled up in his own eyes, tears of joy for his best friend who had finally been released from a life of servitude, and for the possibility of a future that could not have been possible without her freedom.

    This time, it was Cedoron who pulled Leah into a crushing hug. The weight of her newfound freedom and the possibilities that lay before them, filled him with a happiness he hadn''t felt for a long time.

    "And guess what?" Leah exclaimed, pulling back slightly, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes. "I don''t even have to live in the manor anymore!"

    Cedoron, trying to contain his overflowing emotions, chuckled. "What? Did the baron really throw you out then?" he teased, feigning offense. "Where are you supposed to live now?"

    Leah giggled, the sound feeling like music to Cedoron''s ears. "I don''t know," she teased, her eyes sparkling with playful innocence. "If only I had a childhood friend who might be willing to let me stay with him¡­"

    Cedoron burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the small workshop.

    Relief washed over him, warm and comforting. His best friend was free, and a new chapter in their lives was about to begin. He pulled Leah into a tight embrace, his heart swelling with a happiness that rivaled the heat of his forge. It was the beginning of a new future for them, and no matter what it held, at last, they would face it together from now on. And the new baron was to thank for it.

 Chapter 31 - 30. The Terrain Of Tiranat

    Kivamus furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping across the manor as he contemplated the challenges and opportunities before them. The harsh winter loomed ahead, its icy grip threatening to further isolate Tiranat.

    He gazed at Duvas before speaking, while Gorsazo and Hudan stood nearby as well. "Let''s consider the situation at hand," he began, his voice laced with quiet contemplation. "Even if we reopened the mines right now," he mused, "selling the coal during winter is not an option we have."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Duvas noted. "Every winter, we slowed down the mining once the snow started, since traders from Cinran cannot come in the winter and Kirnos doesn''t have as much demand for coal as Cinran, even though the road to Kirnos stays open during the winter. However this year, no trader is coming from Kirnos anyway due to the fear of bandits. So, every year, we kept stockpiling the coal slowly during the winter months, to sell in the spring. Of course, the demand for coal after winter is always lower than that before the snow falls."

    Thinking about it for a moment, he continued, "Right now, both of our coal barns are nearly full, so it''ll easily take more than a month to sell our existing stock after the winter, even if we didn''t reopen the mines during that time." He added, "And I believe by that time, it should have been long enough since the previous baron''s murder for traders to start coming regularly."

    "That means," Kivamus said, "reopening the coal mines would not be productive. We will postpone it for now." He looked at the vast forests surrounding the manor again. "However," he continued, a hint of a smile gracing his lips, "this presents us with a unique opportunity, wouldn''t you agree?"

    He allowed his gaze to meet the faces of the others. "Think about it," he elaborated, his voice brimming with newfound energy. "We have a group of skilled miners, men accustomed to hard manual labor. And now, they find themselves unemployed."

    He looked around them, trying to see which was the tallest place nearby. He found that it was the manor house itself, with its two-storey construction. He said to others, "Let''s move to the roof of the manor house."

    Duvas nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

    Kivamus followed Duvas to the manor house, with Gorsazo and Hudan trailing behind them. Once inside, instead of going towards the right into the hall of the manor house, Duvas turned left and started walking up the stairs. They eventually came out on the roof, which gave them a much better view of the surroundings.

    Kivamus took a minute to look around them. The lofty trees of the temperate forest were much taller than the manor house and stood towering not far outside around the manor, surrounding it from all sides, except the west. In the east, a few hills were also visible, covered with trees, while the Arakin mountains made up the eastern horizon.

    To their west, the sorry state of the village was easy to see in the light of the midday sun. Some of the burnt houses were visible from the roof, along with many other barely-standing shacks and huts of the village. Only a few of the houses were wooden constructions, standing out amidst the now-drying muddy paths snaking between the houses. A few people in the village were also visible from the roof, moving here and there listlessly, while many of them were just sitting at the entrance to their houses, staring into the distance. It wasn''t difficult to guess that normally, many of these people would be digging coal inside the mines at this time.

    Thinking about it, he asked Duvas, "How far are the coal mines located?"

    Duvas answered readily, pointing towards a hill towards the east. "Not very far, my Lord. Less than half an hour walk to the east."

    "Hmm¡­" Kivamus muttered. Only a few kilometers away then, he guessed. He asked, "You mentioned that you have been here since the founding of the village. Tell me, why was the village located here, then? There certainly isn''t any river here, which would make this a better place, than closer to the mines."

    Duvas replied, "This was the closest location to the coal mines, my Lord, from where the plain ground started. Any further to the east, and it would be difficult to find enough flat ground for a village to be located there."

    "And what about the other directions? Are the hills located only in the east or elsewhere as well?" Kivamus asked.

    "Although the dense forest surrounding Tiranat has never made it possible to send scouting parties very far, I can safely say that the hills are only located to our east." Pointing towards the hills on the east, Duvas continued, "Those are the foothills which slowly rise in height to give way to the Arakin mountains far in the east, my Lord. However, a few times in the past, I have been to the top of one of those hills, from where we mine our coal. Looking from such a height, it is easy to see that while the forests surrounding us seem endless from there, the ground itself is a flatland on all sides of us, except the east."

    Kivamus nodded. "And what about a river? Is there flowing water nearby?"

    Duvas nodded. "I wouldn''t really call it a river, my Lord, but there is a stream further ahead than the coal mines, which flows southwards between those hills. The miners usually go there to refill their water buckets during the day when they are mining." He added, "Occasionally, they also catch some fish there to add to their limited diets."

    "It''s not ideal, but it will have to do¡­" Kivamus muttered. He leaned forward towards the edge of the roof, and put his hands on the wooden guardrails surrounding the roof, as he thought about the terrain here.

    He continued, his voice taking on an air of determination, "If we were to clear a significant portion of the surrounding forest," he proposed, gesturing outwards, "we could create a viable space for cultivating crops. And within a few months, a fertile farmland could be created where these trees stand today."

    While others were mulling over the concept, Duvas added, "This idea has occurred to me in the past, of course. But with the previous baron''s disinterest in this village and a regular shortage of manpower, it was difficult to even seriously consider farming. But yes, with all the miners unemployed right now, this is indeed a good opportunity to do this."

    Gorsazo seized upon the idea as well. "I was thinking the same thing, my Lord," he said. "If everything goes well, we should be well-stocked with enough grain for the winter, in a couple of weeks. We might even have enough seeds left over to begin planting after the ground thaws at the end of winter. And even if our reserves are not enough for that," he conceded, "by that time, the route to Cinran will be open again, and we''d easily be able to purchase more seeds from the visiting merchants."

    A thoughtful frown creased his brow. "However," he added, "to ensure success in this, we''ll need someone at the helm with a far deeper understanding of farming than any of us possess."

    Duvas replied to that question. "I think that many of the older miners would have at least some experience with farming. Before they migrated to Tiranat when it was founded, not all of them would have been miners after all. I will make an announcement in the village that people who have any experience with farming should report to us by evening. There wouldn''t be many of them, but we should be able to get enough experienced farmers who can supervise the other villagers in farming."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus complimented.

    Hudan chimed in, "Clearing the surrounding woods would not only provide us with arable land, but it would also offer a significant security advantage. With a clear line of sight stretching outwards from the village," he pointed out, "we''d be able to detect any approaching bandits much sooner, giving us more time to prepare our defenses."

    "Indeed." Kivamus nodded. "While we will need to clear the forest in the east as well for good visibility all around the village, I think we should leave the cleared area empty in the east. As Duvas said, the terrain becomes hilly on that side, so it would be difficult for farming anyway. As for how much land we need to clear to grow enough crops to feed the village for a full year, we will need to ask those people who have experience in farming." sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked at Duvas. "Select those people with the most experience in farming, and bring them to meet us all by the evening. After getting a better idea of how much land we need for that, we will finalize it."

    Hudan added, "We should clear more area than just the farms, my Lord. I''d say we need at least five hundred paces of empty space all around the village, if not more, to be sure to detect any attack in advance."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "As Duvas said, in the east there is a stream near the hills, which flows southwards. As long as the land in the south of the village is suitable for planting, it would be much better to start farming in that direction, since it would give us a ready source of water for irrigation."

    Without access to any fertilizers and modern agricultural machinery, the yields of the crops were not going to be great, and they would need a much larger area dedicated to farming to get the same amount of grain, than they would have needed if they had such equipment. That did give him a few ideas on some very basic devices, like a seed drill, that he could try to design and build here, even with the materials they already had available in this village. It should help to improve the productivity of farms by a decent amount, but he put it into the back of his mind, to reconsider once the immediate concerns were taken care of.

    Thinking about cutting forests on this scale and all the deforestation they were going to cause, Kivamus gave a wry chuckle. It was far from ideal, and it would never be tolerated on Earth, and for good reason, but their situation was desperate enough that they had no choice but to clear the forests, or the villagers would continue to starve. And that was not acceptable to him.

    After taking a minute to think, he added, "We also need to think of a way to house the homeless villagers, and we will need logs as well as enough cleared land for it." He pointed towards the north of the village, "Let''s say we keep the new housing in the north, which would leave the land in the west empty for other things, like new barns, etc."

    Hudan added, "We will need to designate a clear area for that, my Lord, so that we can clear enough trees to have at least five hundred paces of clear land ahead of the new houses."

    "True." Kivamus nodded, and asked Duvas, "How many people would you say are homeless right now?"

    Taking a moment to think over it, while gazing over the village to their west, Duvas replied, "I can''t give an accurate number, my Lord, but I believe the bandits put above a dozen houses on fire, so that means there must be around seventy or eighty people who lost their houses in the bandit attack. Of course, there are some other villagers too, including orphans, who don''t have anywhere to live since that thunderstorm damaged or outright destroyed many huts around a month ago."

    Gorsazo said, "That''s a big number though. We would need to construct fifteen to twenty houses, at least, if we are going to give them a place to live so they don''t freeze to death. But I''m not sure we have enough time to do that before the winter hits."

    Duvas nodded as well. "Indeed. But it would take much less time if we just constructed bigger halls for them to live in, instead of separate houses."

    Kivamus mulled over the idea for a minute. Back on Earth, in some places people lived in longhouses in the past, when building separate houses for everyone was not practical. That seemed like a good option to him in these circumstances. "Why don''t we build longhouses then?"

    "Long¡­houses, my Lord?" Hudan asked.

 Chapter 32 - 31. Housing The Homeless

    Thinking about how to explain without mentioning Earth, Kivamus said, "I read about those in the library, back in Ulriga Palace."

    He looked at Gorsazo, and remembering the vague memories of the original Kivamus, he said, "You know well how I used to spend a lot of time in the library there, every time after my brothers found a new way to mock or ridicule me, and when I didn''t want to face others for some time."

    Gorsazo nodded. "That''s certainly true, my Lord. Many times, I had to search for you in the library for your lessons."

    "Indeed." Kivamus continued, "That''s where I read about these longhouses that people used to make in the past, in some other countries. Basically," he elaborated while pointing at the barns inside the manor, "they are similar to those barns we have here, but they are only around ten feet high, and much longer than the barns."

    Seeing the others listening intently, he continued, "This way, we can put two bunks for sleeping on each side of the longhouse, the lower one only around say, two feet high, while the upper bunk can be around five or six feet high. This would allow us to house two people on one side and two on the other side, that is, a total of four people for every two meters of the length of the longhouses."

    Hudan interrupted again, "What is a meter, my Lord?"

    "Uh¡­ that book had the units of length in terms of meters," he tried to explain without giving away too much. "A meter is around, uh¡­" He looked around for something that had the same length, but not finding anything suitable, he just spread both of his hands to what he guessed would be the length of around a meter, and said, "This long. Or a little longer than a pace."

    He continued, trying to remember the length of a normal person''s step, "I''d say the length of around four paces is the same as three meters. Many of those books I read used a meter as a unit of length, so I am used to thinking in those terms."

    "Of course, my Lord." Hudan nodded.

    Duvas added, "By keeping each bunk to a length of uh¡­ two meters, even a full-grown adult can comfortably sleep in it."

    "Indeed," Kivamus agreed. "And I think, we could keep the width of the longhouse around five or six meters, which would give enough walking space between the bunks, which would be located next to the walls on both sides, while still leaving enough space for a fireplace in the middle. That would keep the long house warm in the winter, as well as be useful for cooking meals there. As for the length, we could keep it around say, twenty-five meters, which would be enough for a dozen bunks next to each other. That way, we could house forty-eight people in a single longhouse easily."

    He conceded, "Of course, these are just rough estimates, and we will need to talk with a carpenter who will give us the exact numbers."

    "True enough, my Lord," Duvas said. "Those seem like reasonable numbers though. I will still send for the carpenters we have in the village, to talk over the details with them."

    Gorsazo commented, "Making these longhouses seems more practical than building individual houses for now. And even with just two new longhouses, we should be able to shelter all the homeless people in the village."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. "But instead of making two longhouses simultaneously, we will prioritize building only one of them at first, so that the homeless villagers can have at least some place to live. The temperature is going down every day, and even if it won''t be very comfortable to house nearly twice as many people inside a longhouse compared to what it was designed for, it will still be much better for the villagers than sleeping outside in the open."

    "That''s a good idea, my Lord," Hudan commented.

    "There are also many other villagers, who do have a shack in which to live, but those flimsy walls don''t hold the cold outside at all," Duvas added. "If possible, once we have finished building those two longhouses, we should construct more of them, so that any of the villagers who want to live in those instead of their own huts can move there. Every winter, there are at least a few deaths from the cold in those shacks and huts."

    Thinking about living in such cold temperatures in those huts, made Kivamus feel a shiver, even though it was noontime now. And once the snowfall started in around a month, it would indeed be difficult to survive in those huts. "Good idea. We will do that as well, once the first two longhouses are ready. But we can still house more people than their capacity in the first two longhouses, so people don''t have to stay in those huts until more longhouses are ready."

    Duvas began, "My Lord, we can certainly utilize the miners to clear the surrounding land and start farming in the spring. However," he cautioned, "paying them for their labor would put a significant strain on our already depleted treasury."

    "Unlike the coal mines," he elaborated, "where we get a product to sell and recoup the wages we''d be paying the miners, clearing the land wouldn''t yield any immediate revenue stream."

    The weight of Duvas'' words hung heavy in the air. The potential benefits of clearing the land were undeniable - increased food production, improved security, and a chance to put their unemployed workforce to good use. But the financial burden of paying the miners loomed large, threatening to derail their plans before they even began. The path forward required careful consideration, a delicate balancing act between ambition and fiscal responsibility.

    Kivamus knew their financial challenges, but the rewards were too significant to ignore. Perhaps, he thought, there was a way to bridge this gap. The gears in his mind began to turn, formulating a plan to address this obstacle and propel Tiranat towards a more secure and prosperous future.

    Acknowledging the constraints Duvas had outlined, he offered a counterpoint. "True," he conceded, "but we should consider it as an investment. And a necessary one at that."

    His voice firmed with conviction as he elaborated on his vision. "If we can cultivate the land successfully," he argued, "and grow a significant portion of the grain we need to buy every year, our reliance on Cinran for grain would diminish significantly, if not entirely. That, in turn, will lead to substantial cost savings."

    He tempered his optimism with a touch of reality. "I understand it won''t be easy at all," he admitted. "But even if we manage to grow just half of what we require in the first year of farming, it would still represent a significant reduction in our reliance on Cinran for food and that would lead to a considerable amount of money saved."

    Kivamus shifted his focus to the immediate challenges. "Thankfully," he said with relief, "we will have all the grain we bought from Pydas arriving within the next two weeks or so. But selling that grain to the local merchants isn''t an option," he explained, "since Pydas already tried that without any success."

    "So, here''s what I propose," he declared. "What if we adopted a similar approach to the one we''re using with the new guards - a system of payment in kind?"

    Duvas, his brow furrowed in curiosity, leaned forward. "Payment in kind, my Lord?" he queried, seeking clarification.

    "We''re only hiring a small group of guards, only a dozen for now," Kivamus explained. "For them, paying their wages in coin might still have been manageable. However," he pointed out, "the sheer number of people required to clear the land and prepare the fields for farming, not to mention the other projects like constructing new longhouses, would make paying them in coin entirely impractical, with the limited amount of hard currency we have remaining."

    "So," he continued, "I propose offering grain as a form of payment to anyone willing to contribute to this effort. This includes felling trees, preparing the land, and any other manual labor required. Just like the new guards we are hiring, we could provide them with a set amount of grain and coal, enough to sustain their families for each day or perhaps each week of work they complete. We''ll have to pay it in advance though, so they''ll have enough to eat after they start working."

    "By doing so," he explained, "we achieve two crucial objectives. We conserve our limited coin reserves, which are essential for future needs, while simultaneously ensuring that the villagers have enough food to feed their families and enough coal to heat their homes."

    He acknowledged another looming concern. "Also, as Duvas mentioned earlier," he added, his voice tinged with a hint of worry, "we need to be prepared for the possibility of Count Cinran sending someone to collect the taxes owed to him."

    Duvas offered a curt nod, "If not now, my Lord, then he''ll surely send someone after the snow melts and the road to Cinran opens again."

    Kivamus pressed on. "Whether it happens now or after the winter," he continued, "we need to have enough coin on hand to pay those taxes," he declared, "especially if negotiating a tax waiver is unsuccessful."

    "Of course," he added, "we only bought enough grain to last us till the end of winter, that''s just another four months. Hopefully, the traders will start coming by then, and we will earn more coin by selling the coal we have stockpiled. However," he added, "just in case the traders take more time to start coming, and we are not able to raise coin by selling coal, then we need enough coin in hand to buy more grain immediately."

    "Indeed, my Lord," Duvas said. "And the wheat we will plant in spring won''t be ready for around¡­ four or five months, I think. Even if we harvest a good crop later on, we will still need to buy grain for those months."

    "Of course. And this grain-based payment system isn''t going to be a long-term solution," Kivamus admitted. "However, it should serve us well for the upcoming winter. Once spring arrives, we can reopen the coal mines after we have sold our existing stock, and return to a coin-based system for compensating the villagers, the guards, and the manor staff."

    "That is a good idea, my Lord," Gorsazo commented.

    Duvas nodded as well. "It would be helpful to start giving wages to the manor staff, if not now, then at least after the winter. Not paying the wages may be fine in the short term, but if continued for too long, it may give rise to all kinds of problems."

    "Indeed," Kivamus nodded. Not paying wages to workers while still making them work could easily lead to a rebellion against him. And he had no intention to be deposed from his position as a baron any time soon. At least they will be able to provide food and coal for the villagers, which means this temporary solution should be fine for the winter at least.

    The door to the roof opened again, and Syryne walked towards them.

    "Food is ready, my Lord," she announced. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded. "We''ll be there in a few minutes."

    He craned his neck upwards, squinting at the sun. It hovered near its zenith, casting the roof of the manor house in a warm glow, which was very much welcome after the chill in the morning. Gazing out from the vantage point of the manor rooftop, he surveyed the scene below. The transfer of grain from Pydas'' wagons to the grain barns had nearly reached completion.

    A team of servants, their movements efficient and practiced, were loading coal onto the emptied wagons now. Pydas, who had left with a single wagon earlier to make the grain deliveries to the merchants in the village, had also returned by now and was directing the loading process of coal into all the wagons.

    With a satisfied nod, Kivamus addressed his advisors, his voice carrying a hint of finality.

    "Hudan, after we have eaten," he instructed, "head down to the village square and see if any good recruits have arrived for the guard positions." With a glance towards the majordomo, he added, "And Duvas, you should accompany him. Together, you both can assess the candidates and select the most reliable individuals for the job."

    He continued, "For hiring workers for cutting trees and clearing the fields, it doesn''t matter when that person moved to Tiranat. But for hiring new guards, we need loyal men, people you''ve known for a long time within Tiranat and for whom you can vouch for their character. We cannot take the risk of a traitor within the new guards we hire."

    He added, "While you are there, you should also announce that we will be clearing the forest surrounding the village for farming and that we will also start constructing shelters for housing the homeless villagers. So anyone who wants to do manual work should report outside the manor gates from tomorrow. Tell them that they will get the same deal as the new guards, that is, manual work in exchange for a fixed quota of grain and coal."

 Chapter 33 - 32. Hoarding The Grain

    Hudan offered a curt nod. "Consider it done, my Lord," he replied with unwavering resolve.

    Gorsazo suggested, "Since many villagers will be gathered there anyway, it would be a good idea to make other announcements at the same time as well. Since we are looking for skilled carpenters and any experienced farmers in Tiranat, announcing this in the gathering would spread this news faster, and we will be able to meet with them before the evening."

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed. Their knowledge will be helpful to make a list of the necessary tools we require. Saws, shovels, axes, and anything else that might be needed for preparing the land for farming. We can then give this list to Pydas and have him purchase them for us in Cinran."

    Duvas chimed in, "My Lord, once we have a clearer picture of what tools we actually need, we should also consider the tools Pydas already brought with him. Although he brought them with coal mining in mind, many of those tools could be repurposed for our current needs."

    Kivamus''s eyes widened in realization. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "That completely slipped my mind. We should definitely ask what Pydas has brought and see if anything can be used for our requirements."

    Syryne, who had been a silent observer until this point, spoke up, her voice laced with concern. "My Lord," she began, "shouldn''t we also consider the situation of the orphans in the village? From what you''ve said, you will only be providing the grain to those who can contribute by doing manual labor. But what about those who are unable to work, like the children, or the elderly? They can''t work as guards or chop down trees!"

    Her question caused a moment of silence to descend upon them, forcing Kivamus to confront a blind spot in his plan. A grimace flickered across his face as he confessed, "The orphans¡­ I hadn''t thought about them¡­"

    He vividly recalled the sight of the ragged children he''d encountered upon his arrival yesterday. They were too young to contribute manual labor in exchange for food, and without families to support them, they were the most vulnerable. The same likely held true for many of the older villagers, their bodies weakened by years of toil, rendering them unfit for strenuous labor. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A pang of guilt washed over him. How could he have overlooked such a crucial aspect? Leading a village wasn''t just about grand plans and resource management; it was about ensuring the well-being of all its inhabitants. He chastised himself silently. He couldn''t leave their survival to chance. He may have been a stranger to this land just yesterday, but he was no longer an outsider. He was the Baron of Tiranat, and the well-being of his people, including every last one of them, now rested on his shoulders.

    He certainly realized that he was far from an expert in managing and leading a whole village. He was still learning the ins and outs of this, and it was inevitable that he would overlook certain things. He glanced at the faces surrounding him, a newfound appreciation blooming in his chest for the people who had slowly become his advisors. These were the people who would help him navigate the complexities of his new role. He was still a novice leader, and their willingness to point out his oversights was invaluable.

    Taking a deep breath, Kivamus forced himself to focus on solutions. Blaming himself wouldn''t feed the hungry children. "Thank you for reminding me, Syryne," he conceded, his voice heavy with newfound understanding. "I was overly focused on the immediate challenges and neglected to consider the most vulnerable members of our village." He looked at others. "We need to come up with a plan to ensure that the orphans and the elderly are also fed."

    He inquired, his gaze settling on each of his advisors in turn, "While the adults might be able to scrape by for another week until Pydas returns with more grain, children are far more vulnerable. So, what options do we have for them?"

    Gorsazo offered a preliminary solution. "Distributing a portion of the grain to the orphans, or perhaps to all the children in the village, seems like a reasonable starting point," he suggested. "We could even extend this list to the elderly and those who are physically unable to work."

    "While providing grain to the children seems compassionate, my Lord," Duvas pointed out, "it could lead to unintended consequences. If we simply announce that children can come and collect grain, many families might exploit this system by sending their children too, to collect the free grain. This would include even those families with adults who will already receive their weekly grain quota when they start to work from tomorrow."

    He continued, "In the worst-case scenario, it could lead to people hoarding the grain by firstly sending each of their children, and then the elderly members of their households one by one, to claim their share of free grain, creating a situation where those who truly need it are left empty-handed. With winter not far away now, fear can be a powerful motivator for people to do such things. Especially after they have spent the past few months without having enough to eat."

    A shadow of worry crossed Kivamus'' face. "You''re right, Duvas," he conceded. "It could very well happen."

    He continued after a moment, his voice grim, "In around two weeks we will have enough grain to feed the whole village for the winter, but that will only work if everyone receives their fair share. If people start hoarding the grain, the most vulnerable will be the ones to suffer, and that''s not acceptable."

    "Apart from that," Syryne pointed out, "simply providing raw grain to them wouldn''t be a good enough solution, my Lord. The orphans and the homeless people don''t have a place to stay. How would they even cook the raw grain? I am not sure if some of the young children we saw yesterday would even know how to cook a proper meal."

    A spark of inspiration ignited in Kivamus''s eyes as he contemplated Syryne''s words. "That''s it!" he exclaimed, a triumphant smile replacing his frown.

    "They may be able to hoard grain," he elaborated, "but they can''t hoard cooked meals! Here''s what we''ll do. Starting today, we''ll offer a bowl of hot porridge or soup to every child and elderly villager who comes to the manor gates for food. We can start with twice-daily meals, and then we can increase it to three meals a day once we have more grain after a week."

    A confident smile replaced his earlier frown. "This way," he explained, "we can ensure that everyone gets enough to eat every day and it also eliminates the possibility of hoarding, as the food will be cooked and ready to consume, which means it can''t be stored for weeks, unlike raw grain."

    "The able-bodied adults will continue to earn their meals by contributing to the land clearing efforts," he explained, "but for those who are unable to work, we will provide them enough food to ensure that no one in Tiranat will go hungry this winter."

    "Of course," he conceded, "even then many families may still send their children to get free meals from the manor, while they preserve the grain they have earned from doing manual labor. But this seems like an acceptable solution for now."

    Syryne interrupted, "But my Lord, can we even afford to feed them from the grain we already have in the manor?"

    Shaking his head slowly, and chiding himself for acting without thinking again, Kivamus said, "That''s a very good question. Did we even consider whether we can afford to provide grains to all the villagers for the next week? It will be fine after Pydas returns in a week, but until then do we even have enough grain in the manor to provide rations to all of the workers from tomorrow?"

    He continued, "If we only had to increase the amount of food cooked in the manor for the twelve guards we are hiring, it would not be too difficult. But it''s a different matter altogether to feed the whole village until we get more grain. At least one of you should have mentioned this before!"

    Duvas, with a hesitant nod, acknowledged, "Forgive me, my Lord, for not mentioning this earlier during our discussion. But I have already made the rough calculations for it earlier. It will be a challenge, but I believe we can manage it."

    Kivamus conceded, "That''s a start, but elaborate, Duvas! Tell me what you''ve considered. I need to be sure before making more promises!"

    Duvas cleared his throat. "Currently, my Lord, the manor holds a stockpile of twenty-five sacks of grain, including the three we already had in reserve. Earlier, I consulted with Madam Nerida on this very issue. We concluded that even if we were to feed the entire village from our reserves, that''s assuming nearly three hundred and fifty souls, it would take roughly one and a half sacks of grain, or perhaps a little less, to sustain them for each day."

    He continued, his voice gaining confidence, "That means, even with a ten-day wait for Pydas'' return with additional grain, we would only require around fifteen sacks to feed the whole village during that period. Of course, we must factor in the merchants within the village who purchased eight sacks of grain from Pydas. This means at least some villagers will likely purchase their own provisions and won''t rely on us, which will reduce the burden on our stores."

    "Since we now have twenty-five sacks of grain in the barns," he added, "we can indeed afford to spend fifteen sacks to provide enough grain rations to the workers until Pydas returns with new supplies. This will undoubtedly leave our grain barns nearly empty once more, but it is achievable, my Lord."

    Kivamus let out a relieved sigh. "That''s a weight off my shoulders."

    A thoughtful expression settled on his face. "And before I forget about it, when you make the announcements to the villagers, add this as well. Tell them that from this day forward, I want everyone in the village to know that they have my permission to hunt in the surrounding forests and cultivate vegetable patches behind their houses. You mentioned earlier that some of them already do this out of necessity," he acknowledged, "but they shouldn''t have to live in fear of punishment for simply trying to feed their families."

    His gaze swept across the manor from his vantage point on the roof. "While we plan to establish proper farms in the spring, ensuring a steady supply of grain will take time. There''s no harm in allowing them to cultivate their own vegetables in their free time. It not only supplements their diet but also fosters a sense of self-sufficiency within the community."

    He gestured towards the forests, his gaze sweeping over the vast expanse of trees visible beyond the manor walls. "And these forests are vast," he continued. "There''s no need to worry about over-hunting, not even if the entire village participated. The bigger concern, as you rightly pointed out earlier, is the danger lurking within - ferocious beasts and those damned bandits."

    Hudan suggested, "My Lord, when we have enough trained guards in the coming weeks, we can organize bigger hunting parties. These groups can include experienced hunters from the village, along with some of our armed guards. This way, instead of venturing out alone and risking their lives, the villagers will have some protection in numbers."

    "Good idea," Kivamus complimented. "We''ll try to do that as well."

    He continued, "Duvas also mentioned that the villagers don''t own the land they live on." Kivamus paused, his expression turning contemplative. "This is a complex issue that requires a lot of consideration. We''ll address it in due time, but for now, let''s focus on our immediate priorities."

    Duvas offered a curt nod, acknowledging Kivamus'' decisions.

    With finality in his voice, Kivamus concluded, "Alright everyone, after our meal, Duvas and Hudan, both of you will head to the village square. There, you''ll make the necessary announcements and begin recruiting for the guard positions."

    He looked at Syryne, who had been listening carefully to the discussion. "Let''s go for lunch now. We can''t let the food go cold that you and Madam Helga prepared for us."

    Hudan and Duvas exchanged a determined look, both men understanding the weight of this responsibility. With a respectful nod, they acknowledged Kivamus'' instructions and left the rooftop along with Gorsazo, keen to begin their assigned tasks after the meal. Syryne followed them as well.

    Left alone on the rooftop, Kivamus allowed himself a moment of quiet contemplation before leaving. He gazed out at the throng of activity below and the sprawling forests surrounding Tiranat for a while. With a plan taking shape and his advisors by his side, he was determined to succeed. The challenges ahead were undoubtedly daunting, but Kivamus, the unexpected baron of a struggling barony, was prepared to face them head-on. The journey to transform Tiranat from a struggling barony to a thriving domain had begun.

 Chapter 34 - 33. Tall Tales

    Kivamus pushed open the heavy doors of the manor hall, a wave of warmth and enticing aromas washing over him. The afternoon sun streamed through the high windows, illuminating the room. Inside, the long wooden table that dominated the hall was already bustling with activity.

    Madam Helga moved around the table, arranging an assortment of steaming platters and bowls, with the help of Syryne. Gorsazo and Duvas occupied one side of the table, deep in conversation. Hudan, on the other side, seemed a world away from his usual stoic demeanor. He was the center of attention for Lucem and an unexpected guest who was sitting next to him.

    There, perched on the very edge of a chair, sat Clarisa, the young maid who had narrowly escaped death by poisoning the previous day, seemingly recovered and in good spirits. As his gaze settled on the scene, he realized the source of her merriment. Hudan, his massive frame occupying a nearby chair, was imitating one sword strike after another while telling a tale from his past. His booming voice, usually reserved for pronouncements and commands, was being used for recounting an outlandish story about the day when he single-handedly defeated an adzee. From the giggles escaping Clarisa and Lucem''s awe, it was easy to guess that Hudan''s story was a captivating one.

    As Kivamus entered, Clarisa, startled from her amusement, leaped to her feet and bobbed a hasty curtsy. "My Lord!" she squeaked, her voice betraying a flustered mix of embarrassment and fear. "I didn''t mean to take a seat here, my Lord!" she stammered.

    "It''s... it''s Hudan''s fault!" she declared, pointing an accusing finger at the still-chuckling giant beside her, her voice laced with mock anger. "He was telling us a really great story, my Lord! And I didn''t even notice when I sat down! I promise!"

    Hudan, his attempts at stifling his laughter now a comical sight, could only manage a series of snorts and wheezes. Kivamus couldn''t help but smile at the sight. The previous day had been filled with tension, and this unexpected burst of lightheartedness was a welcome change.

    Kivamus, who found the scene endearing, raised a hand in a placating gesture. "Don''t worry about it, Clarisa," he chuckled, his voice radiating relief and amusement. "And I''m glad to see you''re feeling well again."

    Madam Helga interjected with a warm smile. "She woke up feeling much better earlier, my Lord," she explained, "and simply refused to stay cooped up in her room any longer. So, I brought her here to join us. I hope you don''t mind."

    "Not at all, Madam Helga," he reassured, his voice warm as he settled into his seat at the head of the table. "It''s a welcome sight to see everyone gathered and in good spirits, especially Clarisa." His gaze softened as he turned to Clarisa. "Are you feeling well enough to join us for a meal, Clarisa?"

    Clarisa, still flustered from her outburst, hesitated before responding. "I¡­ I''m not sure, my Lord," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. Casting a hesitant glance at Syryne, she added, "Can I, Miss Syryne?"

    Syryne offered a reassuring smile. "Of course you can, Clarisa," she replied, "as long as you feel up to it. Does your stomach feel okay now? Or is it still hurting?"

    Clarisa shook her head. "No, Miss Syryne, I feel alright."

    Kivamus, noticing her lingering uncertainty, decided to intervene. He gestured towards the table, and with a hint of encouragement in his tone, he said, "In that case, you can take a seat with us, Clarisa."

    Clarisa''s gaze darted around the table, taking in the faces of the assembled group. Hesitation flickered across her features once more. Perhaps the company of the Baron and his advisors seemed a bit too grand for a young maid who had just recovered from a poisoning attempt.

    Clarisa''s gaze darted to Syryne, who had become a pillar of comfort during her ordeal. Syryne''s warm smile seemed to break the dam of hesitation. With a shy nod, Clarisa returned a hesitant smile. Gathering her courage, she took a small step forward, then another, until she reached the empty chair beside Syryne.

    Sensing Clarisa''s slight awkwardness, Syryne, who was sitting next to Lucem, reached out and patted the empty chair next to her. "Come on, have a seat here," she said in a gentle voice. "I''ll keep you company and help you with your meal if you''d like me to."

    A genuine smile finally bloomed on Clarisa''s face, chasing away the last vestiges of shyness. With a newfound confidence, she walked towards the chair and settled down next to Syryne. When Madam Helga took a seat as well after she finished serving everyone, they began the simple lunch, with many conversations happening around the table simultaneously. Duvas and Gorsazo still seemed to be in a serious conversation, while Lucem and Clarisa were talking to Syryne, and Madam Helga watched the kids with a smile.

    Meanwhile, Kivamus leaned in towards the new guard captain, a playful glint in his eye. "Hudan," he murmured in a low voice, barely audible over the soft chatter at the table, "that tale of single-handedly defeating an adzee? I find it a little hard to believe."

    Hudan, unable to contain his amusement any longer, let out a hearty laugh, albeit softened to avoid startling the children at the table. "Of course you do, my Lord!" he chuckled, as he whispered. "Truth be told, even with four trained men, including a knight, it was a close call. But any good story needs a bit of uh¡­ decoration, wouldn''t you agree? Especially for youngsters like Lucem and Clarisa."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh as well. Hudan, despite his gruff exterior, possessed a surprising knack for connecting with children, particularly after living the last few years in Helga''s inn, where Lucem must have provided a keen audience for his tall tales. "True enough, Hudan, true enough," he conceded with a chuckle.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Tesyb hunched deeper into his worn out blanket, the late-morning chill seeping through the threadbare fabric. He was sitting on the crumbling remains of his doorstep, the remnants of what had once been a sturdy door creaking mournfully in the breeze. The news carried on the excited chatter of villagers hurrying past had drawn him out of his burnt house. Apparently, guards from the manor were going to make an announcement in the village square, and everyone was expected to gather there.

    He hadn''t missed the arrival of the caravan yesterday, the one that brought their new Lord to Tiranat. A young man by all accounts, his arrival had caused a stir in the village. Whispers flew like wildfire, carrying the rumor that he was none other than a son of the Duke of Ulriga himself. Tesyb had scoffed at the rumors at first. It seemed too grand, too unbelievable to be true, but a rapid spread of the rumors had lent them a troubling weight. Now, they seemed to be the only explanation for a high-born noble like him ending up in this desolate village. He guessed that the baron was exiled, most likely. The specific crime the new baron might have done to earn that exile remained a mystery, lost in the murky games of power that nobles played amongst themselves.

    What could this announcement be about? Curiosity tugged at him. News was a rare commodity these days, especially good news. With a shrug of resignation, he decided there wasn''t much else to do, so why not? As he stood up, a sliver of hope ignited within him. Maybe, just maybe, the announcement had something to do with the coal mines reopening. But Tesyb quickly crushed any lingering hope with a cynical scoff. Wishful thinking, nothing more. He knew for a fact that the manor''s coal barns were still overflowing. After all, he had been the one leading the wagons the last time they delivered a load of coal to the manor - the barns were loaded to the brim back then. And without a steady stream of merchants to buy the coal, Tesyb couldn''t fathom why anyone would consider reopening the mines.

    He glanced towards the ramshackle structure that served as his family''s home nowadays. His parents, their weathered faces etched with worry, peeked out from the doorway. Handing over his blanket to them, Tesyb offered a reassuring nod. "Just heading down to the square to see what the fuss is about," he called out. "Be back soon."

    As he set off, Tesyb shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What did the lineage of the new Baron matter to him? A noble was a noble, exiled or not. Their reasons for being here were irrelevant to the harsh realities facing the villagers. Exiled for political missteps or genuine crimes, it all meant the same - another master to serve, another set of rules to follow.

    The village square wasn''t very far, and he needed to hear this announcement for himself, even if it was just another empty promise from a self-serving noble. As he reached closer, a wave of murmur and excited chatter drifted towards him from the square.

    Tesyb rounded a corner and the familiar sight of the village square came into view. This central gathering place of the village, which doubled as the sole marketplace of the village, now reflected the hardships that had befallen Tiranat. These days only a few stalls stood as silent testaments to better days, their awnings drooping and their wares gathering dust. With the mines shuttered, and after the recent bandit raid, the villagers'' pockets were lighter than ever, and there were few customers to tempt the weary merchants.

    He gazed at the villagers walking towards the square, noting the familiar faces bearing a mixture of curiosity and desperation. A low sigh escaped his lips. It wasn''t surprising. With the closure of the mines, and their most reliable source of income severed, most villagers had little else to occupy their time. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He quickened his pace, weaving his way through the growing crowd. As he entered the square proper, the sheer number of people already gathered there surprised him. Drawn by the promise of news, it seemed like most of Tiranat''s inhabitants were gathered here, a stark contrast to the deserted square he was accustomed to these days. He must have received the news later than most - his home, nestled near the village''s western edge, placed him further from the rumor mill.

    The sight before him stirred a bittersweet pang of nostalgia. He remembered evenings in the square after each hard day spent working in the coal mines, his pockets jingling with hard-earned coin. Nearly all the miners, their faces flushed and muscles aching from exhaustion, would gather here after collecting their wages for the day. This place would become a hive of activity in the evenings - stalls overflowing with fresh vegetables from the local vegetable patches and fruits brought by the gatherers would do a brisk trade, with the joyous laughter of children chasing each other in the background. The butcher''s shop at the corner would offer freshly cut meat brought by the hunters venturing into the nearby forests.

    All around the marketplace, merchants would be hawking their wares to the newly paid miners. The air would be thick with the chatter of bartering and the clinking of coins, their laughter mingling with the comforting aroma of brewing ale wafting from the alehouse at the corner. For many, it was a time to unwind - a mug or two of ale at the tavern, a shared joke with friends, a respite from the day''s toil. Tesyb cast a wistful glance towards the alehouse, its once-gleaming sign now dull and chipped. It had been far too long since he''d enjoyed a mug of ale after a long day''s work. A pang of longing shot through him - a longing for better times, for a full belly, and the camaraderie that had once filled the village square.

    He shook himself out of his melancholy, the urgency of the present pushing aside the ghosts of the past. He needed to get closer, to hear what the Baron''s announcement was all about. He maneuvered through the crowd, the press of bodies pushing him steadily toward the center of the now densely packed marketplace.

    Tesyb squelched his way through the final patch of mud, a remnant of the downpours that had plagued them just days ago. Reaching near the center of the crowded square, he found himself craning his neck to see over the heads of the villagers gathered there. As he scanned the crowd, his gaze fell upon the two manor guards standing near the aged well that served as the unofficial heart of the gathering place. He recognized one of them instantly - Kerel, a grizzled guard with a mane of iron-gray hair who usually manned the main gate of the manor. A seasoned veteran pushing forty, Kerel wasn''t exactly friendly, but Tesyb knew him by face at least.

    The crowd continued to swell, their murmurs and hushed conversations creating a low buzz of anticipation. Tesyb had to wait for a while to hear the announcement since the guards seemed to be waiting for more of the villagers to gather there. Finally, Kerel stepped onto a sturdy wooden bench beside the well, his presence demanding silence. He raised a hand, silencing the growing din, all eyes fixed on the guard.

    "Hear ye, hear ye!" his voice boomed across the square. "A message from the Baron himself!"

    A hush fell over the crowd, a mixture of anticipation and trepidation hanging heavy in the air. Tesyb shifted his weight, his curiosity piqued.

    "The Baron seeks new recruits for his manor guard! Those with experience in combat will be given preference," he continued, his gaze scanning the faces before him. "Any young man, strong and fit, with a desire to serve as a guard, step forward and speak to me after the announcement." Young men, their faces etched with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, shifted at the front of the crowd.

    A flurry of questions erupted from the crowd. "How many guards is the Lord looking for?" someone shouted.

    Kerel held up a hand, silencing the growing commotion. "We aim for a dozen new recruits today, and possibly more in the coming weeks."

    Another voice, this time belonging to a burly miner, boomed with a question that echoed the anxieties of many. "And how much will the new guards be paid for it?" he demanded.

    A tense silence followed the question. Kerel exchanged a hesitant glance with his fellow guard before turning back to the expectant faces. He shook his head slowly, the movement stiff and deliberate.

    Turning back to the crowd, he spoke, his voice carrying a note of regret. "At this time, we cannot offer any payment of coin..."

 Chapter 35 - 34. All Work And No Payâ€¦?

    A chorus of angry shouts erupted from the assembled villagers after hearing that. The announcement, far from the news of opportunity they had craved, was met with an immediate uproar.

    "We have to risk our lives without pay? How are we supposed to feed our families?" a man shouted in protest, his tone laced with anger and despair.

    "It doesn''t make sense! Why would we work for free?" a woman''s voice shrieked in disbelief. Frustration and desperation boiled over as others continued to voice their concerns. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb''s heart sank as disappointment clawed at him. Truth be told, he wasn''t surprised by the lack of coin. The manor wouldn''t have been able to sell any coal in the recent months after all, without any traders coming here. But the spark of hope he''d clung to - a chance at a steady income, a way to provide for his family - vanished like smoke in the wind after hearing the harsh reality of no coin payment. He stood rooted to the spot, the weight of the announcement settling heavily upon him, as he waited to hear if there was more to it.

    Kerel held up his hands, palms facing the crowd, in a desperate attempt to quell the rising tide of anger. The air crackled with frustration, the villagers'' shouts echoing off the houses that surrounded the square. Once a semblance of quiet had returned, his voice, roughened by years of service, cut through the tension.

    "Hold on, everyone!" he bellowed. "There''s more to the announcement. I''m not saying that you wouldn''t be compensated for the work! Instead of providing coin, the Baron is offering the new guards a regular allotment of grain and coal - enough to feed their families and keep their homes warm through the coming winter."

    A lone voice, laced with suspicion, cut through the fragile calm. "But why not coin?" the man hollered. "Grain and coal are all well and good, but we need coin for other things - clothes for our children, repairs to our homes¡­"

    Kerel locked eyes with the speaker, his gaze unwavering. "It is not for me to explain the reasoning behind this decision," he admitted. "I''m simply here to deliver the message. The exact amount of grain and coal each guard will receive will be determined once we''ve chosen our recruits."

    With that, Kerel hopped off the bench, his job complete. The crowd, however, remained abuzz. Tesyb, his heart pounding in his chest, knew what this meant. With the mines shut down, this was their only chance to put food on the table. Only a dozen new jobs for the whole village wasn''t much, but it meant a dozen families would have a chance to survive the harsh winter. Every unemployed miner in the village would be vying for these guard positions. But he wouldn''t let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

    Tesyb, a broad-shouldered former miner himself, felt a surge of adrenaline course through him. He scanned the crowd, his eyes locking onto other burly men, their faces a reflection of his own desperation. The air crackled with unspoken tension as everyone shuffled forward, jockeying for position, each pushing to be the first to reach the guards. Heaving himself onto the balls of his feet, Tesyb used his broad frame, honed by years of laboring in the mines, to his advantage.

    He waded through the throng, shoving and jostling his way towards the guards, determined to be among the first considered. Every other able-bodied man in the village seemed to have the same idea. Elbows started to fly, shouts erupted, and a tense silence punctuated by the heavy thud of boots on packed earth filled the air. The promise of food and warmth had turned neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, all in a desperate bid for a sliver of hope in a bleak future.

    Kerel''s voice boomed through the square. "Hold it right there, all of you! Reaching the front first won''t guarantee your selection. We need disciplined men, not brawlers!"

    His words, laced with authority, gradually penetrated the haze of desperation. Slowly, the initial frenzy subsided, replaced by a tense calm. Many villagers - those too old, too young, or simply unfit for such a role, drifted away from the center of the village square. Their faces were etched with disappointment and a hint of resignation, as they moved towards the outskirts of the square to keep watching. The women, some of whom were cradling toddlers or infants in their arms, retreated to the periphery of the square, casting worried glances at their husbands and sons still vying for a spot. Even the children, initially curious about the commotion, lost interest and wandered off to play amongst the few stalls.

    The announcement, while offering a glimmer of hope for some, only served to highlight their own helplessness. As the crowd thinned near the center, only the young men remained near the well - those with a strong build and a look of determination etched on their faces. Tesyb scanned the faces around him - a sea of former miners, their calloused hands and sturdy builds a testament to their past profession. Yet, the despair of unemployment had brought them here, ready to trade the darkness of the mines for the uncertainty of a guard''s life.

    They were all competitors now, vying for a limited number of spots. He estimated close to a hundred men still standing to be chosen as a manor guard, a number far exceeding the dozen guards the Baron required. A cold knot of anxiety formed in his stomach. Only a select few would be lucky enough to be chosen, leaving the rest to face the harsh reality of empty bellies when they returned home.

    He straightened his back, a steely resolve hardening his features. He couldn''t afford to dwell on the odds. He had to make a case for himself and prove his worth. This was his only chance, a chance for survival, not just for himself, but for his parents who depended on him. Even if the pay wasn''t in coin, as announced earlier, the grain and coal would be enough to keep his aging parents fed and warm through the harsh winter. This was his only chance, and he wouldn''t let it slip through his fingers.

    With a newfound determination, Tesyb focused his gaze on Kerel. Now that the initial mayhem had subsided, the guard seemed to be waiting for something.

    Once Kerel noticed only the young, able-bodied men remained, he cleared his throat and addressed the remaining hopefuls. "Alright, lads," he announced. "Now, you have to wait. The guard captain himself will be coming to assess the recruits."

    A murmur of anticipation rippled through the crowd as they waited. Tesyb took a deep breath, his nerves frayed with a blend of apprehension and determination. He had to be ready. The future of his family depended on the impression he made on the guard captain.

    The tension in the village square remained thick as the minutes stretched into an hour. Based on the temple bell which was rung twice during that time, he guessed that more than an hour had passed by as they kept waiting, marked only by the occasional cough from an older villager and a muttered curse from the gathered men. Some of the villagers had found places to sit, usually on the ground where they were standing. Tesyb shifted his weight from one foot to the other, anxiety gnawing at him.

    Then, a commotion arose from the edge of the square. Tesyb craned his neck for a better view. A group of villagers parted, revealing a familiar figure - Duvas, the Baron''s majordomo. Flanking him was another guard, a man Tesyb recognized seeing with the baron''s caravan yesterday. This new guard, however, was impossible to miss. Armed with a sword on his back, he was a giant of a man, his heavy boots thudding on the packed earth as he walked. This man was built like an ox, his broad shoulders straining the seams of his leather armor, as his height towered over the villagers. Even Tesyb, known for his stature amongst the miners, paled in comparison.

    The newcomers walked towards the well, the crowd parting easily around them. After a brief conversation with Kerel and the other guard, the giant of a man strode towards the well, his gaze sweeping over the assembled hopefuls with a critical eye. Tesyb felt a tremor of apprehension run through the crowd. This seemed like the new guard captain, and his approval was the key to securing the coveted position of a manor guard.

    The huge man reached the empty bench beside the well and hoisted himself onto it with surprising agility for his size. Finally, the man cleared his throat and addressed the assembled men.

    The huge man''s voice, deep and booming, echoed across the square. "Listen up, all of you!" he commanded. "Hudan''s the name, and I''m the new guard captain of the manor. First things first - make some space here. I need to see each of you properly."

    A hesitant murmur rippled through the crowd. A few men shuffled their feet a little and moved a step back. But most of the men, desperate to be seen as the best candidates, were reluctant to move back.

    But Hudan''s patience seemed to be wearing thin. His brow furrowed, and his voice took on a harsher edge. "Did I stutter? Move back! Create some space in the center. Right now!" he bellowed.

    This time, the message resonated clearly. The raw power in his voice brooked no argument. The crowd slowly shuffled backward, muttering amongst themselves, but a clear space finally opened up in the center of the village square. Tesyb himself had only moved back a small step, resulting in his new position much closer to the front of the crowd, instead of in the middle where he had been standing earlier.

    Hudan grunted in satisfaction. "Alright, that''s better," he rumbled, surveying the newly formed space with a nod of approval.

    "Good. Now, listen closely," he barked. "I''ll be pointing at some of you. Those chosen will step forward. The rest of you - stay back. And remember, one word out of line, one disruption, and the whole damn recruitment is off. Disobeying orders will guarantee that you''re not getting selected, is that understood?"

    A chorus of gruff affirmations echoed through the square. The air crackled with nervous anticipation. Tesyb straightened his back, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The moment of truth had arrived. His future, and the well-being of his family, hung in the balance. He had to be ready to prove his worth to this formidable new guard captain. He even craned his neck upwards to be more visible to Hudan, a nervous tremor running through him.

    Finally, Hudan, the imposing guard captain, began his selection. One by one, he pointed a thick finger at different young men, his gaze lingering on each for a moment before a gruff, "Step forward," echoed across the square. Envy washed over him as each chosen villager, a triumphant grin plastered on their face, stepped into the designated area. Yet, as the number of chosen villagers rose higher, Tesyb''s own smile remained stubbornly absent.

    The minutes ticked by, agonizingly slow. Tesyb remained rooted to the spot, a knot of anxiety tightening in his gut with every passing selection. He kept watching, his heart sinking with each choice that wasn''t Tesyb himself. He was well aware of his own strength, honed years in the mines swinging a pickaxe. Yet, as the number of selected men rose past a dozen, cold sweat began to prickle his skin. Why hadn''t his turn come yet?

    He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze constantly flitting between Hudan''s imposing figure and the dwindling pool of hopefuls. Suddenly, Hudan''s gaze snapped towards him. Tesyb felt a jolt of adrenaline course through him as the captain''s finger pointed directly at him. "Step forward," Hudan rumbled.

    Relief flooded his system, so intense it almost knocked him off balance. With a surge of nervous energy, he pushed his way through the remaining crowd, a wide grin splitting his face. Joining the ranks of the chosen, Tesyb cast a glance around.

    He couldn''t help but notice a pattern. These men weren''t just physically imposing, they exuded a certain fierceness. Many of them, including Tesyb himself, bore the marks of past fights - scars that criss-crossed their faces or adorned their knuckles and arms, each one a testament to a past brawl or skirmish. They held themselves with a different kind of confidence, a predatory glint in their eyes that spoke of experience in the harsher realities of life.

    A frown creased his face. This wasn''t right. Hudan wasn''t picking based on strength or fitness for work, at least not solely. He seemed to be picking based on something else entirely - a past marked by violence, an apparent willingness to get into fights. Or more likely, based on their looks - those who looked like they were already experienced in fights were the ones to be chosen.

    The realization gnawed at him, a bitter taste in his mouth. Was this truly the only way to secure a place as a guard? It seemed absurd, a nonsensical way to choose guards. Surely, strength and skill held more weight than a collection of past brawls. He shook his head. Perhaps the long hours underground had dulled his senses, or maybe the desperation clouding his judgment was playing tricks on him. He pushed the thought aside, focusing on the task at hand.

    Hudan''s selection process continued until nearly twenty men stood before him. Then, to Tesyb''s surprise, the guard captain stepped off the bench and turned to Duvas, the majordomo. They huddled together, their voices dropping to a low murmur. The majordomo, his brow furrowed in concentration, scrutinized the chosen men before murmuring a response back. Tesyb strained to hear what was being said, but only fragments reached him - whispers of "loyalty," "discipline," and a name he couldn''t quite catch.

    Finally, Hudan cleared his throat and addressed the group once more. "Alright, listen up," he boomed, his voice silencing the murmurs that had begun to rise. "This is it for now. Those of you who have been chosen will come back with me to the manor. There, we''ll put your skills to the test. We need men who can fight, who can defend the Baron and his interests. After I see which of you can actually hold your own in a fight, we''ll choose the final twelve who will become the new guards for the Baron."

    What? They had to go through another test now? Tesyb was quite surprised to hear that there would be a further selection process before they became manor guards. He had thought the guard captain had simply decided to recruit more guards than he had claimed earlier.

    Disappointment clouded the faces of many of them, while some even muttered curses. The initial relief of being chosen was replaced with a new wave of uncertainty. A physical test? Even if getting in a brawl in the alehouse was nothing new to them, none of them had ever trained for combat. They were miners, not warriors. But it couldn''t be helped¡­

    Tesyb squared his shoulders, a newfound determination hardening his gaze. This wasn''t over yet. He may have been chosen based on his scars, but he wouldn''t back down without a fight. He had come this far, and he wouldn''t let this opportunity slip through his grasp. Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself for what was to come. The promise of food and warmth for his family outweighed his fear. He would prove himself, even if it meant facing his fellow villagers in combat.

 Chapter 36 - 35. Big Promises

    A low murmur of disappointment rippled through the crowd. The unchosen men, their dreams of a steady income now disappeared, slowly shuffled away, muttering curses under their breath. It could have been him, Tesyb thought. It still could be so, if he didn''t get picked in the final selection.

    But before they could start to disperse, Duvas intervened and halted the guard captain. A short exchange with Hudan followed, and the guard captain gave a nod to the majordomo before addressing the crowd once more, after climbing back on the wooden bench.

    "Hold on, everyone!" he boomed. "There''s more to the announcement. Mr. Duvas was going to tell you about this, but instead, he has asked me to make the other announcements as well."

    A spark of curiosity flickered in the weary eyes of the villagers. Even the women and elders, who had retreated to the fringes of the village square after the initial selection, perked up their ears, eager to hear what else the Baron''s representatives had to say.

    Hudan cleared his throat and continued. "Let me assure you," he declared, "the new Baron, Lord Kivamus, is different from the nobles you''re used to. He doesn''t just see Tiranat as a source of revenue. Lord Kivamus has a genuine interest in the well-being of Tiranat and its people. He envisions a brighter future for this village, a future brimming with opportunity for everyone. He has grand plans for this village, plans that extend far beyond the selection of new guards."

    A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd. Tesyb, along with most others, had grown accustomed to the indifference of the previous Baron. The notion of a leader who actually cared for their plight seemed almost unimaginable to them.

    Hudan continued, his voice taking on a more official tone. "There''s a significant amount of work to be done to realize the Baron''s vision. And that''s where all of you come in. Those who weren''t chosen for guard duty, and anyone in the village willing to put in honest manual labor can report to the manor gates starting tomorrow morning."

    Hudan paused for a moment, letting the meaning of his words sink in. "Lord Kivamus," he proclaimed, his voice ringing out across the square, "has decided to establish farms here in Tiranat itself!"

    Tesyb, along with the rest of the villagers, couldn''t help but stare in astonishment. The previous Baron had been a leech, sucking the village dry without giving a single thought about its well-being. Under his rule, farming had never been allowed here, except for a few meager vegetable patches behind the houses of some villagers, which he probably never noticed. The villagers were forced to rely on overpriced grain from distant traders, putting a constant burden on their meager earnings, just so the previous baron could increase his profits by taxing those traders from Cinran, as well as the local merchants.

    The prospect of growing their own food here, of achieving a measure of self-sufficiency, was a dream they had almost dared not dream. Of course, even then the baron would take his share of the profits and his taxes, but it still would be much better than buying the grain from the traders who charged sky-high prices for it.

    A murmur of excited chatter erupted amongst the villagers. The prospect of work, of a chance to contribute to their own future, was a beacon of hope in their bleak circumstances. Even those who hadn''t been chosen as guards couldn''t hide the smiles spreading across their faces.

    If Lord Kivamus'' plan came to fruition, it would mean a future free from the chokehold of exorbitant food prices. The village could become self-sustaining, and it could become a turning point for Tiranat. A genuine smile stretched across Tesyb''s face as well. He glanced around the square and saw the same flicker of hope reflected in the eyes of his fellow villagers. Perhaps, just perhaps, a brighter future was on the horizon.

    A hush fell over the square once again. Every villager, young and old, able-bodied and not, strained to catch Hudan''s next words.

    Hudan, his gaze sweeping over the attentive faces, continued. His large hand gestured outwards, encompassing the trees that fringed the village. "To make way for these fields," he explained, "we''ll need to clear the land - a lot of it. That means felling trees, clearing the shrubs, and once the land is clear enough, then preparing the soil for planting in the spring."

    A ripple of eager mutterings spread through the crowd. Many of the men, especially those who hadn''t been chosen as guards, straightened their backs, a sense of purpose rekindled in their eyes. The prospect of working on the land, of nurturing crops that would sustain them through harsh winters, held a noticeable allure. But as Hudan held up his hands again to silence the crowd, Tesyb realized he wasn''t finished yet.

    "And that''s not all," the guard captain declared. "Lord Kivamus has also noticed the plight of those who lost their homes in the fire." His gaze swept over the makeshift shelters and the remnants of burnt houses which were easily visible beyond the packed marketplace as a silent acknowledgment of their hardship.

    A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The burnt houses, a constant reminder of their misfortune, now seemed to hold a glimmer of hope for them.

    "So, he''s decided to address that as well," Hudan continued, his voice rising above the murmurs. "The Baron is going to construct new housing for all the homeless villagers! No one in Tiranat will have to face the coming winter without a roof over their heads!"

    A beat of silence followed, before giving way to a thunderous eruption of cheers, a joyous roar that echoed through the village. Relief, disbelief, and pure, unadulterated joy washed over the faces of the villagers. No more nights spent huddled together for warmth, shivering in the unforgiving winds¡­ The thought of a secure roof over their heads brought tears to some eyes and wide smiles across others.

    Tesyb, his heart swelling with cautious hope, couldn''t help but grin as well. A genuine, unrestrained smile stretched across his face for the first time in months. Perhaps, just perhaps, this new Baron would really be different... The prospect of his parents finally having a proper home, a place free from the biting wind and relentless rain, filled him with a hope that had been absent for a long time. But, would it really happen¡­?

    A sliver of doubt remained lodged in Tesyb''s heart. Years of neglect under the previous Baron had instilled a healthy dose of cynicism in him and many of the villagers. They had heard grand pronouncements before, promises that fizzled out like dying embers. And so, he wouldn''t allow himself to get swept away by euphoria just yet. He would only believe Lord Kivamus'' promises when he saw definite action, until his parents had a roof above their heads and the first seeds were sown. Only when these pronouncements transformed into tangible improvements in their lives, would he allow himself to trust the new baron''s words. But for now, at least he had some hope for the future¡­

    Hudan, his hands raised in a placating gesture, waited for the joyous outburst to subside. "There''s a lot of work to be done to achieve all this, as you all can guess," he continued once a semblance of quiet returned. "Winter is approaching fast, and these houses won''t build themselves. We need to move quickly to ensure everyone has a roof over their heads before the harsh weather sets in."

    He looked at the crowd for a moment. "That means there''ll be enough work for just about everyone in the village. Those who can fell trees, those who can haul stone, those who can work on sawing the logs - all your skills will be needed."

    Another wave of cheers echoed through the square, a testament to the renewed spirit that coursed through the villagers. Tesyb looked around at the faces of the villagers, as a sense of camaraderie, a shared purpose, filled the air. They may have been battered by hardship, but their spirits were far from broken.

    The once-despondent crowd thrummed with a newfound energy, a collective determination to seize this opportunity and rebuild their lives. With work to be done, food to be grown, and a roof over their heads, Tiranat might just rise from the ashes of despair. They would face the challenges together, as a village united. And for the first time in months, hope, a fragile yet persistent flame, flickered brightly in the hearts of the people of Tiranat. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan raised his hand to calm down the crowd, and a hush fell back over the square. "As Kerel must have informed you earlier," he began, "there are reasons beyond our control that prevent us from offering coin payment for the work at this time."

    "That''s why," Hudan continued, "the compensation for all laborers - those clearing land for the farms and those assisting with construction, will be similar to what the guards are receiving. Everyone who reports for work tomorrow will be paid a fixed amount of grain and coal every week. This system will continue throughout the winter, and then Lord Kivamus will re-evaluate the situation."

    A collective sigh rippled through the crowd, the disappointment palpable. The promise of grain and coal had initially sparked hope, but it wasn''t coin. Coin meant freedom, the ability to choose what they bought and how they spent it. Grain and coal as payment, while essential, felt restrictive. But at least it was better than starving and freezing in the winter.

    Tesyb exchanged glances with the other selected recruits, a silent conversation passing between them. Becoming a guard, with its inherent dangers, wasn''t the only option anymore. The announcement sparked a quiet conversation amongst the newly selected recruits. Tesyb himself didn''t mind fighting. He had been a big man all his life, and although he had never gotten any formal training to fight, he had had more than his fair share of breaking up brawls in the alehouse when a few miners got too drunk.

    Suddenly, two of the men chosen as guards stepped towards the guard captain, their faces etched with trepidation. One of them, a young man named Finn, addressed Hudan directly. "Sir, if the wages are the same anyway, we would like to work as laborers for clearing land and felling trees instead of becoming a guard. We''d prefer not to risk our lives, now that we know there is another option to feed our families."

    He glanced at the other recruit who had stepped forward with him. "Like him, I have a wife and a young child waiting for me at home, and I''d rather not take the risk of making her a widow already."

    Hudan, his face an impassive mask, acknowledged their request with a nod. "The duty of a guard does carry a higher risk," he rumbled, "which is why they typically receive a higher wage than miners or laborers. To compensate for that risk, even though we are not able to pay you all in coin, the guards will still receive slightly larger portions of grain and coal each week compared to the laborers."

    The announcement had a clear impact. The other hesitant recruit, swayed by the promise of more provisions, seemed to reconsider. He mumbled something under his breath and stepped back into the ranks of the guards-to-be. Finn, however, remained resolute. The thought of risking his life was seemingly not acceptable to him if there were other options to provide for his family. Hudan, with a curt nod of understanding, dismissed him and Finn returned to the crowd surrounding the center of the marketplace.

    Scanning the crowd once more, Hudan addressed a new topic. "We are aware," he boomed, "that some of you have been cultivating vegetable gardens behind your homes, despite the lack of permission from the previous baron."

    A flicker of apprehension ran through the crowd like a nervous breeze. Hudan''s words brought back memories of the iron fist of the previous Baron. Tesyb''s father had also been growing a few vegetables behind their now-damaged house, which had helped them a lot in recent times. Were they now facing punishment for those vegetable gardens?

    Hudan, sensing the shift in mood, quickly interjected. "Hold on now, there''s no need to worry!" he boomed in a reassuring voice. "Lord Kivamus is not going to punish anyone for simply trying to feed their families. He understands the hardships you''ve faced, especially with the recent grain shortage."

    A collective sigh of relief washed over the villagers. Their defiance, born out of necessity, had been tacitly acknowledged, and perhaps even commended.

    Hudan continued, his voice laced with a hint of empathy. "Lord Kivamus sees the value in self-sufficiency. That''s why, starting today, he has lifted all restrictions on vegetable gardens. Every villager is free to cultivate whatever they can behind their houses, and the Baron even encourages you to expand them if possible. The more food you grow, the better!"

    A cheer erupted from the crowd. Nervous glances were replaced by nods of approval and murmurs of gratitude. Women who had nurtured small vegetable patches in the shadows, fearing the Baron''s wrath, now beamed openly.

    "This new policy extends for hunting in the forests as well," Hudan continued. "While the forests belong to Lord Kivamus, he recognizes the village''s desperate need for varied food sources." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

 Chapter 37 - 36. Tesybs Father

    A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. The forest, though technically the Baron''s domain, had always been a source of sustenance for the villagers, even if they had lived under fear of reprisal for hunting without getting any permission for it.

    "Therefore," Hudan continued, his voice ringing with authority, "Lord Kivamus is granting permission for any skilled hunters among you to freely hunt within the forest!" A cheer erupted from the crowd again, this time laced with a newfound sense of empowerment.

    "Now, we all know the dangers that lurk within those woods," Hudan added. "Dangerous beasts roam these forests, along with the ruthless bandits hiding there. To address this, Lord Kivamus has decided to establish organized hunting parties."

    He continued, "We will make small groups of experienced hunters from the village, alongside some of our armed guards. This way, the hunters will have the protection of numbers while bringing back much-needed provisions. There will be more details about these hunting parties announced in the coming weeks."

    The villagers exchanged excited glances. This new Baron, it seemed, wasn''t just offering freedom, he was offering support. Men who had risked venturing into the nearby forest to hunt for rabbits or deer, a practice previously deemed unlawful, now thumped their chests in approval. Working together, with the added protection of guards, they could secure a steady source of meat without succumbing to the dangers that lurked within the woods.

    Tesyb''s gaze drifted towards the fringes of the crowd, where a cluster of older villagers huddled together, their faces etched with quiet despair. He spotted many younger faces as well amidst the crowd - orphans, many of them not even teenagers, their eyes dull with hopelessness that tugged at his heart. These were the marginalized, the forgotten souls of Tiranat. Even amidst the rising tide of optimism, Tesyb knew they would be left behind. The promise of work, of earning grain and coal, did little for those who were too frail or too young to contribute manual labor for food.

    Lord Kivamus'' pronouncements, however generous, seemed to have an invisible fence, one that left these unfortunate souls excluded, as always. If he died while working as a guard in the future, his parents might be sitting amongst them as well. Looking at their faces was even making him have second thoughts about working as a guard.

    But Tesyb forced himself to tear his gaze away, a necessary act of self-preservation. He had his own family to worry about, and his own future to secure. In the future, if he could manage to save enough coin from the higher wages of a guard, he might be able to leave enough savings for his parents for them to survive a little longer, in case he did lose his life while fighting. But Hudan''s next announcement snagged his attention, yanking him back to the present.

    The guard captain raised his hand once more, silencing the enthusiastic chatter of the packed village square.

    "Now, for our final announcement," he declared. "Lord Kivamus understands that not everyone here will be able to answer the call to manual labor tomorrow. The elderly, the children, especially the orphans with no one to care for them - they wouldn''t be able to handle the physical demands of working as a laborer." He paused, letting his words sink in.

    A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. Even the most able-bodied among them acknowledged the plight of the weak.

    "However," Hudan continued, his voice firm but filled with a hint of compassion, "Lord Kivamus will leave no one behind. That''s right. Every single villager, regardless of age or ability, will be looked after."

    A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Was the Baron truly considering everyone? Even those who couldn''t work? This was a promise unlike any they had ever heard from a noble. A promise of compassion, of a society that valued all its members, was unheard of.

    Hudan''s next words brought the square to life. "This announcement," he boomed, his voice ringing with authority, "is for those very villagers. Starting this evening," he elaborated, "a warm meal of porridge or soup will be offered at the manor gates for every child and elder who needs it. In the coming weeks, when we can manage it, we''ll include bread and some meat in the meals as well. We''ll begin with two meals a day, and once our grain stores are replenished in a week, we''ll increase it to three!"

    The announcement was met with a deafening eruption of cheers and shouts that echoed throughout the village. The joy on the faces of the elderly and the orphans was a sight that warmed even the most hardened hearts. The very air vibrated with the villagers'' jubilation as the cheers continued, soon reaching a fever pitch.

    Even the birds perched on the thatched roofs squawked in startled protest before taking flight. A few infants, startled by the sudden uproar, let out wails, but Tesyb barely registered the noise. His heart overflowed with a happiness he hadn''t felt in years. These children, oblivious to the hardships they had just escaped, were truly fortunate to be born under the rule of this new Baron.

    It took a while for the joyous pandemonium to subside, and for the wave of euphoria to recede. Finally, when a semblance of order was restored, Hudan raised a hand for silence.

    "Now, I must be clear," he finally spoke, his voice cutting through the lingering excitement. "Providing for so many mouths is no small feat, especially when there''s no coin coming in to pay for it." He continued, his voice turning serious. "To prevent any misuse of this kindness, these free meals will only be provided to the young children, the elderly who can no longer work, and those with disabilities that prevent them from contributing through manual labor."

    A murmur of understanding rippled through the crowd. The villagers, though basking in the afterglow of Lord Kivamus''s generosity, were also practical. They understood the need for some limitations.

    "So, the rest of you," Hudan boomed, his voice regaining its authoritative edge, "will have to earn your meals. There''s a lot of work to be done in the village, so there will be enough opportunities for everyone in Tiranat to go to sleep on a full belly. Remember, Tiranat''s future hinges on your efforts now." He roared, "Are you ready to rise to the challenge?"

    The air crackled with a newfound energy as a thunderous roar of affirmation echoed through the square. The villagers, their hearts brimming with hope and full of anticipation, were ready. They were ready to work, to fight for a better tomorrow, for themselves, for their families, and for the new future Lord Kivamus had promised them.

    This new Baron was unlike any other they''d ever encountered. The promises made by Lord Kivamus, while not a complete solution to their problems, offered a glimmer of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. With the opportunity to work, grow their own food, and hunt safely, the people of Tiranat began to believe in the possibility of a better tomorrow. They would face the challenges ahead, not as individuals, but as a united community, their spirits bolstered by a newfound sense of purpose and a Baron who, for the first time in their memory, seemed to genuinely care about their well-being.

    The cheers that continued to roar in the marketplace were no longer just a release of tension, but a genuine expression of hope.

    Tesyb scanned the faces around him, and as expected, he didn''t find any of them discouraged at the news of free meals being limited to children and the elderly. These were proud people, their spirits unbroken despite the hardships of recent months. Their eyes, though weary, held a spark of fierce determination - those able to work would undoubtedly pour their hearts into it.

    This unexpected compassion from the new lord in the last announcement instilled a fierce sense of loyalty in the chosen recruits, including Tesyb himself. Free meals to those who couldn''t work meant that the Baron would ensure the well-being of the families of any guards who fell in the line of duty, ensuring they wouldn''t have to resort to begging or stealing to survive. Any lingering doubts in his mind about risking his life as a guard vanished into thin air, and he resolved to do everything in his power to protect Lord Kivamus and his ideals. The new baron didn''t just view the villagers as human beings, he seemed to actually care for them.

    Tesyb wouldn''t be fighting for just himself anymore, he was fighting for the well-being of his loved ones, and for a comfortable future for his family, where the new lord of Tiranat would ensure they wouldn''t go hungry again.

    Finally, Hudan raised his hands, signaling for quiet. "Alright, those were all the major announcements for now," he boomed. "And those of you who''ll be coming for the meals in the evening, don''t forget to bring a bowl if you have it." However, before he could dismiss them, Mr. Duvas, the Baron''s majordomo, leaned in and murmured something to him. Hudan nodded thoughtfully and addressed the crowd once more.

    "There''s one last thing before we depart with the new recruits," he announced. "To start our farming initiative properly, we require a few experienced farmers to guide the process. I understand that most of you have spent your lives toiling in the mines, as farming has never been done here since the village''s founding. However, some of you, particularly the older villagers, might have experience in tending to crops before they moved to Tiranat."

    "Lord Kivamus," Hudan continued, "wishes to meet any villager who has prior farming experience. Once you all return home, spread the word about this. Also, let the village carpenter and the blacksmith know that they are needed at the manor by this evening."

    Hudan surveyed the crowd with a satisfied nod. "Alright, that''s all for today. Remember to spread the word about the free meals for the elderly and children. Let them know they can come to the manor gates in a few hours to receive their evening meals." With a final nod, Hudan stepped off the bench he had been standing on.

    Tesyb''s heart pounded in his chest. He couldn''t let this opportunity slip away. Interrupting Hudan, he blurted out, "Wait, Sir Hudan!"

    Hudan chuckled. "Easy there, I''m not a sir," he said, his gruff voice laced with a hint of amusement. "Call me Hudan."

    Tesyb nodded. He explained, his voice filled with nervous urgency, "You mentioned a need for experienced farmers¡­"

    Hudan nodded in confirmation. "We need all the expertise we can get to get these farms up and running by springtime."

    Tesyb took a deep breath. This was it. "Well, sir¡­ I mean, Hudan," he stammered, correcting himself, "my father, Pinoto, used to work on a farm before he moved here to work in the coal mines. I was just a young child then, but I remember him talking about it often. He has decades of experience in farming, easy." He continued, "He wouldn''t be able to handle farm work anymore, but he could certainly assist Lord Kivamus with his past knowledge."

    A slow smile spread across Duvas'' face. "That''s right! In fact, I think I remember Pinoto telling me about that, many years ago." He looked at Tesyb. "The Baron is eager to meet anyone with experience like his. Why don''t you run home right quick and tell your father about this? You can ask him to come to the manor by evening."

    "And you," Hudan said, "don''t worry about being late. We won''t begin the final selection of the guards until you return."

    Tesyb''s heart swelled with gratitude. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, a wide grin splitting his face. "I won''t be long." sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Turning to the newly selected recruits, Hudan bellowed, "The rest of you, follow me to the manor now!"

    A wave of nervous excitement washed over the chosen men. Today marked a turning point not just for their village, but for their own lives. They straightened their backs, and with a heart brimming with loyalty, they followed Hudan, eager to face the final test and claim their places among the protectors of this village.

    The crowd began to disperse as well, a hive of activity buzzing with renewed purpose. The prospect of work, food security, and a caring new Baron filled the air with a tangible sense of optimism as they turned to walk to their homes.

    Tesyb darted through the dispersing crowd, his legs pumping with renewed energy. But the image of his parents, gaunt and dejected, haunted him. He couldn''t bear to see them wasting away any longer. It wasn''t just about the food, it was about giving his father a sense of purpose, a way to reclaim a part of his lost life and feel useful again. His father''s knowledge of farming, gleaned from years of toil on the land, could be his saving grace. He yearned to see the spark return to his parents eyes, to replace the dejection that had settled there in recent months.

    Tesyb vividly recalled the stories his father used to tell him and his sister when they were young, stories of life on a farming estate in the north - of their life before the land owner said he couldn''t afford to pay them anymore, forcing them to move to Tiranat. Now, perhaps, his father could relive those memories, not just through stories, but through active participation. He couldn''t wait to share this news, to see a flicker of hope rekindle in their eyes.

    He also harbored a secret hope - that his father''s experience might pave the way for a better life for their whole family. Perhaps, with his father''s guidance and the Baron''s support, they could even own a small plot of land someday, a place of their own to cultivate and call home. He quickened his pace, his heart brimming with a newfound determination to seize this opportunity and carve a brighter future for himself and his loved ones.

 Chapter 38 - 37. Taniok

    The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the manor hall as Kivamus Ralokaar, the new Baron of Tiranat, sat deep in conversation with Gorsazo and Duvas. Clarisa, having declared herself fully recovered earlier, had returned to the servant''s hall, while Lucem perched nearby as a silent observer of the discussions. Hudan, having ushered the new guard recruits inside the manor, had come there earlier to report that he was going to begin the final selection process for a dozen new guards in the training grounds located in the southeastern part of the manor, with the help of Feroy.

    A sound of chairs being dragged drew Kivamus'' attention. Syryne and Madam Helga, their previous conversation concluded, rose from their seats. Madam Helga, her voice carrying a hint of purpose, addressed the Baron. "My Lord," she began, "we are going to speak with Madam Nerida about the vegetable patches she and the other maids have been tending here. During our recent years living at the inn, Syryne and I had also cultivated a vegetable garden there to add variety to our otherwise monotonous meals. Since we have experience in it as well, we were thinking about further expanding the vegetable garden within the manor walls."

    A thoughtful smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "That''s a good idea. In these times, any effort that increases our food supply is most welcome."

    Helga inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Indeed, my Lord. While the grain stores will likely be replenished in the coming weeks, incorporating a variety of vegetables into our diet is essential for good health. However," she continued, her voice taking on a thoughtful tone, "from what I''ve gathered, while the snowfall here isn''t as prolonged as in Reslinor''s northern regions, it can be quite heavy during that one month. Any attempt at cultivating vegetables during that time would be wasted."

    Helga pressed on. "That being said, I want to begin planning and preparing the most suitable locations within the manor walls - those spots which get the most sunlight and aren''t under the shadow of any buildings here. This way, we can begin planting as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws."

    Kivamus listened intently to Madam Helga''s proposal, the mention of winter vegetable production sparking a memory from his past life on Earth. Greenhouses. Those ingenious structures that defied the seasons, creating pockets of warmth where even the most delicate plants could thrive. It was a tempting solution, yet it was utterly impractical in their current situation. Plastic, the cornerstone of modern greenhouses, was an alien concept in this place.

    And even glass, from what he recalled from the original Kivamus''s memories, was a luxury reserved for the nobility. While the Ulriga Palace boasted glass bottles and window panes, such extravagance was rarely seen outside the confines of noble houses. He winced as a memory surfaced - the original Kivamus'' unrestrained wine consumption in the exorbitantly priced glass bottles on his journey here. The cost of those bottles, far higher than the commoner''s ale stored in wooden barrels, had eaten away at his savings. Even the other refined liquors were kept in ceramic containers, which also acted as a symbol of status for the wealthy landowners, merchants, and even minor nobles.

    And even if they could purchase enough glass for a greenhouse, its quality wouldn''t be good enough. The glass found here was cloudy and riddled with imperfections, filtering out precious sunlight and diminishing the greenhouse''s effectiveness. Kivamus shook his head, dispelling the daydream. Dwelling on it wouldn''t solve their current problem.

    He turned his attention back to Madam Helga. "It''s a good idea. We must take advantage of every available resource to survive in this place. And we have more than enough space within the manor walls for that." He continued, "Once you''ve concluded your discussion with Madam Nerida, tell her that I want to talk to her."

    Helga nodded. "Of course, my Lord." She and Syryne then exited the hall, leaving Kivamus with Gorsazo and Duvas.

    The silence was broken by the creaking of the heavy oak door as a guard entered. After a swift bow, he announced, "My Lord, Taniok, the carpenter, has arrived as requested."

    Kivamus gave a curt nod. "Show him in."

    The guard gestured for the carpenter to enter. Taniok, a balding man with a weathered face that spoke of nearly four decades of life, stepped into the room. He wore a simple, worn tunic, the fabric a mixture of fading brown and gray. He bowed low, his face etched with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity.

    "You called for me, my Lord?" he rasped, his voice roughened by years of labor.

    Kivamus gestured towards a nearby chair. "Indeed, Taniok. Take a seat."

    Taniok shifted uncomfortably, looking surprised by the Baron''s insistence on offering him a chair. "There is no need for such courtesy, my Lord," he said. "I am fine standing here."

    Kivamus stifled a sigh. The ingrained social hierarchy of this world was proving to be a headache at times. He understood that commoners weren''t accustomed to sitting in the presence of nobility, and yet, the idea of conversing with the carpenter while craning his neck upwards the whole time felt impractical as well.

    "Just take a seat, Taniok," he insisted. "It will be a much easier conversation that way."

    Taniok hesitated for a moment, his calloused fingers nervously twisting the hem of his tunic. Finally, with a hesitant nod, he lowered himself onto the chair near Kivamus and the others gathered by the fireplace. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the unaccustomed plushness making him feel even more out of place. Despite the Baron''s insistence, it seemed sitting in the presence of nobility still felt wrong to him.

    He cleared his throat. "So, my Lord," he began, "what can I do for you?"

    Kivamus leaned forward, his brows furrowed. "Firstly," he began, "tell me, are you the only carpenter in Tiranat?"

    Taniok nodded. "Aye, my Lord. There simply isn''t enough work here to sustain more than one carpenter. There''s a young lad, around twenty years old, who helps me out sometimes as an apprentice when the workload gets heavy. But for the most part, it''s just me."

    Kivamus nodded thoughtfully. "I see," he murmured. "Now, as you know," he continued, his voice turning serious, "a lot of the villagers currently lack a proper shelter. My goal is to provide them with a roof over their heads before the harsh winter sets in."

    Taniok''s brow furrowed. He interjected before Kivamus could elaborate further. "But my Lord," he said, his voice laced with concern, "with snowfall barely a month away, there simply isn''t enough time for that. Building new houses for all of the homeless villagers¡­" he trailed off. "We''d need at least a dozen new houses at least, and that''s just not feasible within this timeframe."

    Kivamus held up a placating hand. "I understand that, Taniok. That''s precisely why I''m proposing an alternative approach. Instead of building individual houses for each family, I am planning to build a communal dwelling - a longhouse, or perhaps even two of them."

    A frown etched itself onto Taniok''s face. "A longhouse, my Lord? Forgive my ignorance, but I''m not familiar with that term."

    Kivamus smiled patiently. "Ah, it''s a type of dwelling, quite common in some cultures. Have you seen the large, rectangular barns located within the manor walls?"

    "Indeed, my Lord," Taniok admitted, a hint of pride creeping into his voice. "Most of the manor buildings, including the barns you mentioned, are the work of my hands." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "So, you''re suggesting using... barns... to house the villagers?"

    Kivamus chuckled. "Not exactly, Taniok. While a longhouse shares many similarities with a barn, it wouldn''t be quite as tall. Imagine an elongated version of the barns, perhaps three meters high and stretching out for twenty-five meters or so, with a width of around five or six meters."

    Looking at the slightly confused face of the carpenter, Kivamus extended his arms and explained, "A meter is roughly this long. It''s just a bit longer than a yard. I tend to think in terms of meters because that is what was used in the books I read." Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Taniok leaned forward, his interest piqued. "I see," he murmured, nodding in encouragement for the Baron to continue.

    "The walls would be constructed using wooden planks, similar to the barns," Kivamus began, "but the interior layout would be quite different. Here''s the key part - we''d build bunk beds along both sides of the longhouse, one stacked on top of the other. This way, each two-meter section would have four bunks, and the entire longhouse, with its twenty-five-meter length, could accommodate twelve bunks on each side. That means forty-eight people would have a place to sleep comfortably in a single longhouse of that size."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, observing Taniok''s expression. "While I am giving a general idea, you are the expert in this. What are your thoughts on this?"

    Taniok furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on a spot in the distance as he processed the idea. After a moment''s thought, he offered a slow, deliberate nod. "It''s feasible, my Lord," he admitted. "The concept is sound. Building even a single longhouse before the snowfall wouldn''t be easy, but with sufficient materials and a team of capable workers assisting me, I believe it''s achievable."

    He paused, then added, "You mentioned building two of these structures, my Lord?"

    Kivamus confirmed his statement with another nod. "According to our estimates," he explained, "close to a hundred villagers currently lack proper shelter. This includes the homeless, orphans, and those who lost their homes during the bandit raid."

    "That number sounds about right," Taniok acknowledged. "And where do you want to make these longhouses, my Lord?

    "Regarding that," Kivamus continued, "you might have heard the announcements made in the village earlier today."

    Taniok dipped his head in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord. And I must confess, I wasn''t expecting half of what I heard. The villagers will be incredibly grateful for your initiatives." He paused for a moment, then continued, "The guard captain also mentioned plans to clear the forest surrounding the village. That would undoubtedly provide a plentiful supply of logs for construction. Does that mean you plan to build the longhouses in these newly cleared areas, instead of within the village?"

    Kivamus nodded decisively. "Indeed," he declared. "It would be difficult to find enough empty space within the village right now to build the longhouses. And we''ll be clearing a significant area of the forest anyway. My aim is to create enough cleared land to begin farming there in the spring. Also, for added security, we''ll be clearing roughly five hundred paces of space encircling the entire village."

    He gestured expansively. "This way, we''ll have an abundance of space and timber for constructing the longhouses."

    "Space certainly won''t be an issue, my Lord," Taniok acknowledged. He paused for a moment, a contemplative crease forming on his brow. "However, the eastern side wouldn''t be a suitable location for the longhouses. The terrain there becomes quite hilly as you move further in that direction."

    Kivamus acknowledged this with a curt nod. "Precisely. And since there''s a stream flowing southeast of the village, I am planning to designate the entire southern region for agricultural purposes. That leaves us with the western and northern regions of the village. So, I''m thinking of building longhouses in the north."

    Taniok considered it for a moment before replying. "Either of those directions would be fine, my Lord."

    Gorsazo, who had been silently following the conversation, interjected. "But wouldn''t that delay starting the construction until the forest in those areas has been cleared?"

    "That it would," Taniok conceded. "However, preparations for building longhouses will take time as well, since we''ll need to saw the logs into planks before we can start the construction. So, once the trees start coming down, and there is a steady supply of logs coming in, I can begin preparing the planks and stockpiling them. That way, as soon as enough space is cleared, we''ll have a ready supply of lumber and planks for rapid construction of the longhouses."

    Duvas chimed in, "Of course, that means, we''ll have to begin clearing the forests in the north before we do it in the other regions. Since winter is not far away now, it means building longhouses has to be a higher priority than the farms, for which we have until spring to prepare the land."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly." He thought for a moment, before adding, "But if we just had a watermill here, like I saw outside Cinran on the Kal River, it would make sawing the logs much easier and faster as well."

    Taniok added, "Indeed, my Lord. But there was never any need for a watermill in Tiranat, since there is a very low demand for new planks here. Mostly I do repair work here in Tiranat, which I can easily do manually. This is the first time since the founding of the village that so many large-scale projects are being started together, including the longhouses, new farms, and clearing the forests."

    "Hmm¡­" Kivamus looked at Duvas. "You mentioned that stream in the southeast, near the hills. How big is it? Can''t we make a watermill there?"

 Chapter 39 - 38. Saws, Nails and Axes

    Map of southern Reslinor:

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my lord. It''s only a small stream, not a river. It would be enough for irrigating the farms, but it''s neither deep enough nor fast enough to install a watermill there."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "Of course, with the vast forests surrounding us, the wind speed wouldn''t be high enough here to make a windmill either - unless we make it much higher than the towering trees surrounding the village, which is not practical anyway."

    Although if he could make even a basic steam engine here, it would allow them to have a continuous source of power, for sawing and so many other purposes. He could draw up the blueprint for that easily enough, but he didn''t even know the level of metalworking in this place, and whether the blacksmith would be able to create the required components in a good enough quality. He''d have to add it to his growing list of things that he needed to find out before he could try to invent something new here. For now, he had to focus on the current situation.

    Taniok leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a respectful tone. "If I may offer a suggestion, my Lord, I''d recommend focusing on completing only one longhouse first. This way, we can ensure that at least one longhouse is fully completed before winter arrives, rather than having two partially finished structures."

    Kivamus''s lips curved into a smile. "That aligns perfectly with my thinking, Taniok," he replied. "Even a single completed longhouse before the snowfall would provide much-needed shelter for the homeless villagers, even if it might be a bit crowded and uncomfortable."

    He straightened in his chair, his gaze turning serious. "As you''re aware, the road to Cinran, our primary source for external supplies, will be impassable soon. Therefore, any materials we need to acquire from outside the village must be brought in before that happens."

    "I have a merchant who''s leaving for Cinran tomorrow," he continued. "I can give him a list to purchase whatever supplies are necessary for building the longhouses. While I''ll try to source as much as possible locally, to help the local craftsmen and smiths as well as to save our limited coin, there might be specific items we''ll still need to purchase from Cinran."

    Taniok nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he said. "There will be no shortage of logs here, that much is certain. However, I currently possess only two saws and my workload in the coming weeks would be many times of what''s usual. So if the saws break or become unusable during the project, I''ll be unable to continue sawing logs into planks. So, adding a few more saws to the purchasing list would be incredibly helpful. And of course, with the sheer number of trees you''re planning to cut down, a significant number of axes will be required as well."

    He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the previous baron was never interested in providing work to the locals. He preferred buying everything from traders coming from Cinran, so that he could levy more taxes and duties on them to raise his profits. However, you, my Lord, have said that you will prefer the local craftsmen for this, so I thank you for that."

    Taniok added, "Regarding that, I''ll have to add that the village blacksmith, Cedoron, is a good lad, and he can make all of those things easily. However, it would be difficult for him to supply a large quantity of saws and axes, since he works without an apprentice. But I''ll still suggest asking him first, my Lord, so that he can tell you how much of it he will be able to supply himself. And for the rest, you can add it to the purchasing list you''ll be giving to the merchant tomorrow."

    Duvas scribbled the list of items onto a piece of parchment, his brow furrowed in concentration. He added, "Indeed, in the earlier announcement in the village, I had asked the villagers to let Cedoron know that the baron wants to talk to him. We were already planning to speak to him later this evening about that."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Well, carry on. What else will you need?"

    Taniok gave a nod. "Now, regarding the construction itself," he continued, "while the beams for the longhouse frame can be connected using traditional wooden pegs and joints, acquiring a good stock of iron nails would significantly improve the construction speed when it comes to attaching the planks."

    Kivamus listened intently, absorbing the carpenter''s insights. "That''s true," he acknowledged with a nod. "Please, continue."

    Emboldened by the Baron''s encouragement, Taniok elaborated. "Typically, for structures solely used for storage, a single layer of planks for the walls is enough. However, since these longhouses will be housing people, I recommend using two layers of planks with a small gap between them for better insulation and overall sturdiness, like this manor house. Iron nails would not only simplify the process of securing these two layers but would also considerably speed up construction."

    Duvas chimed in with a thoughtful observation. "But wouldn''t that require a substantial quantity of iron nails?" Looking at Kivamus, he added, "They aren''t cheap, my Lord, and for buying that many iron nails, the cost would be significant."

    Taniok acknowledged the concern with a grimace. "There''s no denying they won''t be cheap, my Lord," he conceded. "But using iron nails would save a considerable amount of time that would otherwise be spent crafting a vast number of wooden nails, which is the traditional binding method. Especially considering I''m the only one in Tiranat skilled in crafting them."

    He leaned forward slightly, his voice turning serious. "While wooden pegs and nails are certainly an option, they simply wouldn''t be feasible given the time constraints of completing the longhouses before the harsh winter arrives. Usually, I would resort to using only wooden nails, but there just aren''t enough hours in the day for me to craft enough of them on my own, while I''m constructing the longhouses at the same time." He added after a moment, "And my apprentice is simply not skilled enough yet to make them."

    Taking a moment to think about it, Kivamus added, "But can''t we buy wooden nails from Cinran then? That has to be cheaper than buying iron nails."

    Taniok shook his head slowly. "That is just not an option, my Lord. No carpenter worth his salt would keep a big enough stock of wooden nails for our purposes, since in this climate they don''t last long enough to be usable after some time of crafting them. In nearly all cases, they are produced as needed, at the same time as constructing any wooden building. And that system works fine, since the carpenters don''t usually have to work under a strict time constraint like us." S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded, his expression grim. He was painfully aware that every additional expense would further deplete their already limited funds. However, the reality was that with only a single carpenter and his apprentice at their disposal, they needed every advantage to speed up construction and ensure the villagers wouldn''t be left to face the harsh winter elements without proper shelter.

    "While I can''t guarantee a surplus of iron nails just yet," he admitted, "acquiring them for your supplies will be a priority. Now, is there anything else you anticipate needing, Taniok?"

    Taniok added, "Nothing much, my Lord. Maybe a few hammers and some iron hinges¡­ and a small number of other things like that. But Cedoron should be able to supply those easily." He pondered for a moment, his calloused finger tapping his chin thoughtfully. "With the materials I''ve mentioned so far," he finally said, "we should be able to construct the outer structure of the longhouses."

    Kivamus raised an eyebrow. "The outer structure? But that does include the floor as well, right?"

    Taniok chuckled softly. "Well, my Lord," he began, "most dwellings in Tiranat, including the barns you mentioned, have nothing more than simple dirt floors. However, some of the finer houses in the village, like this manor house itself, utilize wooden planks to create a more stable and comfortable floor."

    He cleared his throat and continued, "But I purposely left that detail out, my Lord, because as you rightly pointed out, our immediate priority is to complete the structure itself before winter arrives."

    Kivamus nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Indeed, that takes precedence," he acknowledged. "However, once the walls and the roof are completed, putting wooden planks on the floor as well would be better than just using the dirt as floor. Since we''re prioritizing the completion of a single longhouse initially, it means we''ll likely house a lot more people in it than its intended capacity, at least until the second one is built. During that time, having a wooden floor would make sleeping on the ground more bearable in the cold, otherwise there would be fights for places on the bunks we''ll be constructing along the sides."

    Taniok absorbed this information with a curt nod. "Of course, my Lord," he replied. "I''ll add a wooden floor into the plan, to be put in place once the main structure is completed."

    Gorsazo added after a moment, "There is a simple solution to prevent any argument over the sleeping arrangements, my Lord. We can house the children, the women, and the elderly on the bunks, which will be much more comfortable and warmer than the floor, while the adult men can sleep on the floor initially. Since they are the ones most likely to get in fights for places on the bunks, making it a rule that until the second longhouse is completed, they will only sleep on the floor would easily prevent any fights. Of course, having a wooden floor would make it much easier to convince them, compared to making them sleep on the dirt in the winter."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus commented. "We''ll do that."

    All this talk of constructing a building, made Kivamus reminisce about a commonplace building material back on Earth - concrete. But here, in this world, there were no vast cement factories churning out the versatile material. But in the future, once Tiranat''s situation had stabilized, and the basic needs of its people were met, he''d have to seriously consider it.

    Truthfully, he wasn''t even sure if he would be able to get all the materials for producing cement here, but the possibility of manufacturing concrete was an exciting one. Not only would it provide a superior building material for houses, but if he could produce it in a large enough quantity, it could even pave the way for the construction of a tall, fortified concrete wall around the village, a feat that would make Tiranat one of the most secure settlements outside of a castle. Those were dreams for the future, however. The present dire situation of the village demanded his full attention for now.

    "Alright, Taniok," Kivamus said, addressing the carpenter, "discuss your estimates with Duvas and provide him with your best calculations for the quantity of nails and any other materials required for constructing the two longhouses before you leave. Later we''ll assess the capabilities of the village artisans and smith to see how much they can realistically produce and how much we''ll need to buy from Cinran. And of course, you should report to Duvas tomorrow along with your apprentice, so you can start sawing the logs from the trees tomorrow itself."

    Taniok gave a respectful nod. "Of course, my Lord."

    He then turned his gaze towards Gorsazo. "Come on," he beckoned, rising from his chair. "Let''s take a look outside."

    Gorsazo rose promptly. "As you wish, my Lord," he replied.

    With that, Kivamus and Gorsazo exited the manor hall, leaving Taniok and Duvas to delve into the specifics of the required materials and their costs for constructing the longhouses.

    The late afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the exterior of the manor house, its rays slanting low in the western sky. The hustle and bustle of activity that had filled the air earlier had calmed down. The last of the grain sacks had been meticulously transferred to the storage barns, and the six wagons stood fully loaded with coal, ready for their journey to Cinran. A seventh wagon, its undercarriage damaged and deemed unfit for cargo, stood behind the rest. Though unable to carry a load, it would still be pulled to Cinran for repairs.

    Kivamus scanned the manor grounds, searching for Pydas. Not finding him, he turned to a nearby maid, his brow furrowed in inquiry. "Have you seen Pydas?"

    The maid, a young woman with bright eyes and a respectful demeanor, curtsied slightly. "He left for the village a short while ago, my Lord," she replied.

    "I told him to speak with me before departing," Kivamus muttered.

    "He did say that he would be back within an hour, my Lord," the maid added.

    Kivamus dismissed the maid with a curt nod. He decided to set off on a tour of the manor grounds, casting an observant eye over the ongoing tasks. Once he started walking, a distant clamor of yelling and cheers drew his attention towards the southeast. Curiosity piqued, he followed the sound, his steps quickening. As he rounded the corner of the manor house, a cacophony of shouts and the rhythmic clash of wood on wood reached his ears.

    There, in the designated training area near the grain storage barns, right next to the walls in the southeastern corner of the manor, he came upon the group of potential guards Hudan had brought in from the village. Most of them bore the marks of hard labor - threadbare tunics and patched trousers, their attire a testament to their simple but difficult lives. A few off duty guards were standing there as well, keeping an eye on the recruits.

    They were gathered in a loose circle, their rapt attention focused on two figures in the center - their fellow recruits locked in a mock duel. The combatants, armed with wooden swords and shields, were locked in a fierce struggle, their movements reflecting an intense determination to overpower their opponent. Despite the cool afternoon air, sweat beaded on their brows as they parried and lunged, their bodies straining with the effort.

    Hudan stood amidst the watchful onlookers, his keen eyes dissecting their every move. He barked out instructions, correcting their stances and offering pointers on how to improve their technique. Kivamus observed Hudan''s animated gestures, his own lips curling into a faint smile. It was reassuring to see the former knight-trainee putting his experience to good use.

    Beyond the impromptu dueling ring, another training and testing session was underway. Looking further along the eastern palisade wall, Kivamus spotted Feroy and another guard overseeing a smaller group of villagers holding bows and arrows. The makeshift targets - straw figures designed to resemble humans - stood propped up at varying distances in front of the walls. These recruits were taking aim one by one at the straw targets, their bows taut and their eyes narrowed in focus.

 Chapter 40 - 39. Training Grounds

    Kivamus winced as one arrow flew wildly off course, embedding itself harmlessly into the manor wall behind the targets. Another villager, a man of lean build and wiry frame, let out a triumphant yell as his arrow found its mark, striking the target squarely in the straw-stuffed head. Feroy acknowledged the successful shot with a hearty clap on the young man''s back, although they were too far away from Kivamus for him to hear their words.

    A satisfied smile touched Kivamus''s lips. It seemed the testing was yielding positive results already, and they would get at least a few effective guards from these villagers. With focused training and dedicated instructors like Hudan and Feroy, these raw recruits had the potential to become capable guards, bolstering Tiranat''s defenses.

    Of course, if only he could get access to a few firearms, most of this training would become a moot point. Even untrained villagers, including the women and the older men, would be able to wield guns easily without much training, and they could successfully repel any bandit raid in the future. But that would come later. Before anything else, he had to secure the basic necessities of food and shelter for the villagers.

    Kivamus watched as the mock duel between the two fighters within the circle reached its climax. Their wooden swords met again with a resounding thunk, but this time, the exchange ended less favorably for one of them. Losing his grip on the wooden sword, one of the fighters stumbled back and landed with a thud in the dusty ground. His opponent, flushed with victory, raised his own wooden sword and shield with a triumphant roar, as the collapsed villager slowly got up again while dusting his trousers.

    The victor, however, enjoyed his glory only for a brief moment before Hudan''s booming voice cut through the air, shattering the illusion of a real fight. "Not like that!" Hudan roared at the disarmed fighter who had picked up his wooden sword again. "You''re holding the sword too loosely, again! I could disarm you with a single hand and a twig!"

    He pivoted his attention to the victor, his growl deepening. "And you! That''s a sword, not a pickaxe! Stop trying to hit from the top every single time. It''ll only take a second for someone to slash you sideways and cut you in half!"

    Suddenly aware of Kivamus observing the spectacle, Hudan redirected his gaze towards the Baron. He offered a brief apologetic nod before bellowing at the two sparring villagers. "Start again! And Kerel," he barked, directing his attention to the grizzled guard with a mane of iron-gray hair, "keep an eye on them. I''ll be back in a minute."

    With that, he strode purposefully towards Kivamus and Gorsazo, his frustration simmering just beneath the surface.

    "How''s it going?" Kivamus inquired, his voice calm and steady.

    Hudan shook his head slowly, a sigh escaping his lips. "Not great, my Lord," he admitted. "While a handful of them show some natural talent for combat, the rest are practically useless in a fight right now."

    He paused for a moment. "At least Feroy seems to have discovered a decent archer among them. I''ll be sending him with the caravan tomorrow, just in case they encounter any bandits on the road." He pointed towards the wiry villager who had once again found his mark, the arrow lodged firmly in the center of the straw target''s chest. "In an ambush," Hudan explained, "that guy, Yufim, could potentially take out one or two bandits before they even reach the wagons." He sighed, "But the majority of these new recruits would be lucky to last a minute against a serious attack."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "There''s always a learning curve," he replied. "We wouldn''t expect them to become knights overnight."

    He cast a scrutinizing gaze over the group of recruits, noting their calloused hands and scarred physiques that spoke of a life filled with hardship. He commented, "But I have to say, Hudan, you''ve selected well for our purposes tomorrow. Even if they don''t yet know how to fight well, at first glance it would be difficult for anyone to tell if they are seasoned veterans or new recruits, especially when they are outfitted with leather armor and real swords."

    Lowering his voice to a whisper, Kivamus took a quick glance around to ensure that other than Gorsazo, no one else was within earshot. "Remember," he said, "we need half a dozen of them ready to leave by daybreak tomorrow. So after you send the extra men back to the village - anyone beyond the twelve we need, have these new guards test-fit the armor and weapons we retrieved from the bandits near Helga''s Inn, tonight itself.

    Hudan nodded. "Don''t worry, my Lord," he assured Kivamus, "I''ll get them outfitted later today. And by tomorrow morning, we''ll have twelve well-equipped guards including Feroy, ready to escort the caravan."

    He continued, elaborating on his plan, "And as you mentioned earlier, I''ll assign the remaining recruits to night watch duty at the gates starting tonight, each recruit paired with a trained guard." He pointed towards the eastern gates of the manor, where two guards were standing next to the gate. "Currently, both the gates of the manor are manned by two guards at all times, but half of our trained men will go with the caravan tomorrow. So by putting one new recruit along with each trained guard, the gates will still appear well-manned from the outside, even if it would only be a facade right now. This will also give our five trained guards a much-needed night of rest, instead of them carrying out the night shift at the gates as well before they leave tomorrow."

    He added, "Of course, the villagers will indeed realize that the new guards were mining coal a while ago, and are not trained, but we only need to present this facade to any scouts of the bandits who might be watching from the forests. Hopefully, within a week or two, I will have whipped them into a good enough shape that they will be able to hold their own in a fight."

    A satisfied smile touched Kivamus''s lips. "And to ensure these men would be loyal to us, I presume you''ve already vetted these men with Duvas?"

    Hudan nodded. "Indeed, my Lord. Mr Duvas has known most of these men for at least a decade. They''re trustworthy folk."

    Kivamus considered this for a moment. "Speaking of guards," he said, "I''ve noticed that none of them, even those on duty, seem to be wearing any metal armor or even helmets."

    Hudan offered a slow nod. "That''s true, my Lord. Unfortunately, we simply don''t have any iron armor or helmets here at the manor. Such equipment comes at a hefty price, and typically only knights can afford it. And based on what I''ve gathered, the previous Baron only had a single retired knight in his retinue, and he died during that ambush along with the baron himself."

    He continued, "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the previous baron was not known as a miser for nothing. If he had spent a little more money on equipping his guards, he might not be dead today." He gave a shrug. "But who am I to say that, maybe he really didn''t have enough money to afford it."

    A shadow of concern flickered across Kivamus''s face as the reality of their limited resources settled in. This was indeed one of the poorest baronies in the duchy, if not in the whole kingdom, where the previous baron only had a single retired knight to defend him. He added, "So, for now, the best we can equip our guards with is just leather armor?"

    Hudan nodded slowly. "That''s the current reality of the manor, my lord."

    Kivamus absorbed this information, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "I see," he murmured, acknowledging the limitations. "Well, carry on with your training and selections then," he finally said.

    Hudan acknowledged the order with another nod and jogged back towards the area where the mock fights were taking place.

    Kivamus turned to Gorsazo, a question hanging heavy in the air. "What do you think?" he asked. "Will our gamble with these new recruits pay off?"

    Gorsazo studied the recruits for a moment, their movements reflecting a mix of raw determination and clumsy technique. He then met Kivamus''s gaze, his own expression solemn. "I hope so, my Lord," he finally replied, his voice heavy with uncertainty. "I truly hope so. But only time will tell."

    After observing the training exercises for a few more minutes, Kivamus decided to resume his tour of the manor grounds. As he rounded a corner, he spotted Madam Nerida approaching him.

    "You asked for me, my Lord?" she inquired upon reaching him.

    "Indeed," Kivamus confirmed. "I have new instructions regarding the meals you make. From tonight, I want you to significantly increase the quantity of food prepared." He continued, "Starting tonight, we''ll be providing meals twice a day for all the elderly and children living in the village. Once our grain reserves are replenished, we will increase that to three meals a day." He gestured towards the manor house. "You can talk with Duvas to get a more accurate headcount for preparing the meals."

    He paused for a moment, then continued, "As you may have heard, starting tomorrow, we''ll be compensating both the new guards and the manual laborers with grain instead of coin. You''ll need to allocate a suitable amount for each individual, enough to sustain their families for a full week, since we will be providing a weekly payment of grain rations to them." He added, "Now, for those chosen as guards, I want you to allocate a quarter more grain than what the manual workers will receive."

    Nerida''s brow furrowed slightly. "My Lord," she began cautiously, "even with the recent grain purchase, our remaining stock can''t sustain this level of increased consumption for long."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ve already made arrangements to acquire a fresh supply of grain within the week."

    Nerida absorbed the information with a firm nod. "Understood, my Lord," she finally replied. "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I must begin preparations immediately if we''re to have enough food for everyone tonight."

    "Of course, Madam Nerida," Kivamus said with a nod. "Carry on with your duties."

    With a final nod of respect, Nerida hurried off towards the kitchens. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A guard, his posture stiff and formal, approached Kivamus, ushering forward a man whose powerful build demanded attention. While not quite as massive as Hudan, the newcomer''s broad shoulders and bulging muscles still rivaled the guard captain''s physique.

    The man, his strides purposeful, stopped before Kivamus and dipped his head in a respectful bow. "Cedoron at your service, my Lord," he rumbled. "I take care of all the welding and blacksmithing work in Tiranat."

    Kivamus returned the greeting with a nod, his gaze appraising the blacksmith. "Cedoron," he began, "I have a few things I''d like to commission, and your skills are exactly what I need for them."

    Cedoron''s face, etched with the lines of a life spent wrestling with fire and metal, lit up with a mix of relief and eagerness. "New orders would be very welcome, my Lord," he admitted. "Work''s been scarce for me ever since the mines shut down."

    Kivamus began, "As you may have heard from the village announcements, I''m aiming to clear a part of the surrounding forests to make way for farmland, for which I''ll need a lot of axes. I''m also planning to construct a couple of large longhouses, which is a type of communal housing, before the harsh winter arrives, along with a few other projects I have in mind." He paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in.

    He continued, "While I''ll send you to speak with Duvas, the majordomo, to determine the exact quantities needed, here''s a rough estimate. I''ll need around two dozen axes, along with a few hammers. Maybe a dozen machetes as well. And of course, a substantial amount of iron nails and some hinges for doors, along with various other odds and ends."

    A frown creased Cedoron''s brow as he interrupted. "Forgive my ignorance, my Lord," he said, scratching his head, "but what exactly is a machete?"

    Kivamus pondered for a moment, searching for a way to explain the unfamiliar tool. "Hmm, it''s like a small sword," he began, tracing a shape in the air with his hands. "But unlike a sword, it''s usually a little curved and used for clearing away smaller branches from trees and shrubs."

    A spark of recognition ignited in Cedoron''s eyes. "Ah, I believe I understand what you mean. It''s something similar to a cutlass, then?"

    Kivamus raised an eyebrow, surprised by the blacksmith''s knowledge. "A cutlass? Like the ones pirates use?"

 Chapter 41 - 40. Ulrigan Smithies

    Cedoron chuckled, a deep rumble that seemed to emanate from his very core. "Not just pirates, my Lord," he clarified, "they''re quite common among sailors in general. But yes, I see your point. For clearing small branches, they would certainly be effective. I can definitely craft those for you."

    "That''s good," Kivamus said. He continued, "Taniok, the carpenter, mentioned you didn''t have any apprentices to help you. With such a large order, it might be difficult to fulfill everything on your own. So, tell me, how much can you realistically handle? Knowing that will help me determine how much I need to buy from Cinran."

    "When do you require these tools, my Lord?" Cedoron asked. "And what do you need first?" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus considered the question for a moment, his eyes scanning the grounds of the manor. He began, "I think we should already have at least half a dozen axes here in the manor, apart from whatever the villagers might own themselves. That should give us a good starting point for felling trees. But acquiring more axes is the first priority, so we can start clearing these forests at a large scale. Then we will need some machetes to prune the trees so we can convert them into logs for easy transport and storage."

    He paused for a moment. "As for shovels, I believe Pydas, the merchant, already brought a few with him. It makes more sense to purchase those from him, freeing you up to focus on crafting the items we lack entirely. So, after axes and machetes, our next priority would be saws for Taniok so he can start making planks from the logs. He said that he already had two saws with him, but we will need more in case they break."

    Kivamus paused, allowing Cedoron to absorb the information. "Hammers, nails and hinges," he added, "won''t be needed immediately. We''ll only need them later in the construction process, when the framework of the longhouses begins to take shape in a couple of weeks."

    Cedoron listened intently, his brow furrowed in concentration as he mentally tallied the workload. "While I possess the skill to craft all the tools you''ve mentioned," he admitted, "I don''t have enough iron ingots here to make all of it. I do have a small stock, of course, which will allow me to craft some of the tools, but I''ll need more within the week. The thing is, my Lord," he explained, "my usual workload only revolves around repairing the mining tools that get damaged in the coal mines here. There''s basically no demand for new tools in Tiranat, so I don''t keep a large stockpile of iron ingots."

    Kivamus considered this new information for a moment. "Very well," he said. "I can arrange to buy more iron ingots for you from Cinran. You should provide Duvas with an estimate of the amount of ingots you''ll need later. But speaking of iron," he continued, a thought striking him, "can''t you produce iron ingots from ore yourself? If I only needed to buy iron ore for you to smelt here, it would likely be significantly cheaper."

    "Well, you see, my Lord," Cedoron explained, "I do have a small forge here. But like I mentioned earlier," he continued, "most of my work involves welding and reforging mining tools. Usually, that involves nothing more than heating the broken pieces in a hot coal fire in my forge. Once softened, I can weld them back together and reshape them to their original form."

    Kivamus recalled seeing the wagons loaded with coal earlier. Upon closer inspection, it had looked like bituminous coal to him. It wasn''t the best quality anthracite, but it was certainly better than some other types of coal. But it felt odd to him to hear Cedoron using coal instead of charcoal. "Duvas mentioned that you purchase coal from the manor," he said. "But wouldn''t charcoal be a better fuel source?" Of course, coke, which was made after processing coal, would be the best fuel for it, but it was very likely that the process to make it was unknown in this era.

    Cedoron''s surprise was easily apparent from his expression. "I am surprised you know that much about smithing, my Lord."

    Kivamus offered a wry smile. "I have a fondness for reading," he admitted, reaching for the most plausible excuse to explain his knowledge. "The libraries within Ulriga Palace held a wealth of information, and I devoured it all."

    Gorsazo chimed in with a confirmatory nod. "Indeed," he said. "His Lordship is quite the scholar. I can attest to that."

    Cedoron inclined his head in acknowledgment, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. He began, "It''s true that charcoal is the preferred fuel for smelting iron ore. However, since my primary task involves welding and repairing existing tools, the coal I purchase from here serves the purpose well enough. It''s only once in a few months, when I''ve accumulated a significant amount of scrap metal and enough tools which are too broken to be repaired, that I need to melt them further. That''s when charcoal becomes essential, since using it can raise the temperature further within the forge."

    He eyed Kivamus with a hint of respect. "Since you possess such knowledge about smelting, my Lord, you might also be aware that creating charcoal is a laborious task for one person. So once in a few months, I have to dedicate an entire week to make charcoal - time I could be spending on other projects - just to have enough fuel for further softening of all that scrap metal by heating it a lot more than usual, so I can forge it back into usable iron ingots."

    Cedoron concluded with a shrug. "So, for most of my day-to-day work, coal from the manor is sufficient for heating the broken tools for repairs and welding. Especially since there is not much of a demand for me to make new tools myself."

    He straightened his posture, his gaze fixed on Kivamus. "So, my Lord, that answers your question about why I can''t simply smelt the iron ore myself for your rather substantial order. It''s just a matter of sheer workload. Producing charcoal, smelting the iron ore into ingots inside a bloomery I''d have to make from scratch, and then forging those ingots into the tools you need - it would simply take too long for one man to handle it all, especially since you need those tools immediately. And I can''t just hire a new worker for that either, since most of those are specialized tasks which need years of experience to do it right."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring nod. "I can understand that."

    Cedoron''s eyes took on a distant, almost nostalgic glint as he reminisced. "Though I''ve never set foot in Ulriga myself," he began, "my father used to tell me stories about a big smithy there, the one he worked at before he relocated to Tiranat. Apparently, they have a water-wheel powering a massive ore crusher, this ingenious contraption that could pulverize iron ore into much smaller pieces for smelting, in a fraction of the time it takes by hand. Moreover, their bloomeries for smelting the ore were behemoths compared to those found in Cinran, true marvels of engineering."

    A spark of yearning flickered in Cedoron''s voice as he continued. "He even mentioned that many smithies there even employed water-powered trip hammers for drawing out the iron blooms into workable bar iron for easy transport and storage. If I had access to such equipment, my Lord," he sighed wistfully, "I could smelt as much iron ore as you desired. However, that is a big operation, requiring dozens of skilled workers to keep everything running smoothly. Not only do we lack a river powerful enough to sustain such a system, but there simply hasn''t been a need for it here in Tiranat."

    Gorsazo elaborated on the economic factors at play. "It all boils down to scale, my Lord," he said. "Ulriga has a constant need for a substantial amount of iron," he explained. "All those knights the Duke employs require a lot of armor and weapons, you see. Also, Ulriga is a huge city - seven or eight times larger than Cinran, I''d estimate, which is itself nearly ten times larger than Tiranat. That means a much bigger market for various goods - a greater demand for horseshoes, cooking utensils, farming implements, mining tools, as well as weapons like swords, axes, maces¡­ you name it. Apart from that, Ulrigan blacksmiths supply the Fort Aragosa as well. That''s why they have huge smithies producing iron at such a large scale."

    Kivamus couldn''t stifle a small, rueful smile as he compared these medieval smithies to their counterparts back on Earth. While these waterwheel-powered primitive machines seemed cutting-edge to the people here, they were nothing compared to the colossal, modern blast furnaces that dominated Earth''s industrial landscape.

    Yet, despite the vast knowledge he possessed, the construction of a blast furnace here remained a distant fantasy for now. The limitations were simply too stark - a lack of proper resources and the necessary skilled workforce to build and operate such a marvel were only a small part of it. But that did give him an idea of where he could use his modern knowledge in the future. If he could locate a nearby source of iron ore or even a cheap supplier for it, and establish a system for large-scale iron production, then simply exporting the unprocessed iron ingots could become a significant source of income for Tiranat.

    The benefit from economies of scale would be undeniable as well. His production methods, informed by his modern knowledge, would drive the manufacturing cost down dramatically, allowing him to undercut even those waterwheel-powered smithies in Ulriga. The potential profits were staggering, and the possibilities for improving the lives of his people were even more enticing. He could use these profits to invest in infrastructure, healthcare and education, not to mention defense - a far cry from the current state of affairs.

    Of course, selling finished products, for which there seemed to be a significant demand in Ulriga, would only be a long-term goal. And Ulriga wouldn''t be an immediate market anyway. Initially, he''d need to focus on capturing Cinran''s market. But there was a potential problem he saw already - the blacksmiths in Cinran themselves. If he managed to establish iron production in Tiranat, they might become his competitors.

    With his brow furrowed in contemplation, he asked the burly blacksmith, "And what about Cinran? Do they have any capabilities for iron production?"

    Cedoron shook his head. "Not really, my Lord. From what I''ve gathered," he replied, "in the past, Cinran did have a few small bloomeries, but not anymore. Nowadays, the blacksmiths there usually purchase their iron ingots directly from Ulriga, which is cheaper than smelting the ore locally. Of course, they do have forges to recycle scrap metal and heavily damaged tools, as well as to make new tools."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod as reply. He steepled his fingers, his mind already racing with possibilities. He''d need to tread carefully, perhaps even consider striking a permanent deal with them - offering them iron ingots at a lower price than they could get from Ulriga, creating a mutually beneficial partnership. This approach could establish Tiranat as a reliable source of iron, fostering trust and potentially opening doors for future trade deals involving more complex goods.

    That meant he would have to figure out a way to not only establish iron production but also navigate the existing market dynamics. These were all details to be ironed out later, but the potential for a brighter future for Tiranat, fueled by his unique knowledge was undeniable. The path wouldn''t be easy, but with careful planning and strategic execution, he was confident he could turn this dream into a reality.

    As he moved his gaze around the manor, thinking about something that was easily a futuristic technology for the people here, he remembered the burnt houses in the village, as well as the sight of hungry villagers who didn''t know where their next meal would come from. He sighed, shaking his head slowly. Although he had started doing what he could to improve the current situation of the village, he had to stop himself from wasting too much time daydreaming about things which were too far in the future, before he got carried away like this. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head, and to ground himself with the current reality of Tiranat.

    He turned back to Cedoron, his gaze settling on the blacksmith''s broad frame. "Very well, Cedoron," he said. "Now tell me, how much of this order can you realistically handle on your own?"

    Cedoron gave a nod. "This is a substantial order, my Lord," he acknowledged. "To forge such a large quantity of tools efficiently, I would need to hire one or perhaps even two assistants. Naturally, that would add to the overall cost of production."

    He added, "But I''m confident I can deliver all the tools you require within the coming weeks. That is, with the exception of the iron nails. And rest assured, my Lord, even with the added cost of hiring assistants, my prices will still be lower than what you''d pay to purchase and transport them from Cinran."

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus nodded with a smile. "Speaking of which," he inquired, "why haven''t you taken on an apprentice before now? Surely an extra pair of hands would have allowed you to produce tools at a faster rate. Pydas, the trader, mentioned he always brought a few pickaxes and shovels with him to sell here. But with an apprentice or two assisting you, couldn''t you have made those tools yourself to sell to the manor, for use in the coal mines?"

    Cedoron gave a rueful chuckle. "Unlike you, my Lord," he explained, "the previous Baron had a different approach. He preferred to buy most of the village''s necessities, including new tools, from the traders who visited from Cinran, just so he could levy hefty taxes and duties on the visiting traders." He paused for a moment, seemingly weighing whether to speak more, then he added, "Perhaps I shouldn''t be speaking this, but to be frank, my Lord, this way, the Baron could line his own pockets while keeping the villagers dependent on external trade, so the traders would keep coming and he could keep getting his profits."

 Chapter 42 - 41. Incentives

    Cedoron shrugged his broad shoulders. "As a result, the only work I typically received was repairing broken tools. There wasn''t a need for new tools being crafted here, so hiring a permanent apprentice never seemed necessary."

    Kivamus offered a curt nod, a thoughtful expression settling on his face. "That clarifies a lot," he said. "Well, for the immediate future," he said, a hint of reassurance in his voice, "you don''t have to worry about the cost of hiring new assistants. The current situation in the village is quite dire, and ensuring everyone survives the harsh winter will require a tremendous amount of work. So from tomorrow, I will be paying the wages to every villager who is willing to do manual work of any kind. That would include anyone you need to help you make those tools faster as well."

    Cedoron shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I did catch wind of these rumors earlier, my Lord," he admitted, "but I wasn''t sure whether to believe them."

    Kivamus offered a reassuring smile. "You heard correctly Cedoron, and those aren''t just rumors. That means that you can hire as many workers as you need to supply me with all the tools on time, without worrying about paying them for now. Of course, they wouldn''t be skilled in smithing itself, but even training them to do the easier tasks would help to improve your production speed."

    Cedoron nodded. "It will certainly help a lot, my Lord. I can just give them the simpler tasks like fetching coal from the manor, fitting the handles in the axes and machetes, or even operating the bellows to keep the forge hot, which will free me to focus on the actual forging of those tools."

    "That''s true." Kivamus added, "From tomorrow, you''ll just have to inform Duvas about how many people you will need for this. He''ll be responsible for assigning the required number of workers to you, as well as keeping track of where the villagers are working to ensure fair compensation." S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Cedoron nodded. "I''ll do that, my Lord. And if I''m not paying for the assistants, the prices will be lower as well." He added after a moment, "So, assuming I have all the necessary materials readily available, and with a couple of apprentices by my side, I can realistically produce three, maybe even four axes per day. Now, this assumes you''re not looking for top-notch quality with detailed engravings."

    He puffed out his chest with a hint of pride. "Don''t get me wrong, my Lord," he continued, "my father instilled in me the skills to craft such exquisite tools. But creating those elaborate designs would easily double or even triple the production time."

    Kivamus chuckled, appreciating Cedoron''s dedication to his craft. "No worries," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "I don''t need any engravings or such things," he assured the blacksmith. "Just make sure they''re sturdy and functional enough to handle the task they are meant for."

    "Of course, my Lord," Cedoron nodded. "In that case, I can deliver all two dozen axes you ordered within a week. Now, machetes would be a bit trickier. They require a lot more shaping work, so I can only manage two or perhaps three per day. To give you a dozen machetes, that would take¡­ another four or five days. But," he continued, his voice taking on an enterprising tone, "I can alternate production days between axes and machetes. That way, you''ll start receiving both of them simultaneously. All in all, I can get you all the axes and machetes within two weeks, assuming there are no unforeseen delays."

    Kivamus pursed his lips in contemplation. A two-week wait for the axes and machetes wasn''t ideal, but it was still a better option than purchasing them from Cinran. Pydas would likely inflate the prices, and even then, buying the tools from him would take another week or maybe even two due to travel time. So getting the tools made locally, albeit slower, offered the advantage of a steady supply and potentially lower costs in the long run.

    There was an additional motive behind his decision. Getting the blacksmith back into a routine of smithing new tools regularly, since he only repaired the broken tools till now, was a necessary step if he wanted to get completely new things made from him - things which Cedoron might never have seen in his life.

    "Very well," Kivamus said. "Two weeks for the axes and machetes is manageable. Hammers, hinges, and the like, are only needed once Taniok begins constructing the longhouse frames, so you can work on those after the initial two weeks. He did say that he will only stock up planks until enough space is cleared for making the longhouses anyway."

    "That will work, my Lord," Cedoron replied. "Now, the final item on your list was iron nails. That presents a bit of a challenge, my Lord. We''re talking thousands of nails for a single longhouse, easily. And making them is very time-consuming, for something that is so small." He added, "While I consider myself a fast worker, I can only manage about a dozen nails per hour. Many blacksmiths would take twice as long."

    "So, even if I dedicated an entire day to hammering out nails," he continued, "the most I could manage to produce would be around a hundred nails per day. And that''s pushing it, using every available hour of daylight. However, I will try to train a couple of new workers I''ll be hiring to make nails as well. It''s not exactly intricate work, it is just incredibly time-consuming. Hopefully, within a week or two, assuming they pick it up quickly and can produce decent quality nails, the three of us combined could churn out around three hundred nails every day."

    He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "But even with that increase, producing enough nails for even a single longhouse before the snow falls will be impossible. Realistically, my Lord," he said, "I''d advise purchasing a decent stock of iron nails from Cinran. That way, you can get started on the construction, and by the time those supplies are running low, I''ll have completed your other orders and can dedicate myself solely to making new iron nails."

    "At a rate of three hundred iron nails a day, and even higher if I take on more workers to assist me," he continued, "we could keep you steadily supplied for those other projects you mentioned earlier, as well as any more longhouses which you might consider building in the future."

    Kivamus steepled his fingers, his gaze fixed on a distant point as he weighed the options. "Alright, that will work." Pointing to the manor house, he said, "Now head over to the manor hall there and speak with Duvas, so he can note down the exact numbers for everything you''ll be producing. He can finalize the compensation details with you as well." He added, "You should start work on these items from tomorrow morning itself."

    "Of course, my Lord," Cedoron nodded. "And thank you for providing that much work for me. It will be a welcome change after the slow times I''ve been facing." With a quick bow of respect, he turned and strode purposefully towards the manor hall, eager to get the wheels of production in motion.

    As the setting sun approached the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and red, Kivamus had decided to return inside the manor house again. A chill had settled in the air, a stark reminder of the approaching winter. He and the others were now gathered near the crackling fire in the manor hall.

    Earlier, after a productive meeting with Taniok and Cedoron, Duvas had sent them back to the village after finalizing the details of their respective projects. He had also provided the final list of items to Pydas which he had to buy for them from Cinran, including grain, iron ingots, a decent quantity of salt on Nerida''s request, as well as enough iron nails for them to finish constructing at least one longhouse. While he had to give a small amount of Reslinor gold crowns as an advance for the extra items, they had decided to settle the final amount after the merchant returned with all the required goods.

    Hudan had reported selecting the final twelve recruits, who were now equipped with the bandits'' armor and weapons. Half of them were already on duty as new guards for the manor, while the other half would go to the servant''s hall to get their evening meal and have a good night''s rest before they departed for Cinran tomorrow morning.

    Nerida had just left the hall, informing them that the evening meal was nearly prepared. Soon, the distribution would begin outside the manor gates, catering to the growing crowd of elderly villagers and children who had already started to gather.

    Helga, her eyes fixed on the now-closed windows, spoke up, her voice laced with concern. "My Lord," she began, "I saw the villagers gathering outside the gates of the manor, many of whom must be homeless right now. Can''t we do anything to provide them with temporary shelter until the longhouses are built? These poor souls have little to no protection from the elements, and sickness can spread quickly in such conditions."

    "That''s a valid point," Kivamus acknowledged. "The evenings are certainly getting colder. But housing all of them within the manor doesn''t seem feasible. Isn''t that right Duvas?"

    Duvas shook his head with a regretful sigh. "Indeed, my Lord," he replied. "Even if we wanted to house them in the barns for now, both of the coal barns are already full and the grain barn will be approaching its limit soon enough. And after allocating sleeping spaces for the dozen new guards we have hired, we don''t even have enough space in the servants'' hall now. We could probably take in a few children there, mostly on the upper floor with the maids, but that would be the limit of our available space within the outbuildings."

    Kivamus furrowed his brow. "But what about the manor house itself?" he countered. "You mentioned earlier that there were a few vacant rooms here. Couldn''t we use those?"

    Feroy, who was the only one who had been taking swigs from a tankard of ale, reacted swiftly to Kivamus''s suggestion. "Absolutely not, my Lord!" he exclaimed, slamming his tankard on the table and spilling some ale in the process. "Housing a large number of unknown people within the manor walls would be risky enough on its own. But lodging them within the manor house itself? Especially after that recent scare with your life? It''d be madness! Best find another place to house them."

    Hudan echoed Feroy''s sentiment with a firm nod. "Indeed, my Lord," he declared. "It would be impossible to know where their loyalty lies, and the security risk in that is simply unacceptable. I cannot allow it."

    Kivamus sighed, acknowledging the validity of their concerns with a nod. "Very well," he conceded, "housing them within the manor is off the table for now." He looked at the faces of everyone gathered around him for a moment. "Is there any other solution we haven''t considered?"

    A thoughtful silence descended upon the group, broken only by the crackling of the fire, as they considered it.

    After a moment, Gorsazo offered a suggestion. "My Lord," he began, "could we reach out to the villagers who still have houses in decent condition? Perhaps they could be persuaded to take in the homeless folks for the time being."

    Duvas added with a skeptical frown. "We can certainly ask them," he conceded, "but very few of them will want to open their doors for strangers, unless Lord Kivamus makes it mandatory." He added, "The idea of housing unknown people and possibly putting their own families'' well-being at risk is not acceptable to most people, or they would have already done it. They have nothing to gain from doing that."

    Kivamus tapped his fingers thoughtfully against the armrest of his chair. Forcing villagers to take in others wouldn''t be a sustainable solution anyway. There had to be a way to encourage them, to incentivize their compassion.

    A smile played on his lips as a plan began to form. "Incentives, Duvas," he declared, his gaze sweeping across the faces gathered near the fireplace. "That''s exactly what we need."

    "Here''s an idea," he announced, leaning forward in his chair. "Let''s offer the villagers a choice. They''ll be under no obligation to take anyone in, but for those families who do choose to open their homes to the homeless until the longhouses are built, we will provide a fixed amount of grains every week, for every new person that a family takes in."

    He paused for a moment, letting the idea sink in. "Let''s say a family agrees to take in two homeless people. So we''ll provide them with enough grain every week to feed two people. But that family doesn''t have to actually feed the people they take in - they only need to give them shelter, so they can keep the provided grain for themselves."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair, as he explained. "Remember, manual labor is the only way to earn grain right now in Tiranat. But not everyone is capable of such work. There might be someone who recently suffered an injury, or perhaps a woman who''s simply too weak for heavy labor. Those people might have no means of obtaining grain on their own, and wouldn''t qualify for the free food program reserved for the elderly and children."

    "But with this plan," he added, "we create a fallback option for them. People with spare space in their homes, and especially those who can''t do manual labor, can still contribute to the village and earn a living. In essence, they become temporary innkeepers, offering shelter in exchange for a small, but guaranteed income in the form of grain rations."

    Gorsazo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An interesting plan, my Lord," he mused. "The prospect of additional grain, especially with winter approaching, might be enough to sway a lot of villagers." He added, "Since we are already providing meals for the elderly as well as the children, and those who are capable of working will also get grain rations from tomorrow, so the burden of feeding the homeless wouldn''t fall on the villagers who are housing them. It''s an incentive that benefits both parties - the homeless receive much-needed shelter until the longhouses are built, and the participating families have their own food stores bolstered."

    "Exactly." Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. "And to further sweeten the deal, we''ll throw in a small amount of coal as well, for cooking and heating. Those extra rations of grain and coal will serve as a valuable backup for them in the winter."

    "Of course," he added, "this is only a temporary solution, but there would still be a few people who''d like to continue this arrangement even after the longhouses are built, since many homeless families might still prefer to live with another family until they get their home rebuilt, instead of inside the crowded longhouses. That means many of the villagers, particularly those who are not capable of manual work, can continue to get a fixed amount of grain in the near future by providing housing to those who still want it."

    He turned towards Duvas. "That reminds me, do we have an actual inn here? We could offer the same deal to the innkeeper as well."

 Chapter 43 - 42. Blending In

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. We only have an alehouse at the market square, with a couple of rooms for visitors on its upper floor, as well as the hall on its ground floor. Tiranat is a small enough village that it has always been enough for the few visitors, mainly the traveling merchants, who come here." He added, "Last I checked, the owner of the alehouse had already taken in a few people there."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "Alright, let''s leave it at that. And from what you told me earlier, we already have enough grain in the barns to feed the entire village for at least ten days. By that time, Pydas will already be back with a new shipment."

    Duvas offered a nod in confirmation. "Indeed, my Lord," he replied. "With that buffer, issuing these additional rations shouldn''t be a problem, especially since it''s temporary." A thoughtful expression crossed his features. "Since today is the first day of our free meal program, there are bound to be more villagers gathered outside the gates out of curiosity than the actual number we''ll be feeding. It would be a good opportunity to announce this new incentive program."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus nodded. "Get the word out there today itself. Then, tomorrow morning, when the workers report for doing labor work, announce it again, so that everyone finds out about this."

    Thinking for a moment, he continued, "While we''re at it, let''s add another point to tomorrow''s announcement. Inform them that after a week, once our grain stores are replenished, we''ll be offering grain sacks to the village merchants at cost price. Since we are buying the grain in bulk, our prices should still be a little lower than what Pydas would have offered them. It''s a win-win situation - we recoup some of our grain investment, and the merchants get a chance to resell at a fair profit to those who still have the means to buy it, to earn some income and feed their families."

    Kivamus'' brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at everyone gathered in the manor hall. The fire crackled in the hearth, casting long shadows that danced on the walls. Looking at Feroy, he remembered that the ex-mercenary was nowhere to be found in the morning. "Feroy," he called out. "Where were you earlier? When we were talking about the guards for the caravan, I looked for you within the manor, but didn''t see you anywhere."

    Feroy chuckled. "Actually, milord," he admitted, putting down his tankard of ale on the table, "I was down in the village, getting the lay of the land. See what the villagers are feeling about their new baron." He continued, "Talked with some vendors at the market square, listened to Hudan''s announcements there - even spent an hour at the alehouse later on. Folks get real chatty after a few pints, you know?." sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus hadn''t expected that kind of initiative from him. Looking at the surprised face of Hudan, it seemed even he hadn''t realized that Feroy was standing within the crowd. The ex-mercenary clearly had a knack for blending in, a skill that could prove very useful in the future.

    "It was a good idea going there," he conceded with a nod, a hint of grudging respect in his voice. "So, what do the villagers think?"

    Feroy stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Too early to say for sure," he began. "Every villager has their own way of looking at things, you know? But after the announcements about work and food, the general mood seems positive. Most folks are happy they''ll have a chance to earn grain and coal for their families from tomorrow. Especially the older ones, the ones who thought they''d have to spend the winter begging for scraps."

    He took a swig of his ale, the firelight gleaming off his tankard. "Of course, even if these announcements were completely unexpected to them, they have had a lot of bad experiences in the past where the nobles made big promises which never came true. So they are hopeful, sure, but they gotta see it to believe it, you know? Whether they truly have a baron who actually cares about them, or it''s just another empty promise."

    Kivamus nodded. While he was doing his best to ensure everyone''s survival through the winter, and he wanted to do a lot more for the village in the future, he wasn''t naive enough to believe he''d win over every villager''s heart overnight. "That''s fair enough, Feroy," he conceded with a slow nod. "Earning people''s trust takes time, especially after a string of disappointments."

    "Anything else?" he probed, leaning forward in his chair. "There must be a few people who aren''t exactly thrilled with the changes."

    Feroy grunted, swirling the ale in his tankard thoughtfully. "There were a handful of them who were grumbling, for sure. Mostly folks who hold a grudge against the manor in general. They haven''t forgotten about the manor guards not helping them during the recent bandit raid."

    Duvas sighed. "I did tell you all that we just didn''t have enough guards during that raid, to protect the manor and the village at the same time."

    Feroy''s gaze locked with Duvas. "I realize that, but the villagers don''t care about the reasons, do they?" He added, "All they see is a group of bandits rolling in, pillaging their homes, and the manor guards nowhere to be seen." He shrugged. "It''s a harsh reality, but they''re not wrong. The guards didn''t fight the bandits."

    Duvas released a weary sigh, the weight of responsibility apparent on his features. "I can''t deny that," he conceded, running a hand through his thinning hair.

    "Truth be told," Hudan added, "I''d say the bandits expected the manor guards coming out to attack them, which is why they focused on quickly plundering as much as they could and rode away before giving enough time for the guards to respond. Otherwise, it could have been much worse."

    "Makes sense, I suppose," Kivamus conceded. "At least no one died in that raid, or those grumbles might have turned far more serious. However, dwelling on the past won''t solve anything." He continued, "Our focus now must be on preparedness, so that nobody in the village dies or gets all their life savings, including their stored food stolen by bandits."

    Hudan, his face grim, nodded curtly. "Indeed, my Lord. The bandits won''t be so timid next time, especially since they would have seen that the guards remained inside the manor. They would expect the manor defenses to be weak and would come prepared for a fight. And if they come in big enough numbers, they might even attempt to breach the walls of the manor itself."

    He continued, "It won''t be easy to defend against such an attack right now, since we''ll be spread too thin for the next fortnight. Escorting the grain caravan means a dozen guards will always be out of Tiranat for the next two weeks, leaving only half our force to defend both the manor and the village, just like it was before we hired the new guards."

    "We''ll have to make do with what we have," Kivamus said. "But on the bright side, once they return, we''ll have a full complement of two dozen guards."

    Hudan''s lips curved into a determined smile. "Indeed, my Lord. I assure you, I''ll do my best to whip them into a good enough shape that we can repel any bandit attacks after these two weeks."

    Kivamus leaned back in his chair. He added, "Hopefully, we''ll have that much time. But in this uncertain world, we can never be sure, can we?"

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Sitting inside the servant hall now, Tesyb savored the last spoonful of his warm porridge, a content sigh escaping his lips. Earlier that day, when Hudan, the gruff captain of the guard, had announced his selection as one of the new manor guards, the whoop of pure joy that erupted from him and his fellow recruits had echoed loudly throughout the training grounds. The news had brought a surge of excitement, a testament to the life-altering opportunity that lay before them.

    He had even noticed the new baron, Lord Kivamus Ralokaar, watching them for a while during the selection process, his pale skin and highly unusual silver hair noticeable easily. He looked young, probably the same age as his own twenty-two years, but lacked the muscled physique common with heavy labor, or the golden jewelry commonly associated with nobles. But Tesyb had returned his focus to his upcoming fight, so he didn''t notice when the baron had walked away from the training grounds.

    Gazing around the bustling servant hall, with other servants, guards and maids coming and going continuously, he took in the sight of his new surroundings. A door opened to the communal kitchen on the right, where maids were busy transferring the huge amounts of porridge they had prepared from the cooking pots into wooden buckets. A staircase next to the kitchen door went to the floor above, with the upper floor being restricted for use by only the female servants. For the male servants and the guards, two rows of straw mattresses were lined up next to the walls on the wooden floor, quite unlike the dirt floor of his own house. This was where he was sitting now, along with the other new recruits having their meal. A large fireplace crackled merrily on the left wall, casting flickering shadows that danced across the room, close to where they were sitting.

    The two-story structure, its strong wooden beams bathed in the warm glow of the roaring fireplace, offered a sense of security and stability he hadn''t known for a long time. Even now, with half of the new recruits already stationed at the manor gates, the voices of the remaining men, along with the other off-duty guards and servants filled the hall with a low hum of conversation. This, he thought looking around the cozy hall, would be his home for the foreseeable future.

    However, with a dozen new recruits joining the ranks of the existing guards, the once-spacious hall was bound to feel crowded. Yet, there was a comforting camaraderie in the shared living quarters, a sense of belonging that soothed the ache of misery prevalent in the village. There was also the fact that while the actual number of mattresses was lower than the total number of guards and servants, many of them would be on duty at any given time, which would mean enough empty sleeping spaces for those who needed to rest.

    Unlike other recruits, he had been assigned a different task. He was part of the contingent tasked with escorting a vital caravan departing for Cinran at dawn. The boisterous chatter of the new guards, most of whom hadn''t left the village since arriving in Tiranat as children, including Tesyb himself, filled the air with a nervous excitement. The prospect of an expedition to the bustling town of Cinran, which was said to be teeming with life, was both daunting and exhilarating. But tonight, they were granted a reprieve from guard duty, allowed to rest before the journey began tomorrow.

    Yet, he did realize that even if they had been equipped with well-used leather armor as well as swords and shields, which made many of them feel like seasoned guards unlike the fresh recruits they actually were, the journey was not going to be easy. The dangers of escorting a caravan through dense forests, especially after the recent bandit raid and the ambush which took the life of the previous baron was still fresh in their minds. But, even if he hadn''t ever trained as a guard, he had found in the training earlier that he could still hold his own even against some of the veteran guards. A sliver of fear danced in his chest, but it was eclipsed by a newfound sense of purpose. He was a guard now, a protector, and he was determined to live up to the responsibility that came with the title.

    Earlier in the evening, a pang of guilt was gnawing at his heart. The warmth and comfort of the hall, the camaraderie of his fellow guards, had all felt undeserved when he had pictured his hungry parents huddled in their cold, dark shack.

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 44 - 43. Kigeir and Dalaar

    ~ Tesyb ~

    Thankfully, Madam Nerida, the head maid, had already foreseen this. After deducting the rations the guards would consume themselves, she had ensured each new recruit received a fixed quantity of grain and coal as the weekly payment of their wages. These precious provisions, packed into small sacks, would be a lifeline for their families.

    Hudan, with surprising leniency, had even granted them a precious hour outside the manor walls. It was a chance to share the news of their selection and to deliver the much-needed supplies to their loved ones. His parents'' faces had lit up at the news, with pride shining in their eyes in the glow of the newly lit coal fire, courtesy of his first wages in a new job. Their son, a guard for the baron! It was a position of respect in the village, a chance to earn a steady income and secure a brighter future, not just for himself, but for them as well.

    He wiped a stray bit of porridge from his lips, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had put the extra time outside the manor to good use. With the help of a mortar and pestle borrowed from a neighbor, he''d managed to grind a portion of the allotted grain, to make it easier for his parents to prepare porridge in his absence. Normally, with his income from the mines, they could afford to buy fresh bread from the village baker.

    Now, however, bartering would be their only option. To get bread, they''d have to take some of their remaining grain to the baker, who would then take it to the miller to be milled into flour based on his own needs. But it was still much better than not having any grain at all, and wondering where their next meal would come from. He did hope that the baron would start paying them in coin after the winter, and wouldn''t go back on his bunch of promises, unlike what usually happened with nobles. When he had told his parents that he would be leaving for Cinran tomorrow, they were worried for a moment, but his mother had reminded them that it was a good opportunity for him to check on his sister who lived there.

    Another concern gnawed at him - his father''s recent sickness. His father had told him that he hadn''t been able to go to the manor earlier because he was feeling too weak to walk that much, but thankfully, it didn''t appear to be anything serious.

    Most importantly, with his new position as a guard, he could now provide grain and coal regularly to his family. This, he hoped, would allow them to regain their strength and face the coming winter with more resilience. His father, his voice raspy but resolute, had assured him that he would meet with Lord Kivamus the very next morning, and apologize for the delay. He knew it would take some time until their situation approached anything like normal, but at least his parents wouldn''t have to face the coming winter hungry or cold.

    His reverie was interrupted by a nudge and a playful jab. It was Yufim, another recruit who was the same age as him, known for his excellent archery skills honed during his hunting days in the forest. Though a familiar face from their small village, their conversations had been brief. However, their shared selection as guards had forged a quick bond between them.

    Yufim spoke again with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Stop daydreaming, you idiot! No time for sleeping now. Didn''t you hear? Kerel''s here." He gestured towards the door of the servant''s hall with a jerk of his thumb.

    The mention of Kerel, the gruff taskmaster who oversaw the new guards'' training in the absence of the guard captain, sent a jolt of nervous energy through Tesyb. "Shut up!" he retorted. "I saw him already."

    Kerel, a seasoned guard with a mane of iron-gray hair, strode towards the group of new recruits. "Alright, lads," he rumbled, his voice roughened by years of shouting commands. "Bellies full, I guess? Good. Because now we''ve got a job to do."

    His gaze swept over them, taking in the nervous energy and the eagerness to prove themselves. "Head to the kitchens," he ordered, pointing a thick finger towards the door where the maids were working. "The porridge needs to get to the manor gates." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He jerked his head towards the kitchen. "The maids have already filled the buckets. Two men to a cart, and make it quick. There''s a hungry crowd waiting outside." Following the order, Tesyb stood up from the straw mattress he was sitting on, along with the other new recruits.

    Kerel jabbed a finger in the general direction of the manor gates, his voice dropping to a low growl. "Remember, there''ll be a mob out there. Hungry, desperate, and likely more than a little unruly. And a hungry crowd can turn ugly in a heartbeat. Make sure the food gets distributed fairly, no pushing, no shoving." He paused, letting his words sink in. "The gate guards won''t be able to lend a hand - they gotta keep an eye out to prevent unwanted folks from slipping into the manor during the chaos. That means you lot, along with a few other guards who''re already there, are responsible for keeping the crowd in check."

    A collective intake of breath filled the air. Kerel, however, didn''t miss a beat. "Don''t worry," he added, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips. "You lads grew up here. You know these folks. Use that to your advantage. A calm word here, a gentle nudge there - you get the picture."

    A chorus of assent rippled through the group. Yufim fell into step beside Tesyb, their new camaraderie already forming a silent bond. The sharp-eyed archer used the walking time to tie his long flaxen hair into a knot behind his head, unlike Tesyb''s own brown hair, which he had cut short nearly to the roots, so he didn''t have to worry about it too much.

    The servant hall buzzed with activity as they reached the kitchen. Maids bustled about, carefully transferring the steaming porridge from large cauldrons to smaller, more manageable wooden buckets. The aroma of cooked grains filled the air, a stark contrast to the emptiness that had gnawed at many bellies for far too long. Working in pairs, the new guards hoisted the buckets onto sturdy wooden carts kept outside the servant hall. With a shared grin, they grasped the handles, ready to embark on their first official duty. The small carts, usually used for transporting supplies within the manor, were now laden with their precious cargo. Together, they maneuvered the cart on the gravel path, the weight of the porridge buckets surprisingly heavy.

    Yufim grinned at Tesyb as they pushed their own cart. "Ready for your first taste of guard duty?" he quipped.

    Tesyb chuckled, "As ready as I''ll ever be, I suppose."

    Leading the way was Kerel, his imposing figure a beacon of authority. Mr. Duvas, the old majordomo, kept a watchful eye on the procession, his brow furrowed in concentration. A few servants and maids trailed along, carrying additional supplies - wooden ladles to serve, as well as bowls and wooden spoons for the neediest. As they navigated the gravel path towards the manor gates, the distant clamor of a large crowd grew steadily louder. Tesyb''s heart hammered in his chest. This wasn''t just about delivering food - it was about facing the desperation that had become a part of village life.

    Finally, they rounded the last bend, and the sight that greeted him was both overwhelming and heartbreaking. A sea of weary faces, etched with desperation, stared back at them in the light of the two torches placed near the gates, which were burning bright with animal fat. Haggard men and women, their faces etched with the lines of hardship, were waiting there, not knowing whether the new baron would really provide them food, or this was another one of a noble''s grand lies.

    The older folks, their bodies stooped and gaunt, leaned heavily on makeshift walking sticks, their eyes dull with exhaustion. Scattered amongst them were children, their bony limbs a stark reminder of the harsh realities the village faced. Some of them clung to their parents'' legs, their wide eyes reflecting a hunger that went beyond food. Many young villagers who had escorted their own children and parents to the manor gates, were standing there as well.

    A handful of off-duty guards, their expressions grim, were already working to maintain some semblance of order within the crowd, their voices growing hoarse from shouting instructions.

    A knot of tension tightened in Tesyb''s stomach. This wasn''t just about delivering a meal - it was about offering a lifeline, a glimmer of hope in a time of despair. And for the first time, Tesyb felt the weight of his new responsibility settle upon him. He was no longer just a young man from Tiranat - he was a guard, a protector, and today, he would play a small but vital role in bringing a measure of comfort to his people. He took a deep breath, straightened his back, and pushed the cart forward, his resolve hardening with each step. He wouldn''t let them down.

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir, a wiry man with worry etched into his brow, stood amongst the throng of onlookers gathered outside the baron''s manor. His gaze was fixed on his two younger children, their hopeful faces bobbing in the crowd for the free meal. His eldest son, who was too old for the free meals for children, was back at their shop, minding the meager stock of grain. His wife had also stayed behind to keep an eye on things.

    Suddenly, a voice broke through the murmur of the crowd, calling his name. Dalaar, the other grain merchant in Tiranat, a man perpetually on the cusp of a scowl even on the best of days, walked towards him. The man was in his thirties without a child to call his own, and he looked far from pleased with the current turn of events.

    "This whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth, Kigeir," Dalaar grumbled. "All these people lining up for free meals. They could have been buying the grain from us. Think of the coin we could be making!"

    Kigeir shot him a sideways glance. "They wouldn''t be lining up if they had the money to buy grain, Dalaar. You know that as well as I do." His gaze moved towards the front of the crowd, where a skeletal elder was waiting with an empty bowl, a tremor running through his hands. "Do you really believe that those starving orphans or those frail old folks have the coin to spare?"

    Dalaar scoffed. "Well, even if they come into some coin, they won''t spend it now, would they? Certainly not with free meals like this up for grabs. Damn this baron and his bleeding heart! Trying to take food out of our mouths."

    Kigeir''s eyes narrowed, his patience wearing thin. "What in the name of the Goddess do you want, Dalaar? For these people to starve on the streets? Is that your idea of good business?"

    Dalaar muttered a reply which wasn''t loud enough for him to hear. He cleared his throat and continued, his voice sounding desperate. "But this isn''t some temporary act of charity! Didn''t you hear the rumors? The baron is ordering a massive shipment of grain. Seems he fancies himself a merchant now!"

    Kigeir nodded. "I did hear. But it doesn''t necessarily mean anything. The snow will soon block the roads to Cinran, remember? At least this way, the village will have enough grain for the winter, since neither of us could have bought that much grain right now."

    He paused, his gaze moving back to his children. "Look, I''d rather see the villagers stay alive through the winter, so they can buy grain from me next year. Many of them really would die without these free meals from the baron."

    Dalaar scowled. "I don''t wish them to die, Kigeir. A living customer is better than a dead one, that much I know. But a man needs to make a living! I want to make money, dammit!" He looked towards the manor. "Before this¡­ this boy-baron arrived with his free meals, at least I could mark-up my prices enough on those who could still afford to buy. It evened out the losses from the lower sales, you know. But now? Free meals for the children and the elderly, and those who can work, get grain directly from the baron! What are we supposed to do, if nobody''s buying grain from us merchants? We can''t just sit twiddling our thumbs while everyone eats for free!"

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 Chapter 45 - 44. Free Meal Program

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir grinned. "There''s always another option, you know." He gazed at the younger merchant. "You can just close up your shop and join the line for work at the manor from tomorrow."

    Dalaar''s smirk was humorless. "You would love that, wouldn''t you? To get your only real competitor out of business?"

    Kigeir threw his head back and laughed again. "Of course not! But a man can dream, can''t he?"

    Dalaar''s earlier annoyance seemed to be fading, replaced by a simmering resentment as he watched more guards emerge from the manor gates, pushing carts laden with steaming buckets. "Those rumors must hold some truth, though," he muttered, his voice laced with a venomous hiss. "No noble in his right mind would willingly come to this wretched village. He must have been exiled for a heinous crime!"

    Kigeir whirled on him, his face hardening. "Shut your mouth, Dalaar!" he hissed, his voice tight with anger. "Those are dangerous words to speak in the open."

    Dalaar fell silent, cowed by Kigeir''s sudden display of temper. The two men watched in tense silence as the guards barked orders, attempting to herd the throng of villagers into some semblance of order. Without another word, Kigeir nudged his children towards the manor gates. "Go on now," he murmured, his voice gentle with concern, "and wait patiently."

    After a while, Dalaar couldn''t contain himself any longer. "Damn this new baron and his handouts." He scowled. "Look at those greedy wretches, waiting to gobble down that free slop like starved dogs."

    Kigeir whirled on him, his eyes blazing. "Shut your trap! My children are also in that crowd, you insensitive cur!"

    Dalaar flinched. "You know I meant no offense."

    Kigeir''s jaw clenched, his gaze locked on Dalaar''s. "No, you did mean offense," he said. "And I don''t want to hear another word of it. If you can''t manage a civil conversation, then maybe you better find another place to watch."

    Dalaar''s gaze darted towards a group of younger villagers, who seemed to be his friends by the look of their exaggerated gestures towards him. A sly grin tugged at his lips. "Well," he drawled, a hint of defiance in his voice, "perhaps I''ll try my luck at snagging a free meal myself. It''s the least the baron can do after stealing our livelihood!"

    Kigeir eyed him with exasperation. "It won''t work, Dalaar. There are guards watching like hawks. No need to make a fool of yourself."

    Dalaar''s smirk widened. "Maybe it''ll work, maybe it won''t. But the baron can''t stop me from trying, can he?" And with that, he weaved through the crowd towards his friends, whose sniggering felt out of place in the hopeful atmosphere.

    Kigeir watched him go, a sigh escaping his lips. Unlike many villagers, Kigeir had managed to keep his family fed, albeit with ever-shrinking portions. Just yesterday, a heavy conversation with his wife and children had revolved around rationing their meals for the coming winter.

    While he did realize that the baron''s plans would likely mean a sharp decline in his grain sales, a bittersweet warmth bloomed in his chest as his gaze landed on his two children. Despite their young ages, they had somehow understood their situation yesterday. He didn''t have words to express how painful it felt to have his young children try to console him, when he couldn''t even fulfill his duty as a father to provide food to them regularly. But their innocent faces, usually etched with worry these days, beamed with a newfound hope tonight with the promise of regular meals here, instead of the single, meager one he''d mentioned the day before.

    This was the first genuine joy he''d seen in their eyes in a long time. How could he begrudge the baron for trying to help, and easing the burden on families like his, even if it meant his own business suffered temporarily? The man was simply trying to ensure the villagers didn''t starve through the harsh winter.

    But a flicker of unease settled in his gut as he watched Dalaar and his companions huddle together, their scowls a stark contrast to the hopeful faces around them. It wouldn''t be an easy feat, Kigeir realized. Winning over the entire village, especially those clinging to their dwindling livelihoods, would be a long and difficult task for the new baron.

    ~Tesyb ~

    Thankfully, there wasn''t any wind right now, so the weather didn''t seem very cold tonight. As he took a moment to look at the crowd, those who were truly in need were joined by a fringe of onlookers standing at the edges of the empty space outside the manor gates. These curious villagers, who were not eligible for the meals, stood at a distance, their faces a mix of skepticism and a yearning for a morsel themselves. This spectacle - a baron offering free food - was a stark departure from the harsh realities they''d known. A few of the younger villagers who were standing together even seemed to be laughing scornfully at the crowd of elderly and children.

    Putting them to the back of his mind, Tesyb watched as the older villagers, including a few of those whom he knew to be homeless, shuffled forward to see why the manor gates had been opened. Disbelief flickered in their eyes, born from years of broken promises and empty bellies. But as the steaming buckets of porridge came into view, that disbelief morphed into astonishment, then into a surge of unbridled joy that warmed Tesyb from the inside out. For many of them, this porridge represented more than just sustenance - it was a lifeline, a beacon of hope in the midst of despair.

    "Clear some space here." Kerel, the veteran guard, barked orders through the din. "Make way, all of you! Move back!" The crowd, initially resistant, shuffled back a few paces, their hunger a powerful motivator for obedience. "Form lines!" Kerel bellowed again. "Old folks to the left, children to the right! The rest of you, move back behind the lines! And no pushing, there''s enough food for everyone we''d promised."

    Confusion rippled through the crowd for a moment, as the villagers, accustomed to a chaotic scramble for scraps, were unsure how to proceed. Many, weakened and disoriented, stumbled about, unsure of their place. Kerel and a few other guards, their voices hoarse from shouting instructions, waded into the human tide, gently guiding and separating the crowd. Some of the recruits stepped between the crowd to help as well, while Tesyb, Yufim and a few other recruits stayed with the carts to protect them from a rush.

    The older folks, their movements slow and deliberate, gravitated towards the left, while the children, their eyes wide with a mix of anticipation and apprehension, clustered to the right. Slowly, a semblance of order emerged - two distinct lines snaking their way towards the steaming buckets.

    "Kerel, look there!" Yufim pointed towards the back of the older villagers'' line, his keen eyes spotting a few able-bodied men attempting to blend in with the elderly. Tesyb recognized them as those standing on the fringes of the crowd earlier, who''d seemed to be scoffing at the idea of the baron providing free food, but were now trying to snag a free meal themselves.

    Kerel, his weathered face hardening with anger, strode towards the men who had positioned themselves between the older villagers for an undeserved free meal. "Out!" he growled, shoving one particularly audacious young man back with a firm hand. "Don''t test Lord Kivamus'' generosity!" he warned, his voice having a dangerous edge to it. "You want to eat, you work for it tomorrow. One more attempt at this trickery, and you can forget about getting any work at all!"

    Initially, the ruler-breakers seemed to be scowling, and looked ready to break into a fight right there. However, a couple of experienced guards jogged over there sensing trouble, flanking Kerel for support. The veteran guard snarled, putting his hand on the sword on his shoulder, without pulling it out yet, "Walk back immediately! Otherwise we can break your legs right now, and then you''ll rightly deserve a space in this line. Up to you all."

    The chastised rule-breakers, their faces flushed with shame, mumbled apologies and retreated back to the ring of onlookers. Kerel, satisfied with maintaining order, gave a curt nod to the other guards. "Alright," he announced, his voice gruff but relieved. "Let''s feed these people."

    Finally, with the creaking of wooden wheels, Tesyb, Yufim, and the other recruits pushed their carts to the head of the lines. Most villagers, anticipating this moment, had already brought their own vessels - wooden mugs, chipped bowls, anything that could hold the much needed nourishment. With practiced efficiency, the servants and maids started to ladle the steaming porridge into the bowls the villagers had brought.

    Tesyb, however, noticed a few faces that lacked even this meager possession - those who possessed nothing but the clothes on their backs in this unforgiving world - the homeless elders, stooped figures with resignation etched deep in their wrinkles, and a handful of orphans, their eyes large and wary. But the maids, anticipating this need, had brought their own stock of simple wooden bowls.

    "Here you go," a maid said, placing a bowl of porridge in a weathered hand. "Eat slowly, now. There''s no hurry."

    The old woman cradled the bowl, her eyes brimming with tears. "Bless you, child," she croaked, her voice thick with emotion. "Bless Lord Kivamus for his kindness."

    Tesyb watched as the line inched forward steadily, a wave of gratitude rippling through the line as the elders and children received their share of the porridge. He couldn''t help but notice disbelief in some of the older faces, a testament to the years of hardship they''d endured. But with each steaming bowl distributed, that disbelief melted into a genuine smile, a silent prayer for a brighter future. Blessings upon blessings were heaped upon Lord Kivamus for this unexpected bounty, along with a lot of thankfulness for the benevolent Goddess.

    "One bowl per person," a maid called out, her voice carrying over the murmur of the crowd. "Remember to return them after you''ve eaten. We need them back for tomorrow."

    Each villager, young and old, received their portion of porridge with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief. Some had even brought small pots or wooden plates, hoping to sneak an extra helping for a bedridden family member or a neighbor too frail to stand in line. And a few of them were even allowed the extra meal, as long as one of the guards recognized the name of the person and already knew that they were indeed bedridden or too weak.

    As he scanned the crowd to see that the villagers maintained a proper line and didn''t try to re-join the line at the back, he spotted Father Edric, the village priest, a man rarely seen outside the confines of the temple of the Goddess. The old priest, his long white beard moving as he spoke, was deep in conversation with Mr Duvas and Hudan, who had come out of the manor at some point.

    He knew the priest did his best for the villagers. Father Edric and other younger followers who lived at the temple of the Goddess, regularly ventured into the forest to forage for fruits and vegetables for the poorest and most vulnerable - orphans and the very old. But their efforts had been overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the recent hardship in Tiranat, leaving them helpless in the face of such widespread hunger.

    Another figure caught Tesyb''s eye - a man with a withered leg, using a crude wooden branch to help him walk. The man''s eyes were brimming with disbelief as he accepted a bowl of warm porridge from a maid, the new baron''s kindness being completely unexpected for him. Although Tesyb''s own parents weren''t old enough for this handout, he was glad to see that even the downtrodden like him, those who usually received only morsels of pity, hadn''t been forgotten. A bittersweet pang struck Tesyb - there was only one disabled person in the crowd. The harsh reality was that many in such circumstances wouldn''t have lived long enough to see this day. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tears welled up in the eyes of some of the homeless elders as they cradled their bowls of porridge. For many, it was the first decent meal they''d had in weeks, a taste of hope after a long descent into despair. These were the people who had lived on crumbs for weeks, their bellies hollow and their spirits crushed. As Tesyb watched the lines dwindle, a quiet satisfaction settled over him. This was a good day for Tiranat, a day that promised a bright future for the long-neglected mining village at the fringes of civilization.

    Though he hadn''t been outside Tiranat for a long time, he had heard enough stories from his parents and others to realize how common it was for nobles to care only about themselves, or their profits, like the previous baron. He knew it had to be the Goddess'' blessing for her to have sent this unusual baron to their poverty-stricken village, and he would do his best to protect the baron and his ideals, starting from the visit to Cinran tomorrow. He also made a promise to visit the temple to thank the Goddess for their good fortune, as soon as he got a chance to visit.

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 Chapter 46 - 45. Interlude: Maisy and Timmy

    ~ Maisy ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy, a wisp of a girl with eyes that held the wariness of someone who had seen too much, had heard that the village had a new baron now, who came with the caravan yesterday. She didn''t know why the previous baron never returned to the village from his trip. Maybe he had another place to live, and he left the village forever. Who would want to live here anyway?

    Earlier in the day, she had been standing outside the crowd in the market square while clutching little Timmy to her side, and had heard what the big, scary guard who came yesterday was saying. Free food for all the children, that''s what the booming voice had declared. But Maisy had scoffed on hearing that. Of course, that had to be a lie. Free things were a fairytale, and she was old enough now to know those were just imaginary stories. Besides, nobody could afford to feed that many mouths anyway. Everyone in the village looked poor now, even those living in the manor. Maybe that''s why the previous baron had gone away!

    The guard''s words, however, had been followed by another, even more incredible promise - a place for everyone to live in during the harsh winter! Surely that couldn''t be true, could it? Would the new baron really give free food and a place to live to her and Timmy? Looking at the frail body of her eight-year-old brother, she hoped it was true, but it was far too difficult to believe, in all her worldly experience of ten years surviving in this cruel world. Good things, she had learned the hard way, never came to people like her and Timmy. So there was no point in getting their hopes up, only to have them broken again.

    But when the evening turned into night, Maisy noticed a fuss amongst the villagers. Many people were gathering and heading towards the manor. She still didn''t believe the baron would give them free food, but her belly which ached with a constant hunger, forced her to take a look anyway. She grabbed Timmy''s hand, her brother constantly by her side. "Come on, Timmy," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Let''s go on an adventure." She didn''t say that they might get food there, because she didn''t want to crush the hopes of little Timmy again, in case it was all a cruel lie, which she was sure it had to be.

    When she reached near the gates of the manor, she saw a huge crowd there, much bigger than the one in the market square earlier. She clutched Timmy''s hand tightly, her small frame dwarfed by the press of bodies. It would be impossible to search for him if he ran away and got lost in this massive crowd. They stood waiting for a long time as the crowd kept growing, until there were enough tall people in front of her that she couldn''t see the gates of the manor at all.

    Maisy couldn''t hear what was happening beyond the cacophony of voices, the murmurs and shouts punctuated by the occasional rumble of annoyance. She strained to understand what they were talking about, but the words swam in a meaningless jumble. The loud voices were already starting to scare Timmy, who was clutching her with both hands.

    Then, a booming voice cut through the noise, demanding order, demanding space - it had to be the manor guards, their strong orders now starting to frighten her as well. But slowly, the noise died down, and it became a little quieter.

    Then she heard someone in the crowd say that the guards were forming separate lines¡­ including a line for the children. Confusion clouded Maisy''s mind. What was going on? She was too far back to see what was happening, and the press of bodies made it impossible to push forward. There was no way she could navigate this sea of people, reach that line for the children, even though she kept trying. Slowly, she began to feel hopeless, as Timmy began to cry in the press of the crowd.

    Just as despair threatened to bury her, a tall and scary figure emerged from the crowd. It was that huge guard, who was making the announcement in the market square earlier, who spotted her and Timmy. He saw the lost look in their eyes and with a hand gently nudging her and Timmy, parted the crowd, creating a narrow passage for them. "Come on, little ones," he rumbled, his voice surprisingly gentle, despite his scary look. "Looks like you two got separated from your folks. Come along, I''ll put you at the back of the children''s line."

    Gently, he ushered them to the end of the children''s line, where Maisy took her place while still clutching Timmy''s hand tightly. "Thank you, mister," Maisy whispered to the huge guard for the unexpected kindness, who just gave them a sad smile before he left.

    Now finally, the crowd was thin enough here that she realized that there was another line where the very old people were standing, along with the line for children, in which they were standing at the end. Timmy, overwhelmed by the crowd, had clutched her hand even tighter, the surrounding voices being too much for his senses. He tugged at her hand, begging to return to the small sleeping place on the ground between the huts, which was their current home.

    Maisy, despite her own fear, forced a smile. "Just a little longer, Timmy," she soothed, her voice barely a whisper. She scanned the area near the manor gates, her gaze falling upon a cluster of guards. And there, steam billowed from large buckets perched on carts near them.

    Her brow furrowed in confusion. Why would the guards keep hot water in the buckets there? She couldn''t see any use for that, unless they were providing hot water to the people in line, since obviously, they couldn''t provide food to all of them.

    She sighed. Of course, there wasn''t any free food! It was too good to be true anyway.

    She looked at Timmy, and was glad that she hadn''t told him about the food, so he wouldn''t be disappointed once again, like her. She scolded herself for letting her believe in that possibility for a moment. Never again! Nothing came for free in this world.

    After a while, the line started moving forward slowly. She watched with wistful eyes as the other children from their own line went straight to their parents standing in the crowd of onlookers surrounding the two lines. A few old villagers returned from the front as well, cradling steaming bowls close to their chests, tears glistening in their eyes. Relief, not disappointment, etched their faces. She was glad that at least the guards were providing hot water to everyone.

    She leaned down to whisper the news to Timmy, whose face lit up after hearing that, and he finally calmed down to wait for their own chance to get a bowl of hot water. It was going to be quite cold at night in a few hours when they would go to sleep behind the huts with empty bellies, but she was glad that the hot water would at least heat up their bodies a little.

    Maisy, emboldened by this small victory, kept her gaze fixed on the buckets, and kept checking again and again to see that the maids were still giving the hot water out - to confirm that there was still enough hot water remaining for them. But there were still too many people in front of her to see it clearly, and everyone around her, even those in their own line of children, seemed like giants, their forms blocking her view.

    Slowly the line kept moving forward. After a long while, as they reached close to the front of the line, Maisy''s heart hammered against her ribs with anticipation. She craned her neck once more, her gaze finally landing on the bowls. And what she saw caused a jolt of disbelief to shoot through her.

    Her breath caught in her throat, and a shiver ran down her spine, but not from the cold. It wasn''t hot water the maids were ladling into the bowls. The steam she had seen earlier - it was from porridge! Thick, warm porridge, the kind she hadn''t seen in months. A wave of dizziness washed over her, before tears started to leak out of her eyes, blurring her vision.

    Timmy, who was too short to see the buckets full of warm porridge, noticed this immediately and started to tug at her sleeves. "Big sis, what''s wrong?" he whimpered. But Maisy didn''t know the words to give a reply, and soon Timmy started to cry as well, mirroring her own distress. It took a few minutes for her to calm down enough to tell him that there was nothing wrong at all.

    Now she understood why the older villagers were crying when they left with their own bowls. She knelt before Timmy, her voice thick with emotion. "We''re getting food tonight, Timmy," she whispered. "Warm food."

    Timmy wiped his own tears, his gaze fixed on the steaming buckets in front of them with disbelieving eyes. Even though he didn''t really believe her words, at least his tears had stopped, replaced by a wary curiosity as he watched the maids fill the bowls.

    When they finally reached the front of the line, the serving maid paused for a moment, her gaze lingering on their ragged clothes and hollow cheeks. When Maisy noticed that the maid looked really sad after seeing them, she thought the bucket was finally empty and there was nothing left for them, but the maid shook her head gently and reached for a wooden bowl.

    "Goodness, you two must be starving¡­" the young maid murmured as she ladled steaming porridge into the bowl. Steam rose from its depths, carrying with it the most intoxicating aroma Maisy had ever encountered. It wasn''t the faint, greasy stink of discarded scraps they were used to scavenging, but the rich, warm fragrance of freshly cooked meals and a hint of sweetness.

    "Are we dreaming, big sis?" Timmy whispered, his voice barely audible above the murmur of the crowd. Maisy just shook her head slowly, a lump forming in her throat, and clutched him closer. The maid took another look at them and then heaped another ladle of porridge on top of the bowl which was now nearly overflowing, and gave it to Timmy.

    Timmy stared at the bowl of porridge, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and delight. He hesitantly reached out, his fingers brushing against the steaming hot porridge. It was real. Warm. Food.

    The maid, her lips curving into a small, sad smile, reached for another bowl. After filling it until it was nearly overflowing as well, she handed it to Maisy. She knelt before Timmy, her voice gentle. "Don''t rush yourself, okay?" she cautioned. "Your body hasn''t had much food lately, and if you gobble it all down too fast, it might make you sick. Take small bites and chew it well."

    Maisy finally found her voice, a mere whisper escaping her lips. "Thank you," she breathed.

    The maid squeezed her hand gently. "Remember, you''ll need to return the bowls after eating so we can give everyone another meal tomorrow morning. But for now, you two just enjoy your meal. There''s no need to hurry."

    Maisy nodded, her heart overflowing with a gratitude she couldn''t express. Timmy was now holding his bowl with both of his little hands, while looking at it without blinking, as if he thought it would vanish if he closed his eyes for even a moment. Gently pushing him, she began to lead them away from the lines. They found an empty spot on the dusty ground, settling down near a group of older villagers who sat huddled together, already savoring their bowls of porridge. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    For a moment, Maisy simply held the bowl, her gaze fixed on the still steaming bowl, a beacon of plenty in a world of scarcity. It was a simple thing, a bowl of food, yet in that moment, it felt like a precious treasure to her. She closed her eyes, trying to imprint the image into her memory. And if they never got to eat a full bowl of warm food again, in case this really was a dream, a cruel trick of a starving mind, at least she would have the memories of this evening.

    Finally, she watched as Timmy, gathering his courage, hesitantly brought a spoonful of porridge to his lips. He blew on it tentatively, then took a small bite. His eyes widened in surprise, then crinkled at the corners in a smile that slowly spread across his face.

    With trembling hands, she copied him, taking a small bite herself. The porridge was warm, creamy and sweet. The warmth of the porridge seeped into her frail body, chasing away the gnawing hunger that had been a constant companion for months.

    It was supposed to be a simple meal, but after spending the last few months searching around in the garbage for food, she felt that she hadn''t tasted anything better in her life. In that moment, the harsh realities of her world faded away, replaced by the simple joy of a warm meal on a cold night. She thought if this was a dream, it was the best and the tastiest dream she had ever had.

    That simple bowl of porridge brought back a sliver of childhood innocence in her, a reminder of a time before hunger had become a regular part of their lives. This regular day, which started as just another day spent looking for a scrap of food, while shivering in the winds of the coming winter, was a day neither Maisy nor Timmy would ever forget.

    Unknown to her, as she savored another spoonful, a small, innocent smile of pure joy bloomed on her face. She was just ten years old, after all¡­

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 Chapter 47 - 46. A New Friend

    ~Tesyb ~

    As the last ladle of steaming porridge found its home in a waiting bowl, a hush fell over the crowd. The villagers, their faces glowing with the warmth of the unexpected meal, cradled their bowls close, savoring the simple pleasure of a full stomach. While they waited to collect the empty bowls, Mr. Duvas, the majordomo, stepped forward, his voice ringing out through the square.

    "Now listen, all of you. While the baron is committed to building longhouses to provide shelter for all the homeless villagers," he announced, "their construction will take several weeks to complete. With the nights already getting colder," Mr. Duvas continued, his voice firm, "his lordship understands the immediate need for warmth and safety. So the baron asks those of you with undamaged houses to consider opening your doors to those in need. Of course, this would only be a temporary arrangement, until the longhouses are ready."

    Tesyb scanned the faces around him, a sense of foreboding settling in his gut. Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the occasional cough or sniffle. This was exactly the reaction he''d expected. The villagers, already struggling to feed their own families, were unlikely to welcome the additional burden of housing and feeding others. He thought the baron and his advisers should already have known about it.

    But Mr. Duvas, his voice betraying a hint of weariness, seemed to have anticipated this reaction. He cleared his throat and continued, "The baron understands the difficulties this may cause and to ease the burden, he is prepared to offer a form of compensation."

    The crowd kept hearing the majordomo with bated breath, a keen interest replacing the initial resignation.

    Mr. Duvas elaborated, "For every homeless person that a family takes in, they will receive a fixed amount of grain every week, enough to feed a grown up, as well as a small amount of coal. As you all know," he elaborated, "the elderly and the children will continue to be covered by the baron''s free meal program until the longhouses are built, and those who are capable of doing manual work will also be working for their meal from tomorrow. That means, the grain and coal we''ll provide for taking in the homeless, is for the use of those families themselves. Since they won''t have to feed the people they take in, they are free to add it to their food storage for the future."

    A murmur rippled through the crowd, while Tesyb''s mind whirred with calculations. Grain and coal - essential for survival in the harsh winter months. The offer was indeed very tempting.

    "Now let me be very clear," Mr. Duvas continued, his tone turning stern, "we will have guards patrolling the village regularly to ensure that those you claim to be sheltering are indeed residing with you. Taking advantage of the baron''s generosity will be met with harsh consequences."

    "Spread the word throughout the village," Mr. Duvas concluded. "Those who are willing to participate in this, should take in the homeless villagers as soon as possible, preferably tonight. As you all know, while many of those people who don''t have a place to live are already here, a lot of them are not present here right now. It is up to you all to talk to them. And once that is done, those who have taken in other people will need to come to the manor tomorrow to register themselves. Once we have verified it, we will provide them the promised amount of grain and coal in the evening."

    Tesyb watched as the villagers started speaking with each other immediately, the news buzzing amongst them like a swarm of restless bees. He knew this night would be filled with whispered discussions and difficult choices, but the promise of extra rations would be a huge motivator for the baron''s plans.

    He would have gladly offered his own home as well, for a chance at that precious grain, if it hadn''t been nearly reduced to rubble during the recent bandit raid. And as he expected, he saw that it didn''t take long for the implications to sink in. That was basically free grain given by the baron.

    The villagers watching the meal distribution from the fringes of the ground had huddled together, whispering and gesturing towards those who sat finishing their meals. They were the same people who had seemed reluctant to open their doors just moments ago, but now they were practically tripping over themselves to talk to the older villagers and homeless orphans. Conversations buzzed with frantic whispers and hurried negotiations, all aimed at a search for the most suitable addition to their households - someone who wouldn''t disrupt the delicate balance of their own family life but would qualify for the baron''s offer.

    The sight brought a bittersweet smile to Tesyb''s lips. The transformation was remarkable. The homeless villagers, who had been openly ignored by other people until they heard about this incentive, were now approached with tentative smiles and kind words. And before long, most of the homeless had already found temporary housing, their faces reflecting a genuine hope that had been absent just an hour ago.

    Even Kigeir, the usually stoic grain merchant who''d brought his own children for the free meal, seemed to have taken action. He was talking with a pair of young orphans, after they had returned their empty bowls. After a quick conversation, with a nod and a gruff pat on their heads, he ushered them towards his family along with his own two children. The orphans, hesitant at first, eventually turned to follow, a new hope visible in their eyes. Tesyb''s heart warmed at the sight. Those children deserved a roof over their heads, and with Kigeir already having two children of a similar age, the adjustment to a new life wouldn''t be as jarring. It still wouldn''t be easy for the orphans, since they would know that it would only be temporary, but it was certainly better than the harsh reality of the streets.

    The first voice, uncertain at first, rose above the murmur. "All praise the new baron! Long live Lord Kivamus!" it cheered, the sound echoing across the area. It wasn''t clear who started it, but the cry ignited a spark within the crowd, quickly morphing into a unified chant. The air vibrated with a newfound optimism, a testament to the transformative power of the baron''s well-timed generosity.

    Once the cheers subsided, Hudan''s voice boomed across the square, "Remember, those willing to work in exchange for grain and coal have to report here at seven bells tomorrow morning!"

    Tesyb watched the crowd disperse slowly, a sense of hope blooming in his chest. The road ahead wouldn''t be easy, that much was certain. But for the first time in a long while, the future of Tiranat didn''t seem so bleak. The baron, with all his new plans and genuine concern for the villagers, had managed to spark a flicker of light in the darkness. The leaving villagers, once sullen and resigned, now seemed to hold their heads a little higher, with their bellies full and looking forward to the next day.

    Whether this would be enough to get through the coming winter and the future challenges, only time would tell. But for now, Tesyb allowed himself a moment of hope, a belief that perhaps, just perhaps, brighter days were on the horizon.

    ~ Maisy ~ sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Maisy had heard the announcement from the old man earlier. It was supposed to be good news - the villagers would take in the homeless, including her and Timmy. But Maisy wasn''t naive. In her world, nothing was truly free. It was a constant hustle, a relentless scramble for scraps. Getting a free meal had felt like she had already used up the little luck she had.

    But when the old man mentioned free grain for those who took in the homeless, suddenly, everyone was eager to house the children and elderly. That, she understood. Give and take. It was the way the world worked. She was still glad that the new baron, whoever he was, had thought of orphans like them, because no one thought about them. Well, almost no one.

    The man who approached them, offering a place in his home, wasn''t like the others. Maisy recognized him from her scavenging days - Mr. Kigeir, the grain merchant with his kind eyes and three kids. Two of them, a girl and a boy, had even looked to be of the same ages as her and Timmy. Back when things weren''t so bad, Mr. Kigeir and his wife had even offered them a fruit or a leftover meal sometimes - a rare act of kindness in their world.

    So, when Mr. Kigeir offered to take them in until the longhouses were built, Maisy didn''t have to think long. It wasn''t blind trust, but a wary acceptance based on her past experiences. Now they were walking towards the man''s house, while his younger child, a boy the same age as Timmy, seemed to have found a new friend in her brother.

    Elsie, Mr. Kigeir''s daughter, was also ten-years-old, the same age as her. And no, Maisy didn''t have to ask her. Elsie just didn''t seem to know how to stay quiet, and kept talking about one thing after another. So when Elsie asked her about which games Maisy would like to play with her, she didn''t know what to answer. She didn''t even know any games! She wasn''t used to someone who talked that much, so she just agreed to play whichever game Elsie wanted to play with her.

    As they reached the house, Mr. Kigeir''s wife emerged, her brow furrowed in surprise. She even asked Mr Kigeir about how he returned with double the number of children he''d left with, although Maisy couldn''t hear Mr Kigeir''s answer. While the adults talked, Elsie kept chattering excitedly. Maisy struggled to keep up with the young girl, most of her questions and answers being foreign concepts to Maisy''s simple world.

    Everything was changing so fast, it made her dizzy. But at least she was glad that unlike many times in the past, it felt like a change for the better.

    Elsie, noticing that Maisy wasn''t listening to her, puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Then, in a gesture that surprised Maisy even more than the day''s events, Elsie wrapped her arms around Maisy in a tight hug. "Talk to me!" she exclaimed. "You''re my new best friend!"

    Maisy didn''t know why, but after hearing that, a tear of pure, unexpected happiness escaped her eye. In the midst of uncertainty, she had found not just a roof over her head with the promise of a warm meal, but maybe, just maybe, an unexpected friend as well. And in that moment, under the faint light of the countless stars twinkling in the night sky, Maisy allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, the world wasn''t such a cold and unforgiving place after all.

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 Chapter 48 - 47. Departure

    The crisp dawn painted the sky in hues of orange and red as Kivamus stood near the manor gates, with Hudan, Feroy, and Duvas standing nearby. The early morning breeze held a distinct chill, making Kivamus pull his fur coat tighter around his frame. Although he hadn''t heard the sound of the temple bell earlier, Duvas had told him that the time was just after six bells right now.

    Finally, after a lot of preparation for the journey, the caravan of seven wagons, each pulled by a pair of sturdy horses, stood ready before them. Although it had made the stables in the manor considerably less crowded for now, after providing the horses for the wagons. A dozen guards, a mix of seasoned veterans and recently recruited villagers, along with Pydas and his wagon driver, moved around the caravan, their movements purposeful as they performed final checks. Each wagon would be accompanied by two guards, one experienced and one new, who were now meticulously checking every rope and knot of their assigned wagon, ensuring nothing would come loose during the journey.

    Kivamus scanned the guards, all of whom were clad in similar leather armor, with an iron sword strapped to their hips, and a sturdy wooden shield leaning against their designated seats. Although he didn''t find it easy to tell which of them were the new guards. I guess that''s a good thing, he thought.

    Earlier, Duvas had told him that the guards had been well-provisioned for the journey. Some dried meat from their own stores, freshly baked bread, and a supply of hardtack biscuits would see them through, along with enough waterskins for everyone. Kivamus could even smell the remnants of the coal fire in the servant hall''s kitchen, where the morning meal was prepared for those departing for Cinran.

    Pydas, with his intimate knowledge of the route, had assured Kivamus that the dense forests along the way offered ample grazing areas for the horses, eliminating the need to carry additional feed. Six of the wagons were loaded with coal, their wooden frames straining under the black bounty, while the seventh one, which was damaged, would remain empty. All seven, however, were meticulously covered with oilcloth, in case it rained on the way, so it wasn''t noticeable which of them was the damaged one. "Hudan," he asked, "why''ve you covered the empty wagon as well?"

    Hudan pointed towards the last wagon. "This is the decoy, my lord," he explained. "One of the bandits'' favorite tricks," Hudan continued, his voice low and serious, "is to target the last wagon in a line. They''ll drop a fallen branch or some other obstacle right in front of it, creating a break in the caravan. And in bad weather, including rain or even during a rarely-made night journey, the wagons ahead might not even notice it right away. The bandits then have their pickings, plundering a single, isolated wagon without having to confront the entire group. However, by making it appear identical to the others, we hopefully lessen the potential reward for an attack. The bandits wouldn''t be getting anything, and by the time they''d go after the rest of the caravan, the guards would have enough time to prepare."

    He added in a low voice, "I know this wouldn''t do much to protect the caravan in case of an actual attack, but we might as well do it, even if it only improves our chances a little bit on this first journey."

    Feroy spoke up with a hint of a smirk, "And jus'' in case the bandits wanna get clever," he said, patting the hilt of his sword, "I''ll be enjoying the view from the back, ready to give them a surprise welcome." He pointed towards a young guard with long blond hair tied into a knot standing near a wagon. "Yufim there," he continued, indicating the new archer with a proud grin, "will be sitting in the middle wagon, you know? His aim with a bow is unmatched, and he can cover all sides of the caravan if need be."

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "While the guards appear to be well-armed, wouldn''t giving them spears be helpful as well? They''d offer a longer reach in combat, right?"

    Hudan chuckled, a dry sound devoid of humor. He added in a low voice, "Training someone in proper swordsmanship takes time and dedication, my Lord. While a spear offers reach, it requires a tight formation to be effective. Most of these new recruits can barely hold a spear straight, let alone maintain a straight line during an ambush. And even if they could, a caravan''s guards are spread a long way from the first to the last wagon, so in case an ambush happens from a side, they simply wouldn''t have the time to form up properly in that chaos anyway."

    Feroy added in an even lower voice, "Honestly milord, in this case, it''s better to maintain the illusion of a well-trained force, you know? Swordsmen are often much better fighters than spearmen in a close range fight, and as long as the bandits believe they''re facing a dozen well skilled sword-fighters, they''d be far less likely to attack the caravan - and that suits us jus'' fine."

    Kivamus nodded. "It makes sense..."

    One of the new guards jogged towards them. "Feroy, sir," he called out, his voice a touch too loud in his enthusiasm, "we are ready to leave!"

    "Stop calling me sir!" Feroy retorted. "And I''ll be there in a moment." The guard nodded and jogged back towards his wagon.

    Soon, Pydas approached Kivamus as well, with worry lines creasing his face. "We really should get going now, my Lord."

    Kivamus took a deep breath. "Very well," he replied, his voice firm. "I hope the journey goes without any problems. Good luck to you all."

    Feroy nodded with a grin, "Nothing to worry, milord. We''ll be back within a week, you know?"

    With a final nod, Kivamus watched as Feroy and the guards scrambled onto their respective wagons. The creaking of wooden axles and the rhythmic clopping of hooves filled the air as the line of wagons snaked its way out of the manor grounds. A knot of unease tightened in his gut as he watched them leave. The success of the plan, and the well-being of his people through the harsh winter, rested on the shoulders of these men and the precious cargo they''ll bring back. The caravan''s journey to Cinran had begun, and with it, the first crucial step towards securing their future.

    After having a quick breakfast in the manor hall, Kivamus came outside again, walking towards the manor gate along with Gorsazo. A sizable crowd had already gathered outside the manor gates, including men and women, while Duvas was having an animated conversation with Hudan nearby.

    "Quite a turnout," Kivamus observed, his voice carrying across the morning air.

    Duvas nodded, "Indeed, my lord. There are even more villagers here than I expected."

    "How many of them are waiting here?" Kivamus asked. "From what you told me, the total population of Tiranat is around three hundred thirty only."

    Duvas nodded. "Thirty-nine amongst them¡­ no. Now fifty-one people, including the new guards we have hired, are living in the manor. That means around two hundred and eighty people in total live in the village. That number is an estimate, of course." He paused, his gaze scanning the crowd. "Right now, at least sixty or seventy workers are already waiting here, and I think that number could climb to nearly a hundred and fifty, once everyone who''s willing to work has arrived."

    Gorsazo said, "That would mean nearly all the villagers of working age would be here."

    "More or less, apart from those who have shops or work in other trades," Duvas replied with a nod. "When the mines were working, we had more than a hundred men working underground to dig coal, along with another twenty or thirty women who carried the coal out in small baskets, from inside the mines to the carts waiting outside." He added, "Nearly a dozen children also worked in the smaller tunnels, to bring the coal from hard to reach places. However, with the present condition of the village, if some women didn''t have to stay at home to take care of their children or parents, even more people would have come here." S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus winced on hearing about children working in the mines. Of course, child labour had to be present in most place in the medieval ages¡­ He even remembered hearing from someone in the past, that even in England, child labor was fairly common until laws were passed specifically to prevent that. However, when a family is nearly starving, every single one of them would go out to find some work, no matter if it was a ten year old child, or a sixty year old elder.

    "Very well," he said, his voice firm. "So there will be no shortage of workers then. But instead of waiting for the rest of them to arrive, we should put these people to work right now. Our first priority is to start cutting down trees in the north of the village to clear the land for the longhouses. About that, how many axes do we have at our disposal right now?"

    Duvas hesitated. "Not as many as we''d like," he admitted. "We had a dozen axes in the manor, apart from a few more which some of the villagers have already brought here. I had told them yesterday to bring any tools they might have with them, and in return, those people will be given priority in allotting them work. I''ll have a better count of axes soon, when more of them have arrived here. Hopefully, we should be able to gather around two dozen of them."

    Kivamus nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Cedoron will give us another three or four axes by this evening, and then three machetes by tomorrow evening and so on. But that still limits us to a maximum of two dozen people actually cutting trees today."

    Gorsazo interjected. "That''s true, but they will still need at least that many more men to help them. Felling trees is only a start, and the real work begins afterward. The branches need to be trimmed, the logs cut to manageable lengths, and so on."

    "They will also need to tie the logs to the horses with a rope," Duvas added, "to drag them to a central place, where they will stack the logs."

    "Drag them?" Thinking about how much not having modern machines limited them in doing even simple things, Kivamus asked, "Isn''t there a better way?"

    Hudan replied, "Well, if the logs aren''t too long, and the ground is flat enough, they can even roll the logs to move them more easily. But it''s not always feasible, particularly in a forested area."

    "Maybe we can use our carts to haul the logs¡­" Gorsazo added, looking at a small cart kept nearby. "Although I doubt our existing carts are built for such heavy loads."

    Duvas shook his head. "You''re right. They''re simply not designed for that kind of weight, or I''d have suggested them myself. They''d immediately break into splinters if we tried to put fully grown trees on them."

    A spark of innovation ignited in Kivamus'' mind as he thought about the problem. While they didn''t have any tractors or other such modern machines, it should still be possible to build a primitive system to pull logs much easier, even if powered by horses. Any simple method which used wheels to lift the logs, even from one side, would be better than just dragging them flat on the ground. "We could build a new kind of cart," he suggested. "Well, not exactly a cart, but something large and sturdy enough to handle these loads but also simple enough to make."

    He added, "I know we had to send the damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs because no craftsman was skilled enough to do that in Tiranat, but that wagon was much more complex, with its bearings and double-axle design. What we need here doesn''t need to be as complex as those wagons, but it should be sufficient for moving logs. In fact, building this should be a priority. We have to move as many trees as we can, as quickly as possible." He looked at Duvas. "How wide are these trees we''ll be cutting?"

    Duvas scratched his graying beard thoughtfully. "While a few of them grow much bigger than others, most of the mature trees should be around two feet wide," he estimated.

    "Two feet," Kivamus muttered, thinking about it. "That should be manageable." He glanced around, searching for the carpenter, but didn''t see him nearby. "Where is Taniok?" he asked.

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 Chapter 49 - 48. Log Mover

    Immediately, a servant summoned by Hudan, darted off into the crowd in search of Taniok, the village carpenter.

    Kivamus told others to walk a little further away from the gates and the growing noise of the crowd, where they could talk more easily. He watched as the servant disappeared into the throng, his gaze lingering on the towering trees that ringed the village. Their heights, he estimated, easily surpassed thirty meters. At first glance, they looked similar to the tall redwood trees found on Earth, although they weren''t nearly as big as those giant trees.

    Nevertheless, these trees still seemed immense when compared to the single story houses found here, unlike watching such tall trees from a high-rise apartment on Earth, which would have made the same trees look much shorter in comparison.

    "What kind of trees are these?" he asked Duvas. "I know we don''t have an option to bring in timber from another place, but will these trees be good enough for making the longhouses?"

    Duvas offered an immediate answer. "You don''t need to worry about that at all, my Lord. They''re fedarus trees," he explained. "Their wood is renowned for its durability and resistance to moisture. The manor house itself, and all of the outbuildings in the manor, were constructed from fedarus wood." He pointed towards the manor house. "As you can see, even after enduring countless rains over more than a decade, they show no signs of rot or decay."

    Gorsazo added, "I have heard that fedarus timber is even preferred for use in shipbuilding in Dorastiz, after transporting it from the fedarus forests near the capital."

    Relieved, Kivamus gave a nod. "That''s good," he said. "At least we don''t have to worry about the quality of the timber."

    Soon, the servant returned along with Taniok. The carpenter, a wiry man with a face weathered by years of toil, bowed his head in a respectful greeting. "You asked for me, my Lord?" he inquired, his voice carrying a note of deference. "I heard my name being called before I had even reached the manor."

    Kivamus said, "We have a problem in moving the fallen trees," he began, "and we need a better method than just dragging the whole tree on the ground. So I need you to build something."

    He looked around and saw a small wooden stick lying nearby and picked it up. Then he squatted on the ground, and started to make a crude drawing on the ground itself with the pointed end of the stick. He remembered seeing something like what he was drawing on the internet in the past, though he didn''t remember what it was called. He explained to others while drawing at the same time, "It''s nothing complex. What I need is two large wheels with a radius of around three to four feet. Bigger would be better, but there''s no need to make its radius more than five feet."

    He continued while others watched the stick drawing on the ground, "And these two wheels should be fixed to a very strong wooden axle, so that the distance between the two wheels should also be around the same length as the radius of the wheel, or maybe just a little longer. This way, we can easily tie a log or a felled tree of around three feet diameter under the axle. Or we can tie many smaller logs as well, as needed." He added while finishing the crude stick drawing, "This will lift the logs on one end - the part under the axle, so they can be pulled by a pair of horses much more easily."

    He stood up while looking at his handiwork, and couldn''t prevent a small laugh from leaving his mouth when he compared this drawing to the high-tech blueprints he made on his computer, back in London. When others looked at him with surprise, he just shook his head and said it''s nothing. He continued, "I think we can call it, uh¡­ a log mover. Ideally, we would need another such log mover, to lift the log from the other end as well, particularly if we have to move the logs for a longer distance, but a single one will do for now. We can think about making another log mover once Taniok gets some free time." He looked at others'' faces. "So, what do you all think about this?"

    Gorsazo examined the drawing with a critical eye. "It makes sense," he said slowly. "Lifting the logs, even from one end, would significantly reduce the drag from the ground, making it much easier to move them." He added, "While it looks simple enough in concept, how did you even get the idea for this?"

    Kivamus replied, "I think I read something like this in one of the books in the library of the Ulriga Palace."

    Gorsazo stroked his chin. "I''m not sure if I saw something like this in the library."

    Kivamus thought about it from his memories of the original Kivamus. "Gorsazo, you know you didn''t have access to the whole library back there. It must have been a book kept in the section restricted for the Duke''s family."

    Gorsazo seemed to be gazing at a distance, while thinking about it. "Hmm¡­ It very well could be. And it is not like I spent nearly as much time in the library there as you did."

    Kivamus gave a nod, and seized the opportunity to lay the groundwork for explaining how he gets new ideas in the future. "I always kept thinking about making new things after reading books there. Even back in Ulriga, my mind was constantly churning with ideas, imagining new and creative ways of doing things, or pondering on designs for things that could make life easier."

    Gorsazo looked at him for a moment, and said, "Your mind has always worked differently from your siblings, nobody can deny that. While your brothers were busy forging alliances in the Duke''s court, or hunting deer in the reserved forests, you were lost in the pages of a book."

    Kivamus nodded. "As you know well, mostly it was just to get away from my brothers'' bullying," he admitted, "but slowly I began to like spending time reading those books more than any other thing. But I never had the chance to put those ideas into practice in Ulriga. But now that I have the freedom to build anything here, away from my brothers and the rest of my family, I already have many ideas in my mind which can help us a lot."

    After seeing Gorsazo give a nod to that, Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "So can you make it?"

    Taniok looked worried. "Most of it sounds simple enough, milord, and I can make the wheels and the axle for sure. But the most challenging part of this would be making a bearing for the axle, to hitch it to the horses, or even to tie the logs to the axle." He winced as he added, "That is not a simple thing to make, and I''m not sure if I can make it, milord." He looked at Kivamus'' face for a moment before adding, "Mr Duvas did come to me to repair a wagon some time ago, but that is what I told him at that time as well, that a trained wainwright would be needed to make those bearings."

    Duvas nodded in agreement. "That''s why we needed to send the damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs," he explained. "The wainwrights there have the expertise and the equipment to create those bearings, as well as the other complex parts for a wagon."

    Kivamus pondered this new challenge. "We don''t have an option to buy bearings for this from Cinran," he said. "We need a solution which we can make easily from the things we already have at hand."

    Hudan suggested, "What if we just use a thick rope, looped around the axle loosely, and use it to hitch the horses to the log mover? It is far from ideal, but this way we wouldn''t need any bearings. We can do the same to tie the logs to the axle, or we can even use an iron chain if we have it here."

    "The constant friction will wear down the ropes in the loop quickly," Gorsazo warned, "and we will have to keep making those loops again and again with new ropes. But it''s a workaround by which we can easily manage to make the log mover right now, without needing to make any bearings."

    Duvas, however, seemed more optimistic. "I don''t think we have an iron chain strong enough for that here. But if we can find a thick enough rope," he said, "it might still hold up for a while."

    Kivamus nodded, "It''s a temporary fix," he said, "but it''ll work until we can find a better solution." He continued, thinking about it, "We will need to make two loops to tie the logs to the axle though. One to tie securely around the logs, and the other - which would be at right angles to the first loop - to tie a loop loosely around the axle, which would also pass through the first loop. But the logic still stands."

    He added, "And if we can find something smooth, maybe something like an animal skin, to tie around the axle before looping the rope around it, it will allow the ropes to last longer."

    Hudan commented, "That''s a good idea. In fact, we can even put some tallow on that loop of rope, as well as on the animal skin to make it even smoother."

    "That''s much better," Kivamus commended, and looked at Taniok. "Can you make it?"

    Taniok, relief evident on his face, replied. "If I don''t have to try to make the bearings," he said, "I can certainly make the rest of it easily enough."

    "Good." Kivamus nodded, his attention focused on the task at hand. He also remembered Cedoron telling him about making elaborate carvings on the tools, so he decided to stop that here as well to prevent Taniok wasting valuable time on that. "Now the finishing doesn''t need to be top notch, and I certainly don''t need any carvings or anything. The log mover only needs to be sturdy enough to move the trees without breaking."

    "We need it built as soon as possible," he added, his voice firm. "Even a single one will significantly speed up moving the logs. So, how long will it take for you to make such a log mover?"

    Taniok''s gaze was fixed at some distant point, while he seemed to be thinking about the process. Finally, he said, "Once I have finalized the details including the size of the wheel and the length of the axle, which will take around an hour, I can put my assistant to make the spokes. I think he can make all the spokes for the two wheels by evening, since I think I already have some wood in the right sizes. I will work on making the two naves - those are the hubs of the wheel - myself. Those are usually very time-consuming to make, but since you don''t need a perfect finishing, I can skip the grinding and polishing of them. So I should be able to make both the naves by evening as well."

    Kivamus gestured for him to carry on.

    Taniok continued with a nod. "If you provide me with a few extra workers to help, I can give them a saw and put them to cut out a beam of the right size from a log, which I can make into an axle tomorrow. That will leave the felloes - that''s the surface of the wheel, which I will put my assistant to work on tomorrow. Assuming we can get all the parts completed by noon tomorrow, I will only need to connect all the parts to make the wheels and then attach them to the axle, which will take a few more hours."

    He seemed to grimace for a moment before he added, "So, I think we can complete this... log-mover by evening tomorrow. It might have been done earlier, milord, but what you are asking for is quite big - I''ve never made a wheel with a diameter nearing ten feet!" He pointed to a smaller cart kept nearby, "I made those carts in a single day, but those are much smaller!" S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus saw his grimace, but couldn''t immediately think of a reason for that. "This will take longer than I thought, but it will have to do." He added, "Don''t worry about payment for your materials - you''ll be compensated for everything that you use from your own stores, and you can take as many workers as you need from the waiting crowd. You don''t have to worry about paying them either. Just let Duvas know who you''ve chosen, so he''ll keep track of their hours."

    "I will do that, milord. By your leave, I should get a start on this immediately," Taniok said. "I need to finish this so I can start cutting planks. We will need a lot of planks to make even a single longhouse, so I need to get to work now."

    Kivmaus nodded. "Go on then." And after a quick bow, Taniok walked away towards the crowd waiting for work.

    Kivamus turned his attention back to Duvas. "What about Cedoron? Did he come here to get more workers?"

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 Chapter 50 - 49. Excursion

    "Cedoron is a hard worker, my Lord." Duvas replied. "He came here soon after the caravan had left the manor, before the villagers had even started gathering outside. I already sent two men and a woman to assist him at his smithy."

    "Good," Kivamus said. "Tell the servants to gather all the available shovels - we should have more than enough of them kept for use in the coal mines, along with the ones we bought from Pydas yesterday. We''ll divide the workers into two groups for now - one for logging, the other for clearing the land."

    He ordered, "Then send around half of the workers with shovels, so they can start clearing shrubs and the undergrowth in the south of the village. And send the remaining men for logging to the north of the village, so they can get a start as well. You can send more workers to any place, as needed, once more villagers have arrived for work."

    "We should send some pickaxes as well to the group going south," Hudan added. "The ground might be hard in some places, or they might need to break some stones lodged in the ground."

    "That''s a good idea," Duvas nodded. He looked at Kivamus. "I''ll tell the servants to distribute the tools. And I''ll also note down where the workers are sent, so I can ensure that they are actually working here and wouldn''t return here in the evening to get the grain and coal without even working, or more likely, while they were working somewhere else."

    Kivamus said, "I don''t think there are many places willing to hire them in the village right now, but sure, do that as well."

    "We need someone to oversee these groups," Gorsazo said, his voice carrying over the growing clamor of the assembled villagers. "A foreman, someone with experience leading men, to ensure the tasks are completed efficiently and to verify that everyone is pulling their weight." He added, "We should send a foreman for each task that we are sending the workers to do. Say, one foreman for the workers who are clearing ground in the south, another for those who will be cutting trees in the north, and so on."

    Kivamus nodded in agreement. "That''s a good suggestion." He looked at Duvas. "Find some men who command respect - those who can motivate and discipline the workers, to make sure they wouldn''t slack off during work hours. Perhaps some of the older villagers - those who might not be able to climb trees themselves, could take on this role."

    "Don''t worry, I know a few men who would be perfect for this, particularly those who worked as foremen in the coal mines earlier," Duvas said, while looking at the crowd outside the manor gates. "I''ll appoint them as foremen when I send the workers. They can also ensure nobody leaves during work hours, since I can''t check it myself."

    He called a servant working nearby. "Fetch a parchment and quill from the manor," he ordered, his voice sharp. "Then call a few more servants and bring all the axes, shovels and pickaxes from the barn. Select only those people who''ll not be doing anything else for a while, since they''ll need to help with the distribution as well." The servant immediately ran off to the manor house to carry out the orders. Duvas turned back to Kivamus. "Let me send off the workers after I note down their names. This will take me a while."

    "Wait a moment," Kivamus paused, a thought occurring to him. "How did the villagers respond to the proposal of housing the homeless?"

    "Far better than I expected," Duvas replied. "The offer of free grain proved to be a powerful incentive for them. Many villagers who were initially hesitant, quickly changed their minds once they realized they could help those in need while also benefiting themselves. Immediately after the announcement yesterday, there was a scramble among the villagers to take in the homeless orphans and elderly who were there. I believe this continued even after everyone returned from here."

    He added with a wide smile, "I even heard some of the villagers outside muttering about not hearing that announcement on time, thus missing the opportunity to get some free grain since they couldn''t find any villagers who were still homeless by the time they heard about it."

    Kivamus gave a satisfied nod. "That''s good to hear. At least we won''t have to worry about any children freezing to death on the streets in the coming weeks." He paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "I''m thinking of taking a walk to the north of the village. I want to get a firsthand look at the area we''ll be clearing."

    Duvas nodded in understanding. "I''ll have to remain here to oversee the distribution of tasks and to send more workers where needed. It will soon be time for the morning meal for the elderly and the children as well."

    He added, "I''ll also have to write down the names of those who have taken in the homeless villagers and then send guards to verify it, so we can give them the promised supplies after work hours in the evening. Apart from that, I will have to talk with Madam Nerida about the distribution of the weekly grain and coal to all the workers in the evening. While she can determine a good amount for the grain herself, I will need to oversee the same for the coal myself."

    "That''s alright, you can handle it as you see fit," Kivamus reassured him. "I''ll be back soon."

    With a final nod, Duvas walked away towards the waiting crowd to send them to their tasks.

    "Let''s go," Kivamus said to Gorsazo and the guard captain.

    Hudan hesitated for a moment, his gaze scanning the crowd. "Wait a moment, my Lord. Let me call a couple of guards as well to accompany you."

    "Is that necessary?" Kivamus asked. "You will be there as well."

    Hudan grunted, "Better to have the guards with you and not need them, than the other way. In any case, you are still leaving the safety of the manor walls, and we don''t know where the wild beasts might be lurking in those forests."

    Kivamus considered this. It felt unusual to him to wait for guards before he went anywhere - like some important politicians were escorted back on Earth. But after the recent attempts on his life, it might be better to err on the side of caution anyway. "Very well," he agreed. "But make it quick."

    Hudan nodded and disappeared back into the manor. Soon, he returned with three burly guards in tow, armed with swords on their sides and wooden shields on their backs. Hudan, who was always armed with his longsword on his back, had picked up a shield as well. "I have told Kerel to keep an eye on things here," he reported. "We can leave now."

    "Let''s go then," Kivamus said, his voice firm. Gorsazo accompanied him as well, as they started walking towards the gates of the manor.

    The guards on gate duty saw Kivamus and their guard captain approaching, and stiffened to attention, their postures rigid and alert. Kivamus acknowledged them with a nod, his gaze sweeping over the villagers gathered outside.

    As they exited the gates, he saw that only a few villagers were remaining there, with Duvas continuously sending the workers one by one to their tasks, while scribbling on a piece of parchment. The once chaotic scene had transformed into an organized assembly, a testament to Duvas'' efficiency. Those who had come later were still waiting to be assigned, their faces a mixture of hope and uncertainty. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As Kivamus and others walked closer, the villagers stood up straighter after recognizing him, with expressions of awe and respect. A few of the bolder ones even bowed, a gesture of deference to the new baron. Kivamus returned their greetings with a warm smile and a wave, until their group moved away from the small crowd.

    "A lot of them have already come to respect you, my Lord," Hudan observed, his voice low. "You''ve done more for them in a matter of days than the previous baron did in his entire reign."

    Kivamus acknowledged the compliment with a modest shrug. "I still haven''t done anything much, Hudan. There''s a lot of work that needs to be carried out."

    They turned right and started walking towards the north, next to the palisade walls of the manor. The narrow path they were walking on was just packed dirt, which looked recently dried after a spate of rainfall right before he arrived here. The palisade wall itself seemed undamaged and stood taller than them, probably around three meters high, with the wooden stakes sharpened to a point at the top.

    Once they reached the northern corner of the manor walls, the dirt path turned to the left, forcing them to navigate their way through a maze of tightly packed houses. Two of the manor guards led the way ahead of Kivamus and Gorsazo, while Hudan and another guard followed behind them while keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.

    As they walked, Kivamus took in the sights and sounds of the village. With most of the villagers having already gone to work as laborers, he didn''t see too many people on these narrow streets. Nevertheless, the crisp morning air was filled with the sounds of life - the chatter of a few children playing somewhere, the barking of dogs, and the voices of a few old people who seemed to be reminiscing about their lives before they came to the small village of Tiranat. And then, the unmistakable sound of a baby''s cry pierced the air, a stark reminder of the new shoots of life amidst all the challenges faced by the villagers.

    Since the bandits had not approached close to the manor in the recent raid, none of the houses here were burnt. And all of these houses were actual wooden houses, unlike the shacks and mud huts he had seen farther away from the manor when he arrived at this frontier village. He shook his head slowly, realizing that this would be called the posh residential area of Tiranat - living close to the baron''s manor and in real houses made of wood.

    However, it was easy to see in the light of the day that most of these houses, which were still standing unlike those in some other parts of the village, still had damaged walls or roofs, and they would hardly do much to protect those who lived inside from the coming winter. The residents of these houses had done their best to patch up the damaged parts, but the fact that even the better houses of the village had patchwork repairs told a lot about the situation of the village.

    "We need to plan for the future," he said to Gorsazo, while following the guards walking in front of them. "While it''s true that firstly we have to house those villagers who are still homeless, even if they have been taken in temporarily by other villagers, we have to keep the construction of longhouses ongoing throughout the winter. This way, even the other villagers would have an option to move to the new longhouses, instead of living in their own damaged ones which wouldn''t do much to protect them from the cold."

    "That''s true enough," Gorsazo commented while looking at the patched houses. "Having more longhouses would also reduce the overcrowding in the initial ones, which would be inevitable in the beginning."

    "Certainly. Overcrowding will lead to its own set of problems," Kivamus nodded. "But more importantly, such construction projects will also create much-needed employment opportunities for the villagers until we reopen the coal mines."

    He continued, "I know we will soon have all the grain we need to feed the village through the winter, but I don''t want to provide it to the villagers without having them work for it - at least those who are capable of working. Otherwise, it can lead to a lot of problems in the long run. So, we''ll put them to work on new projects once something is completed. I can think of many other projects we can implement to improve and secure the village."

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 Chapter 51 - 50. Yeden

    Emerging from the last cluster of houses, they reached the edge of the village, and saw the sprawling expanse of towering trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. The tree line itself was not far away from the houses. Most of the leaves had turned red and orange, making the ground seem colorful with the fallen leaves, while the trees themselves only had a small number of leaves still remaining.

    This was where the group of villagers sent to the north were working, their axes biting into the dense wood with rhythmic precision. Some had already scaled the trees, their silhouettes stark against the bright sky, as they cut the branches of those trees which could get tangled with another tree when felled. Others, working on the ground, swung their axes with all their might, chipping away at the base of trees which were ready to be felled. At the same time, the lack of sufficient tools was easily noticeable, as more than a dozen men sat idle, waiting for their turns with an axe.

    As he watched, a large tree which was on the brink of collapsing, finally snapped with a final hit of an axe, and started to bend towards the ground with a loud tearing sound. Slowly, what remained of its trunk couldn''t support the weight of the tree anymore, and it fell with a thunderous crash echoing through the morning air. Immediately, a bald man, above forty years old - whose authoritative stance and the way the other workers responded to his commands made him stand out from the crowd, barked new orders and sent the waiting workers towards the fallen giant. They jogged towards the felled tree and took over the axes from those who had been cutting the tree, giving them a moment to rest, and started cutting off the branches of the fallen tree.

    Noticing his gaze, Gorsazo said, "The process will speed up in the coming days, once Cedoron provides us more axes. Until then, this is the best they can do."

    Kivamus gave a nod but didn''t say anything.

    Soon, two manor servants, their faces flushed with exertion, arrived at the clearing, leading a pair of sturdy horses. The animals were saddled and bridled, with thick ropes coiled at their sides. They took the horses to the older man, who greeted them with a nod of appreciation, and after taking the reins of the horses from them, he sent the servants back. He also ordered the workers who had been cutting the branches of the felled tree, to start cutting another standing tree, instead of trimming the branches from the cut trees. Making logs from the felled trees would have to wait until they had more axes.

    "Who is that?" Kivamus asked, his gaze fixed on the man who seemed to be directing the efforts of the loggers.

    Hudan shrugged. "I can''t say, my Lord. I don''t yet recognise most of the villagers." S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hearing their conversation, one of the guards who had come with them, spoke up. "That''s Yeden, milord," he informed them. "He used to be a foreman in the coal mines as well."

    Kivamus nodded, his attention drawn back to the man in question. Yeden was overseeing the process where a few workers attached the trunk of the fallen tree to thick ropes, and then tied the ropes to the horses. Once it was done, Yeden gave a sharp command, and the workers started to lead the horses towards the right side, likely to clear the space there. It wasn''t easy to drag the logs on the forest floor, but they didn''t have a better option until Taniok came through on his promises to build the log mover. The workers led the straining horses to move the tree to an empty place on the right, to a slowly growing stockpile of felled trees. Yeden then ordered the horses to be tied away from the danger of the falling trees, until they were needed again to move another felled tree.

    "He seems to know his work," Kivamus observed. "Duvas chose a good foreman here."

    "Indeed," Gorsazo replied. "He has a natural authority about him."

    Right at that moment, Yeden looked in their direction and with recognition in his eyes, he started walking towards them. "Milord," he greeted with a respectful bow, his voice carrying a hint of surprise. "I didn''t expect to see you here."

    "I wanted to get a firsthand look at the operation," Kivamus replied. "How''s it going?"

    Yeden hesitated for a moment, then scratching his bald pate, he spoke bluntly. "We could use more axes, my lord," he admitted. "There are twice as many workers as there are tools, so the work is going much slower than I wanted."

    Kivamus said, "I have already given an order to Cedoron to make two dozen more axes, and he will start providing them from this evening itself." He added, "I have also told him to make some machetes, which are like much bigger knives. They will be useful to cut the smaller branches from the trees, instead of using the much heavier axes for it, which could be better used for cutting more trees."

    Yeden looked satisfied on hearing that. "Getting that many new axes would make a world of difference. I haven''t heard of any machetes in my life, but anything that can be used to cut, will help us right now."

    Kivamus continued, "I have also told the carpenter to make something which would make moving the logs much easier. You''ll see it tomorrow."

    Kivamus looked towards the trees being cut and his attention was drawn to two workers who seemed to be taking a break. With their axes casually propped against a nearby tree, they seemed to be engaged in idle conversation. Following his gaze, Yeden noticed them as well, and growled. "By your leave milord, I need to get back there," he said, his voice sharp, "or they will start slacking off. We can''t afford to have any axes idle right now."

    With a quick bow to Kivamus, Yeden strode towards the idle workers, his voice carrying across the clearing. "Get back to work!" he bellowed, his words sharp and commanding. "We don''t have time for slacking!"

    Kivamus nodded approvingly. "He''s a natural leader," he murmured.

    As they continued their inspection, he pondered about this area. The initial focus was on clearing the land, but the construction of the longhouses would require careful planning. Looking at the clearing, he tried to visualize in his mind about where the longhouses might be constructed, but right now, the cutting of trees had barely started and there was just not enough space between the houses of the village and the tree line. For now, he would have to wait until more axes and machetes had been built by Cedoron to address the bottleneck of tools, which was slowing down everything.

    "We''ll need to return in a few days to reassess the location," he said to Hudan. "Once enough area has been cleared, we can start planning the layout of the longhouses. It''ll be better to start building them only after we know exactly where they will be located."

    Gorsazo suggested, "We should also establish a central storage area for the felled trees," he said aloud. "A place where the workers can cut them into manageable lengths and prepare them for construction."

    "We are clearing trees for at least five hundred yards on every side of the village," Kivamus replied. "So instead of dragging the logs to a single location - which is not going to be easy right now, we can keep the logs from each direction in separate stockpiles." He added, "As of now, we don''t even have enough axes to put all the workers to cut trees in every direction, but when we start cutting trees in other areas, you can tell Duvas to let the local foremen know about that. For now, Yeden seems to be managing everything here well enough."

    Kivamus asked Hudan, "What about the security of the workers here?"

    "These laborers are certainly not trained guards, but most of them are physically fit young men, and are armed with axes, and in the coming days, they''ll have machetes as well." Hudan explained, "A bandit attack is unlikely on a group of forty-fifty young men in the middle of the day, unless they have superior numbers, which is highly unlikely. Still, these men should be able to hold on long enough in case of an attack, even if it''s by a wild beast, to send a man on horse to call for guards from the manor - they already have horses here, and we''ll send one to the southern group as well."

    He added with a grimace, "It''s true that even with most of the men armed with axes and machetes, they are no match for a determined group of bandits who might attack while riding on horses. However, we are already short on guards, so we simply can''t maintain a constant guard presence in every place we have sent the workers, especially since we''ll have to keep a particular number of guards at the manor at all times." He continued, "For now, I''ve already started training the new guards. It''s slow going, but they''re making progress."

    Kivamus asked, "What about training these laborers in the basics?"

    Hudan replied, "Kerel and I can''t personally train more than a dozen men properly, and we''re already doing that with the current guards. And even though their new profession leads them to risk their lives in any attack - which means they would be highly determined to learn, it still takes time to train a man to hold his own against a trained fighter." He added, "As for the laborers, they will be working during most of the daylight hours so they wouldn''t have the time or energy to learn much, and even if I showed them the basics after they returned in the evening, their skill would only increase if they get actual experience in fighting, like the way we are training the new guards. Just explaining to these workers about how to fight wouldn''t increase their skill even a little bit from what they could do right now with an axe."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That makes sense. For now, let them focus on working on their given tasks." He continued, "But when all the guards are back from Cinran after the final trip, you should have enough guards to put a few of them to patrol around the village on horses, so that they can keep an eye on everything. They''ll also be able to inform the manor more quickly as well, in case of an attack."

    "I''ll do that, my Lord," Hudan replied. "I was already planning something like that."

    "That''s good," Kivamus said. "Now let''s take a look at the south of the village as well."

    Hudan nodded, and they started walking back on the same path they had taken to come here.

    As they approached the manor gates, he saw that Duvas was waiting for them, accompanied by a middle aged man with thinning, almost white hair, who was standing with a humble posture. The man''s frail appearance was a stark reminder of the harsh conditions the villagers endured.

    "This is Pinoto," Duvas explained, "He''s the father of Tesyb, who''s a new guard we hired. He is here to discuss matters about farming with you."

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 Chapter 52 - 51. Pinoto

    Pinoto, a gaunt figure with eyes that held the weariness of a life spent in struggle, bowed deeply. "Forgive me, milord," he began, "I was unable to report to the manor yesterday. Weakness had kept me confined to my home."

    Kivamus placed a reassuring hand on the man''s shoulder. "Don''t worry about it," he replied. "Besides, I was busy with other things yesterday, so I probably would have sent you back anyway if you''d come. How are you feeling now?"

    Pinoto''s gaunt face relaxed slightly. "Much better, milord," he replied. "It''s not a serious illness or something. We just haven''t had enough to eat recently, and my body has grown weak. But my son brought home some grain last night, and I can already feel my strength returning."

    Kivamus grimaced, a pang of sympathy shooting through him. The villagers'' plight was more dire than he had imagined if some of the older people weren''t even able to walk because of weakness and not having enough food to eat. But at least the immediate crisis of hunger was being addressed now, even though the underlying issue of long term food security still remained. "I''m glad to hear it," he said. "We need everyone at their best to rebuild this village."

    Pinoto bowed again, "I can''t thank you enough milord, for accepting Tesyb as a manor guard."

    Kivamus looked at Hudan, who replied in his place. "It wasn''t a favor to hire him. He got selected on his own merits," said the guard captain with a shrug.

    Pinoto stood straight again with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, I am so glad to hear that! Now at least he''ll earn a wage as a guard, instead of wasting his fighting talents for breaking up brawls in the alehouse for free."

    Kivamus couldn''t help but give a small laugh at that. "Don''t worry, I''m sure he''ll do well as a guard." He added, "I''m going to take a walk to the south of the village, where I want to build the new farms. Walk with me, while we talk."

    Pinoto nodded, and said, "Gladly, milord."

    Duvas added, "I''ll stay back here, my Lord. We already provided the morning meal to the children and the elderly, but I still have to arrange for the grain and coal we have to provide in the evening."

    With a final nod to the old majordomo, Kivamus set off southwards, on the dirt path next to the palisade walls of the manor, with Gorsazo and Pinoto walking beside him. Hudan and the other guards took their previous positions as well, to escort him.

    As they walked, Kivamus took the opportunity to ask more questions. "So have you worked as a farmer before?" he asked the ex-farmer.

    Pinoto paused for a moment, before giving a nod. "Before moving to Tiranat, my family and I used to live on a farm in the northwest of Cinran. I worked as a farmer there for over two decades," he explained, his voice carrying a hint of nostalgia. "It was a simple life, but a fulfilling one. But then, the farm owner fell on hard times and could no longer afford to pay us, so I had to leave with my family."

    He continued with a distant look in his eyes. "We ended up in Cinran for a while, where my daughter still works as a seamstress'' helper. But when I heard that coal had been found to the south and they needed workers for the mines, I moved here along with my wife and son. That was more than a decade ago." He gestured towards the east. "I worked in those mines for over a decade, until one day I injured my hand badly enough that I couldn''t use the pickaxe anymore."

    "I''m sorry to hear about your injury," Kivamus said. "It must have been a difficult time for your family."

    Pinoto shook his head. "We managed," he said simply. "Tesyb was still young at the time, but he took my place as a miner and we have been living on his mining wages since then."

    Kivamus studied the man for a moment. While Pinoto''s recent sickness had made him look gaunt and older, but even with his nearly white hair, he didn''t seem that old. It was possible that he was lying about how long he''d worked at that farm, to bluff his way into getting a role for advising him. "How old are you, for you to have been working that long?" he asked.

    The question seemed to take Pinoto by surprise. He hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I''m not entirely sure, milord. But I think I must have seen around fifty winters by now. My parents died when I was young, so I had to start working on that farm - which was close to where I was born, when I was nearly fifteen years old, I think. That''s where I met my wife as well, in later years."

    He continued, "When my family was forced to leave that farm, I remember that Tesyb was only around seven or eight years old, so I think I must have been around thirty-five years old by then. And then I worked as a miner here for nearly a decade, before Tesyb took over around five years ago." S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded slowly. Those numbers added up. It seemed he wasn''t lying about working on a farm for two decades, after all. For a moment, it did feel odd to him that Pinoto didn''t remember exactly how old he was, before he remembered that most people in this place must be illiterate, and without good enough recordkeeping, it would be difficult anyway.

    From losing his parents at a young age, then having to leave the farm he worked on for most his life, and eventually not being able to work as even a miner after that injury, Pinoto had seen more than his fair share of hardships. But he was a man who had weathered life''s storms with a stoic determination.

    Nobody said anything for a while, as they walked south next to the palisade wall. Eventually, Kivamus asked, changing the subject, "What did you grow on your farm?"

    Pinoto''s face brightened as he started talking about farming. "Mostly wheat, milord," he replied. "We had a few fields of oats as well, but wheat was the main crop. Oat is a more hardy crop than wheat, so it can be grown in a variety of soil and climate types. But nearly always, people prefer to eat wheat, which tastes better than oat. However, we still grew some oats there to feed the animals."

    Kivamus listened intently, his mind already formulating plans for the future. He needed to understand the agricultural potential of the land, to know what crops could be grown successfully and what challenges they might face.

    He said, "You have been living here for more than a decade. So you must have noticed the soil around the village. Which of those crops will be better to grow here?" He added, "I would prefer wheat, because soon we''ll have a good stock of it to use as seeds, and if needed, buying more of it from Cinran after the winter wouldn''t be a problem. However, I don''t know if we can get enough seeds for oats at a low enough price."

    Pinoto thought for a moment before replying. "Since the forest land around the village hasn''t ever been farmed in the past, it is still rich in humus. Also, we have a loamy soil in this region, so wheat can easily be grown here. So, because of the reasons you mentioned and the quality of soil here, I''d suggest sowing wheat in the farms."

    Kivamus nodded, satisfied with the assessment. "Okay, that''s good. Wheat it is, then." He continued, "Since you''ve worked in the coal mines in the eastern hills, you must already know that there is a stream there."

    "I''ve seen it, milord," Pinoto replied. He hesitated for a moment, before adding, "I''ve also fished there in the past, to add to our diets in lean times." He gazed in the distance for a while, then said, "It flows southwards from between those hills in the east, so I''d say you chose well to build the farms in the south. However, it''s still too far away from the village to use it for irrigation directly."

    Kivamus considered this, trying to visualize the terrain. "That''s true. We might have to dig a small canal to bring the water closer to the farms. I will have to check the slope of the ground from the stream to the south of the village, to see whether the water will flow here by itself, or if I''ll have to do something else about it. Leave that to me." As they continued walking, he asked, "Now from what I heard about the weather here, we can''t plant any wheat for the winter, right?"

    Pinoto nodded. "You might already know this milord, but just like the northern part of Reslinor, it snows every year in the winter even in southern regions of Reslinor, even if the snowfall is not very heavy here in the areas away from a mountain range. That''s why all the wheat which is planted in Reslinor is sown in spring and harvested in autumn."

    He continued, "In our case, in Tiranat, the snow lasts here for around a month and a half, so it''s not feasible to plant wheat in the winter. So, we''ll also have to do the sowing of wheat in spring, just like the rest of Reslinor."

    "That''s what I expected," Kivamus said. "So, we have a few months before we can start sowing."

    As they reached the designated area for farming, the scale of the task became increasingly apparent. Trees, their trunks thick and imposing, stood like silent sentinels, their branches reaching for the sky. A group of workers were already working to clear the ground there. While the men were using pickaxes to break the rocks which were present in some places, the women were using baskets to move the smaller stones to a growing pile nearby.

    "What about just burning the shrubs and small plants here?" Kivamus asked. He remembered the fertilizing acronym NPK, which stood for the three major elements needed to increase the fertility of plants - Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, although people here wouldn''t know anything about elements and atoms. Soil acidity would also be a factor affected by mixing ash, but he didn''t have a way to measure it yet. He added, "It would help to improve the soil quality as well, if we mixed the ash into the soil."

    "That''s true, but we can only do it after the workers have cut all the trees from the area," Pinoto replied. "But even then, since this area has never been used for farming, there are still many stones here, both small and large, which have to be removed manually. After that is done, and the trees have been cut, we can still burn the shrubs anyway, as needed."

    Pinoto added, "Give me a moment, milord," before he started walking again towards the laborers working ahead.

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 Chapter 53 - 52. Yields

    The ex-farmer walked a little ahead and bent down to the ground near the trees. Picking up a small amount of dirt in his hand, he crushed it, watching it carefully. With a nod to himself, he got up and walked a little farther away and repeated the same thing in a few other places. Then he looked around, and seeing a wooden bucket filled with water, which one of the laborers must have brought there from the village well for drinking, he walked towards it.

    As Kivamus watched, Pinoto poured some water from the bucket onto the ground, and mixed some of the soil with water, kneading it into a ball of mud. With a nod to himself, he picked up that round clump of mud in both hands, and walked towards Kivamus. After lightly tossing up the ball of mud and catching it again, he opened his hands and explained, "As you can see, milord, this soil can hold its shape well enough, which means it is not too sandy." Then he took a part of the muddy ball in one hand, and squeezed it out between his thumb and index finger. Kivamus saw a strip of mud forming outside Pinoto''s hands for around two to three centimeters, before it fell to the ground in a clump. Pinoto reported, "Like you saw milord, the mud holds itself together for nearly an inch, but not for much longer. This is a good quality of loamy soil for sowing wheat."

    Before he saw Pinoto doing this, Kivamus had thought of testing the soil type by putting some dirt inside a glass jar, and leaving it to settle for a while after filling it with water. That would have shown what the soil consisted of. But he didn''t think they had a glass jar here of a good enough quality and transparency to do that, so he hadn''t mentioned it. However, this method seemed to work for the locals just as well. "That''s good thinking!" he commended.

    Pinoto nodded with a smile. "Thank you, milord. While the soil here is good for sowing wheat, having flowing water nearby would help a lot, otherwise we would need to dig a well here which would be quite time consuming."

    "Don''t worry about that. I will take care of supplying enough water here," Kivamus reassured. "But what about plowing the soil? How did you do it on the farm you worked at?"

    Pinoto replied, "For the big fields, we used nodors there, milord." Seeing the confused look on Kivamus'' face, he bowed his head. "My apologies, milord, I should have explained first. It must be rare to see a nodor near Ulriga, where oxen are used more often."

    He explained, "Nodors are plant eaters, similar to oxen, but smaller than them. They are often seen grazing in forests and are easy enough to tame. While it''s true that oxen are built more powerful, they are fewer in number and are much more costly to buy, feed and maintain, compared to nodors."

    He added with a shrug, "The truth is, other than on hilly terrains, an ox is always better than a nodor for plowing and pulling carts, if only a farmer can afford it. That''s why, away from the big cities like Ulriga and Cinran, as well as the farms of some rich nobles, nodors are much more common on farms."

    Kivamus nodded slowly, thinking about it. It seemed a nodor was like a poor-man''s ox, serving nearly the same purpose, but cheaper to maintain. He said, "Okay, carry on."

    Pinoto continued with a nod. "We don''t have any nodors or cattle in the village right now, apart from a few cows I''ve seen in the manor itself." He shook his head slowly. "There just wasn''t enough fodder in the village to sustain them. The few cattle that we did have in the village earlier, had been slaughtered in the past few months for their meat. It was the same for most of the goats we had here." He added after a moment, "I think some of the relatively well-off villagers might still have a few of them, but not many. Anyway, those cannot be used for plowing the fields. But I think you might still have enough horses in the manor for that." S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus asked the guards who had come with them, "How many cattle and horses do we have in the manor? All I saw was two thin cows in the shed."

    A guard, who had been listening intently, spoke up. "You are right, milord, right now we only have two cows in the manor. We had more cattle in the past, but we had to butcher them in the past few months when we didn''t have enough grain here. As for horses, we only had six of them remaining after the previous baron''s unfortunate trip, before you arrived with another six horses. So we have a dozen horses now." He added, "Of course, eight of them are out on the journey to Cinran right now."

    Pinoto observed, "A dozen horses might be enough, I think, if we could use all of them for plowing the land. However, you might only be able to provide half of them or even fewer, since they would still be needed for pulling wagons and other purposes, like right now. We''ll have to see what we can do about plowing when the fields are ready." He added, "But we certainly don''t have a single plow in the village, since we never did any farming here. You would need to have them crafted, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Once the longhouses have been built and Taniok has more free time, I will need to talk to you again about the design of plows, so we can have them made before spring arrives."

    Pinoto nodded in agreement. "Of course, milord. I will be available whenever you ask for me."

    Kivamus could think of ideas for so many things which would make their lives much easier in this place. For farming, if only they just had a single tractor, it would be so easy to work the fields. However, just like most other machines and equipment from his past life, building a tractor was simply not possible with the current level of technology in the village, which was simply too primitive right now. Even so, it was another good idea for the future, which would greatly reduce the labor needed and vastly improve their productivity at the same time.

    He also remembered thinking about seed drills earlier, and thankfully, that was something which seemed feasible to make in their current situation. He asked, "You sow the seeds manually, by your hands, right?"

    Pinoto looked a little surprised, "That''s the only way to sow seeds that I know of, milord. After plowing is done, we scatter the seeds by hand, before covering them with soil so the rodents and birds wouldn''t eat it and so the seeds would grow their roots easily. Of course, we can sow each seed by hand, one by one, but that is rarely done for sowing in a large area." He asked, "Maybe I didn''t understand your question correctly?"

    Kivamus said, "Don''t worry about it. I have been thinking about making something which would make sowing much easier and improve the yields as well. Basically, it is a contraption made of wood and some iron, by which a farmer can control the distance between the seeds sown, as well as their depths under the soil." Looking at the interested faces of others, he asked, "Firstly, tell me Pinoto, what is the yield of wheat here? You must know about it."

    Pinoto nodded, and thought for a moment before replying. "It varies based on the soil type and amount of irrigation, and how well the usual problems like removing weeds and scaring away birds are taken care of." He continued, "It''s been some time since I did any farming, but from what I remember, we used to get two and a half sacks of wheat from an acre on that farm, which was a fairly productive land."

    Kivamus gave a sigh. Of course, they don''t use metric measurement! He said, "I am used to thinking in terms of meters and hectares, which are easier in terms of calculations. So, I would like to convert these numbers. Tell me, how big is an acre here?"

    "I''m not sure, milord," Pinoto replied.

    However, Gorsazo demonstrated his knowledge. "An acre is roughly seventy yards by seventy yards, my Lord," he estimated.

    Kivamus did a mental calculation. "That''s nearly five thousand square yards," he said, "or around four thousand square meters, which is point-four hectares. That means we can expect around six sacks of grain per hectare." He asked, "Now, how much does a sack of grain weigh?"

    Gorsazo replied again. "Around two hundred and fifty stones."

    Kivamus said, "That doesn''t help me!" Thinking about it, he asked, "Tell me, how much does a man weigh in terms of stones?"

    "That is difficult to say," Gorsazo chuckled. "I have rarely heard of weighing up a man on a balancing scale! But if I had to give an estimate anyway, I would say the average man weighs around one hundred and fifty stones."

    Kivamus nodded. Without access to something as basic as a weighing scale, it was only going to be an estimate, but for now, he had to work with the technology available here. Looking at others around him, he said, "Okay. The weight of an average man here should be around seventy-five kilograms, in the metric measurement, which is what I prefer to use. That means a single sack of grain is around uh.. one hundred and twenty-five kilograms, more or less." He concluded, "So we''re looking at a yield of around seven hundred and fifty kilograms per hectare of farmland."

    That was just point-seven-five tons per hectare, while modern yields on earth could easily be ten times as high. While they wouldn''t get a yield of that level here anytime soon, but just with the use of seed drills, the yield should increase significantly. He said, "Okay, now I have a general idea of it. I will talk with Taniok and Cedoron about making that machine, which we can call a seed drill."

    "A machine?" Gorsazo echoed.

    Kivamus said, "That''s what we call something which makes things easier to do for a person. You really should have read more in the libraries!"

    Gorsazo looked away. "I am not the son of a Duke, so I didn''t have access to the whole library, like you said earlier. Let''s leave it there." He asked, "But how would it even work?"

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 54 - 53. Seed Drill

    Kivamus gave a nod to Gorsazo, hiding his smile. It felt a little bad to him to deceive Gorsazo like this, but it had to be done to lay the foundation for inventing any such machines in the future.

    He began to sketch a rough diagram in the dirt by using a pointed wooden stick, which he found lying nearby. "Basically, it is a wooden frame with a small box for storing the seeds and a series of tubes, each with a small opening at the bottom," he described. "Preferably, the field should be already plowed, especially since it''s the first time we''ll be sowing anything in these lands. Then the seed drill, which will be pulled by a pair of horses, will make thin furrows in the field," he continued, "and it will drop the seeds into those furrows as we move across the field. We can control the depth of the seeds by adjusting the tubes before sowing, and behind the machine, we can also add a wooden board or maybe a chain of iron or even wooden rings, to loosely cover the furrows as the machine moves ahead."

    Gorsazo studied the crude drawing, his face a mixture of confusion and intrigue. "It sounds complex," he admitted. "Can we even make such a thing here?" he asked doubtfully.

    "I know it will require a few attempts to get it right," Kivamus agreed. "But the benefits will easily be worth it."

    However, Pinoto''s eyes had already lit up with excitement. "You are right, milord! This will save us so much time and effort!" he said enthusiastically. "Usually a lot of seeds are wasted and don''t develop into grown plants, since many of them aren''t fully covered by soil. They can also germinate too early or too late, depending on the depth they settle to when scattering them by hand, which often means that the plant doesn''t survive for long. But this machine will easily prevent that!"

    At this point Pinoto wasn''t even looking at anyone near him. Rather, he gazed into the distance as he kept speaking, his eyes widened in amazement. "And by keeping a fixed distance between the rows of plants, weeding would also be much easier." He nodded to himself, getting carried on in his chain of thoughts. "If this... seed drill can also put the seeds at a fixed depth under the soil and cover them after sowing, birds and rodents wouldn''t be able to eat the seeds either!" He looked exhilarated as he continued, "And the seeds which aren''t getting wasted, we can plant in another field, which will improve the overall yield!"

    Finally, he shook his head and said, "Milord, I can''t be completely sure about it without actually seeing such a¡­ machine in work, but if it can really do all the things you claimed, I can easily see the yields doubling or even tripling!" However, a note of skepticism crept into his voice as he looked at Kivamus. "But can such a miraculous machine really be made here?"

    Kivamus gave a satisfied smile. "You''ll see," he replied. "Once I''ve gotten the first seed drill built, you can judge for yourself."

    Gorsazo interjected, "But did you read about this machine in your books as well? I think I would have heard about such a thing if it existed anywhere."

    Kivamus shook his head. "Not at all," he admitted. "The books I read there didn''t mention anything like that. But like I told you earlier, I''ve always been thinking about such ideas in my mind. So when I realized that we would need to do large scale farming here, I spent a lot of time thinking about this." He gestured expansively to the wild, untamed forests around them. "As you know we need every advantage that we can get here to survive in Tiranat."

    "That is true enough," Gorsazo acknowledged.

    Kivamus continued, "Eventually, an idea came into my mind to make a machine to reduce the wastage of the limited amount of seeds we can buy with our funds, as well as to improve the yields." He gazed at everyone around him. "Most importantly for us here, by using a seed drill, we can cover much more ground in less time, with the same number of farmers. That means, as long as we get enough land cleared for farming, we should be able to produce all our food here, and stop relying on traders from Cinran who charge sky-high prices for the grain."

    The guards who had come with him, seemed to be listening carefully as well, with an inkling of hero-worship in their eyes.

    Pinoto looked at him thoughtfully for a while. Eventually, he smiled and looking at the afternoon sky, he said, "The goddess must have finally heard our prayers to send you as the new baron here. The truth is, most of us had nearly lost all hope before you arrived in Tiranat." Looking at the villagers working diligently to clear the ground nearby, he said with glistening eyes, "I think I speak for all the villagers when I say that I am glad that it is you who was sent to become our new baron." He gave a deep bow. "Thank you milord, for thinking about us commoners as well. It''s a completely new experience for us - we are just not used to it."

    Apart from Pinoto, one of the young guards who had come with them, who was probably a newly recruited guard, seemed to have gotten emotional as well. When Kivamus looked at him, the guard just muttered something about getting dust in his eyes. Their reactions clearly emphasized how downtrodden the villagers were, if even just the possibility of getting enough grain at a reasonable price to feed their families was enough to make the villagers tearful.

    Kivamus just smiled and walked closer to Pinoto and patted him on his shoulder. "Don''t worry about it, Pinoto. I will do my best for every last person in the village."

    Pinoto stood straighter, and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. "I know you will, milord. I have no doubt about it." He added, "I give you my word that I will put every effort into making this farming plan successful. You can count on me."

    Kivamus began, "So let''s decide how much land we need to farm to feed the whole village. From what Duvas told me earlier, we need around one and a half sacks of grain to feed the whole village for a day." He remembered from the memories of the original Kivamus, that a year was nearly the same length here as on Earth at nearly three hundred and seventy days, divided into twelve uneven months of a little above thirty days.

    He continued, "Based on that number, we need around five hundred and fifty sacks of grain to feed the whole village for a year. But including some spare grain to account for spoilage, let''s plan for six hundred sacks of grain as the minimum that we should aim for, to feed all the villagers."

    Gorsazo interrupted, "My Lord, we should also keep some grain aside to use as seeds for the next season, so that we wouldn''t have to buy more seeds from Cinran after the first harvest."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a very good suggestion." He looked at Pinoto. "How much grain do you think we need to keep aside for that?"

    Pinoto thought for a moment before replying. "Usually, milord, we used to get around ten new grains of wheat for every seed sown. So based on that, to aim for six hundred sacks of grain, we will need uh..." he trailed off.

    Kivamus gave the answer for him, doing the simple math which was still too difficult for the ex-farmer. "Sixty sacks. That number is based on your previous experiences though. But I believe we will be able to get a better yield with the use of seed drills. Even so, to be on the safer side, let''s add another sixty sacks of grain to use as seeds in the next season. That means, our target is to harvest six hundred and sixty sacks of grain to account for everything."

    He continued, "Now, six hundred and sixty sacks is around uh... somewhere around eighty to eighty-five thousand kilograms of grain. Let''s call it eighty-five tons, in the metric measurement, where one ton is equal to a thousand kilograms of weight."

    Looking at others'' faces for a moment, he added, "Now, based on the current yield of farms here, where we get point-seven-five tons per hectare, we need a little above than one hundred and ten hectares to feed the whole village for a year, and still have enough grain remaining to use as seeds for the next year. That means, we need to clear an area of around eleven hundred meters by eleven hundred meters of forest to use for farming."

    Pinoto looked confused on hearing the numbers, and asked, "Forgive me milord, but how much is that in terms of acres?"

    Kivamus took a moment to think about it, trying to convert the numbers, and said, "We need around two hundred and eighty acres of farmland, I''d say, where we need to plant wheat."

    Pinoto gave a slow nod. "That I can understand. It is quite a big area, but since the one thing that we don''t have any shortage of in Tiranat is land, it should be achievable once we clear enough land for farming."

    "Indeed. With any luck, we won''t have any shortage of food grains from the next year," replied Kivamus.

    Gorsazo nodded as well. "Let''s hope so, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked around at the villagers working in the early afternoon sun for a moment and said, "Well, now that we have a basic idea of what we need to do, we should return." He looked at the ex-farmer. "Pinoto, I will call you again in the coming weeks to ask for your help in designing a plow. Until then, you can either stay here to supervise the workers, or you can return home. It''s up to you."

    It didn''t take long for Pinoto to make his decision. He said, "In that case I''ll stay here for a while, milord. Earlier, there was no reason for me to wander around here, especially with the dangers of wild beasts here, but with so many other people here already, I think I should use this chance to take a better look around the land."

    Kivmaus nodded. "Sure, you should do that."

    With that, Pinoto gave a bow and walked towards the villagers working nearby.

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "Let''s return now."

    As their small group started to walk back on the path they had come from, he saw a group of women coming from the village with more buckets of water in their hands, along with wooden bowls in which they seemed to have brought the afternoon meal for those people from their families who were working here. When one of them recognised him, perhaps because he was the only person in the village to walk around accompanied by guards, most of them gave him nods and curtsies of respect, while a few even added praises and blessings to him.

    He responded with a smile and a wave of his hands, as the small crowd of women passed their group. And slowly, they walked on the dirt path next to the palisade walls, on their way back to the manor.

    It was evening now, with the sun getting close to the horizon in the west. Kivamus was strolling around the manor along with Gorsazo and Duvas to take a look at how things were going, while Hudan had gone to the training grounds in the eastern part of the manor to train the new guards. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A servant approached him. "Milord, the blacksmith is here to talk to you."

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 55 - 54. Axes

    Kivamus nodded. "Bring him here."

    Soon, Cedoron walked towards them. After a quick bow, he said, "I have brought the axes I have made today." When Kivamus gazed at his empty hands, he explained, "I can''t show them to you because I was asked to give the axes to another servant here. The guards refused to allow me to approach you with an axe in my hands."

    "That''s alright," Kivamus said. "So how many axes did you manage to make today?"

    "I brought five axes, my Lord," Cedoron replied.

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. "That''s more than I expected. Didn''t you say you''d only be able to make three or four in a day?"

    Cedoron shrugged. "I knew I would be able to make more of them than I promised. But I have learnt the hard way, that when a noble asks you for something, it is better to underpromise and overdeliver, than the other way. My father, when he was alive, still had the scars to show for it."

    "What do you mean?" Kivamus couldn''t help but ask.

    Cedoron gazed at Kivamus carefully for a moment before he replied. "The previous baron didn''t like it when people couldn''t deliver on what they promised. The baron had my father whipped on many occasions in the past, when he couldn''t deliver something which the baron had ordered, even if the reason was out of his hands. So my father made me learn this lesson as well."

    Kivamus look at Duvas for confirmation, who just gave a nod in reply. He sighed. Just what kind of a person was that baron? Or perhaps that was the usual behavior for nobles?

    He shook his head slowly before speaking. "Cedoron, I am not the previous baron. As unusual as it might feel to you to hear this, I will never punish anyone for something that is out of their hands. You can be frank with me about what you can deliver and what you cannot."

    Cedoron looked uncertain, but he gave a slow nod.

    Kivamus asked, "Does that mean you gave lower numbers for everything else as well?"

    Cedoron nodded again. "More or less, my Lord. Although not by too much."

    Kivamus gave a smile. "Well, it''s still good to hear that we will get more tools than we expected. Well, you can return now."

    Cedoron hesitated. "Uh... my Lord, about my payment..."

    "Oh right." Kivamus said to Duvas, "Give him what he deserves for his work. Are you also using grain as payment for him?"

    "Grain and coal are a part of his payment, my Lord, but the wages for a skilled craftsman are much higher than a laborer''s." Duvas replied. "So I had to pay him in coins, to cover his wages, as well as a payment for his materials. It is the same arrangement with Taniok as well."

    Cedoron gave his input as well. "Mr Duvas did promise me to pay me more grain to cover my wages, but I just don''t have a use for that much grain."

    "That''s okay," Kivamus said after a moment''s thought. They could still afford to pay a few craftsmen in coin, and he needed them to give their best effort, which wouldn''t happen if they paid them a half wage like the other laborers. He looked at the blacksmith. "Well, go with Duvas then. You did good work today!"

    Cedoron looked surprised for a moment, before he accepted the praise with a smile, and walked with the majordomo towards the manor house.

    ~ Kigeir ~

    Kigeir was once again walking to the baron''s manor in the evening, hoping to get the promised grain for taking in the two homeless children. The evening air was a little chilly, but it wasn''t so bad walking on the dirt path between the houses, with the wooden walls taking the brunt of the cold wind. He looked at the clear skies above. At least he was thankful to the Goddess that it wasn''t going to rain any time soon, because that always managed to make him feel miserable, with his knee ache getting much worse in such weather.

    Yesterday, when he had made the decision to take in the two orphan siblings into his home, it was purely out of self-serving reasons. Just by providing a shelter to them, the baron would give them grain and coal for free, after all, and that free grain would go a long way to bolster their food reserves for the winter. But on the way to his home yesterday, he had been continuously thinking about the positives and negatives of his decision, like he always did when he made a deal with a new merchant.

    Even his wife had initially been reluctant to house two more children, when they barely had enough to feed their own children. Although when he told her that they only had to give shelter to the children without worrying about feeding them, and they would even get free grain for it, she had come around to the idea quickly enough.

    Their house, albeit a wooden one instead of a mud-shack like many of the villagers'' homes, was still barely big enough to house the five members of his own family. But with two of his own children quickly becoming friends with Maisy and Timmy, who were the same ages as them, somehow they had managed enough sleeping spaces for everyone. He still couldn''t forget the fond smile his wife had given him once she realized that the two orphans were as well behaved as any children they had seen, if not better.

    He shook his head slowly with a smile, realizing that it hadn''t even been a full day since he took them in, but those adorable children had already started to become a part of his family. While they still had a few weeks until the construction of new longhouses was completed and those orphans had to move there, he didn''t know if his children and wife would manage to bear to be separated from them by then.

    He sighed, as he reached close to the manor. He would deal with it when he had to. For now, he just hoped that the baron remained true to his words in giving them the promised grain and coal. As he made the final left turn, he saw that the area in front of the manor was already packed. Most of them were the villagers who had chosen to work as laborers, while the rest were people like him, who had taken in the homeless for the next few weeks. The laborers looked tired after working all day, but their eyes still had a hopeful look in them as they waited, since today was the first day when they would get their weekly wages.

    He even noticed that in one of the alleys near this now-packed area, a few children and some older villagers were already starting to gather to wait for their evening meals. Kigeir couldn''t help but remember the earlier days when this used to be a desolate area, where the villagers only came when they had some business with the manor. Otherwise, everyone had learned to stay clear of the previous baron and his manor, or the consequences might be painful.

    However, after the arrival of the new baron, Lord Kivamus, it looked like a completely different place. It wasn''t just a much busier place than it used to be, but the people looked happy to be here. Many of them were already starting to see the new baron as the protector and provider for the villagers, instead of someone who just took and took from them, like the previous baron. However it wasn''t a hopeful place for everyone in the village.

    Dalaar and his friends were scowling near a corner, talking about nothing good, he was sure. There were a few more people he knew about - mainly those who had lost the most in the bandit raid, who still didn''t look favorably to the new baron. But as the gates of the manor opened and a few guards came outside while escorting carts full of grain to distribute to the waiting villagers, he thought that even if it wasn''t likely that every villager would be satisfied with the new baron, Lord Kivamus was undoubtedly a vast improvement over the previous baron. So, for now, he would accept the new baron and his unusual policies, even if it meant that he couldn''t profit by selling more grain to the villagers.

    Although he had five kids to take care of from today, somehow he wasn''t worried at all about how he''d feed them in the coming winter. As he waited for the manor servants to distribute the grain to him, he found that he had a smile on his face after a long time.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ On the road to Helga''s Inn ~

    They had been traveling north towards Cinran since the early morning, and it was approaching sunset time now.

    Earlier, in the morning, Tesyb had been quite worried when the caravan had left the village and they had entered the tree line. While he had gone a small distance into the forest a few times in the past, this was the first time that he would be leaving the village behind. His heart had been beating so fast at that time that he hadn''t realized that he had been clenching the scabbard of his sword until his fingers had turned white. However, Nurobo, the other guard on his wagon, who was known as a decent archer despite being fat, had told him to calm down or it would be obvious to any observers that he was a new guard.

    It had taken a while, but slowly he had managed to slow down his heart, after he explained to himself that despite half of the guards being untrained ones, the other half still had a lot of experience. It was quite likely that while traveling together with a dozen well armed men who were constantly on the lookout for any dangers to the caravan, he was probably more safe here than he was in his parents'' home on the western outskirts of the village, which didn''t even have a wooden wall to protect them.

    Thankfully, the journey had been uneventful so far. They had kept the resting stops short enough that it hadn''t eaten much into their travel time. In their last stop, Feroy, the leader of the guards for this journey, had told them that they had managed to make good time because the dirt road they were traveling on had dried by now after the recent spate of rain a week ago. Feroy had been traveling in the only wagon behind Tesyb''s own for the whole day, but after the last stop, as they approached closer to Helga''s Inn, he had exchanged seats with the leading wagon.

    The sun, which was still visible between the tall trunks of the mostly leafless fedarus trees, was going to set soon in the west. The weather had been decent enough that Tesyb hadn''t really felt cold in the warmth of the daylight sun, despite the light wind blowing throughout the day. The ground was littered with reddish-yellow leaves, matching the color of the setting sun. He hadn''t seen many animals in the forest on their journey though. Perhaps the creaking sound of the wagon wheels might have scared them away from the road.

    Soon, Nurobo, who had kept his quiver and bow below their seat, pulled up the reins of the horses. "Looks like Feroy ordered the wagons to stop."

    Slowly, all of the wagons ahead of them came to a stop. Tesyb looked around in curiosity, but only found the same trees surrounding them, and nothing else nearby. There was no wooden building to be seen anywhere. "Why''ve we pulled up already?" he asked the archer. "Our last stop wasn''t that long ago. Shouldn''t we keep moving so we can reach there in the daylight?"

    ******* sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

 Chapter 56 - 55. Journey

    Nurobo had stood up on the seat and seemed to be looking around the area carefully. "Doesn''t really matter now. We''ve nearly reached the inn anyway." He pointed ahead, a little towards the right side. "The inn is ahead of us that way, maybe around five hundred yards away."

    As they waited, Nurobo picked up his bow, and grabbed a few arrows in his hands as well, while still looking cautiously around them. "Be ready with your sword. There must be a reason Feroy stopped us here."

    Before long, Feroy came jogging back, while waiting to talk with each wagon''s occupants for a moment. When he reached their wagon, he said, "We''ll stop here for now. After confirming that there is no threat nearby," he added, while pointing towards the left of the road, "we will make a camp in a clearing I know there. For now, move the wagons closer to each other, and then gather around."

    With a nod, Feroy moved behind them to talk with the last wagon''s guards. Nurobo tugged the reins again to slowly move their wagon closer to the one ahead of them, which was itself doing the same. However, it didn''t take long for the wagons to stop again, this time much closer to each other.

    Feroy, who was walking nearby while keeping an eye on their surroundings, spoke up, "All but those in the leading and trailing wagons, gather here. The rest of you, stay there to keep an eye around us."

    Tesyb and Nurobo got down from their wagon seats, and walked towards Feroy. Other guards, as well as the constantly worried merchant, were moving there as well. Once they were all closer, Feroy spoke again. "Mr Pydas, you stay here for now. I''m making three groups of two men each to check around this area." He pointed at Tesyb and another guard. "The two of you will go to check the area east of the road." Pointing at two others, he said, "You both have been to the inn before, so go and check out the inn carefully. Make sure to see if there are any recent tracks of men walking around there, and if there are any signs of the inn being broken in."

    He continued, "Nurobo and Yufim, you will stay here with the rest of the guards. Be ready with your bows. I will take one guard with me to the west to check out a good clearing I know about. Assuming everything is fine, we will camp there for the night."

    Yufim asked, "Why aren''t we staying in the inn itself? Wouldn''t that be safer than camping outside?"

    "Because we aren''t here to stay safe. We are here to protect the caravan," Feroy chastised the new guard. "That inn is the only recognizable place in this area, and if there are any bandits scouting this area they will certainly keep an eye on the inn. That''s why it is better to stay in that clearing nearby." He explained, "Even if it is unlikely that there are any bandits in this area right now, since this road is rarely traveled these days, we just can''t take any chances here. Tiranat''s survival in the coming winter depends on keeping this caravan safe and returning with all the grain we need. Let''s move!"

    As ordered by Feroy, they all went to check the perimeter in their allotted directions. Tesyb followed behind an experienced guard who walked towards the east.

    A shiver ran down his spine as he stepped off the well-trodden path and into the dense forest, with the shadows growing long in the sunset time. The familiar sounds of the talking guards were quickly replaced by the sounds of nature - the crunching of leaves on the ground, the distant call of a bird.

    After they had walked a little further ahead, he heard a sound of twigs crunching under something. The other guard immediately held out his hand in front of Tesyb and whispered, "Wait..."

    Tesyb stopped walking at once, slowly moving his hands on the pommel of his sword. His heart pounded in his chest, a mix of anticipation and apprehension. Before long, they saw a fully grown wild boar emerging nearby behind the thick trunk of a fedarus tree. It looked towards them for a moment, but then slowly walked ahead on its own path, leaving them alone for now.

    The quick encounter highlighted the danger of the forest, this far away from the village he had been living in for most of his life. His heart was still beating wildly, as he tried to look everywhere at once to see where the next danger would come from. However, the guard beside him seemed unfazed, his steady gaze scanning the surroundings, as they started moving again. Perhaps sensing his unease, he said, "It''ll be fine, don''t worry. Just keep a sharp eye around yourself."

    Tesyb nodded, trying to mask his fear with a nonchalant shrug. Every shadow here seemed to conceal a potential threat, every rustle of leaves a sign of danger. But he refused to let fear dictate his actions. He was a warrior now, and it was his duty to overcome adversity. And this dense forest was just another challenge to conquer. Slowly, he forced himself to relax, to focus on the task at hand, and with renewed determination, he pressed on, his eyes scanning the forest for any sign of danger.

    Soon, they had completed the check for their allotted direction and turned back towards the caravan. As they reached back, he saw that the other groups had already returned. Spotting them, Feroy spoke up. "You are back as well. Did you see anything?"

    The other guard shook his head. "Saw a wild boar there, but other than that, there is nothing much on that side. Didn''t find any tracks of any other men being there recently."

    Feroy nodded. "Good. Then this area should be safe for tonight. Let''s move the caravan to the clearing in the west." Looking at everyone for a moment, he pointed to an experienced guard and said, "You and Yufim go on and try to see if you can find something for our meal tonight. Try to return by the time it''s dark."

    "But we still have the rations we were given for the journey. Why do we need to hunt now?" Yufim asked, looking confused.

    Feroy scowled at him. "Did you see the food stores overflowing in the manor? We should try to preserve what we can." He berated the young archer further, "You are not a prince on a leisure trip where attendants will carry loads of food for you. In the future whenever you are on a journey, always remember that it is better to preserve any dried meat and use fresh meat and fruits for your meals. You never know when you might need it if your journey lasts longer than expected, or if you get lost and are separated from others, particularly in these forests. Now go on." S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Yufim looked sullen and didn''t speak any more. With a nod, he and the other guard left again into the forests. Another two guards were sent to look for any edible fruits or nuts from the area.

    The rest of them brought the wagons into the clearing on the west side. It was a fairly large grassy area, with space for all the wagons to be parked in a loose circle. Nurobo told Tesyb that the wagons would act as a barricade in all directions, and they can safely shoot arrows from behind it, in case of an attack. The horses had also been tethered to the nearby trees to graze, although they would be brought back inside the circle of wagons when they went to sleep. The experienced guards were putting some traps around the area to catch any small animals in the night. A thin rope with wooden sticks attached to it was tied around the camp as well to serve as an early warning measure.

    As it started to get dark, the wind picked up and it started to become a little chilly. Feroy had sent a few new guards to bring some firewood earlier and soon they started a small fire in the middle of the circle. Before long, Yufim and others were back and they had brought two rabbits, and some fruits with them. It wasn''t much, but it would still reduce the amount of dried ration they had to use.

    While he waited for the food to be cooked, Tesyb was sitting on the north edge of the camp thinking about the day. Soon, he saw Yufim coming towards him, who came and sat on the log that he was sitting on. "Take this." The archer gave a wooden bowl of rabbit stew to him, with another bowl in his hands for himself. He had also brought some bread with him which they had been given in the morning.

    As they ate their meal, Yufim said, "Life as a guard ain''t that bad, is it?"

    Tesyb drank some of the warm stew and said, "Perhaps." This being the first time he had left his parents since he was a child, he missed them. But at least there was the consolation that he would get to meet his sister in Cinran after a long time.

    "Feroy gave us the first watch duty," Yufim said, while he dipped his bread in the stew before taking a bite of it. "Someone will come to relieve us in a few hours."

    Tesyb nodded. "Will we be the only ones to keep watch?"

    "Nurobo said there will be four guards on watch at all times," Yufim replied. "We have to patrol around the camp as well."

    Tesyb gave a nod as reply. He looked at the archer again. "Why do you keep asking such silly questions to Feroy?"

    "What?" Yufim raised his eyebrows. "Those were real questions! How was I going to know that he wanted fresh meat?"

    Tesyb shook his head with a smile. "You are an idiot. I don''t know why Hudan even selected you."

    Yufim grinned. "Because I am the best archer there is!"

    Tesyb laughed at his new friend. "Of course you are..."

    ~ Kivamus ~

    It was late afternoon on the next day, and Kivamus was sitting inside the manor hall. Duvas entered the hall, and said, "My Lord, Taniok has told me that the log mover is ready."

    "That''s great!" Kivamus commended. "Where is it?"

    "He had built it at his shop," Duvas replied, "but I told a couple of workers to move it to the north of the village. But if you want to see it, the log mover should be passing in front of the manor soon."

    Kivamus stood up. "Let''s take a look at it."

    They left the hall and walked to the gates of the manor. Before long, he saw two horses entering the empty area in front of the manor from the left. They were pulling the first machine of Tiranat behind them.

    Two huge wooden wheels were connected by an even thicker axle between them. The axle had been wrapped around with a smooth leather, and looked to be waxed as well to reduce the friction on the loops tied to it, just like they had talked about. Taniok, who was walking next to the log mover, barely reached the height of the wheels themselves.

    At first glance it didn''t look anything special, when Kivamus thought about the huge machines found on Earth for basically everything. But this was not Earth, and it was still much better than dragging the logs flat on the ground.

    When Taniok noticed them, he walked towards him and greeted him with a bow. "It is done, milord. It took longer than I thought, but it should work well enough."

    "It certainly looks sturdy enough," Kivamus commented, looking at the log mover which had stopped in front of the gates, so that the servants could load more ropes on the horses. "Well done!"

    Taniok looked at him with surprise, but then accepted the praise with a nod. "Thank you, milord." He added, "Now that this is completed, I should get started on making planks."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly. Go on then."

    With another quick bow, Taniok left them to get back to work.

    Kivamus turned to Duvas. "Hopefully, Pydas will be able to get enough nails from Cinran. Cutting planks has already been delayed long enough."

    Duvas gave a nod in reply.

    Kivamus continued, "That reminds me, what about the houses which had been burned? Can we salvage anything from them?"

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 57 - 56. Losuvil Vines

    "No, my Lord. Any planks in those houses would already be damaged enough in the fires that we can''t use them again," Duvas replied.

    "No, that''s not what I meant," Kivamus said. "We already have more than enough wood here. But what about iron nails? Those should have survived the burning of the houses."

    "They would only have survived if iron nails were used there in the first place," Duvas told him. "Since there was no hurry when those houses were being built in the past, only wooden joints were used in all of the houses outside the manor. Iron is quite costly for most of the villagers, and other than the baron himself, people in Tiranat can hardly afford to spend coins on such a thing, if there is a cheaper alternative."

    "That''s true enough. I thought we might be able to get a head start on stocking up on the nails." Kivamus turned back and walked towards the manor hall, and his gaze fell on the barns which held their fast shrinking reserves of grain. "Feroy and others should reach Cinran by this evening, right?"

    Duvas nodded. "If everything went well, then yes."

    "Let''s hope they are successful," Kivamus said. "We really need that grain."

    Soon, he saw Madam Helga walking towards him. As she reached him, she said, "I wanted to talk to you my Lord."

    "What is it?" he asked.

    "Clarisa had been complaining again about some pain in her stomach, so in the morning I went for a walk to the places where the workers are cutting the trees, to see if there were any herbs which I could use." Helga added, "While I didn''t find anything of use there, I did find a vine of losuvil towards the eastern hills."

    Seeing Kivamus'' confused look, she explained, "It''s a plant whose leaves can be crushed and given to people to reduce pain. It even reduces the fever, as long as the fever is not too high."

    "That''s very interesting," Kivamus said. In his free time, he had been thinking about many things from his life on Earth for which he could find something similar in this world, and this certainly seemed like such a thing. While he was hardly a chemist, he remembered that it sounded similar to how aspirin was used by people on earth before it was isolated as a compound.

    "Have you never heard about it, my lord?" Helga asked curiously.

    "Well... I rarely got sick back in Ulriga," Kivamus said, thinking about the past memories of this life, "so I never really thought about it." He asked, "Well, how do you use it?"

    Helga replied, "We crush the leaves of losuvil vines in a mortar and pestle along with some water to make a paste, and give it to the person while it is still fresh. Preferably the leaves should have been plucked within the past few hours, or it starts to lose its effect quite fast." She stared at Duvas. "Did you not know that a losuvil vine was there? You should have told me so I could give it to Clarisa earlier."

    "I had seen a few vines of losuvil there in the past, but you must already know that it is rarely found. The few vines which we had found in the past had already been used up by the villagers." Duvas added indignantly, "If I had known that there was still a losuvil vine there, I would have been the first to tell you about it!"

    "Of course you would have." Helga sighed. "I shouldn''t have said that. It''s just that seeing a child in pain makes me want to do everything to help them."

    "I understand that," Duvas said hotly. "But you shouldn''t be so quick to blame others. I don''t want to see Clarisa in pain any more than you do!"

    "Didn''t I apologize for that already?" Helga retorted. Hearing their raised voices, Syryne and Gorsazo, who had been passing nearby, walked towards them as well.

    "It''s okay, calm down both of you," Kivamus tried to placate them. "At least it''s good that you found something like that here." He asked, "How costly is that plant?"

    "Usually I had to spend a lot of money to buy it from Cinran in the past to give to Lucem when he got sick," Helga replied. "In Cinran, it used to cost above six silvers for a single use, which consists of around a dozen full-sized leaves of losuvil."

    "That''s... quite high," Kivamus said. It was nearly a week''s worth of wages for a laborer. "Is it not commonly found?"

    Helga shook her head. "Losuvil vine grows in relatively cold places, under the shade of bigger trees. But it is not common at all. In Cinran, there are a few herbalists who cultivate it there to provide for the people living there, otherwise you only see it by chance in the wild."

    "Hmm..." It seemed that the availability of those leaves was already low but the demand for such a fever and pain-reducing plant would certainly be high in this world where hygiene and sanitation were non-existent. Thus the prices were surely going to be high.

    He remembered Gorsazo telling him that his wife had died from fever in the past. He asked him, "Were losuvil leaves not available for your wife, Gorsazo?"

    Gorsazo got a far away look in his eyes. He replied after a moment, "They were not found in the village in the north of Ulriga where my family lived, my Lord. It was before the time I started working in the Ulriga Palace and the prices for losuvil leaves were high enough that I could barely afford it." He gazed at the ground. "I did send my eldest son to buy more of it from Ulriga itself after borrowing more money from my neighbors, but my wife passed away before he returned."

    Kivamus didn''t know what to say to that. Without an easy availability of losuvil extract, and at a cheap enough price to be affordable to even the common people, many lives would have been lost in this world, and would still be lost in the future.

    After a while, he asked Helga, "Would that vine be enough for Clarisa?"

    Helga nodded. "It was a small vine, and I had to pluck nearly half of its leaves to give to her today. I will have to use the remaining leaves again tomorrow, but we won''t be getting any more leaves from that plant after that for a long time."

    "Hmm... But if the conditions are right for that vine to grow near the eastern hills, there might still be more of those losuvil plants there," Kivamus said. He asked Duvas, "Have you ever sent a few men to search those hills for that plant?"

    "Not really," Duvas replied. "We usually looked for that vine only when we needed it in the past, and often we found a vine in the east."

    Kivamus thought that it was possible that losuvil was not very common, but if they searched well enough in the eastern hills, they might still find more of it. He asked Helga, "What about storing it? Can''t you dry it after crushing the leaves, to use it in the future?"

    "No, my Lord. It doesn''t work if we store it like that," Helga replied, "so we have to use the leaves soon after plucking them. I had to give them to Lucem many times in the past when he got sick, so I did try to store them after drying. But it has nearly no effect if used after around a day or two of plucking the leaves."

    Kivamus nodded. It was possible that the losuvil plant contained a precursor compound to acetylsalicylic acid, which was aspirin. But there had to be a way to isolate that compound from the leaves, which would prevent the medicine from going bad within two days. He asked Helga, "Did you try mixing it with something before drying it, or maybe even after that?"

    Helga looked surprised. "Why would I do that, my Lord?"

    Kivamus sighed internally. The local people here must have never heard of the word experiment. He tried to explain, "When we mix two things, many of their properties change from what they were earlier. While I can''t say what we might need to do for this, but that''s why you need to experiment with it. That means trying new things again and again based on an assumption, until you either prove or disprove it. And if it doesn''t work, then you come up with a new assumption, and try it again."

    He continued, "For example, you could try mixing the crushed leaves of losuvil with some other liquid like alcohol, before drying it. Or you can try boiling it until the water dries a little and only a dry paste is left, and then maybe you can add something else in it and repeat the process. You can even try adding some other leaves or plants in it at any step of the process, to discover a way to keep the herbs effective after those two days."

    Helga seemed lost by this point. "Uh..."

    However, Syryne spoke up, "I''ll do it, my Lord. I have enough free time that I can try doing such... experiments. But we don''t have enough losuvil leaves to try it."

    "That''s true," he said. "When the guards have returned from Cinran, we will try to send a few of them to scout in the eastern hills for this plant. It would be a good idea to locate a decent source for this vine, in case we need it again in the future."

    After thinking for a moment, he asked Helga, "Did you also find any edible berries, nuts or fruits there? Or any other herbs which we can use?"

    Helga shook her head. "I didn''t go that far away from the manor. I didn''t think it was safe enough to go inside the forest yet."

    Duvas said, "We have already scoured the nearby areas of the village in the past few months for anything which we can eat. However, it is true that because of the constant danger of bandits and wild beasts, we never really went too deep inside the forests."

    Kivamus gave a sigh. The past few months were difficult enough for the villagers, that they would have already searched for any edible things found nearby. He looked at Helga. "Even so, you should go with a few other maids to where the villagers are working every day to look for any such plants. As long as you don''t go too far from them, it should be safe enough in the daylight. Then as they keep cutting new areas of the forest, you can keep going further as well. If we can find some berries, mushrooms or even some edible roots to add to our diets, it wouldn''t just fill our stomachs, it would also keep our diets varied and healthier. And it would be a good idea to locate such shrubs in advance, so we can tell the workers not to cut them."

    Helga nodded. "I''ll do that, my Lord." She added, "I have to give another spoonful of losuvil extract to Clarisa, so I should leave now." With that, she and Syryne returned back.

    In the evening Cedoron met Kivamus again near the gates of the manor. This time he had brought four machetes with him. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan, who had been talking with a guard nearby, picked up one of the machetes, testing its weight. He tried to swing it around a few times as well, trying to use it as a makeshift sword. He looked at Kivamus after he was done with it. "These are heavier than swords, but not unwieldy at all."

    Cedoron gave a smile. "I do have experience in making swords, so I kept that in my mind while forging these, even though I have made the machetes a lot more top-heavy than a sword would be, based on what they will be used for."

    Hudan continued with a nod, "While I wouldn''t want to use these as a sword, but in a pinch, the workers can still use it as an improvised weapon once they get a hang of using them."

    "That''s true," Kivamus said. "In that case, it would be better to let a few particular workers use it regularly, instead of all of them using it whenever they need it. This way they would become habitual of using it, and if you give them a few tips about the basics of fighting, they can act as a first line of defense in case a wild beast attacks the workers."

    Hudan nodded. "That''s a good idea, my Lord! Tomorrow, I will go myself to where the workers are cutting trees to tell all of them to give it a try, and once I have found a few people who can use it easily, I will tell Yeden to give all the work of using machetes to only those workers. While I won''t have time to train them regularly, I can still give them a few suggestions for the basics."

    Soon, he saw Yeden, the foreman of the northern forest clearing, walking inside the gates as well. When he noticed Kivamus and others, he came towards them. "Today''s work is done, milord." Looking at the blades in the hands of Hudan, he asked, "Is that the machete you were talking about?"

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 58 - 57. Machetes

    "Indeed," Kivamus agreed. "Take a look at it."

    Yeden took the machete in his hands, and after taking a few steps back, he tried to swing it vertically downwards a few times, as if cutting an imaginary branch. However, his movements were noticeably different from Hudan, who was earlier trying to slash it in a slanted way, like he was trying to attack an imaginary person with it. Each man''s profession seemed to have a distinct bearing on what they tried to do with the same blade.

    Yeden nodded to himself and said, "These are good, milord. I can tell that they would be quite useful in cutting small branches. However, while these will still be helpful, would it be possible for us to get more axes instead of these machetes?" He added, "Right now, getting more axes would increase the pace of clearing the forest much more than getting more machetes."

    "Certainly," Kivamus said. "I had given the earlier order based on my initial estimates. But we can surely change it based on our needs."

    Hudan said, "Even so, I would like a few more of these machetes built as well, as long as they are still needed for cutting branches, since we can also use them as makeshift weapons."

    Kivamus nodded. He asked the foreman, "Cedoron can make five axes or four machetes every day. Earlier I had told him to alternate his working days between both of them. What do you suggest now?"

    Yeden took a minute to think about it, while moving his hand over his bald head. He looked at the blacksmith and asked, "Can you make both of them on the same day, or do you have to forge only a similar thing each day?"

    Cedoron replied, "It would certainly take some adjustment to forge an axe and a machete on a single day, but it wouldn''t be too difficult. I can make both of them everyday if you want it that way."

    "That would be very helpful." Yeden looked at Kivamus. "In that case, milord, I would like Cedoron to make four axes and one machete every day. Or... maybe substitute one axe with a saw if possible. Depending on the shape of the tree, many times it''s easier to use a saw instead of an axe." He added, "This way we will get enough axes to increase our speed of clearing the forest, but we''ll also be getting a steady stream of machetes as well, to cut branches as well as to stock up on them as weapons."

    "That works for me," Hudan shrugged. "For tomorrow itself, I''ll have to give more time to tell the basics to those workers who get these four machetes, but from the next day, I''ll only have to give the basic training to a single worker every day, for the one machete which is made that day. That will be better for my schedule of training the guards, since telling the basics to just a single worker wouldn''t take too much of my time."

    "That''s agreed then," Kivamus commented. He said to Cedoron, "You have your new orders now. Three axes, one saw and one machete every day. Can you do it?"

    Cedoron gave a confident nod. "Certainly." He hesitated for a moment, but then seemed to make up his mind about something. "You asked me to be frank with you, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed. What do you have in mind?"

    Cedoron said, "Your suggestion of using a few workers to assist me has been quite helpful, milord. So if you give me a few more of them, then I might be able to produce more tools every day. Of course, I cannot guarantee it, because there are some problems occasionally, but I still should be able to do better than that. Well, as long as my iron ingots last."

    "That''s very good!" Kivamus commended him. "In fact," he added, thinking about the specialized production lines on Earth, "instead of giving the task of making a complete tool to a single worker, make every worker specialize in doing a single task. For example, while only you will forge the iron parts for now, one worker can just work on making new handles from wood, another can work on attaching all the axe-heads or the machete-blades to the new handles, while another one can test them and properly fix the handles tightly if they are loose. This way, all of them will specialize in doing a single task and they will slowly get better in that particular task with more practice. It is called specialization, and this will make the production of new tools more efficient."

    Cedoron thought about the idea for a minute, while gazing into the distance. "It does make sense, milord. As I do it now, I have to train each worker to do every single thing, but this way, I''ll only have to teach about a single task to a worker, which will save my time as well. I will do it like this from now on."

    Kivamus gave a nod and continued, "Don''t worry about the iron, Pydas should be able to bring more of it in a few days." He looked at Duvas. "Send a couple of servants later to search for broken tools or any scrap iron in the manor. Many times they are just thrown away inside the barns or other places, but Cedoron should be able to make new tools from those. We need all the iron we can get right now to forge into new tools."

    "I''ll do that after this conversation," Duvas replied.

    Cedoron spoke again. "Since making a saw wouldn''t use as much iron as making an axe or a machete, I would suggest making more of them, until I get more iron ingots in a few days. This way I will be able to provide many more saws instead of only a few machetes or axes."

    Kivamus looked at Yeden for his opinion.

    The foreman shrugged. "That''s fine with me, milord, especially if it''s only for a few more days. I would rather have more tools right now, even if they are saws instead of axes, since I have a lot of workers who sit idle all day because of a shortage of cutting tools."

    "Good. It is final then." Kivamus looked at the blacksmith. "Prioritize saws over other tools until Pydas brings more iron ingots."

    Cedoron gave a firm nod in reply.

    "Very well, you both can leave now."

    With that, Cedoron and Yeden gave him a bow and turned back towards the manor gates.

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Somewhere south of Cinran ~

    After leaving their camp in the clearing near Helga''s Inn in the morning, they had continued their journey towards Cinran. This time, Tesyb had taken a place on the middle wagon along with Yufim, and after traveling the whole day, now they were approaching the bustling town of Cinran. It was nearly dark now, but the stone walls of Cinran were already visible far in the north, with burning torches and lanterns kept at equal spaces on the top of the wall. Around them, there were a lot of empty agricultural fields on both sides of the road, since the harvest must have been done a while ago.

    "How big do you think Cinran is?" Yufim asked excitedly.

    Tesyb looked at the approaching walls. "Can''t really say. The last time I was here, I was only seven years old, I think. I hardly remember anything from then."

    "Well, at least you must have some memories of that time, unlike me, since my mother brought me to Tiranat when it was founded and I was only a baby at that time."

    "One could argue you still are..." Tesyb muttered with a smirk.

    Yufim sulked. "Shut up! You are mean!"

    Tesyb just shook his head at the archer''s antics and looked ahead as the caravan kept moving on the dirt path. Hearing the sound of water flowing nearby, he looked to his right and could barely make out a river flowing in the light of the moon, a little far away. "That must be the Kal River."

    "I want to take a swim in it! It''s such a bummer that there isn''t a river in Tiranat," Yufim moped.

    "Do you even know how to swim?"

    Yufim looked away. "I can still learn..." he muttered.

    Tesyb couldn''t help but give a small laugh at that reply. As the caravan reached near a thicket of trees, the wagons ahead of them started slowing down, before finally stopping.

    "Why are we stopping already?" Yufim asked as he stopped their own wagon, while looking around them carefully.

    They didn''t have to wonder for long since another guard came running to all the wagons, telling them to gather around.

    Once all of the guards had gathered near the middle of the caravan, Feroy said, "Now that we are nearly here, we need to change the look of the caravan." Looking at the merchant standing nearby, he added, "Mr Pydas has told me that there will be a lot of unnecessary questions at the gate if we go in with a dozen armed guards. And there is no real risk of someone looting the caravan inside the city, so I am leaving half of our guards here. We will only be going inside with a single driver per wagon, with most of their weapons left with those who''ll stay here. This way, any onlookers will only think that we are drivers for the wagons, and not trained guards."

    He added after a moment, "There are twelve of us, not including Mr Pydas and his own guard, so six of the manor guards will go inside the town as drivers for each wagon, while the rest will have to stay here. This will also help us in case a scout of a bandit group notices the caravan leaving with only a single guard per wagon, since they wouldn''t expect that we would actually have double the number of guards than what they expected. I am also leaving one of the horses here - one of those pulling the damaged wagon, in case you need to get in touch with me quickly for any reason."

    He continued, "Since those who are new guards would make it very obvious to anyone watching in the town that the caravan is not as well protected as it looks, so I am leaving the new guards here. You all will stay inside this thicket." He stared hard at all the new guards. "Do not leave this place, especially in daylight. That is an order!"

    Tesyb and other new guards nodded on hearing that.

    "They will still need someone to keep an eye on them here," Nurobo said, with both of his hands on the side of his huge belly.

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "That''s a good idea. You should stay here then." He looked at the new guards carefully before saying, "Tesyb, you come with me in place of Nurobo."

    Tesyb gave a nod in reply, while Yufim whined, "That''s not fair... I want to see the town too!"

    "Shut up, you idiot," Tesyb chided him. "We aren''t here to enjoy the sights!"

    Yufim just looked at the ground, sulking.

    All of the guards who were going inside the town gave most of their weapons to Nurobo and others who were staying back, while only keeping a dagger in most cases. Feroy, along with Pydas'' own guard, still kept their swords though. They also transferred some of their stored food from the wagons for those who would be staying in this thicket.

    Feroy said to those who were staying back, "It will take nearly the whole day tomorrow to transfer all the coal as well as to buy the grain sacks and everything else we need, so there is no point in leaving the town tomorrow evening. So you all will have to spend two nights here. I will bring the caravan the day after tomorrow around dawn, so be ready to leave by then."

    Nurobo gave a nod. "Don''t worry Feroy, I''ll take care of things here."

    "Good," Feroy nodded.

    Before long, Tesyb and the other guards took their places on the wagons again, this time with only a single guard per wagon, and with a flick of the reins, the caravan lurched forward again.

    Soon, the caravan reached the dirt road next to the walls of the town, before finally reaching the gates. Tesyb saw that there were three guards at the closed gates, standing next to a burning brazier. Looking at the caravan approaching, one of them held up his hands to stop them.

    "Hold up right there! What business do you have here?" one of the gate guards asked in a loud voice.

    Tesyb was far enough behind the leading wagon, that he couldn''t hear what was replied to that. For a while, Pydas and Feroy, who were in the leading wagon now, discussed something with the guards. Soon, they seemed to be handing over what seemed like a few coins to the guard, who appeared to be grinning now. Finally, another guard opened the gates, waving them inside, and the caravan entered the town.

    As Tesyb''s own wagon entered the gates, he saw the mighty stone walls of the town passing above him. He thought wistfully that if they had something similar in Tiranat, his house wouldn''t have been looted and burned by the bandits. He shook his head slowly. Cinran was the residence of the Count, and it was a big town, unlike the poor village called Tiranat. That wasn''t a fair comparison. How could a small village compete with a town like Cinran! But at least these walls would ensure the safety of his sister here.

    Inside the gates, it looked quite dark. He had thought that there would be burning torches and lanterns kept everywhere inside the town, but other than on the top of the town walls, there were hardly any torches here. He had also expected that there would be a lot of people on the streets even at this time, but perhaps he had heard too many grand stories of big towns and cities. But at least he would be able to see Cinran''s huge marketplace tomorrow, unlike Yufim, who must still be sulking in that thicket. He couldn''t help but give a small smile thinking of his friend, who still seemed to be quite innocent.

    Soon, after the caravan took a few turns, they entered what seemed to be an inn, with a big empty area for parking wagons. One by one, the wagons were parked next to each other, while the horses were detached from the wagons to give them water and feed them. Feroy gathered all of them together, and said, "This is where we''ll stay for the night. Mr Pydas and his own guard will take a room in the inn itself, while it is another camping night under the wagon for the rest of us."

    It seemed logical that the guards would have to stay with the wagons to protect their cargo, but Tesyb had still expected a few groans at that. However, the other guards only gave firm nods after hearing it. That went to show the difference between seasoned veterans, and new recruits like him and Yufim. He steeled himself for the next day - he was here to protect the caravan and not to sightsee, just like he told Yufim earlier.

    ******* S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

 Chapter 59 - 58. Expansion

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, after Kivamus and others had finished the breakfast of freshly baked bread along with eggs which they got from the small chicken coop inside the manor, Hudan entered the manor hall.

    "My Lord, there is something I would like to talk with you about," the guard captain said.

    "Take a seat," Kivamus said, while moving to the more comfortable armchairs near the fire. "What is it?"

    Hudan took a seat as well, next to Duvas and Gorsazo. "I had gone to the northern area, where the workers are clearing the forest, to give a few of them suggestions on how to use the machetes in case they are forced to fight with it. While I was there, I saw that there was already a big pile of logs on one side, with more logs coming every hour."

    "Hasn''t Taniok already started cutting them into planks there?" Gorsazo asked.

    "Yeah, he has, and everytime he gets a new saw from Cedoron, he also takes on another worker to help him in that," Hudan replied. "Even so, it is a slow process, and the logs are piling up much faster than he can cut them into planks. And in the coming days when Cedoron gives more axes to the woodcutters, the pace of cutting new trees will increase further, and we will get new logs at an even faster pace."

    "Hmm... I think I should have expected it," Kivamus said. "Without an actual sawmill, even if it was powered by a water wheel, cutting logs into planks would take a lot of time." He asked, "So, what did you have in mind?"

    "I was going to suggest making a palisade wall surrounding the whole village," Hudan replied. "It is true that all the new grain we are buying - which will be the primary target of any bandits who attack here, will be kept inside the walls of the manor, where it should be safe enough. However, the rest of the village will still be vulnerable to such an attack." S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He continued, "We have already seen that the bandits won''t shy away from putting the houses on fire to cover their retreat. But what if they do the same for the longhouses after they are built? It is already very difficult to house all the villagers, and if the longhouses or even other houses in the village are burned before the guards can respond to such an attack, the villagers won''t have any place to live in the winter."

    "That''s true," Kivamus nodded. "We certainly cannot risk that."

    Gorsazo asked, "But is it even feasible to surround the whole village with a palisade wall? I know we won''t have any shortage of logs, but we will have to spend workers'' time digging holes in the ground for those wooden stakes all around the village, apart from moving the logs there."

    Duvas answered, "That is not a problem at all. We have more than enough workers who sit idle for nearly the whole day, because of a shortage of axes and saws." He looked at Kivamus. "Yeden told me earlier that the log mover has helped a lot in moving the logs faster in the northern area. If we can build another log mover or two, then moving the logs to the periphery of the village wouldn''t be a problem either."

    Kivamus thought about it for a minute. "But what about digging tools? Shovels or even pickaxes? Do we have enough of those?"

    Duvas said, "Getting more tools forged would certainly help, but even now we should still have enough of those digging tools which have been sitting unused from the time the coal mines were closed." He explained, "Since our primary target was cutting trees, we don''t have any spare axes or saws left anymore, but even though I did provide some digging tools to the workers earlier, many of them should still be left in the manor."

    "That decides it. We will make a new palisade wall to surround the whole village," Kivamus said. "It will be very helpful to ensure the safety of the village in the coming future." He looked at Duvas. "Give all the remaining shovels and pickaxes to any workers who are still sitting idle, and send them to dig holes for the walls."

    Hudan said, "We should also sharpen the top of the logs before we fix them into the ground as stakes, to make it difficult for any bandits to just climb over it."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus said. "Since we already told Cedoron to forge more axes instead of machetes, we can give some of those axes to the workers who will be sharpening the stakes. It is not a lot of work compared to cutting a tree, so giving even a few axes to some workers would be enough for sharpening the logs into stakes."

    "But where will this wall be?" Gorsazo asked. "I mean, we are building the longhouses outside the current area of the village, so how far should we build these walls from the last houses?"

    "That''s a good question," Kivamus said. Thinking about it, he said, "While it is true that we only need a few longhouses right now to house the homeless villagers, we need to build even more longhouses after that to shift all the villagers who have a damaged house to the new longhouses as well. And those are not the last things which we need to build here."

    He added, "We will certainly need more storage areas for the grain which we will be harvesting from the coming year, for which we talked about making new storage barns in the west of the village. Also, if we shift that many villagers to a different place from where they used to live, that means some of the shops in the marketplace might also need to be shifted to be closer to the longhouses. Or maybe the merchants might want to open new shops there altogether, while retaining the original location of their shops - all of which will need more land."

    He continued, "I have a few other plans in my mind as well for the future. So we should leave some extra space to construct any other buildings in the future, without needing to expand the palisade wall for some time."

    Duvas said after a moment, "That makes sense, my Lord." He continued, "Since the manor has already been built at the beginning of the plains area, we cannot really expand the village in the east side because the terrain starts to get hilly there."

    "That''s not entirely true," Hudan commented. "The thing is, I would like to get some empty land to make a dedicated training area for the guards, instead of just using the empty space in the eastern part of the manor, like we do now."

    He added, "I have taken a look in the east of the manor, and there is still around a thousand yards of space in the east before the hills start. So I will suggest making the new village wall around a hundred yards away from the eastern walls of the manor. This way, once we clear the trees on that side, we will still have around five hundred yards of clear space after the new village walls - which will give good visibility there, and I can make the new training ground in that space between the manor walls and the new village wall."

    Kivamus liked that Hudan was already thinking of such things - that he needed to train the guards further. It made sense too, since Hudan''s past training as a knight-trainee would have been a lot more extensive than that for the other guards for this poor barony in the middle of nowhere. "That''s a good idea. You can even make an obstacle course there - which is a series of various obstacles kept one after the other - including a ditch, a wall and so on, where you can make the guards run, while trying to increase their speed and awareness." He could think of many such good ideas from his life on earth, mostly seen on documentaries and TV about such training courses, which Hudan wouldn''t know about. He said, giving the same explanation again, "I had read a little about that in a book in Ulriga, so remind me when you start making the dedicated training area, and I can give you some good suggestions about it."

    "That will be very helpful, my Lord," Hudan said with a nod.

    "Okay, then let''s do the same for all sides," Kivamus said. "That is, we should keep a distance of a hundred yards on all sides of the village, between the new walls and the last houses of the village. That will be more than enough space for any new buildings in the village. We certainly aren''t going to have any shortage of logs for the new walls."

    Gorsazo suggested, "Since winter is coming soon, we should focus on digging the holes for all the stakes first, since it would be much more difficult to do it once the ground freezes over. Fixing the stakes into them can be done even after that."

    Kivamus nodded and said, "Duvas, after we finish this discussion, you and Hudan should go and measure a distance of a hundred yards from the village, and send the idle workers with the extra shovels and pickaxes to start digging the holes there. Tell them to start from the north and the south areas first, otherwise the location of the walls might be in the middle of the forest right now, since we haven''t started clearing those areas yet. Once we get more axes, we can put a few workers to sharpen the logs on one side to convert them into stakes for the wall."

    He added, "Also, tell Taniok to start building another log mover as well. I know it will slow him down further in cutting the planks, but building more log movers would increase the efficiency of all the tasks, and anything that improves the efficiency should always be prioritized. And since we have arranged for the homeless villagers to have a roof over their heads - even if it''s temporary, so a delay of another few days in completing the longhouses shouldn''t be a problem."

    Duvas asked, "In that case, can''t we just keep the homeless villagers with the other villagers for the winter?"

    Kivamus shook his head. "That won''t work, Duvas. Think about it. Before we offered free grain to the villagers who took in the homeless people, nearly no one had volunteered to do it. The villagers may be fine with the current arrangement since they know that the longhouses will be built soon and they can go back to their previous ways of living with their own family soon. But if they had to keep the other people in their own houses for all the winter or even longer, then it can easily lead to a rise of tension between them, even if they are people they have known their whole life. That can easily lead to fights breaking out between them, and I don''t want anything to break the village''s unity right now. We need everyone to work together for our survival over the winter."

    Duvas gave a nod after hearing it, but didn''t say anything.

    Shifting his mind to the plans they were talking about, Kivamus remembered the narrow roads between the houses in the village when he had gone for a walk to the north of the village. It was a good opportunity to do something about that as well. He continued, "There is another thing that we should plan for - and that is the roads inside the village. The current narrow roads may be fine for the villagers walking on foot, but if we needed to move the log movers through the village, it simply wouldn''t be feasible right now, and it isn''t possible to widen those roads either since the houses have already been built there. We have an opportunity here to plan well and make wide roads for the future - each of them intersecting at right angles for ease of navigation."

    Gorsazo gave a slow nod at that. "That is true enough. Since we still haven''t started building the longhouses and the new barns, it would be good to plan for that in advance."

    "It would have another benefit, my Lord," Hudan said with a smirk.

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 Chapter 60 - 59. Cinran Market

    The guard captain explained, "In case of a bandit raid, it would make it much easier for us to respond if we had wide, straight roads in the village. In that case we could even ride on horses to that location, in order to quickly overwhelm the bandits with numbers in each place they are attacking, since they would be spread-out throughout the village for plundering."

    "That is true as well," Kivamus said with a nod. "Let''s also keep a standard width for all the new roads. I think a width of ten meters - which is around eleven yards, would be more than enough for us." While it was true that roads on earth were much wider to accommodate automobiles, in this world ten meters would be more than enough for them for the coming years.

    He continued, "That space would allow us to make a drainage system on both sides of the road - that is a narrow trench, maybe around one foot wide and may be a little deeper than that. This way, even in case of heavy rainfall, all the excess water would go to those drains - which would run all around the village and eventually end in a pond dug specifically for that. We can make that pond in the southern area of the village, to use for irrigating the farms."

    "That would be a very good idea, my Lord," Gorsazo said. "Usually only the bigger cities like Ulriga or Dorastiz have such a drain within the city. And it would reduce the chances of flooding which can damage any stored grains, or even the houses themselves. Of course, we would have to give the longhouses some height for that."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly, the foundation of the houses should be a little higher than the roads themselves."

    Duvas said, "We have more than enough stone rubble from the coal mines sitting in big piles near those hills. We can''t bring that rubble here until the wagons are back from Cinran, but after that, we can easily use those in the foundation for the longhouses and any new barns."

    "That''s doable as well," Kivamus replied. "We can''t do the same for the rest of the houses in the village yet, but after the longhouses have been built and people have shifted all their belongings there, we can tear down the damaged houses and make new housing in place of that, while making properly planned roads with drainage in those places as well. Of course, that is for the future - maybe after the winter."

    "We can also use some of that gravel as the surface of the new roads, which will allow for better drainage of them." He continued, "There should also be such a road going south to where the farms start, so that any carts, wagons and log-movers can travel easily on them."

    He added, "Apart from the roads around the longhouses, let''s also make a road for the periphery of the village, just inside the new village walls. In case there is a breach of the walls, we need the guards to be able to reach any place near the walls easily on horses and still have enough space near the walls to be able to repel any attackers there by using superior numbers."

    Hudan smirked. "Once we have such wide roads in the village, then with well-trained guards and enough fast horses for them, the bandits wouldn''t know what hit them if they dare to raid us after that!"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but grin at that notion. "Indeed. But that reminds me, even after all the guards have returned from Cinran, will we have enough guards to defend the whole village?"

    Hudan shrugged. "If you ask for my opinion, my Lord, I would always like to have more guards. But whether we can afford to properly outfit that many men and basically have them sitting idle when they are not fighting is a different matter altogether."

    Kivamus commented, "They do not necessarily have to sit idle, you know?"

    "What do you mean?" Duvas asked.

    Kivamus steepled his hands. "It is always a good idea to train more men than you think you''ll need, but we don''t have to keep all of them on guard duty full time. We can just keep a core of two dozen well trained guards - the men we have already hired, who will be on guard duty all the time."

    Kivamus continued, "But we can have another dozen guards, who have been well trained by Hudan, but they won''t normally have to do guard duty in the village. And in case there is a bandit raid, since we will now have proper village walls around us, that means the full-time guards can hold on any attackers there, while one of them goes to the village to call upon the other uh... reserve guards. Then we can quickly outfit those reserve guards, and send them wherever they are needed."

    He added, "This way we can call upon up to three dozen guards when needed, but in peaceful times, only two dozen men will be out of the village workforce, and the rest can do whatever work they need to do. And as an incentive to villagers to become reserve guards, we can pay them say... a quarter of the wages of a guard. That should still be affordable to us, and by doing this, we will be able to quickly increase our guard force in case of a bandit raid."

    It didn''t take long for Hudan to think of the implications. "That is an excellent idea, my Lord!" he said excitedly. "Earlier, I had thought about further increasing the number of guards, but I knew we couldn''t afford to pay that many men."

    He nodded to himself. "I will start doing this from today itself. Since many of the workers are still sitting idle because of a shortage of tools, I will select a few of them who are trusted men, after verifying with Mr Duvas, and will start giving them some basic training. In fact, since I am already telling the basics of fighting to those men who are good with using machetes, I can just select the trusted men among them as our reserve guards. Once they find out that they will get some extra money just for getting trained, and knowing that they would rarely be called to actually fight, there shouldn''t be any shortage of volunteers for this."

    "Good idea. You should do that," Kivamus said. "Of course, that money will also be in the form of some extra grain for now."

    Thinking for a minute, he added, "Since we have decided to leave a hundred yards of empty space all around the village, we can build the new barns in the south of the village itself, instead of in the west as we planned earlier. These barns can be located on the inner side of the periphery roads, which would allow easy access to the barns when we are bringing in the new harvest next year on the wagons and carts."

    Gorsazo said, "But this would mean that the new barns would be quite close to the walls. And in case the walls are breached in a bandit raid, they can easily steal grain from there, and when running away, the bandits could put the barns on fire, so the guards would become busy putting out that fire instead of chasing them. We have already seen them doing that in the previous raid."

    Kivamus sighed. There were no easy solutions in this world. "That is true enough. But there is still some time before we start to make new barns, since we have to build all the longhouses as well as the village walls first. So constructing the barns might not start till spring anyway. We''ll see what else we can do about this at that time."

    He stood up from his armchair. "Alright then. Duvas and Hudan, both of you go and measure a distance of around hundred yards in the north and the south and tell the workers to start digging the holes for the walls. Hudan, you also need to give some training to those with machetes in the evening, so start picking those amongst them who are trusted people and are interested in becoming reserve guards. You can leave now."

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Market square, Cinran ~

    As Tesyb waited for Pydas to complete his deal with another grain merchant in the afternoon, he took a moment to look around the place. The town of Cinran stretched out around him, a sprawling mass of haphazardly arranged buildings - the huge market square on one side, and the residential area on the other. Hearing stories about this town from his childhood, he had been excited to visit this place, and it didn''t disappoint.

    The market square was a bustling hub of activity. The air was thick with the scent of roasting meat and fresh bread, a tantalizing contrast to the paltry meals they were accustomed to. Stalls overflowed with a variety of well crafted tools, fabrics, and heaps of vegetables and fruits. The blacksmith''s forge glowed nearby with an orange heat, the rhythmic clang of metal on metal echoing through the square. As he had passed a nearby alley earlier, the acrid smell of animal hides had announced the presence of a tanner''s shop there. There were shops selling pottery, clothing, and hand-carved wooden toys, along with many butcher shops. Several bakeries lined the street as well, their windows filled with tempting displays of bread, cheese and pastries sweetened with honey, even though he couldn''t afford any of it. A group of traveling minstrels entertained the crowd with their lively tunes near the center, drawing a cluster of onlookers. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The market square was paved with cobblestones with a stone sculpture built in the middle of the square. However, the rest of the town, at least the parts he had seen so far, didn''t have any cobblestone streets. Instead, he had found himself navigating a maze of dirt paths, churned into mud by the constant traffic of horses, nodors and carts, while dodging goats and chickens who seemed to have free reign of the town. All the buildings around him were made of wood as well. Although he had heard from someone that the Count of Cinran himself lived in a stone mansion, unlike the wooden baron''s manor in Tiranat. Of course, he was the Count of this whole region, unlike the baron who only governed a small coal mining village. But despite its shortcomings, the town of Cinran was a stark contrast to their small village. There was a sense of energy and vitality here that was absent from the quiet existence of Tiranat.

    Earlier in the day, after they had left the inn with their cargo of coal, Feroy had told them that he was taking the damaged wagon himself to the wainwright for repairs, and he would find them in the market square in the afternoon, after he had completed a few other things that he wanted to do. However, Tesyb had no idea what those things were. After that, Pydas had led them to a local coal merchant who readily agreed to buy all their coal. They had spent all the morning transferring coal from their own wagons to the huge storehouse of that merchant with the help of his workers.

    That had only been completed around an hour ago, and then Pydas had told them to park three of their empty wagons in a side alley with little traffic, with half the guards staying there with the empty wagons. He had only taken the remaining three wagons with him, including the other three guards to a grain merchant he knew, after telling them that he didn''t want any onlookers to know that he would be leaving with such a big grain caravan later. The plan was to buy enough grain for the three wagons in one trip, and then to park these wagons in that alley later, and return with the other three wagons to buy the remaining grain with another merchant, along with the other things like salt, iron nails and iron ingots.

    Soon, Pydas let him know that it was done, and the guards started to load up the wagons with all the bought sacks of grain. With that done, they carried out their agreed upon plan, and this time it was Tesyb''s turn to stay in the alley with the loaded wagons, while three other guards went with Pydas again to get the remaining grain. It was getting late in the afternoon now, and until now Tesyb hadn''t gotten any opportunity to go and meet his sister.

    He told another guard staying there that he would be back within half an hour. The guard was reluctant to let him leave, but Feroy had told them that a robbery was not likely in the town, particularly in daylight, so Tesyb was still allowed to go as long as he didn''t take too long.

    Giving a nod to him, Tesyb returned towards the market square, since his sister had told him when she had last visited Tiranat, that she worked in a seamstress'' shop in an alley close to the market square itself. It took a while as he wandered through the market looking for it, but soon he saw a sign above a shop''s door indicating that it was a tailor''s workshop. Entering inside, he asked the shop owner, "Does a girl by the name of Isuha work here?"

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 Chapter 61 - 60. Isuha

    The shop owner shook his head immediately. "No, as you can see, I''m the only one who works here. But you might want to ask in the other seamstress'' shop, a few doors ahead in the alley."

    Nodding his thanks, Tesyb hurried outside, this time with a spring in his steps. Before long, he saw another similar sign on the wooden walls of a two story building. Entering inside, he found a small, cramped shop, with bolts of cloth and unfinished garments kept everywhere. This time he saw an old woman sitting near the store counter, without any customers in the shop, and he asked the same question again.

    The old woman gazed at him with beady eyes. "What is it to you, lad?"

    "She''s my sister," Tesyb replied. "I want to meet with her."

    He had to wait until the old woman made up her mind, after staring at him for a while. Then she hollered back towards a set of stairs going to the upper floor, "Isuha!"

    A woman shouted back, "What is it, you old hag? Let me work in peace!"

    Tesyb couldn''t help but smile after hearing Isuha''s voice after more than a year.

    "That brat!" the old woman muttered, "Young people these days have no respect for their elders..." She shouted again, "Get down here. There is a young lad here saying he is your brother."

    Immediately, there was a sound of feet thundering on the floor above, and Isuha came running down the stairs. She had cut her black hair shorter, with it barely reaching her shoulders now. There was also a wooden stick in her hands, probably for measuring cloth. She was still just as beautiful as always, although she did look a little thinner than she was when he had seen her the last time.

    "Tesyb!" she shouted while dropping that stick, and jumping into his arms with a huge smile and hugging him.

    Tesyb couldn''t help but laugh at her enthusiasm as he hugged her back. She was still the same, even if she looked a little different now.

    After a while, she took a step back and looked at him. "How are you here? I never thought I''d see you in Cinran!"

    "It''s a long story, but I''m only here for today."

    Isuha looked at the store owner and said, "I am taking my afternoon break now, ''kay? I''ll be back soon." Then she held the arm of Tesyb and tugged him outside without waiting for the reply of the old woman.

    Tesyb said with a grin, "I can walk myself, you know? I''m not a child anymore."

    "Shut up, I''m still older than you!" Isuha retorted, as she pulled him outside the shop.

    "Yeah, yeah, I know you''re getting old, no need to keep reminding me," Tesyb quipped.

    Isuha glared at him as they reached the alley. "Want another beating? It''s been a while since the last one, hasn''t it?"

    "I''d rather not," Tesyb replied with a laugh. "How have you been?"

    She looked down for a moment, before speaking, "I''m okay. How are ma and pa? I heard that the baron of the village had been killed in an ambush a while ago. How are things there now?"

    Tesyb noticed the pause before she spoke. "They are okay now. And the village has a new baron, who''s named Lord Kivamus. He''s nearly the same age as me, actually." He looked around them to confirm that there wasn''t anyone else nearby, before he said in a low voice, "Don''t tell it to anyone but I''ve heard that he is actually the son of the Duke of Cinran."

    "What? Why would the Duke send his own son to such a place?" She whispered, "Is he a bastard child of the Duke?" sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb shrugged. "I wouldn''t know about that." He paused for a moment, thinking about the recent past, and said, "The past few months after the previous baron was killed were... difficult. No grain caravans were coming there because of a threat of another ambush. There was even a bandit raid in the village itself, where they burnt a third of the village, including our house there."

    Isuha immediately had tears in her eyes. "Are ma and pa really okay?"

    "Don''t worry," Tesyb reassured her, while holding her shoulders. "They are completely fine now, and nobody was killed in that raid."

    "But... I still should have been there..." she said while wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

    "No, no, it''s fine. The one thing that puts them at ease is that you are safe within the walls of Cinran here."

    "Is the situation in Tiranat better now?" she asked.

    "It''s still not fully normal, but things are improving. One thing I can say for sure is that whatever the reason may have been for Lord Kivamus to be sent to the village, he is certainly a good person, who really wants to take care of the villagers, unlike the previous baron." He continued, "The coal mines were flooded a while ago, so there wasn''t any work to be found in the village before he arrived. But now he has arranged a food for work program for the villagers, and for those who can''t work, including the orphans and the elders, he is providing them free meals twice a day." He added, "In fact, that is the reason why I am here. I''m escorting a caravan to bring more grain to the village from Cinran."

    "Escorting?" Isuha looked surprised. "Don''t you work as a coal miner...?"

    "Like I said, things are changing there. Now I am a guard in the baron''s manor!" he told her proudly.

    "What? For real?" Seeing him nod in reply, she hugged him again. Stepping back she looked at him from head to toe. "Wow! My little brother is a manor guard now?"

    Tesyb grinned. "I did tell you, I am not a child anymore." He asked, "How are things with you here?"

    "Well..." she trailed off. "Things could certainly be better. With the rising grain prices everywhere, people are barely buying any new clothing these days, so we don''t get as much work as we did earlier." She looked towards the shop that she worked at with a smile. "But the seamstress who owns this shop is a good person, even if she is a cranky old lady now. She ensures that I have enough to eat, even if the shop''s income is much lower now."

    "Well, if things get any worse, you always have an option to come back home. The baron is building new housing as well for those who lost their houses." He grinned. "And I am a manor guard now, so I get paid more than what I was paid as a miner. I''ll look after you. And ma and pa would be happy to see you as well."

    She gave a genuine smile. "Well, you have grown up now, I''ll accept that much." She grinned and rising on her toes, she bopped him on the head. "But you''ll still be a big baby in front of me!"

    Tesyb couldn''t help but laugh after hearing that.

    "What?" Isuha asked with confusion.

    "Nothing. There is another new guard, Yufim, who''s the same age as me, and acts childishly even now. Hearing you say ''big baby'' reminded me of him." He laughed again. "Earlier he was whining that he had to wait outside, while I got to see the town."

    Isuha laughed as well after hearing that. "Well, when do you have to leave Cinran?"

    "Tomorrow morning, before dawn I think," he replied. "But I have to get back to others now. This marketplace is huge and searching this shop took longer than I thought. I had only gotten permission to leave for half an hour but it has already been longer than that."

    "But we only just met..." Isuha spoke, her eyes glistening again.

    "I would have liked to stay longer as well, but duty calls." Tesyb added, "But on the bright side, I might be back again after a week, if I''m selected for escort duty again."

    "What? Really?" she asked happily.

    "Yup! The baron has planned for two trips to Cinran to buy grain, before the route to Tiranat closes due to snow. I can''t promise it yet, but I will try to get selected again for escorting the caravan. And if I am indeed chosen, then I''ll try to meet you again that day in around a week." He continued regretfully, "I really should return back now."

    Isuha gave a reluctant nod, wiping her face with her sleeves again. "Well, go on then. I don''t want you to get fired as a guard."

    Tesyb didn''t want to leave this soon as well, but if Feroy returned to others before he had reached back, he would get a scolding for sure. After another quick hug, he watched as Isuha walked towards the shop and stood near the door, looking at him sadly.

    He waved at her again, and turned back, not wanting her to see his own tears. She was already living alone in such a big town, and he didn''t want her to worry about him as well. Walking back through the vast marketplace towards the alley where the wagons were parked, he wiped his eyes. Even though it was a short meeting, now he would be able to tell their worried parents that she was doing okay here.

    As he made his way back through the crowded market, a small procession caught his attention. A knight, fully clad in iron armor, slowly rode down the market square, his horse''s hooves clattering on the cobblestones. Behind him, a trio of liveried guards escorted a group of filthy, manacled prisoners, their faces etched with despair. They must be a group of slaves, probably being taken for an auction. He had only heard tales in the past of such things happening regularly in big towns and cities, but seeing humans being taken to be sold like animals was a sobering experience in person.

    He shook his head, and continued walking towards the alley where the grain wagons were parked. He was probably already late, and he couldn''t afford to worry about anyone else.

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall after breakfast with others.

    Gorsazo remarked, "The caravan has been out for four days now."

    Hudan nodded. "If everything went well, they would be leaving Cinran today."

    The door opened, and a servant walked inside. "Milord, Pinoto is here to talk to you."

    "Let him in," Kivamus ordered the servant.

    Soon, Pinoto, the ex-farmer, came inside. For a moment, he seemed to be lost in looking around the plush comfort of the manor hall, before he gazed at Kivamus and said, "Milord, I would like to get your permission for something before I proceed."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked him with curiosity.

    "Since yesterday," Pinoto began, "the laborers working in the south of the village have been provided new axes, and they have started cutting trees there as well. But the tree-stumps are still standing there, and we need to remove them to clear the area for making new fields for farming there. However, we don''t have any horses there to pull out the stumps."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "We should still have two horses remaining in the manor, right?"

    "Indeed, my lord," the majordomo replied. "Would you like me to provide those horses to Pinoto?"

    However, before Kivamus could respond, Hudan spoke up. "I would advise against that, my Lord. Those are the last two horses we have here, and I would like at least one of them to remain in the manor, so that a pair of guards could be quickly sent to the location of any beast attack on the villagers."

    Kivamus nodded. Until the caravan returned with eight of their horses, they would remain short on them. "What about the two horses in the north? Can we send them to the south to help Pinoto?"

    Duvas shook his head. "Those horses are already being used there all day to pull the log-mover, so that they can clear the area for the longhouses. But we could still keep one of the horses in the manor, like Hudan suggested, and send the other one to help Pinoto. A single horse wouldn''t be enough to pull out the stumps, but it should still help them in moving the logs, until the second log-mover is built by Taniok."

    "Okay, do it then," Kivamus said to Duvas.

    "Even a single horse would be helpful, milord," Pinoto remarked with a grateful nod. He continued, "But there is another way to remove the stumps. That is what I wanted to get your permission for."

    *******

    *******

 Chapter 62 - 61. Ecological Reserve

    Pinoto continued, "After we move the logs away from the stump, we could simply burn them to clear the area faster."

    "That may be a good idea," Kivamus said. He added after a moment of thought, "Okay, you can do that, but be sure that you have removed any other flammable wood away from the stumps before putting them on fire. I don''t want to see a forest fire in the south."

    Pinoto gave a nod. "Leave that to me, milord. I have done that in the past, when I used to work as a farmer. Although in that farm, we usually waited for a year or more for the stump and remaining roots to rot so we could clear the area, but we cannot do that here because we need to start farming in the spring." He added, "However, while it is difficult to fully burn a stump, I will tell the workers to split the stump from a few places, so that it can burn easily. Once the stump has fully burned away in a day or two, it would be easy enough to remove the remaining big roots by pulling them with even a single horse. After that, only the very small roots will be remaining, and those shouldn''t cause any problems in plowing the fields later."

    "You seem to know what you are doing," Kivamus gave an appreciative nod. Thinking about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said, "However, don''t start burning each tree immediately after cutting it. Once all the trees in an area - let''s say a dozen or maybe even two dozen trees have been cut and the logs have been removed from there, then move all the workers to another place - maybe a hundred yards away, and put them to work on clearing the forest there. This way, there would be no danger of the workers breathing in any poisonous fumes from the burning stumps nearby."

    Pinoto thought about it for a moment. "That seems like a good idea, milord. Usually we have to cover our mouth with a cloth if we are working close to smoke. As an added benefit, since all the trees in the area we are going to burn would already be cut before we put the stumps on fire, there would be less danger of the fire spreading to other trees."

    Kivamus said, "After you have some ash from the burnt stumps, you can also mix it into the ground, which will reduce the acidity of the soil and it should improve the yield of the wheat crop in the future."

    Pinoto gave a nod. "I don''t know what this acidity of soil is, but I do know from experience that occasionally mixing some ash into the ground before sowing does help the yield if we are growing wheat."

    Kivamus said, "If you already know that mixing ash would be helpful, it is good enough for now. I will explain what soil acidity is, some other time." He looked at Duvas, "Have you designated someone as the foreman for the southern area as well?"

    "Not yet, my Lord," Duvas replied.

    "In that case," Kivamus began, "Pinoto can be the foreman for the villagers working in the south. Unlike the north and other sides, our primary reason for clearing the forest in the south is to start farming there, and with his farming experience, Pinoto seems like our best choice to oversee everything there." He looked at the ex-farmer, "Can you do that? You will also be paid the same wages as other foremen - of course, in grain and coal for now."

    Pinoto was surprised for a moment, but then he smiled and gave a respectful nod. "Of course, milord. I was already spending most of my time there, so I can work as the foreman there as well."

    Kivamus smiled as well. "Alright. You can leave then."

    With a bow, the ex-farmer left the manor hall.

    Standing up, Kivamus said to others, "Let''s take another look in the north of the village."

    Gorsazo nodded and stood up as well to follow him, while Hudan asked him to wait until he could gather a few guards to accompany them. Duvas again told them that he would stay back to take care of everything here.

    With a nod, Kivamus walked to the gates of the manor, and soon Hudan was back with another three guards.

    "Let''s go, my Lord," Hudan said.

    They started walking through the village towards the north, and before long, they exited the last row of houses. However, unlike the last time he had come here, when there were towering trees not far from the houses of the village, there was a decent amount of cleared land in front of them now. Kivamus estimated that the workers had cleared the forest for nearly thirty to forty meters ahead, and for nearly the same width as well. However, the stumps of the cut trees were still standing in that area.

    The bigger logs had been kept on a few piles on their left, while the twisted branches had been gathered in a heap on their right. The carpenter Taniok was hard at work near the log piles making planks from the straight logs, along with a few other workers. There was also a small pile of already cut planks kept near them, which Kivamus only noticed now.

    In front of them, dozens of workers were hard at work putting all their might to cut the trees with axes, while a few were sawing the base of trees in pairs using a two-man saw. Some other workers were using the newly made machetes to cut off the smaller branches from the felled trees to make logs from them. He also saw the log-mover in use nearby, while it was being used to pull another log to the growing pile.

    Yeden was standing near the workers cutting the trees as well, while shouting at them and pointing at something. When he noticed Kivamus, he immediately walked towards the baron, and gave a bow in respect.

    "How is it going?" Kivamus asked the bald foreman.

    "The logging has been going well, milord," Yeden replied, "especially with the new tools we are getting every day."

    Looking at the stumps of the trees, Kivamus said, "What about those?"

    Yeden gave a shrug. "I know we have to remove those, but I am waiting for more trees to be cut from this area before I assign workers to do that."

    "What about just burning them, like we are going to do in the south?" Gorsazo asked.

    "That''s not a good idea here," Kivamus commented. "Unlike the farms, where we still have a few months before we need the land cleared, we need this area cleared faster. So we cannot afford to move the workers a hundred meters away while the stumps burn here for a few days. We need to clear this area as soon as possible to start the construction of the longhouses. And there are already a couple of horses here to pull out the stumps."

    Yeden said, "That is true, my lord. By tomorrow, I will tell a few workers to cut out the bigger roots from the stumps, and then we can just use the horses to pull the stumps out."

    "That would work," Gorsazo remarked. "We don''t need to do any plowing here in the future, so there is no problem in leaving some roots in the ground which would otherwise cause the plows to get stuck or even break. That should be good enough for all the regions where we don''t need to do any plowing."

    "I''ll do that, then," Yeden said. "I''ll also put all the stumps aside and if needed we can split those and other smaller branches to use as firewood in the longhouses." Moving his hand over his bald head, he added, "I''d say pulling out all these stumps will take another two or three days, and after that we can start digging the foundations for the longhouses."

    "That''s very good," Kivamus said. As he looked at the forest surrounding them, he realized that some of the branches which had grown in a slanted direction reminded him of the cranes used for construction on Earth. That gave him an idea. He said to the foreman, "You know what? Don''t cut every single tree here. While constructing the longhouses, we will need an easy way to lift the heavy wooden beams and columns into place. So, in this area, if you see a tree which has sturdy horizontal branches - maybe uh... fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, just leave them in place. We don''t need too many of those, but even having three or four such trees here would help a lot in lifting those beams."

    "You mean by putting a rope around that branch to lift it in place?" Yeden asked.

    "Something like that," Kivamus said. When they reached that stage of construction, he could devise a simple pulley system to help with that. "Leave a few such trees in those areas as well where we are going to build the new village walls, which will help us in pulling up the logs and stakes for them. And once the new village walls have been built, we can cut those trees after that for safety purposes. Although we can still leave those trees near the longhouses, to give a place for people to sit under in the summer."

    "I don''t think we have ropes that long though," Gorsazo stated.

    "That could be a problem," Kivamus muttered. "In that case, add it to the list of things we will send Pydas to buy on the next trip to Cinran."

    Gorsazo nodded. "Of course, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at Yeden again. "I had planned to keep some trees here for shade in the summer anyway, instead of making the land completely barren and without any trees for hundreds of meters. I have already told Madam Helga to look for shrubs and plants which provide good herbs around this area. So wherever she tells you about any such herbs being found, mark that area and tell the workers not to cut anything within ten meters or so of that area. We will call it an... ecological reserve - which means a natural location which we have preserved for some reason. When we have enough ropes in the future, we will surround that area with a few ropes as well. This way we will have a good supply of those herbs in the future, and we wouldn''t have to send people to search again for it in the surrounding forests every time we need such herbs."

    Yeden gave an understanding nod. "I will do as you say, my Lord. I can see how that would help the village in the future." Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Remembering the conversation about village walls earlier, he asked, "Did you send workers to dig holes for the new walls?"

    *******

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 Chapter 63 - 62. Longhouse Blocks

    "Indeed, my lord." Yeden pointed further ahead of the workers who were cutting trees, and said, "You can see them digging there. But instead of making individual holes for every single stake of the wall, I''ve told them to make a narrow trench, where we can stack the logs one by one."

    Kivamus nodded. Looking at the guard captain, he asked, "Do we also have to buy ropes for tying those logs together? That might get costly though."

    "No, my Lord. We don''t really need any ropes for that," Hudan replied. "Ropes are usually helpful for building smaller walls, but the stakes which we will make from these huge trees, would themselves be sturdy enough to stand under their own weight, along with the support they get from the stakes on each side of them. Apart from that, we will also put in place horizontal logs, which will support the walls from inside. Those horizontal logs will themselves be supported by other slanted logs from the ground. That will make the walls strong enough to even resist a cavalry charge." He added, "Of course, once the walls have been completed, we can add some other defensive structures later."

    "You seem to have a good idea about this. Make sure to find some time to regularly talk with the workers who will be making the walls."

    Hudan gave a nod. "I''ll do that, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter cutting new planks on the left. "Bring Taniok here as well."

    Immediately, one of the guards who had come with them jogged towards the carpenter and returned with him.

    Taniok gave a bow as well, when he reached there.

    "What about the second log mover?" Kivamus asked him.

    Taniok looked nervous for a moment, and looked down at the ground. "It won''t take long, milord," he mumbled. He looked up at Kivamus and continued, "I am waiting for my apprentice to finish making a few parts at my workshop before I can assemble it. It should be completed by tomorrow."

    Kivamus didn''t know the cause of the carpenter''s nervousness, but chose not to ask about it for now. "Okay, that''s good." He looked at the bald foreman, and said, "Now that there is enough space cleared here, we can finalize the locations of the longhouses."

    "That''s a good idea, milord," Yeden said. "It would be difficult for you to find enough time to visit here every time I need to make such a decision, so if we finalize at least a general location, then I can put the workers to start digging the foundations after the stumps have been removed in a couple of days."

    "Let''s do it then." Picking up a sharp stick of wood from nearby, Kivamus squatted down and started drawing on the ground, while others gathered around the drawing in the light of the late morning sun. He drew a simple rectangle and started explaining while pointing at its sides. "From what I have told you all earlier, the longhouse should be twenty-five meters long, and around five meters wide." He drew more lines inside the rectangle, and continued, "There will be twin bunk beds on both sides of the longer walls, so that we can accommodate forty-eight people inside."

    He looked at others, "But since we have more homeless villagers than we anticipated earlier, we need another longhouse just for them. And there are many villagers whose houses are quite damaged, even if they are still standing - so that those villagers aren''t considered homeless, but they will still be shivering all winter long if they live in those houses. So I want to make more longhouses to accommodate everyone who wants to move there, even if it''s just for the winter."

    Taniok looked at the drawing with observant eyes. "In that case, we can make the longhouses one after another in parallel, with each one maybe five meters away from the others."

    Gorsazo gave his opinion as well. "But Lord Kivamus said that he wants to make wide roads around the longhouses - ten meters wide each, and not just five. So a lot of space would be wasted on roads, if we make longhouses like that." He pointed at the shorter sides of the rectangle Kivamus had drawn. "I''d say, we make the longhouses right next to each other, with their doors on the shorter sides here. We could give a gap of a few feet between the houses for ventilation, and a single wide road around the full group of longhouses would be enough in this case."

    Kivamus heard their opinions, as he thought more about it. He recalled some of the square-shaped housing blocks in some cities on earth. That idea could work well here much better than what others were suggesting. He started drawing again, and drew another rectangle in parallel, to represent another longhouse. "I think this is a better idea. We can make two longhouses like this in parallel, but we will keep around fifteen meters of gap between them."

    As Gorsazo started to speak again, he said, "Let me finish first. I know it seems even more wasteful in terms of space, but by doing this, we can make a third longhouse right next to the first two longhouses," he added, while drawing a third rectangle below the earlier two rectangles, "which would complete three sides of the new design, with some empty space in the middle. We can call this group of three buildings a longhouse-block."

    Gorsazo looked at it for a moment, and said, "But there is still wasted space in the middle. And what about the fourth side?"

    Kivamus gave a knowing smile and said, "Now, tell me, how would the villagers cook their food, once they shift to these long houses? Usually every family cooks their food in their own home by themselves. But that is not practical here, is it?" Seeing others give a nod, he continued, "That is why, we will do this."

    He drew two smaller rectangles on the fourth side of the longhouse-block to connect the first and third rectangles, leaving a small empty space between them. "Now, these will be two extra rooms for the people of that longhouse block to use, each of which will be five meters wide and maybe six meters long, which would leave a small gap of around three meters between these rooms as the entryway. One of these rooms can be made into a dedicated communal kitchen for all the residents of this longhouse block."

    He stood up, and looking at others'' faces, he added, "This way some of the women who are not working as manual laborers, mainly those who are staying back to take care of children and the elderly, can cook food for all the people there."

    After hearing the full explanation, others gave understanding nods. Taniok said, "I understand the purpose of one of the smaller rooms now, but what about the other one?"

    "It is for storage, of course," Kivamus said with a smile. "After people leave their own homes and move to the longhouses they will need a place to keep their belongings. Also, while some of the grain can be kept in the communal kitchen itself, this storage room can also be used to keep some extra sacks of grains and vegetables. This way, the villagers wouldn''t have to go to the manor or the grain merchants very frequently to get grain from there. They can buy as much grain as they will need for a month or more in a single trip with a cart. Or for now, we can provide them enough grain for a month at a time, which would save a lot of time that would otherwise have been wasted in transporting the grain."

    Gorsazo suggested, "In that case, we don''t need to make the gate exactly in the middle of the fourth side. Since the kitchen will be used for preparing food for more than a hundred people, it would need to be bigger. I think, in the fifteen meters of free space on the fourth side, we can make the kitchen around eight and a half meters long, while the storage room can be just four meters long, which would leave around two and a half meters for the gates."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered. "That makes sense. Taniok, you have the new measurements now."

    Hudan said, "This design would also make it easier for the villagers to defend themselves in case the village walls are breached, or in case there is a bandit raid before the village walls are even completed. We can make a strong and easily-defensible gate connecting these two smaller rooms, and if needed, the villagers can shut it securely from inside, while the guards deal with the bandits outside the longhouse blocks."

    "Exactly," Kivamus said. "That was my intention as well. And if the bandits do try to attack at those gates, only a few strong villagers with machetes - which we can provide them to keep in the storage room - can hold many bandits at the gates. That is much easier for even two or three villagers to do, compared to defending a few dozen separate houses by themselves - like they had to do till now."

    "It is indeed a good design, my Lord, with many benefits," Gorsazo said appreciatively.

    Taniok asked, "If we are making the longhouses in this arrangement, then can''t we just make a single building in that square shape, instead of making three separate longhouses? That would be easier to build, and it''ll be more structurally strong, since the buildings will be connected to each other with beams at each corner of the block."

    "That''s... actually a good idea," Kivamus said after a moment. "Okay, let''s do it this way. Instead of the two sides of the block being twenty-five meters long, while the other two sides being thirty meters long, we can make a square shaped block with all sides being twenty-five meters long. That is a good idea for any future expansion as well, if we keep the longhouse blocks in a square shape." He added, "But this change in design would mean that the total capacity of three longhouses will be a little lower than what it would have been if we had made three separate longhouses."

    Taniok nodded. "That is true, milord. But the difference shouldn''t be too much." He gazed into the distance, as he calculated, "We will be losing the living space equal to two squares of five meters in each corner of the third longhouse. From the internal design that you have told us milord, that would leave the third longhouse with a length of only fifteen meters, which is just enough for seven bunks next to each other, or a total of twenty-eight bunks there."

    Kivamus did the mental calculations as well. "That sounds about right. But I would still say the benefits of keeping each block in a square-shape are going to be worth it in the long term planning of any growing town. This means that instead of one hundred and forty-eight people being housed in three separate longhouses, we would be able to accommodate one hundred and twenty-four people in each longhouse block - including forty-eight each in two longhouses, and twenty-eight in the third one. That is still good enough, since even completing a single such block would be able to accommodate all the homeless villagers."

    Kivamus added, "That central courtyard within each longhouse block would give safe spaces for children to play there, with older villagers watching over them, when adults go to work in daytime. Also, those women and elderly villagers who will be staying in the longhouses instead of going for manual work, can make vegetable gardens in the empty space within the blocks. It wouldn''t be enough to feed them completely, but it would still add variety to their diets, while giving them a way to contribute to the village and feel helpful."

    "True enough, my Lord," Gorsazo said. "That means, we would have to build another such longhouse block to provide warm living spaces to all the remaining villagers who want to shift there."

    Kivamus nodded. "And as I told you all earlier, we will be making ten-meter-wide roads everywhere we are doing any construction, so each longhouse block would be surrounded by such a road." He pointed at the area right next to the original houses of the village, "So we will leave space for making a ten-meter-wide road running parallel to these houses." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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 Chapter 64 - 63. Night Watch Duty

    Kivamus pointed at the newly cleared area around them. "Ahead of that will be the first longhouse block, which will take twenty-five meters of space. Then there will be another road of ten meters width, and after that, the second longhouse block will take another twenty-five meters. That is a total of seventy meters. Now, the new village walls will be a hundred yards, that is, around ninety meters away from the rest of the village. That gives us enough space for another ten meters for the periphery road, which will run all around the village just inside the new walls. We can leave the last ten meters between the road and the village wall empty for now."

    Hudan said, "Those ten meters would also help to keep the longhouses farther in case the bandits shoot arrows from outside the wall. And as I mentioned earlier, my Lord, we would need to use slanted logs from the inside of the new walls to give them extra support. That ten meters of empty ground will be quite helpful in that."

    "Excellent!" Kivamus exclaimed. He looked at Taniok and Yeden. "That gives you the plans for how to use all the space here, and where to dig the foundations for the longhouses in the northern region."

    Yeden gave a nod. "Certainly, milord. I will put the workers to dig accordingly, after making the measurements."

    Kivamus said, "I have also told Gorsazo about the design of drains we will need to make on both sides of the roads, so you can talk with him about that. You are supervising the workers here, so you will be in charge of making the roads and drains as well. Of course, for the drains to work properly, the longhouses need to be at a small height from the surrounding roads."

    He looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, make sure that the floor of each longhouse as well as the central courtyard of each longhouse-block is a little higher than the surrounding roads, so that the rainwater will flow towards the gates, and will fall into the drains running on the sides of those roads."

    Taniok nodded. "I''ll keep it in mind, milord."

    "Later on, we will connect these drains to other such drains which we will dig in the village, so that the extra water flows towards the south or southwest into a new pond that we will dig near the new farms, to use for irrigating them." Kivamus looked at others. "I also want to connect the market square of the village to this new housing region with ten meter wide roads, but that can''t be done until we have shifted the villagers from their burnt houses to the new longhouses."

    He added, "Apart from that, even two longhouse blocks wouldn''t be enough to shift the whole population of the village to those, even though we might not need to do that anyway. But in case we do need to shift everyone, then by using such a planned grid design, we can easily make more longhouse blocks, here in the north. Again, that is for the future."

    Gazing again for a minute at all the projects being undertaken around the place, Kivamus gave an appreciative nod. There was still a lot of work to be done in the village, but at least they were on the right path now. "Alright then, let''s return now." He looked at Taniok and Yeden. "Keep up the good work!"

    The carpenter and the foreman were surprised for a moment on hearing the praise, but they smiled and gave successive nods. "We will do our best, milord."

    With that, Kivamus and Hudan, along with the other guards, turned back to return to the manor, while Gorsazo stayed back to tell the foreman about the design of the drains.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Near Helga''s Inn ~

    After another night spent under the wagons at the same inn in Cinran yesterday, they had left the town before dawn today. Picking up the waiting guards at the thicket outside Cinran, they had traveled the whole day to reach the same clearing near Helga''s Inn.

    The journey had thankfully been uneventful, and after a quick check of the surroundings, they had made their camp in the same clearing again. Then, after a quick meal of their remaining bread - which was stale by now, along with some watery porridge they had to make because they were unable to hunt anything in the evening, most of the guards had turned in for the night under the wagons. The wagons themselves had been arranged in a circle again, leaving nearly no space between them, so that they had to climb over the wagons to get in the middle. Although the merchant, Mr Pydas had also gone to sleep, he had looked worried enough since they left Cinran that it didn''t seem likely that he would be able to get any sleep.

    A little while ago, another guard had woken up Tesyb for his turn on watch duty, and he had been sitting on a log towards the south of the camp. He estimated that it must be around midnight now. Soon, Yufim, who had gone to relieve himself after waking up, walked near him and sat down on the same log. The campfire had been stamped out with only a few burning embers remaining in the middle of the circle of wagons. The half moon was just visible in the sky, but its light barely penetrated into the canopy of the dense forest. Without any wind, the forest was completely quiet as well, devoid of any sounds of birds or leaves.

    Yufim gave a big yawn while stretching his hands above himself. "I am so tired, man. Why did they have to give us watch duty in the middle of the night?"

    Tesyb shrugged in the near-darkness. "You can''t be lucky every time, can you? Last time we had gotten the first watch, so we were bound to draw the short straw at some point."

    "I do know that..." Yufim spoke with another yawn. He looked at Tesyb. "We were sitting in different wagons the whole day, so you never told me how the town was."

    Tesyb gave a laugh. "Even in the darkness I can tell that you are still sulking about that."

    "But I really wanted to see the town..." Yufim whined. "Come on! The least you can do is tell me stories about the place!"

    "What stories? You know that I was on guard duty the whole time, and we slept under the wagons there as well. It''s not like I had time to visit a tavern there."

    "Well, what about your sister?" Yufim asked. "Didn''t you say that you wanted to meet her there?"

    Tesyb smiled fondly thinking of Isuha. "I did meet her. She is doing okay but things are getting worse in Cinran. The shortage of grain, and the rising grain prices are taking a toll on everything. I heard from some passersby that the marketplace there used to be even more vibrant, even though it was still the biggest market I have ever seen in my life." He added, "Isuha even told me that they don''t get many new orders now."

    "She works as a seamstress, doesn''t she?" Yufim asked curiously.

    "She is only a helper to the seamstress there, from what she told me."

    "Even so, she gets to live in such a big town!" Yufim said wistfully, "I wish I lived in such a place."

    Tesyb scoffed. "And if you can''t pay back a loan, the Count''s men will happily auction you off into slavery. I would rather stay safe in our own village." He asked with a smirk, even if the young archer couldn''t see it in the darkness, "How was your stay in the grand thicket? Did you finally get to swim?"

    "Shut up! It was a thicket, not a town. Don''t try to make me even more jealous!" Yefim retorted. "And it was so... boring..." he whined. "I even tried to sneak to the Kal river yesterday, but Nurobo caught me right before I was going to leave, dammit!"

    Tesyb laughed. "It''s not like you could even swim. Still you can..."

    Yufim interrupted, "Did you hear that?"

    "Hear what?" Tesyb asked while looking around himself, even though he could barely make out the trees in the darkness.

    They waited for a few minutes to hear something, but it was silent after that.

    "Must have been my imagination," Yufim muttered. "Well, what were you saying?"

    Right before he was going to reply, Tesyb clearly heard the crunching of leaves nearby. He whispered, "Wait! There is something out there." He picked up his sword, which he had kept on the log next to him. Slowly, trying not to make any sound, he rose up on his feet. "Do you have your bow with you?"

    "Why would I?" Yufim replied in a low voice, while getting up slowly as well. "It''s not like I could hit anything in this darkness. I do have a dagger with me though."

    "Why the heck did they even put you on watch duty in the night!" Tesyb retorted while trying to listen for any other sounds.

    "Hell if I know!" Yufim muttered. "I''d rather have slept soundly instead of feeling useless like this. Ask Nurobo why he put me on watch duty!"

    "That''s actually a good idea," Tesyb said, thinking quickly. "There must be two other guards awake right now, on the other side of the camp. Go back slowly and let them know that there is at least one wild animal out here, and then wake up Feroy as well. He''ll know what to do. And tell someone to light up the fire again, so we can actually see something in this Goddess damned darkness!"

    Without saying anything in reply, Yufim slowly walked back towards the camp, trying not to make too much sound.

    Tesyb kept trying to listen, but didn''t hear anything else for a while. He knew that lighting up a fire in the middle of the night would make it more likely to attract any animals here, but at least they would be able to fight back in the firelight, instead of attacking blindly. Soon he heard some commotion in the camp, and taking a quick look, he saw that someone was using the embers to light up some wood again.

    Keeping his drawn sword in front of him, he slowly took steps backwards, to get closer to others. Reaching the circle of wagons, he saw that the whole camp was buzzing with activity, even though he had still not found the source of that sound. Suddenly, it came into his mind that there could even be bandits trying to attack the camp right now, and he hadn''t even thought about that. But at least Feroy was awake now, and he would be able to take care of things now.

    In the light of the newly lit fire, he saw that Yufim and Nurobo had climbed on top of two wagons on opposite sides, while they had their bows and arrows ready in their hands. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The tranquility of the campsite was shattered by a sudden shout from the edge of the clearing on the other side. "Out there!" a guard warned, his voice filled with urgency. Tesyb, standing amidst the circle of wagons, turned his gaze towards the source of the commotion. Between two towering trees, a young boar emerged, its beady eyes darting around as it surveyed its surroundings. It was a small creature, but its wildness was undeniable.

    Dammit! They had not thought about such young animals when they put the wagons close to each other. That boar might just be able to squeeze between the wagons. Tesyb quickly took the opportunity to climb over the wagons to reach inside the circle.

    The boar slowly moved towards the circle of wagons, exploring the place when Nurobo let out an arrow towards it, but he missed the boar completely. Immediately, Yufim shot it as well and he heard the sound of the boar squealing in pain. But then it charged towards the closest wagon, as Feroy and another guard moved closer to that wagon as well. Luckily, that wagon was parked quite close to the next one, and the boar wouldn''t be able to run between them. As the boar came closer, Nurobo shot another arrow, and this time his arrow did find the target, making the boar crash to the ground in pain just before reaching the wagons. Immediately, Feroy and the other guard climbed over the wagons, and jumped off on the other side to finish it off.

    Nurobo shouted from the top of his wagon, "The rest of you, stay sharp. There can be more of them out there."

    Mr Pydas seemed to be completely scared and had climbed on the top of another wagon, and was sitting hunched while seemingly shaking in fear. Soon, Tesyb heard another growl behind him. He turned around and in the light of the now-roaring fire, he saw another small boar charging towards the wagons on his side, and he just froze.

 Chapter 65 - 64. A Clash With Beasts

    Immediately another guard ran towards him and slapped him on his back. "Wake up, you moron! Don''t freeze now, or you will be dead within a moment."

    Tesyb shook his head to clear his mind, and put his sword in front of him, while staying in the cover of the wagons and readied himself to fight the approaching boar. He thanked the Goddess that this one was also a young boar. It was charging into the empty space between two wagons, while the remaining guards were standing within the circle of wagons. These two wagons had enough space between them that such a young boar would be able to run between that space easily.

    As the archers noticed it, both of them shot arrows towards it, and this time, none of them missed, making the boar squeal in pain, immediately slowing it down. At this point the boar was hobbling, and it slowly entered the circle of wagons. As it crossed the gap between two wagons, a guard who was staying behind the cover of a wagon, slashed the young boar on its side, making it screech in pain again. The boar shook its head wildly and gave a roar, before it tried to charge towards that guard, who rolled to the side to get away from it. However, the boar was unable to run fast because of its earlier leg injury and it nearly fell down on the ground while trying to turn its body towards that guard.

    Tesyb took the opportunity to move behind the struggling boar and tried to stick his sword straight into it, but he underestimated the strength of the boar''s hide, and his sword skidded away over the boar. The other guard shouted at him, "Keep your grip strong, and don''t lose your sword at any cost."

    However, the archers shot again at it from its side and while one of the arrows missed it, Yufim''s arrow hit the boar directly on its neck, making it completely fall down on the ground. Immediately, another guard slashed it again on its legs, making the boar unable to get up from the ground. Tesyb quickly ran towards the boar, and this time he stabbed his sword into the neck of the boar with all his power. The small boar thrashed a little for a moment as he pulled out his sword, before another guard struck the fallen boar again, until it became quiet.

    Feroy jogged towards them, and said, "If two young boars were here, there would likely be a fully grown boar as well nearby. Stay sharp everyone." He shouted towards the archers, "Nurobo, Yufim, stay up there and keep an eye around us."

    Tesyb asked, "Wouldn''t having a spear helped us here? It would have been much safer than fighting them head on. Why didn''t we take any of those from the manor?"

    An experienced guard answered, "The previous baron''s guards had taken the best weapons - including all the spears with them on that unfortunate trip, and we don''t have any other spears left in the manor now. Do you think we came without any spears by choice?"

    "We got lucky here," Feroy muttered, while poking at the dead boar. "If it was a fully grown boar, it would have been much more difficult to kill it, even though we would have had the advantage of staying inside the circle of wagons, which it might not have been able to cross."

    "Certainly," the other guard said. "It was a good idea to arrange the wagons like that."

    "The first thing I am doing after we reach back, is to petition Lord Kivamus to have some spears built for us," Feroy said. "It''s too risky to fight such dangerous beasts without them."

    All the guards kept waiting for a while, but no boar or any other wild beast came to attack them. At the same time, Mr Pydas seemed to be wiping his forehead with his sleeves, again and again, even in the chill of the night.

    Feroy said, "It seems like we will be safe for now, but I will still put half of us on watch duty during the night, including an archer in each shift, just to be on the safer side." He said to the other guards, "Keep the fire burning all night, so we can see if something is coming to attack."

    Another guard looked at the dead boar next to them, and asked, "Pity we can''t take them with us, or the blood would spoil the grain on the way."

    Feroy nodded. "Two of you, pick up the boars one at a time and throw the carcasses far away from the camp. We can''t risk other bigger predators smelling blood and coming here. Another four guards will go with them, in case something is still out there, while the rest of us will stay here to protect the camp. Take a burning torch with you for light as well."

    Tesyb looked at the boar wistfully. "Can''t we even get some of it to eat?"

    Feroy sighed. "I''d have loved that as well, but without better weapons like spears and with half of the guards barely knowing how to fight, we were barely able to kill even these young boars. Dressing these animals would take time - time in which a bear, or Goddess forbid, an adzee can come here from the smell of blood, and we just can''t take that risk." He looked at the other guards. "Now go before the boars lose too much blood here and attract any predators from the smell. Throw it at least a few hundred yards away from the camp."

    Soon, half of the guards picked up the dead boar and carried it away. The rest of the guards remained vigilant, since there were only seven of them there at this point, until the other guards came back. Before long, the group of guards returned, and picked up the other boar and took it away as well. It was a difficult time, since they wouldn''t be able to fight another boar until the guards returned.

    As they kept waiting, the guards didn''t return for a while. Tesyb spoke to Yufim, who was still standing on top of a wagon, "Can you see them? It''s been quite a bit longer than they took to throw away the first boar."

    Yufim stood up on his toes, and gazed in the direction the guards had gone for a moment, before replying, "I can''t see anyone there. Maybe they just got lost?"

    "That''s the best we can hope for," Feroy muttered.

    Suddenly, Nurobo, who was standing on a wagon on the other side of the circle, gave a shout, "I see them! They are coming from this side."

    As Tesyb turned around to look there, he saw three of the guards walking back, with one of them holding the burning torch they had taken with them. For a moment, he thought they had lost the other guards, before he saw that behind the first three guards, one of the new recruits, who seemed to be hobbling, was being supported on his shoulders by two guards walking next to him. When they reached the circle of wagons, Feroy asked, "What happened there? You had gone in the opposite direction."

    One of the guards spoke up, "Someone suggested that we should throw the second boar a little distance away from the first one, just in case some other beast had already started munching on the first boar." He wiped his forehead, which was shining in the light of the campfire with sweat, and continued, "Everything went fine initially. We found another place to throw it away, and were returning from there, when we heard something nearby. I couldn''t see what it was, but it was something big for sure, and it was coming close to us."

    Another guard continued in his place, "Not knowing what it was, we started running in another direction, so that we wouldn''t lead it to the camp. It could have been a Goddess damned adzee for all we knew!" He shook his head as he recalled the events, "We didn''t have to run for too long, before we stopped hearing the sound of that beast. Maybe he found the smell of the second boar by then, I don''t know..." He pointed at the guard who had been hobbling, "But this idiot lost his footing and twisted his ankle, I think. So we had to slow down after that."

    Tesyb looked at the sky, feeling exhausted after everything that had happened. "Thank the Goddess you weren''t chased back here. I don''t know if I could have fought something again right now."

    Feroy grunted and patted his back. "Don''t worry, you did okay in the fight earlier." He looked at the others who were supporting the injured guard. "Check in the firelight if his skin was cut open as well. We should have something to tie his ankle in one of the wagons. Make sure to bandage it well in the proper position. Nurobo will help you with that."

    ***********

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Approaching Tiranat ~

    With no serious injuries in yesterday''s fight other than the twisted ankle of a recruit, the night had passed uneventfully, and they were able to leave the camp around dawn today. It was evening now, and finally, after nearly a week of being outside his home-village, they were getting close to Tiranat now. Their week-long journey had gone well, and they were able to fulfill their mission of bringing a lot of grain back to the village. This haul of grain would go a long way towards ensuring the villagers had enough to eat in the coming winter. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Soon, Tesyb was able to see the houses at the northern edge of the village in the distance, and he thanked the Goddess that everyone had returned back to the village in one piece. This time, he was sitting in the leading wagon, and he was the first to notice something was different. Usually, whenever he reached the village after returning from the coal mines, the houses were visible right next to the tree line. But this time he could easily see a lot of empty area between the approaching tree line and the first houses of the village.

    "Whoa there..." The guard sitting next to him pulled the reins of the horses to slow them. Tesyb tried to look around him for the reason, and soon he saw that there was a narrow trench dug right next to the road on each side. Although there was enough space for the wagons to pass easily, it was unexpected, and he couldn''t think of a reason for that. The other guard shouted towards the trailing wagons, "Keep an eye on the trenches here!"

    As their wagon moved further, they exited the tree line, and here, he could easily see all the differences. A lot of trees had been cut, with some of the stumps still standing, while a few others had been uprooted completely and had been gathered together on the left. A lot of newly cut logs had been piled up on the right, with a smaller stack of planks kept nearby. There was also something quite unexpected. It was a large wooden contraption of two huge wheels with a thick axle between them. With a log kept under it, while still loosely tied to the axle, it wasn''t difficult to guess the use of it, but he was surprised to see such an unusual thing in Tiranat.

    Closer to the village, he saw that in one particular area, all the stumps had already been removed, and the ground there was in the process of being cleared completely. He also saw a small trench dug in straight lines there. He guessed that it must be the place where the new longhouses were going to be built.

    A lot had happened in a week here, but he was glad that it was finally a change for the better. As their caravan reached the first houses, he thanked the goddess for sending the new baron here. He would have to make sure to visit the temple tomorrow.

 Chapter 66 - 65. Return

    ~ Kivamus ~ sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~ Baron''s Manor ~

    Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall in the evening, along with Duvas and Gorsazo. The guard captain had recently finished today''s training session with the new guards, and he was also sitting nearby. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace, and Lucem, Clarisa and Syryne were sitting on the armchairs there, talking amongst themselves, while Madam Helga was busy preparing their evening meal in the kitchen of the manor house. Clarisa, the young maid had slowly become habitual of spending time with Helga''s kids, and he didn''t see any reason to prevent her from coming into the manor house. She needed new friends to help her forget about the past, especially after going through such a difficult ordeal earlier.

    "It''s been a week since the caravan left, hasn''t it?" he mentioned.

    "It has, my Lord," Hudan replied. "If everything went well with them, they should return to the village by tonight."

    "Let''s hope the Goddess smiles upon us this time, and we get all the grain we sent them for," Duvas said, while gazing upwards with both of his hands clasped together.

    As they talked about other things, the sun slowly set in the west, and the yellowish-orange light from the western windows of the manor hall dwindled to nothing. Kivamus was starting to get worried about the caravan by now, but the door opened and a newly recruited guard came inside, with a big smile on his face.

    "Milord! There is good news! The caravan is back!" the guard exclaimed happily.

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus said. "Is everyone okay in the caravan?"

    "They are fine, milord," the guard reported with a grin. "And they have brought a lot of grain with them!"

    Kivamus smiled seeing the guard''s enthusiasm, as he stood up. He looked at others sitting in the hall. "Come on! Let''s take a look."

    As he exited the hall with anticipation, others followed him outside as well.

    Coming out of the manor house, he saw a commotion near the gates of the manor. It seemed that the guard had already told him the news in excitement before the caravan had even entered inside the gates. He started walking towards the gates as well, where most of the servants and maids of the manor were gathered in the light of a few burning torches there.

    Reaching close to the gates, he saw that there was also a small crowd of villagers gathered outside the gates, which was still growing. "That''s a lot of people who have assembled here," he observed.

    Duvas chuckled. "And it''s still only a small crowd. I thought there''d be even more people here."

    "Why is that?" Kivamus couldn''t help but ask.

    "News travels fast in this village, my Lord," Duvas said. "Someone must have informed the villagers about this, and any new caravan coming to the village is always a sight to see for the people here, especially the return of such a highly anticipated caravan."

    "This is not a big city like Ulriga, my Lord," Gorsazo remarked, "where a lot of things are happening all the time. People in such big cities are habitual of new caravans and horse mounted knights coming and going all the time."

    He continued, "For the nobles, there are feasts, banquets, and drama theaters, apart from the regular hunting expeditions. Even for the commoners, Ulriga has a lot of places for people to entertain themselves - taverns and alehouses are present of course, along with regular street plays, wandering minstrels and traveling circuses, apart from the yearly jousts of knights. But in a small village like this, with hardly any sources of entertainment, people will flock to see any incoming caravan - since that''s the only new thing they see for weeks."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said. He did remember that the original Kivamus spent most of his time in the library to get away from his brothers, so he didn''t have too many memories of such things.

    Gorsazo added wistfully, "In the small village north of Ulriga where I was born, I too have fond memories of running to the edge of the village everytime a new caravan came to our village."

    Before they could talk further, he saw the first wagon led by two horses emerging between two houses nearby, and entering the empty ground in front of the manor gates, with others following behind it. As the villagers standing there watched the wagons, one of the guards lifted the oilcloth covering the wagon-beds to show the stacked sacks of grain there. As soon as the villagers realized what the wagons were carrying, there was a huge cheer from the crowd.

    Noticing what the guard on the leading wagon was doing, the guards on the wagons following behind started to do the same. Kivamus remembered that many of those guards were common villagers just a week ago, and their families would likely be standing within that crowd, so it was understandable that they wanted to show off the grain to reassure their families.

    "We are saved!" one of the villagers cheered. "Thank the goddess!

    "Thank the new baron!" a woman shouted. "The village won''t starve now!"

    The cheers from the villagers continued for a while, as all the wagons exited the street and slowly began to enter the gates of the manor.

    That happiness was contagious, and he could see the residents of the manor also sharing the enthusiasm of the villagers. The maids, servants and the guards standing near the gates with huge smiles on their faces were clapping and cheering as well to welcome the return of the caravan. It must have been a long time since they had seen so many sacks of grain in the manor. Lucem and Clarisa seemed to be jumping in joy nearby, while Syryne and Madam Helga half-heartedly tried to calm down the kids, with happiness easily visible on their faces.

    As the wagons slowed to a stop inside the manor, their drivers slowly parked them in a column, and immediately, a flurry of activity started in the light of the burning torches nearby. The grooms unhitched the tired horses and led them towards the animal shed for feeding and watering them. The creaking sound of maids drawing water from the well and the enthusiastic whinnies of the horses filled the air as the grooms went about their work.

    Noticing that the baron was also standing amongst the onlookers, the young guard in the leading wagon jumped out of the wagon seat and gave a bow to Kivamus. The rest of the guards climbed down from the wagons as well after the long journey, and many of them stretched their hands above their heads after time spent sitting for so long. It was the first time most of them had been out of the village and they seemed quite happy to be back in the familiar surroundings of the manor.

    "What''s your name?" Kivamus asked the well-built guard who had bowed to him.

    The guard seemed quite surprised to be addressed directly by the baron. He stood even more straight. "I''m... I''m Tesyb, milord!" he stammered. "I... The journey..."

    "It''s okay. Take a moment to breathe first," Kivamus said with a gentle smile. "There is no need to be nervous."

    Nodding quickly, Tesyb took a few deep breaths, before he spoke again. "Thank you milord." He continued, while standing straight at attention, "I want to report that the journey went well, and we have returned with all the grain we could carry with us."

    "That''s indeed good news. Where are Feroy and Pydas?"

    Tesyb looked towards one of the wagons at the end of the line. "They were in one of the trailing wagons, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay. Bring them to me, and then you all can go to rest in the servants'' hall after your meal. I''ve heard that Madam Nerida has prepared fresh bread and soup for you all."

    "Thank you, milord! I''ll bring them immediately, milord!" Tesyb replied with a big smile while still keeping a stiff posture, and jogged off towards the trailing wagons.

    Kivamus smiled at the enthusiasm of the young guard. "He''s the son of Pinoto, isn''t he?"

    Duvas replied, "He is, my Lord. He used to be a miner in the past, before we selected him as a guard."

    "He is one of the two recruits who were already good in a fight, even though he needs more training to actually fight well with a sword," Hudan remarked. "The other one is that archer, Yufim, who had also gone on this trip."

    "That reminds me," Kivamus said, "how is the training coming for the other recruits?"

    "It will take some time until they are as good as the experienced guards," Hudan replied, "but they are still much better than they were a week ago. For the next trip to Cinran, I''ll rotate the guards who''ll stay here, and send those recruits who have gotten a week of training, so that I can hold back the new guards who went on the first trip to train them now." He added, "I''ll still send Yufim and Tesyb with the caravan since they are nearly at the same level as trained guards already."

    "That seems like a good idea," Kivamus commented. "It would be good to give some experience to every new guard."

    Soon, he saw Feroy and Pydas walking towards them. While the ex-mercenary looked the same as always - if a little muddied, Pydas seemed exhausted.

    Reaching there, Feroy started to speak, but the merchant interrupted him with a bow, "I apologize milord, but if it''s alright with you, I''ll be back tomorrow morning to talk about all the details of the journey with you. I need a drink. Or a dozen." Pydas added, "I''ll leave all my wagons here for the night. Feroy can give you the general idea of everything for now," and then he looked at Kivamus'' face in expectation of getting the permission.

    Kivamus looked at the merchant in surprise. He was curious about the details of the trip but looking at the weary face of the merchant, he relented. "That''s alright, Pydas. It''s been a long journey for you, since you''ve been traveling for a while now, before we even met you outside the gates of Cinran. You can leave, but remember to meet with me tomorrow."

    "Thank you, milord. I''ll be here before eight bells in the morning." And with a grateful nod, the merchant called up his own guard, and walked away with hurried steps towards the manor gates, likely to get wasted in the village alehouse.

    Kivamus gazed at the leaving merchant for a moment, then asked Feroy, "What''s up with him? Was there any problem on the trip?"

    Feroy gave a shrug. "Nothing to get worried about, milord. There was a wild boar attack on our camp near Helga''s inn yesterday, but we came out just fine. But Pydas has been troubled since then."

    Kivamus was worried to hear about the boar attack. "Is everyone okay then?"

    "Sure, sure, milord. They''re all just fine, other than a twisted ankle for a newbie. I''ve told the guards to rest now, and we''ll unload the wagons tomorrow in the daylight." Feroy looked at Kivamus with a smirk. "But if it''s all the same with you milord, I''d rather talk more over a mug of ale, you know?"

    Kivamus gave a laugh, shaking his head. It seemed like both Feroy and the merchant really liked the taste of ale. "Come on inside, then. We''ll talk more in the manor hall."

    They turned back to walk, as Hudan gave a good natured slap on the back of Feroy. He asked with a laugh, "You and your drinking... That''s the first thing you think of when you return?"

    Feroy shrugged and gave a smirk as they walked, "What do you even mean? I couldn''t drink anything at all in the past week, so I''ve gotta catch up, don''t I?"

    Hudan laughed loudly and patted Feroy''s back again in reply as they reached the door of the manor hall.

    Kivamus gave a laugh as well. It felt good to see the camaraderie of Hudan and Feroy. They had known each other for years while living at Helga''s Inn, and seemed like long-time friends now.

    Reaching inside, they settled on the armchairs near the fireplace, while Feroy requested madam Helga for a mug of ale. Taking his lead, Hudan and Gorsazo asked for a mug as well.

    They waited for a few minutes while Madam Helga brought the mugs to those who had asked for it, before taking a seat nearby as well.

    "Well, were you able to buy everything then?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary.

 Chapter 67 - 66. Shortfall

    Feroy took a big gulp of ale from his mug, and gave a contented sigh. "Ahhhh... that hits the spot." He began, "Not everything, milord. But we got most of what we wanted." He explained, "We weren''t able to secure another wagon on such a short notice, you know? But we''ve still brought fifty-seven sacks of wheat in our six wagons. We could have added a few more sacks, but I decided not to, since we needed some space for the other items on the list."

    "Getting enough grain is more important than anything else, Feroy," Gorsazo observed. "Don''t you realize that?" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Of course I realize that," Feroy grumbled as he took another swig. "I did it because I was able to give the damaged wagon to a wainwright there. He said that he didn''t get many orders these days, so he''d return it to us in less than a week. So we''ll be able to get that wagon back on our next trip, you know? That means, this time we''ll have at least seven wagons to load grain on, even if we can''t secure another wagon. That would allow us to bring seventy sacks on the next trip."

    "Hmm... That''s only a hundred and forty nine sacks from these two trips, including the twenty-two sacks we had bought from Pydas a week ago," Kivamus said. "But from our estimates for feeding three meals a day to the whole village for four months, we needed a total of hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain. That means we will be short by twenty-six sacks!"

    Duvas said, "We also need some grain to use as seeds in the coming spring as well."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly. "Earlier, when I had talked with Pinoto, we had made an estimate that we need sixty sacks to use as seeds every year. I had thought that we would be able to use the spare grain from these two trips as seeds. But that doesn''t seem possible now." The flames continued to crackle in the fireplace, as the daunting challenge made itself apparent to everyone.

    "We still have an option to buy those seeds after the snow melts in the spring though," Gorsazo said. "From what we had planned at that time, a hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain was for four months, but Pydas told us that the roads would open again within three months, unless the winter is particularly harsh this year. An extra month of grain was just to be on the safer side."

    "Yes, but what if the winter does last longer?" Kivamus asked the unsettling question. "The villagers would go back to starving in that case..." He added after a moment, "Buying more grain after the winter seems like the only option for us though."

    Feroy said, "I''d have advised against buying the grain after the winter, milord, if only we had any choice in the matter."

    "Why do you say that?" Kivamus asked, as he adjusted himself in the armchair to get closer to the warmth of the fireplace.

    "I mean," Feroy began, "Pydas guaranteed us only two trips to Cinran, so it is likely that we won''t be able to buy more grain before the winter, you know?" He gazed into his mug of ale for a while, before he continued. "But the thing is, the food situation in Cinran is already not good, and it''s likely going to get worse. With two successive poor harvests, the price of grain is already much higher than last year, and my guess is that it will keep rising in the coming months. So if we are going to buy more grain after the winter, we''d likely have to pay an even higher price than what we are paying now."

    "That doesn''t sound good..." Duvas remarked. "Pydas already charged us unreasonably high prices for the wheat."

    Feroy took another big gulp of ale. He frowned at the mug, and seeing that it was empty, he upturned it over his mouth to drain the last few drops of ale. He looked around, and seeing both of Helga''s kids and Clarisa sitting on the long dining table nearby, he said, "Hey, Syryne, refill my mug, would ya?"

    Syryne looked at her mother sitting near the fireplace with others, who gave a small nod to her. "Sure, Feroy," she said, and walked over to take the mug from the ex-mercenary, and exited the hall towards an inner storage room.

    Feroy scratched at his small beard. "While we were in Cinran, I took some time to ask around about the grain prices in the market there, just in case Pydas was padding up his prices too much. But the merchant wasn''t wrong about the prices, you know? While it varied a little between different shops, the prices there were still similar to what he''d told us, if not a little higher."

    Feroy continued, "Being unable to pay such prices for food, I heard that people from nearby places are being brought into Cinran everyday to be sold into slavery after they couldn''t pay back the debts they took to feed themselves. The situation is still not that bad right now, but by the time the winter ends, there would be a lot more people who would willingly agree to become slaves so they can just get something to eat."

    Kivamus thought for a moment about the harsh realities of the world he had found himself in. He had done what he could to improve the life of slaves within his own domain, but this was a merciless world and there were a lot of people here who must be going to sleep on empty stomachs every night.

    Adjusting to a life as a Baron in a strange medieval world was difficult enough for him, and he couldn''t even imagine what it would have been like if he had found himself as a commoner when he woke up in this world. In the future, he would keep trying to do what he could for the underprivileged, even though he had no idea how he could do anything to help them. But for now, he had to focus on his own village, and ensuring that at least everyone under his own rule had enough to eat every day.

    "We can''t really afford to do anything about people outside Tiranat," he said, "when we are barely able to feed everyone here. If it stays like this, we''ll already be short on grain by the end of winter." He sighed. "If only we could send Pydas on another trip to Cinran before the snow blocks the road..."

    Duvas said, "It is not impossible, my Lord, even if it is unlikely. Although Pydas still has to return back towards Ulriga after his last trip, so he would have to leave Tiranat before there is a chance of the road to Cinran being blocked. However, from what he told us, there is still a small possibility of squeezing in a third trip before that. We''ll have to wait and see for another week until the caravan returns from Cinran again, and then we will talk with Pydas and see if he is willing to go for a third trip."

    He added, "As it is right now, the weather is getting colder every day, but we still haven''t seen any snow so far. So a third trip might just be possible if the Goddess smiles upon us. We can only hope that she won''t leave us hungry now, after she has already sent Lord Kivamus as a baron here to help us."

    "I hope so too, you know," Feroy interrupted, "but you do realize that there is a reason why people can still live in Tiranat even in the winter, while the road to Cinran gets enough snow that even travel becomes impossible there?"

    Duvas looked at him in surprise, before he shook his head in chagrin. "How could that have slipped my mind!" He looked at Kivamus in apology, "It seems my age is catching up to me."

    Getting confused by now, Kivamus asked, "What do you both mean?"

    Feroy gave the answer, "The road to Cinran passes much closer to the Arakin Mountains than Tiranat itself, you know? I had noticed that immediately when we first came to this village, but I wasn''t completely sure about it, so I kept an eye on the Arakin Mountains on this trip to Cinran as well." He added, "This time, when we were around halfway on the road ahead of Madam Helga''s Inn while returning to Tiranat, I noticed that the road slowly started to turn towards west, and the mountain range kept getting further away from us."

    He continued, "What it means is that the road to Cinran goes much closer to the mountains, and so it gets a lot more snow than Tiranat itself. That''s why, while there is enough snowfall on the road to completely block travel on it for more than a month, Tiranat itself doesn''t get nearly that much snow. That''s the reason there is still a village here in the winters, otherwise it would be buried under many feet of snow in the winters - like that road itself." He added, "What I mean by this, is that even if we don''t see any snow in this village in the coming week, it is still possible that it might already be snowing on that road. That''s why Pydas could still refuse to go on the third trip even if there isn''t any snow in Tiranat at the time."

    "We''ll have to wait and see, then." Kivamus tried to visualize the region in his mind, but having access to good maps would have made it much easier. It wasn''t like he had access to any online maps here, so he could easily get more information about the region. Even though he realized that the quality of maps in this world would be quite inaccurate to say the least, he asked, "Don''t we have any map of this region here? That would make it easier to see the terrain here."

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. And I even tried asking about it in the past in Cinran, but there weren''t any maps for sale there as well. But there would certainly be some maps of the whole Duchy available in Ulriga. But you have to know that this region was completely unexplored before we found coal here, so any maps of the Duchy wouldn''t show this area in any detail."

    Gorsazo remarked, "Even then, it''s not like we can even buy something from Ulriga right now."

    "Didn''t Pydas say that he lived in a village near Ulriga?" Kivamus asked. "We can tell him to buy a good quality map from the city when he returns to his home, and he can bring it to us when he comes to Tiranat next time, after the winter. As for the level of detail of the map, we can''t really help it, so I''ll buy whatever map he brings for us. Having even a poor quality map would still be better than not having any map at all."

    "It''s a good idea, my Lord," Duvas replied, "I''ll tell Pydas about that. But I have to say that even a simple map wouldn''t come cheap."

    "That''s alright, Duvas, I believe it would still be worth it. Consider it an investment for our future. That being said," Kivamus asked, "why did they even build the road so close to the mountains? If they had built it a little more towards the west, we would have had all year connectivity to Cinran."

    Duvas replied, "The workers at that time just cleared a road through the forests wherever they found it easiest to do so. Since this was a previously unexplored area before they found coal here, I don''t think anyone expected that the roads would get blocked in the winter. And once the road was already completed, the Count and the Baron didn''t see any reason to build a new one."

    "It does make sense," Kivamus commented.

    Gorsazo said, "There is one thing I wanted to ask though. Would it be better to negotiate the prices directly with the grain merchants on the next trip to Cinran?"

 Chapter 68 - 67. Safety In Anonymity

    Feroy gave a shrug. "It wouldn''t really make a difference, I''d say. We are also using the three wagons from Pydas along with the horses to pull them. If we decided to do everything ourselves, we would need to rent at least three more wagons from Cinran. And that is unlikely - believe me, I asked around a lot in the town. And even if we were able to get enough wagons, we''d have to pay for them and their horses which would also raise our cost. And like I told earlier, the grain prices are rising as well. So even if we buy everything ourselves, the cost would be similar, if not a little higher than what Pydas promised us."

    "Let it be for now," Kivamus said. "Winter is coming soon, and we don''t have time to take any risk here. With Pydas, at least we are assured of getting the grain in a week, otherwise we might not even be able to hire more wagons in time anyway." He added, "And there is another reason I was thinking about earlier, for us to buy the grain through a merchant instead of doing it ourselves - even if we had to pay a little more for it."

    Seeing the curious looks of others, he explained, "We are buying a very large quantity of grain, and from what Feroy reported, Pydas even had to buy the grain from a few different shops, because no single shop had that big an amount ready to sell. That kind of purchase is quite noticeable and if we bought it in the name of Tiranat, or even in my name, the news would travel around. With Pydas, it is different because he is a known merchant in Cinran, and it is normal and perhaps even expected for him to buy wagon loads of grain just before winter - to sell wherever he wants to make a quick profit before he returns home towards Ulriga for the winter. That wouldn''t be very unusual for any onlookers - and they would forget about it soon enough." He gave a smirk, "After all, it''s just a merchant trying to make profit."

    He looked at Feroy. "You made a good decision there to enter the town with only a single guard per wagon. This way any onlookers or scouts there wouldn''t consider it to be very noticeable - every wagon needs a driver after all. So, all they would see is that a merchant hired a few extra wagons and bought a lot of grain to make a quick profit before winter."

    He continued, "We still don''t know who it was that tried to kill me twice, and while they would eventually realize that they were unsuccessful - even if the news would travel slowly in the winter - they might just give up after a failed attempt. But if a small, poor village like Tiranat makes such a big purchase itself, that kind of news could easily reach the ears of such dangerous people. That''s why we shouldn''t buy such a big amount ourselves. Purchasing everything through a middleman like Pydas gives us some anonymity here - and that anonymity would go a long way to keep the village safe in these dangerous times."

    "That does make sense," Gorsazo said after a moment.

    Kivamus nodded. "You know well enough that it''s not a good idea for us to be noticed by such people any time soon. As it stands right now, the village is basically indefensible - we don''t even have a village wall right now! And of the barely two dozen guards we have - half of them had probably never picked up a sword before this week."

    "True enough, my Lord," Hudan said. "While I''m doing everything to get them up to shape, it will still take time. The village lost most of its stored grain and a third of its houses in a small attack by less than a dozen bandits. As it stands, the village is completely unprepared to defend against another attack right now, so we really cannot afford to make any new enemies right now."

    "Certainly. That''s why we will continue to buy everything through Pydas for now," Kivamus said.

    An inner door opened, and Syryne returned with a mug of ale. After giving it to Feroy, who gave a nod of thanks, she returned to sit at the long dining table with Lucem and Clarisa, who seemed to be playing a word game amongst themselves verbally.

    Feroy took a long sip of the ale, and swirled the mug in his hands for a while. "There is also another thing, milord. We need spears, and quickly." He explained, "We had an attack by two wild boars on the way. Thankfully the boars were younglings, otherwise it could have ended badly. But without any spear with us, we were barely able to deal with them, especially with half of our guards being newbies. Would it be possible for the blacksmith to make some spears for us before we leave? If we are attacked by such wild beasts again, having some spears with us would be very helpful."

    "Why didn''t you take any spears with you on the first trip?" Kivamus asked.

    Duvas gave the reply in Feroy''s place. "We don''t have any more of them in the manor, my Lord. We lost a lot of our weapons in that ambush on the previous baron. And until now, with only a dozen guards in the manor before you arrived here, along with a serious shortage of money, I didn''t see the need to have more spears made."

    "That''s alright, we can do it now," Kivamus said. He looked at Feroy. "How many spears do you need? Tell me the minimum number that you absolutely need."

    Feroy didn''t take long to reply. "While having a spear for each of the dozen guards would be perfect, I know the blacksmith might not be able to make that many of them." He added, "Giving a sword to the new recruits helps our deception to show them as being well-trained guards to any bandit scouts on the roads, but they aren''t actually trained at all. So even if we gave all of them new spears, they still wouldn''t be able to do anything with those spears in an actual attack with a wild beast, you know? I''d say if we could get just six spears - for the trained guards who already have some experience with it, it should be good enough for now."

    Kivamus nodded. "Earlier you said that you weren''t able to buy everything. Did you at least get some iron ingots?"

    Feroy replied, "We got everything milord, everything but iron-nails. No blacksmith there had enough stock of them on such a short notice. So I told Pydas to buy what little amount of it was available there, and we bought more iron-ingots with the remaining money. That''s why I had to reduce the number of grain sacks by three - to accommodate those ingots while remaining within the limits of what the wagons could carry."

    Kivamus exhaled. "A shortage of iron nails too, huh? And we are already late in cutting up planks for the longhouses." He shook his head in frustration, "Well, we''ll discuss more about that tomorrow after Pydas comes here to tell us how many iron nails he brought. For now," he looked at Duvas, "go and send a servant to the blacksmith right now to tell him about this, so that he''d know that he needs to start working to make six spears first thing in the morning. He has all of tomorrow to finish it, since the caravan will leave the day after tomorrow. Tell him that he just needs to make the spearheads - which shouldn''t be that difficult if he has made anything like that in the past, and we will take care of finding six good enough shafts for them."

    Duvas got up from his armchair. "I will send a runner to Cedoron immediately, my Lord," he said and exited the manor hall.

    Kivamus looked at the guard captain, "Hudan, you must have experience with spears, so it is your responsibility to find enough good shafts for the spears tomorrow. You can use any servants or workers to send them around the village to look for such straight wooden sticks."

    Feroy drawled between his sips of ale, while hunched up on his chair, "I could do that as well, milord..."

    Kivamus smiled. "You look like you need some rest, Feroy. You can take tomorrow off to get a breather, since you''ll have to lead the guards again on the next trip. Of course, I won''t stop you if you feel up to it and want to help Hudan in that, since he also has to train the guards as well. And one of you should visit Cedoron take a look at the design of the spearheads."

    As Feroy was going to speak again, Hudan stared at him, making the ex-mercenary shut up. "I''ll do that, my Lord." He tilted his head towards Feroy. "This guy doesn''t know that he can depend on others sometimes."

    "Shut up..." Feroy chided. "I''d like to see you survive for long while living between mercenaries if you have a habit of depending on others."

    "You aren''t between mercenaries right now, are you?" Hudan asked with raised eyebrows and a smile.

    Feroy just stared into his mug of ale, without giving a reply.

    *******

    The next day, Kivamus was up early, and after his breakfast with others, he left the manor hall to take a look at everything. Coming outside, he saw that the sun was just rising above the Arakin mountains in the east, but it didn''t do anything to help the morning chill he felt.

    "Damn! It''s getting cold now," he muttered after reaching the courtyard, while rubbing his hands together. He could even see his breath in front of him, and he estimated that outside the warmth of the fireplace in the manor house, it must surely be under ten degrees celsius now in Tiranat.

    "That it is, my Lord, although today seems to be particularly cold," Duvas said, while tightening up his own fur-coat around himself. "At least it isn''t windy these days."

    "I have to say, after my whole life spent in or near Ulriga, I am not accustomed to winters this cold," Gorsazo said while blowing onto his hands to warm them up. "And the real winter hasn''t even started here."

    "This is our home now, Gorsazo, we have to adjust to life in Tiranat now. It should still warm up when the sun rises higher in a few hours, since the weather seems to be clear these days." Kivamus looked at Hudan. "Where is Feroy? He didn''t come for breakfast either." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan snorted. "Must be sleeping off yesterday''s binge somewhere."

    Kivamus frowned. It wasn''t a good thing if the guard who was responsible for keeping the whole caravan safe was such a big drinker. "Are you sure we should send him to lead the caravan if he has a habit of getting drunk like that?"

 Chapter 69 - 68. The Icy Breath Of Winter

    Hudan looked surprised for a moment, before he said, "There is nothing to worry about, my lord. He never drinks when on duty - you can trust Feroy about that. I have known him for years now, and he is a responsible person - at least when he needs to be. Yesterday''s drinking was more of an exception, after a week of abstinence."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "I was worried that he''d be like that even when we were entrusting him with the safety of the caravan."

    "Don''t worry, my lord." Hudan continued, "Like he told us yesterday, Feroy didn''t have a drop of ale while on the journey, so he needed a few drinks yesterday to uh... catch up, but he will be fine to leave tomorrow. He''s not even a big drinker, and while he is a few years older than me, he can hold his ale better than anyone else I''ve known."

    "Of course he can, he used to be a mercenary, after all," Duvas derided. "Drinking is all they do, if they are not out plundering and killing people. I still can''t bring myself to trust him."

    Hudan frowned at the majordomo. "He is not like that, Mr Duvas, not anymore. I will gladly trust him with my life any time." He continued, "It is difficult for him to trust anyone after half his life spent between cutthroat mercenaries, so it is very rare for him to drink that much. In the past few years when we lived at Madam Helga''s Inn, there were only the two of us to ensure the safety of the inn and Madam Helga''s family, so we had to be alert all the time."

    He added, "I don''t think he has ever lived in a place like this." Hudan gestured with his hands around the manor, "Within the safety of the manor, with palisade walls around us, I think he feels like he can finally let go a little and relax once in a while. And unlike the rest of us, he was sent out to escort the caravan the very next day after we arrived at Tiranat, and he''s been out for the whole week since then. So yesterday was the first time he must have felt that he could ease up a little. Don''t count just a single night of drinking against him, Mr Duvas."

    Duvas harrumphed and was going to say something again, but Kivamus interrupted him. "Let it go, Duvas. If Hudan says we can trust him, then I believe him. We can talk about it in the future if Feroy does it again. Until then, we have other things to worry about."

    "As you say, my Lord," Duvas acknowledged.

    They walked further and saw that the wagons, which had been moved to a wooden shed near the stables on the left side of the manor, perhaps yesterday itself, were already abuzz with activity. A group of servants were hard at work there to unload the precious sacks of grain from the wagon to smaller carts, which could only carry two sacks at a time. A couple of them were hauling a full cart towards the grain barn on the right side of the manor. A guard with an iron gray mane of hair was there to oversee the process.

    Noticing Kivamus'' gaze, Duvas said, "Yesterday, I told the servants to start unloading the wagons from the early morning itself. Kerel is there to keep an eye on everything." He added, "The unloading should be completed in a few hours, and after that they will start filling the wagons with coal from the barns, to finish it before evening."

    As Kivamus watched the process with quiet satisfaction, he remembered the dwindling finances of the manor. Buying even this much grain had cost a lot, and he was already dreading the coming conversation with Pydas to settle the prices with him, as well as to provide him the advance for the next trip. However, as he walked closer, he noticed something else as well. While the servants looked quite happy to see that much grain in the manor, which was probably for the first time in months, they seemed to be shivering in the chill of the early morning air. Their clothing didn''t seem warm enough for this weather either.

    "Duvas," he began, "the servants have to work in such cold weather here. Why haven''t you done something to make the place warmer? Putting a couple of coal braziers under the wagon-shed would keep the place warm enough for the servants. Don''t we have any of those here?"

    Duvas looked at him in surprise for a moment, before he shook his head. "I apologize, my Lord, it was my fault. I should have anticipated your request." He explained, "The previous baron did not like to waste coal unless it was really necessary. So while he allowed the servants and maids to use coal for heating inside the servants hall - at least when it was snowing outside, he didn''t like it when they burned coal outside, saying that it was a waste to try to heat the air outside."

    Kivamus just grimaced thinking about that miserly bastard. "No need to apologize, Duvas. But from now on, tell the servants that they are allowed to use as much coal as they need for heating. We can always dig more coal from the mines, but we can''t replace a life! It''d be ridiculous if we allow someone to get sick or even die from the cold when our barns are overflowing with coal! Do we have any braziers or not?"

    Duvas nodded apologetically. "We do have a few of them kept in storage to use inside the buildings. I will tell someone to bring them out and light them up wherever needed." Then he walked towards the servants and started giving them orders.

    As the servants understood what the new orders were, they couldn''t help but look at Kivamus in surprise. There was an undeniable happiness on their faces, and after Duvas turned back, they seemed to start working with renewed enthusiasm.

    Soon, Duvas returned towards Kivamus and others, and said with a smile, "I have ordered them to bring the braziers here. They told me to thank you for this kindness as well."

    Kivamus just gave a nod. "It''s the least we can do for them if they are out working in the cold without even proper clothing. Do we have any extra fur coats?"

    Duvas shook his head. "No, my Lord. The ones we did have are already being used by those living in the manor house."

    "Okay. We will think of what we can do to provide proper clothing to them in the future," Kivamus added. "Now that it is already getting cold, the situation must be the same in the village, isn''t it? It may be fine when the sun is up, but at least in the mornings and evenings, we need to provide some braziers for the villagers working in the northern and the southern areas. Maybe a brazier for the market square in the village as well. We need to prevent anyone from getting sick, if we want them to keep working." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo looked at him quietly for a moment. "That... is a good idea. It would further delay the construction of everything if the workers fall sick in this weather."

    "I have to say, my Lord, I''m really glad that you are thinking about everyone in the village," Duvas said with a smile. He recalled, "In the previous winters, it wasn''t unusual to hear the news of someone dying because of the cold every few days. Those were people I had known for years, but I couldn''t go against the Baron''s orders myself to provide coal to them for heating... or he would have..." he trailed off and shook his head with a grimace.

    Kivamus scowled after hearing about the previous baron''s penny-pinching. He couldn''t imagine how a person could be so cold-blooded to let the villagers who depended on him freeze to death, when the barns were overflowing with coal. This was a coal mining village, dammit! How could the previous baron be greedy about coal in a coal mining village, especially when people''s lives depended on it? At least he could take solace in the fact that the world was rid of such a person now! Hah! Thank the bandits, or whoever it was who killed the greedy bastard.

    He began, "We can''t do anything about the past, but I won''t let anyone freeze in the village from now on if there is anything I can do about it! Now that we have managed to provide temporary housing for every homeless person, along with enough grain and coal for them, people freezing to death shouldn''t be a problem this year. But we still need to do something for the villagers who are working in this cold."

    "We only have a few braziers here though," Duvas said, "and I have told the servants to put those at both the gates of the manor, as well as at this wooden shed. We don''t have more of them to provide to the villagers."

    "Braziers are a necessary thing in this weather if we want the villagers to keep working in this cold." Kivamus added, "Cedoron should be busy making spearheads for today, but once he''s done with that, let him know that I want half a dozen braziers from him. Nothing elaborate, just a simple iron stand which does the task. Now that Pydas is back, he will have more than enough iron for it. He should be able to make them within a day, so it shouldn''t push back the production of tools too much."

    "I''ll let him know, my Lord," Duvas replied with a nod.

    "Good. That reminds me, what about the second log mover?" Kivamus asked. "When will it be finished?

    "Oh," Duvas exclaimed, "I forgot to tell you in the hustle and bustle of the return of the caravan. The second log mover was completed yesterday evening as well."

    "That''s great to hear," Kivamus said with a smile. "Send it to the southern area, since the workers have started cutting trees there as well. Once enough narrow trenches for the village walls have been dug up, we will send one of the log movers to move the stakes there. Although our focus has to remain on digging as much of those trenches as we can, before the ground freezes over."

    Hudan said, "The workers know about that, milord. I had a conversation with the foreman Yeden regarding that earlier."

    "That''s good," Kivamus commended.

    Soon, they started to return towards the warmth of the manor hall, but the gates of the manor opened, and a young servant came running inside towards them.

    Reaching there, the servant took a moment to catch his breath, and said, "Milord! I had been sent to let the blacksmith know about the new orders for today. Cedoron told me to tell you that if he is provided with the shafts, he should be able to make seven or eight spears by evening, but that would mean no new axes or other tools for today. He also apologized that he couldn''t come here himself, since making the spears needed to be done today itself, so he didn''t want to waste his time going back and forth to the manor."

    "That''s okay," Kivamus reassured the servant. "Hudan, would making more than six spears be any helpful right now? If not, we can just let Cedoron finish the six spears, and he can use the remaining time to work on something else."

    Hudan took a moment to think about it, and said, "I''d say that since we are only sending six experienced guards with the caravan, and only those would be able to use those spears properly, so just making six spears should have been enough, like Feroy told us yesterday. However, since he is working on making spearheads anyway for today, I''d like him to make a few more spears if possible, so I can use them to start training the remaining recruits who''ll remain in the manor in the usage of spears."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s a good idea." He looked at the servant, "Let Cedoron know that he should make as many spears as he can for today, and then from tomorrow he can start working to make braziers. Duvas will tell you the details about it." Before dismissing the servant, he asked, "Was that all he said?"

    The servant thought for a moment. "Oh... there was another thing that Cedoron mentioned, milord!"

 Chapter 70 - 69. Spearheads

    The young servant continued, "He said that while the spearheads wouldn''t be top notch, since he would be focusing on quantity, they would still work well enough." Seeing Kivamus nod at that, he continued, "He also mentioned that based on what you had told him earlier, something about uh... special-zation, or uh... speciali-zition or something." He scratched the side of his head for a moment. "I''m sorry, milord, I can''t remember the word properly. He said that he''ll put one worker just to sharpen the spearheads after he had made them, and another one to focus on fitting the spearhead into shafts, and so on, based on the logic of that... special-zation, so that he can produce things faster."

    "The word is specialization." Kivamus smiled on hearing that Cedoron had already seen the benefits of specializing workers in particular tasks on his advice.

    The servant was rubbing his arms to stay warm now. He added, "He also wanted someone from the manor to go to his workshop soon, to tell him what kind of spearheads were needed, since he said that the design varies based on its use. That was everything, milord."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay. You seem cold now, so go and warm yourself up in the servant hall and send someone else here. You don''t need to go out in the cold again immediately."

    "Thank you, milord," the young servant said happily. "I will send someone right now." And then he quickly jogged away, seeking the warmth of the servants hall.

    "Duvas, when the other servant comes here, send him to Cedoron to tell him about the spears and braziers." Kivamus asked, "Hudan, what do you think about that question of the type of spearheads?"

    "Well, the spears can be made in different lengths and weights, based on their use," Hudan explained. "For example, there are throwing spears, or javelins, which are lighter. There are also pikes used by formation of foot soldiers in pike-squares, as well as the heavier lances used by mounted knights. You know that the primary source of danger here in the village, as well as on any escorting journeys comes from wild beasts instead of opposing armies. But we don''t have any mounted armored-knights here to use any lances, nor can we throw javelins at any attacking beasts when fighting them from close, so what we need here is half a dozen pikes - which are long enough to keep any beasts away from the guards."

    He added, "I''ll also have to tell Cedoron to add two lugs on both sides of the spearhead, which are like uh... cross guards on a sword, which will prevent boars and other such wild beasts from working their way up the shaft to attack the person - even after they have been stuck with that spear. Those boars can be quite strong, and they have been known to gore the defender to death that way before dying themselves. However, we would still have to compromise on the quality of the shafts for the next trip of the caravan, since we can''t make good quality shafts this quickly. For now, I''ll search for strong but thin sticks like you said, which can be used as temporary shafts for a few weeks, and after the caravan returns, we can just remove the spearheads from them, and we can make proper pikes when we get the opportunity."

    "That will work, I guess," Kivamus said, being glad that Hudan knew a lot about the subject of medieval weapons.

    "I''ll send a trained guard along with the servant to let Cedoron know about which type of spearhead he has to make," Hudan said. He looked at the rising sun for a moment. "I should go and start training the recruits now, and then I will take a few people to look for straight pieces of wood which we can use as shafts for now."

    "Okay, you can leave, then," Kivamus said to the guard captain. He looked at others with him, "Let''s return back to the manor hall now, it''s so cold outside."

    Duvas nodded. "I will return after I send the servant and the guard to the blacksmith."

    "Alright." With his arms pulling his fur coat tighter around him, Kivamus and Gorsazo started walking back towards the inviting warmth of the manor hall.

    *******

    While they were sitting inside the manor hall, a servant announced the arrival of Pydas. The merchant entered the hall on Kivamus'' invitation, and sat on one of the armchairs near the fire.

    "Thank you, Milord," Pydas said. "It''s a cold morning today."

    ''That it is. So, how did the trip go?" Kivamus asked.

    "Well enough, milord," Pydas replied, while leaning towards the fireplace for warmth. "I was able to buy nearly everything you asked for, although I couldn''t buy enough iron nails at a short notice. No blacksmith had such a big stock ready for sale."

    "Yeah, Feroy told me about that yesterday," Kivamus commented. "A shortage of nails is going to be a problem for us, but I''ll have to find a way to deal with it."

    Pydas added, "I thought about giving them advanced orders to make more nails to buy on our second trip, but the prices they were asking were astronomical, so I decided not to give the orders without asking your permission to spend that kind of money."

    Kivamus shuddered for a moment, thinking about paying too much money again, with their already dwindling finances. They barely had enough money to buy grain for the villagers, so he couldn''t afford to splurge on iron nails. He would have to think of an alternative for it. "That was a good decision. I''m not sure I would have bought them from you if the prices were not reasonable. Let''s skip the purchase of any more iron nails then."

    Pydas explained after a nod, "Because of the rising prices of grain, the demand for clothing, nails and most other non-essential things has gone down in Cinran, so the blacksmith there didn''t even have their usual stock of nails with them, since some of them had to lay off their apprentices recently. I still managed to buy a small amount of iron nails, although it''s far from the quantity you asked for." He added, "However, they did have enough of a stock of iron ingots, so I was able to buy more than enough of them. And because the blacksmiths didn''t have much use for those ingots these days, they were happy to sell them at a decent enough price."

    "That''s very good. That extra stock of iron will certainly be helpful for us. For now, let''s finalize the payments for you." Kivamus continued, "For the fifty-seven sacks of grain that you have brought, the total price at a rate of four gold crowns and five silver coins will be uh..."

    "Two hundred and fifty-six gold crowns, and five silvers," Duvas answered after scribbling for a moment on a parchment. "Let''s call it an even two hundred and fifty-six crowns, shall we?"

    Pydas sighed looking at the majordomo, seemingly exhausted by his penny pinching. "Alright, so be it," the merchant said. "Apart from that, I also spent forty-seven gold crowns to buy the salt, iron ingots, as well as the small quantity of iron nails which I could find." Looking at Duvas, he added, "And I cannot give any discount on that since I already spent that money. So, the total amount would be three hundred and three gold crowns."

    Kivamus gave a nod, after mentally adding the numbers. "Alright, we already paid you a hundred and fifty crowns in advance a week ago, so Duvas will pay you the difference today." He continued, "Now, for the coming trip, Feroy has told me that you will be able to get the repaired wagon when you go to Cinran this time. So that means you can bring back grain in seven wagons, or around seventy sacks of grain, the prices for which would be something above three hundred gold crowns. Let''s also assume that you will have to spend up to a hundred crowns more on the other things I''m going to ask you for. So after subtracting the sixty-nine gold crowns for six wagon loads of coal which you will take with you this time, the total should be something around three hundred and thirty crowns. We will pay you half of that in advance this time as well."

    Pydas nodded, "That will be very helpful, milord."

    Kivamus began, "This time, I want you to buy some thick ropes as well. Duvas will give you an estimate of the quantity later. Some salt would be needed as well, I think. Duvas, talk with Madam Nerida about that, and let Pydas know if we need to buy more salt."

    Apart from the grain and salt they were buying, he did remember that they needed other things to provide a balanced diet to the villagers, or at least as close to a balanced diet as they were going to get here. He asked the merchant, "Would it be possible for you to buy some vegetables too, like potatoes, carrots, onions, or cabbages?"

    Pydas took a minute to think about it. "Well, I can''t guarantee you what I can buy there, but I should still be able to buy most of those, except for cabbages. Those are only grown in the warmer coastal climate of Ulriga, but they spoil fast - within a week usually. So those aren''t available for sale in Cinran. Apart from that, if you want pickled fruits, I can certainly buy some of that for you, but their prices are usually double of the fruits themselves, if not higher..."

    Hearing that it would be that costly, Duvas immediately winced and said, "Let''s leave any fruits for now, since you''ll already have a shortage of space on those wagons."

    Pydas nodded. "That will certainly be a problem, but I''ll see what I can do about that."

    Hearing that the price of iron ingots was low right now, Kivamus saw it as a good opportunity to stock up on them. They needed the iron to make a lot of tools to clear the forests and start farming, not to mention using the iron for making some new weapons like more swords, spearheads, arrowheads and so on. He could also think of many other things which he could get the blacksmith to make to improve the life of the villagers.

    He spoke after a moment of thought, "You said that the prices of iron ingots are low right now, so make sure to buy more of that as well. When you have bought everything else, fill up any remaining space in the wagons with iron ingots." Finally, he asked, "By the way, do you think you might be able to go on a third trip to Cinran?"

    Pydas shook his head slowly. "I can only give you the final answer to that after I return from the second trip, but looking at the cold weather today, I don''t think that it would be possible. I do have to return back to my home before the roads are blocked."

    Kivamus gave a reluctant nod. "Well, we can still hope that the weather holds for a third trip, otherwise we would be really short on grain towards the end of winter. I don''t even want to think about what would happen if the winter lasts longer this year..."

    It was already costly enough to buy enough grain for the village, and of the twenty-five hundred gold crowns they had started with, they had already spent above three hundred crowns of it on just the first trip, not to mention what they were paying to the blacksmith and the carpenter. And that was only the beginning... He gave a sigh. There was no other choice anyway if he wanted the village to survive the winter.

    He looked at the merchant. "Well, that will be all for this trip. Take the advance from Duvas and then you can leave for today."

    "I''ll do that milord. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to trade here," Pydas said with a contented smile and stood up to wait for the majordomo.

    Kivamus gave a nod to him, but remembered something else. He asked the merchant, "I heard that you were quite agitated on the recent journey when the wild boars had attacked the caravan."

    Pydas grimaced. "I have had a few run-ins with bandits on the road, but they are usually after your coins, not your life itself. They don''t scare me much, since you can always earn more coins as long as you are still alive. But the worst incident I remember was when a wild boar nearly killed me in the past when I was just a child. I still have the scars on my arm from those huge tusks. And that night near madam Helga''s Inn... seeing those boars charging towards me... " He seemed to shiver for a moment from the memories. "I''d prefer not to talk about it any more, if that''s okay with you. Thinking about that time still gives me nightmares."

    Kivamus nodded in sympathy. "That''s alright, I''m just glad you are okay. Duvas will give you the advance now." He looked at the majordomo, "That reminds me, ask Feroy what will be the payment for the wainwright for repairing our wagon, and give him the required amount before he leaves."

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas replied as he got up from his own chair to provide the advance to the merchant from their limited stockpile of coins, which seemed to be dwindling by the day.

    sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 71 - 70. New Ideas

    A few hours later, around noon, when Kivamus was talking with others, a servant entered the manor hall.

    "Milord, the unloading of wagons has been completed," the servant announced excitedly. "We are going to load coal into the wagons now."

    "That''s very good, well done!" Kivamus said.

    "Thank you, milord!" the servant said happily. "Also, the carpenter Taniok is here to talk about something."

    "Let him inside," Kivamus ordered.

    Taniok entered inside the hall, and stood near Kivamus with an anxious face.

    "Take a seat, Taniok. What did you want to talk about?"

    Taniok nervously took a seat near the fireplace as well, and kept gazing downwards. When he didn''t say anything for a few minutes, Kivamus asked, "What is it?"

    The balding carpenter suddenly looked at him with a surprised face, as if he had forgotten the baron was sitting here. He seemed to be gathering his courage for a moment, before he hesitatingly spoke, "I would like to report something. Please forgive me for saying this, milord."

    Kivamus could guess that the carpenter was not habitual of talking to nobles, but his nervousness seemed to extend beyond just the usual hesitation of others, and it was not the first time he had noticed it in Taniok. "It is okay, Taniok. Whatever it is, we will find a way to deal with it. You can tell me about it."

    Taniok looked at his face for a moment, as if thinking something from his past, then took a deep breath and started speaking. "Forgive me for saying this, milord, but at the current pace we... we might not get enough planks to make even a single longhouse before the snowfall. I had already anticipated this when you were telling me about the longhouses for the first time, but I couldn''t gather the courage to mention it at that time." Looking at Kivamus'' surprised expression, he nervously added with a bow of his head, "Please forgive me, milord."

    Today was not a good day for them, Kivamus thought with disappointment. Firstly he got the news that Pydas was barely able to bring any iron nails, and now the carpenter told him that they can''t even make enough planks for the longhouses...

    It was already going to be difficult to think of a way to make the longhouses without iron nails, but without even planks? How was he going to provide housing to the villagers for the coming winter like this? For a moment he didn''t know how to reply to this unwelcome news, but he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. It was hardly the first challenge he had been given after arriving in this world. He would just have to find some way to deal with it, like he said earlier.

    He observed the carpenter, who seemed to be looking at him apprehensively with fear in his eyes. Finally, Kivamus said, "There is no need to ask for forgiveness, Taniok. But this is the kind of information that I need to be told immediately, and not after we have already made further plans based on the earlier estimates." He asked, "Why didn''t you say anything when I was talking about building the longhouses using planks?"

    Taniok looked down and mumbled, "All the manor''s buildings are made of double-planked walls, and I... I thought you''d want the same for the longhouses as well."

    "But you should still have mentioned it, Taniok! And if you thought you couldn''t cut enough planks in time, you should have told me that at the very beginning."

    Taniok gazed at his face for a moment, judging his expression, then said in a low voice, "I can''t just say no to the baron when I am ordered to do something... If I am told to make longhouses with planks, then it is my duty to follow the orders of the baron. I can''t just disobey the baron''s orders... I had... I had said no to the previous baron once, and I still have the scars to show for the whipping I got that day..." He looked downwards again. "Forgive me milord, but I just couldn''t bring myself to speak out in front of you that day."

    Once again, Kivamus didn''t know what to say to that. This wasn''t even the first time he had found out that the previous baron used to beat people for barely any reason. How was the barony even standing to this day, if that kind of a person was leading it... Although, it could certainly be said that barony was barely surviving before he came here, with the mines shut and the villagers nearly starving. He took a deep breath to calm his mind, and looked at the carpenter who had gone through so much in his life because of that bastard who was leading this barony before him, and now he was too scared to even give his opinions.

    "Taniok, look at me," he ordered. Once the carpenter looked up, he began, "Like I said earlier, you don''t need to ask for forgiveness, but you do need to be more frank with me from now on. I give you my word that you will never be punished for speaking your mind. The village is barely standing right now, and I cannot make any plans to improve the life of the villagers if I don''t get the correct estimates from you and others."

    It took a minute for Taniok to realize that he was serious about it, before he finally gave an uncertain nod. "Thank you, milord. I''ll... I''ll try to do that from now on." He added, "I had hoped that day that I might still be able to cut enough planks, especially with the new tools coming in every day, but after I got the new orders to build the two log-movers, I had to give many days to complete those in time. And today I made a new estimate with my apprentice about how many planks would be required, and based on the current pace of making new planks, I just had to tell you about this."

    He continued, "It also means that we wouldn''t be able to add wooden floors inside the longhouse, since we already have a shortage of planks to even build the walls."

    Duvas spoke up, "That''s not the only problem, Taniok. Pydas was unable to buy enough iron nails from Cinran, and he can''t buy any more in the next trip either. That means even if you had made enough planks, we still wouldn''t have enough iron nails to connect the planks - whether for the walls or the floors."

    Kivamus thought about what other solutions they had now. Maybe... if they had sheets of iron available here, they could even have made cut-nails from them, which would have served the purpose just as well as forged nails. But all they had here were ingots, and they couldn''t afford to waste the blacksmith''s time to firstly hammer out a sheet from those ingots and then to make cut-nails from them, which might take even longer than forging them directly. They needed Cedoron to spend all his time making new tools.

    "You are right," he said, "without having enough planks, and with a shortage of iron nails as well, it''s not feasible to make the longhouses in time." Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    For a while, nobody said anything as they thought about the implications of it. However, Hudan spoke up soon, "Why can''t we use the logs themselves as the walls of the longhouses. I have seen some military camps made like that in the past. We will still need some planks for the internal divisions between the bunks and for the bunks themselves, along with the doors, but by making all the walls from the logs, we would save a lot of time. I would have suggested that in the first place, but I wasn''t present for that discussion about making longhouses with planks."

    Kivamus was so surprised to hear that suggestion, that he didn''t know what to say for a moment. How could he have not thought of it himself? It was true that when living in the modern city of London, he certainly hadn''t seen any primitive houses made from logs there, so the idea of using logs directly as the walls didn''t come into his mind earlier. Apart from that, his first day here was very hectic, and he had to take care of a lot of other things that day, other than discussing the idea about longhouses. But he still should have thought of it...

    Duvas muttered, "Using the logs themselves as the walls... The idea has merit, my Lord."

    "That it certainly does," Kivamus said. "I should have thought of it myself." He looked at the carpenter, "What do you think about that? Can you make it?"

    "I certainly can, milord, and it will take much less time as well," Taniok replied with a smile. "I''ve made such a building in the past as well before I arrived in Tiranat." He shook his head and continued, "I didn''t suggest it myself because the previous baron had ordered me to use planks in all the buildings within the manor. He used to live in Cinran before this village was founded and as you know, none of the houses there are made using logs. So, he had told me that while his village may be located in the backwoods, his manor should still be of the same quality as the best houses in Cinran, and it should be made with planks so that it''d look good to anyone who visited him from Cinran."

    He added, "I had heard that you are from Ulriga, which is an even bigger place than Cinran. So I thought you''d want the same for the longhouses, even though I realized that it would be difficult to make them from planks. I would have told you about it on that day itself, if only I had the courage for that..."

    "That''s okay, we can''t do anything about the past," Kivamus reassured him. "And I am not so unreasonable a person that I''d focus on how something looks to any rare visitors from outside, instead of worrying about how to actually house the villagers before the winter. However, from now on, you should never hesitate to give me any new suggestions." He looked at others sitting there. "That goes for all of you. If there is a better way to do something that we are planning to do, then you should tell me about it immediately."

    Duvas and Hudan gave a nod, while Gorsazo just observed him quietly with appraising eyes.

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter again. "Let''s do it then. Using the logs themselves as the walls is the best idea for us right now. It will save a lot of time, and we might just be able to finish a longhouse before the snowfall. Although, now that we have managed to provide temporary housing to all the homeless villagers, we can afford to wait a few more days to complete the whole longhouse block before shifting them there, so that the villagers would have the facility to cook their food there as well."

    He added, "There is also a safety factor in that. If we shift the villagers and their children to them, when only one side of that block is completed, then they would be at risk of attacks from wild beasts in the night, and with the longhouse blocks being located outside of the village, we wouldn''t be able to respond in time. So let''s focus on finishing a full longhouse block first, before we start shifting anyone there."

    "As you say, milord," Taniok nodded.

    Thinking about something he had read in the past on Earth, Kivamus asked, "Now that we have decided to build the longhouses with logs themselves, I have to ask you something Taniok, since you would know a lot more about this. The logs we have here are freshly cut green wood, so is it a good idea to construct anything from them?"

 Chapter 72 - 71. Unseasoned Logs

    Taniok gave a thoughtful nod. "I realize that, milord. Ideally, we should have left the logs to season them for at least a year, so that they would dry properly and thus they''d last much longer. But we don''t have that kind of time right now, so we''ll just have to use the unseasoned logs themselves for the construction of longhouses. Of course, everything will still be done after debarking the logs, which prevents insects and bugs hiding under the bark, along with preventing moisture under the bark which could cause mold."

    "But how long will these buildings last?" Gorsazo asked with concern. "Is it even safe to use them for construction like this?"

    "No, no, there''s no need to worry," Taniok reassured them. "What I mean is that, if we had made the longhouses from well-seasoned logs, then the buildings would have easily lasted for decades. But even when made with freshly cut green wood, the buildings will be just as safe for a few years at least. However, they likely wouldn''t last much longer than that, and we would need to rebuild the longhouses after that." He continued, "But until then, the buildings should be just fine, since the majority of shrinkage in a green log happens across the width of a log, instead of along its length. That''s why I will not stack up the logs horizontally above each other - which could cause the walls to become warped and tilted, depending on where each log shrinks the most."

    He added, "So I''m planning to put the logs as vertical posts next to each other - just like in a palisade wall, and since there isn''t much shrinkage in them vertically, so the building stability wouldn''t be put at risk this way. However, in the coming months, as the width of the log posts would decrease because of shrinkage, small gaps might emerge between the posts. To counter that, I''ll stagger the logs a little when making the walls - instead of putting them in a completely straight line, so that even after they shrink, there wouldn''t be too much of a gap. And if needed, we can just seal the gaps with mud to protect the residents from wind."

    Kivamus was surprised to hear that the carpenter knew that much about it. He hadn''t expected that Taniok would even take the shrinkage of logs into account. "How do you know that much about it? You certainly haven''t constructed any buildings directly from logs in this village."

    Taniok gave a satisfied smile. "My master was one of the best carpenters I''d known, so he taught me about a lot of things. I still remember most of that, even if I couldn''t use that knowledge here in Tiranat."

    Kivamus nodded appreciatively. "I''m glad to hear that you already know about making buildings with logs. You seem to have thought of all the expected problems in constructing the longhouses from unseasoned timber as well. It''s always a good thing to anticipate any future problems in advance and to plan accordingly."

    Taniok, who seemed to have overcome his earlier bout of nervousness, smiled happily at the praise.

    Kivamus looked at everyone sitting there. "Okay then. We will use the green logs directly for construction. Although it''s not like we even have a choice at this point," he snorted. "We can reconsider what to do with the longhouses after a few years. We have some time until then."

    "As you say, milord." Taniok added after a moment, "If I may suggest another thing?" Seeing Kivamus give a nod, he continued, "Since we are clearing a huge area of the forests, we will get a lot more logs than we need, even after we finish building the new village wall. So, once we are done with the construction, we can stock up the remaining logs in loose piles after debarking them, so that the air will dry the logs in a year or so. That way, we will have a good supply of well-seasoned timber in the coming years for any construction we might start in the future." S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s a good idea, and we''ll do that," Kivamus agreed. "But we still have a lot of construction which we need to complete before we start to worry about it. After the first longhouse block is completed to relocate the homeless villagers, we will make a second block to house those villagers whose homes are still standing but are not good enough to insulate them properly in the winter." He added, "That will give us enough living space to house around two hundred and fifty people. That is still not enough for everyone in the village, so after we have completed the other higher priority projects, we can make a third block to house them as well."

    He continued, "Apart from the longhouses and the new village wall, we also need to make new barns in the south to keep all the grain which we will harvest next year. It would be a big amount - six hundred and sixty sacks, so we will need more than one barn for that. Once that is done, we can start to tear down the damaged houses - maybe even most of the houses of the villagers, since none of them seem to be in particularly good condition, and then we can make new housing in that place."

    "That would certainly be helpful, my Lord," Duvas said. "I don''t want to see any villagers freeze to death in the future." He said with a grimace, "It''s... not a pretty sight..."

    "Don''t worry about it," Kivamus reassured him, "we will make sure that it doesn''t happen ever again."

    Gorsazo observed, "By making the longhouses with logs, we''ll also get another benefit. Even without a double layer of planks in the walls, the longhouses will still be insulated well enough with the logs. Of course, we will also be saving a lot of time which would have been spent in cutting the logs into planks." He scratched his beard. "Although, we will still need a small number of planks for the bunk beds inside, and for the partitions between them, like Hudan said, which will need time to finish. Apart from that, more planks will be needed to make a wooden floor instead of just using dirt."

    "The planks that have already been cut will be useful there," Duvas said, "but we will still need more of them. Will you be able to do it in time, Taniok?"

    The carpenter gave a nod. "Just by making the walls from logs, the requirement of planks will already be much lower than what it would have been otherwise. I should be able to cut the remaining planks easily enough with the help of the new saws we are getting now."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "Although we still might not be able to finish even a single longhouse before the snow falls, we have already managed to arrange temporary housing for the villagers, so a small delay shouldn''t be a big problem. So Taniok, you just focus on constructing a full longhouse block, since we need the kitchen and storage there before we ask people to move into them."

    He continued, "Make sure that the longhouses themselves are built on a raised mud embankment - maybe a foot high, so that there is no water logging during heavy rains. That will also allow the excess water to easily flow into the drains surrounding the houses. And wherever needed, you can use the stone rubble from the coal mines in the foundations, which will also help in the drainage of water into the surrounding soil."

    "I''ll keep it in mind, milord," Taniok said with a nod. "We will have to wait for the wagons to become free until we can transport any stone rubble from the coal mines to the construction sites, although I will use a few small carts until then." He added, "That reminds me, it''s a really good thing that we don''t have to transport the logs too far, since we are making the longhouses right where the forest is being cleared in the north. Although the new log-movers would have made it easier, it would still have been difficult and time-consuming to transport that many logs too far."

    "That is true enough," Duvas said.

    Kivamus remembered something else and said, "I have noticed that while we have outhouses inside the manor, most of the people living in the village go to the forests to relieve themselves. But that is neither hygienic nor safe - with wild beasts prowling in the forest. So, tell Yeden to make narrow ditches which we will cover using planks with holes in them - to use as communal toilets for the villagers. They should be located a good distance away from where people live, so let''s say... next to the village wall in the south-east. We will also make walls for the toilets using planks or even logs to provide some privacy, after we have completed the first longhouse block."

    He was already worried about sanitation in the village in their current situation, but until he could devise a better solution, this primitive solution would have to do. Although... he realized that there were some simple ideas he could implement there to improve the hygiene. But it would still have to wait until after the more important buildings had been completed.

    "I''ll let Yeden know," Taniok said with a nod, and stood up from his chair. "I should return now, milord. I have to tell the workers to start debarking the logs now, so that I can start the construction soon. Since even untrained workers can do that, I will use this time to cut a few more planks to use later."

    "Alright then, you can leave now," Kivamus said.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Servant''s Hall ~

    "Ah... That was some tasty food..." Yufim said as he slowly lay down on a straw mattress, while rubbing his stomach.

    Tesyb looked at the archer with raised eyebrows as he sat at another straw mattress nearby. "You ate too much again, didn''t you?"

    "Shut up!" Yufim retorted. "I was hungry!"

    Tesyb snorted. "How is a lazy-ass like you hungry all the time anyway?"

    "How would I know?" Yufim retorted. "And stop calling me a lazy-ass! I will let you know that I am a very active person!"

    Tesyb gave a big laugh. "If you are an active person, then I am an adzee!!" Hearing that, other new guards who were sitting near them started to laugh at the archer as well, who just sulked in response.

    Once he managed to stop laughing, Tesyb shook his head to clear his mind. It was just so amusing to make fun of the archer though.

    It was late evening now, and they had finished their meal of warm porridge recently. Today, it had a few vegetables mixed in as well, which Madam Nerida had harvested from the vegetable patches in the manor. Usually those vegetables were reserved for those living in the manor house, but once in a while they got to taste it as well. And now they were resting inside the servants hall.

    Yesterday, he had been quite surprised to be addressed directly by the baron. For a moment, he was really nervous based on the stories of the previous baron, who treated commoners like they were shit stuck on his boots. On his various trips to the manor to deliver coal in the past, Tesyb had often seen the previous baron have someone flogged if he thought that the person had disrespected him. But thankfully, Lord Kivamus wasn''t like that at all. The new baron even spent a moment to ask his name, even though he was just a common guard! He was really glad that Lord Kivamus was the new baron of the village. After all, he was even sending them to Cinran to buy grain for the villagers from his own coffers!

    Tesyb smiled as he thought of meeting Isuha in the town. He didn''t know whether he would be selected for escorting the caravan tomorrow, but he was still glad that he managed to meet her once before the winter set in. Earlier in the day, when he had gone to meet his parents to tell them about his journey to Cinran, they had been overjoyed to hear that Isuha was doing okay in the town. Although his parents knew about the rising grain prices in Cinran, he hadn''t told them too much about that, otherwise they would just get worried about Isuha.

    He had also found out earlier from others that his father had been advising the baron about farming these days, but that was just some unpaid work, even though he was glad that his father would get to use his farming skills which should bring back a spark of life in his eyes. However, his father had told him that he had also been hired as the foreman for the new farming area in the south, so he would be paid as well! That news had certainly made him overjoyed. Any extra source of income was always welcome for his family, even if it was in the form of grain and coal for now. And now he really wanted to be selected to go to Cinran again, so he could give this good news to his sister there.

    The outer door of the servants hall opened, and Hudan walked inside. He looked at everyone inside the hall for a moment, then walked towards the resting guards.

 Chapter 73 - 72. Quarry

    The guard captain announced, "Those recruits who had been selected to escort the caravan last time will stay here this time, and the rest of the new guards will accompany the caravan on the second trip."

    Tesyb was upset to hear that now he wouldn''t be able to tell Isuha about his father becoming a foreman, but the guard captain looked at him and spoke again.

    "Tesyb and Yufim, the two of you will go this time as well since you both are decent enough in your own fields of combat, and we need to protect the caravan the best we can." Hudan continued, "So, those of you who are leaving tomorrow should rest now, so that you''ll be ready to leave when the caravan leaves before dawn." He grinned at the other recruits who were staying back, "As for the rest of you, from tomorrow onwards it''s your turn to get some much-needed training! Be ready to get your bones aching after the drills. And you also have to start guard duty from tonight itself so that those who are leaving tomorrow can rest for the night. Report to Kerel within the hour for that."

    "We''ll be ready to leave!" Yufim said excitedly.

    After Hudan went back, Tesyb turned to the archer. "Why are you so happy?"

    "This time I will go inside the Cinran town, for sure!" Yufim muttered, while tying up his long flaxen hair into a knot. "And you can''t stop me from taking a swim in the Kal river this time!"

    "I wasn''t the one who stopped you, you idiot!" Tesyb retorted.

    Ignoring him, Yufim kept muttering to himself, "And I will eat a lot of food inside the market place! There must be so many pretty girls in the town as well! And I will also visit the taverns there! And I will..."

    Tesyb just chuckled and let the archer continue to daydream.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests southwest of Cinran ~

    The chilly wind in the night howled through the crevices of the limestone quarry, carrying with it the scent of rotten eggs and decaying leaves. The huge quarry, which had been flooded after that spate of heavy rains and thunderstorms a month ago, now looked more like a pond than a quarry. It used to produce limestone blocks, which were transported to the towns and cities on wagons to be sold to the rich landowners and other nobles for construction of their mansions and walls, but since that flooding, nothing was being mined here. Their camp, nestled on a ledge within the cavernous hollow, was a makeshift affair of a few crude huts. With the ledge being lower than the surrounding ground, the towering trees of the vast forests surrounding them seemed to be reaching the skies from here.

    After the heavy rains had flooded the quarry, which had led to the huts of the stonecutters on the pit of the quarry being submerged in water, they had to build makeshift huts on the narrow path which ran around the sides of the quarry sloping downwards in a circle. That collection of crude huts huddled together on a wide ledge on that slanting path was their only shelter in this desolate place. That is where the stonecutters, who were slaves owned by the chief of the quarry, along with the other guards had been living for the past month since the quarry pit was flooded. Although calling them guards might be too much, Calubo thought, since they were bandits in all but name, and so others had taken to calling them bandits when they weren''t listening.

    There was still a danger of wild beasts coming there in the night, but that ledge was only connected to the forest floor outside through that path connecting the forest to the pit of the quarry. Although they had barricaded that inclined path with fallen trees and branches, making it difficult for any animals to come down there, it was hardly reassuring when living in this vast forest full of dangerous beasts.

    A flickering fire cast dancing shadows on the faces of the bandits sitting around it, their bawdy jokes and crude stories echoing through the night, while Calubo and the stonecutters sat huddled around another fire burning nearby. The night air was crisp and cold, but the fire provided at least some warmth in this weather, although their threadbare clothes certainly didn''t help.

    A deer, its carcass partially charred, was being cooked over the bandit''s fire, the aroma of roasting meat mingling with the smoke. It was a rare meal of fresh meat for the hungry band, a luxury in the harsh reality of their lives. Usually, they all survived on fruits, berries and the small critters found in the vast forests surrounding them, which a few bandits and some stonecutters went to gather and catch every day. But today, they had been lucky to hunt a deer after many weeks, not that he thought that the stonecutters or him would get more than scraps, if that.

    As he gazed at the quivering flames, Calubo''s mind wandered to the past. Just a few weeks ago, he had been a guard in the baron''s manor in Tiranat, his life a predictable routine of patrols and watch duties. But on that fateful day, when Mr Duvas had sent him to buy some grain from Cinran after the manor''s grain stores had started to run dangerously low, a few bandits had surrounded him on the road. After telling him to hand over his dagger, sword and what little amount of gold crowns he had been given by the majordomo for the purchase, their grizzled leader Nokozal had given him two choices: to come with them quietly, or die.

    As much as he hated bandits and slavers, it wasn''t a difficult choice to make when he was heavily outnumbered. And so he had found himself with the rest of the stonecutters in this quarry, thus becoming the latest slave to be brought to the quarry by Nokozal. That greedy bastard didn''t have a drop of noble blood in him, but he still called himself Lord Nokozal, though he was a bandit chief in all but name.

    Life here was not easy. Nokozal kept gloating about his greatness any chance he got, and didn''t trust the stonecutters one bit, while making them work like dogs everyday. But it wasn''t like Calubo could do anything about it without access to any weapons himself. He had already tried running away once, but he had been caught within an hour by the bandits searching for him on their horses, along with a good beating to go with it. He had been warned that the next time he tried it, he would get a brand to mark him as a slave. Since then, he had been biding his time for a good chance to run away, or better yet, to put a dagger into the bastard''s neck.

    During his time here, he had found out more about this crew of bandits which ran the quarry, which was owned by a Baron named Zoricus. In fact, he had heard from others that Baron Zoricus owned huge tracts of lands in the west of Cinran, including a lot of these forests, and the land around this quarry was also owned by him. He had also found out that Nokozal was a known slaver in Cinran, and he used to go there regularly to buy new slaves whenever he needed more stonecutters here.

    But due to the rising grain prices everywhere, the demand for limestone had dwindled to a trickle since the past year, and these days the quarry was barely able to sell any limestone at all. For the stonecutters, it meant that what little grain rations Nokozal used to bring for them from Cinran on his return trips after selling the stone blocks, had also stopped completely. And now the bandit chief sent a few bandits and stonecutters everyday to the forests to gather fruits and berries, and to hunt for small birds and rodents. That was their only source of food right now.

    In the past few months Nokozal and his lackeys had also started to kidnap lone travelers from nearby roads so he wouldn''t have to spend gold on buying new slaves, after every time that a stonecutter died due to illness or from an accident, which he had found to be fairly common here. And that was how Calubo had become a new slave in the limestone quarry run by Nokozal, after living nearly all his life as a guard in the baron''s manor in Tiranat.

    Since the quarry had been flooded a month ago, the other stonecutters, and now Calubo too, had been spending all their days hauling water from the quarry pit to the forest outside, bucket by bucket. It was slow going, with the filled buckets needing to be stocked up on a wagon, and then pulled by the bandits'' horses and two nodors to the forest outside, through the sloping path which ran along the sides of the quarry pit. Now the quarry was nearly dry again, and they would have to start cutting limestone blocks again soon. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hyola, a young woman, who was probably the same age as his own early-twenties, also used to work as a stonecutter here, and she was one of the five women amongst them, out of the nearly two dozen slave stonecutters working here now. While the bandits numbered nearly a dozen, and they leered at the women every chance they got, at least the stonecutters were still numerous enough to prevent anything bad from happening to the women.

    Hyola was sitting next to him on a log now, around the flickering fire of the stonecutters, as they ate parts of a small fruit they had been given today. She asked in a low voice, "Why do you think Nokozal''s men have stopped going to raid any places these days? Isn''t that what bandits like them are supposed to be doing? But other than his trip to Cinran every few weeks, they haven''t been leaving this place at all."

    "Who knows...," Calubo muttered. "They certainly know that we wouldn''t miss an opportunity to run away from this Goddess-forsaken quarry if we get a chance, especially now that we are barely being fed these days. Maybe Nokozal is worried about that, so he doesn''t want to leave this place with only a few men to watch over the rest of us."

    "I don''t know how a bastard like him wheedled his way into running a quarry," Hyola grumbled. She looked wistfully at the small fruit in her hands. "As much as I hated it, at least we used to get some grain and bread earlier, even if they were supplies stolen by these bastards from other people. But now that they have stopped going on raids, we barely get anything to eat."

    Calubo shrugged. "It could very well be that any nearby farms located north of the forests have already been raided in the past few months. This quarry is located in the middle of these vast forests, you know, so it''s not like he has easy pickings anywhere nearby. Certainly not these days, when nobody seems to have enough to eat."

    He added, "I tried asking discreetly about it to one of his lackeys one day, but he never spoke anything about it. But it''s true that Nokozal is not earning anything these days, so I''d say he has to be thinking of a raid soon."

 Chapter 74 - 73. Recollections

    "What would he even sell right now to earn more gold?" Hyola snorted. "We have only been trying to remove the water from the quarry for the past month, and haven''t actually been able to cut any stone. So he doesn''t even have any limestone to sell right now, even if there was any demand for it these days."

    "And guess what?" she added sarcastically, "It doesn''t even cost anything to him to keep the stonecutters here even if we aren''t doing any mining, since it''s not like they have to spend coins to pay us! Or to even feed us!"

    Calubo shook his head, "You really should have taken that chance to escape in the past. You might have been living a good life today if you had left." She had told him earlier about a good opportunity a few months ago to run away from this place, when there were only a few bandits guarding the stonecutters that day.

    Hyola looked with hateful eyes at the group of bandits sitting around the other fire nearby, while putting her hand on the small dagger hidden on her waist. "I do realize that! I don''t even have any slave branding on me, so if I had left this Goddess-forsaken place at that time, I might even have found work in Kirnos or Cinran by now, instead of having to deal with the lecherous stares of those bastards every damned day. "

    She turned her gaze towards some of the older stonecutters sitting around their fire, and looked at them fondly. "But they have been taking care of me since I was sold by my parents as a slave when I was just a child. These people are my real family now. That day, it wasn''t possible for all of us to run away, and I couldn''t just escape from this place by myself, only to leave them here to their own fates."

    Hyola had told him in the past that many of the stonecutters here had been working in this place for decades, and most of them had been branded as slaves at one point or another, just like cattle. So even if they managed to escape to another town, it would be easily found out that they were escaped slaves and the consequences would be harsh, including cutting the limbs of some of them to set an example.

    For many of the stonecutters here, it had been so long since they had been living at this quarry, that they had no other place to go anyway even if they managed to escape. All they could hope for was that, some day the situation would normalize, and the quarry would be able to sell limestone normally, and Nokozal would bring grains for them again.

    Yet, Calubo didn''t know how long the current state of the high grain prices would last, and if the quarry would be able to sell any limestone at all in the near future. Proper food had already become rare to everyone here in the past few months. What little they managed to gather and hunt from the forests was hardly enough to keep everyone fed, as the bandits took the biggest share of the food for themselves. And with the winter nearly here, the situation wasn''t going to get any better.

    Thinking about family, his thoughts drifted to Nurobo, his rotund cousin who had also been a guard in Tiranat. The thought of Nurobo, a gentle soul with his love for food and helping others who got injured, brought a wave of sadness to his heart. As he watched the fire, his mind was occupied with thoughts of his past life. He missed the security of the village, the familiar faces, the routine of his duties in the manor. How was little Clarisa now? Did the slave maid Leah get to meet with Cedoron again? Did everyone in the manor have enough food these days, or were they also close to starvation like the stonecutters here? He didn''t know, and he had no way of finding out either...

    He didn''t belong in this quarry, he knew that. But escape seemed impossible from this place. Nokozal was ruthless, quick to dole out punishment if he suspected anyone of trying to escape. He had already seen Nokozal nearly beat to death one of the other stonecutters, when he thought that the man wasn''t working hard enough to remove water from the quarry. He gave a sigh, while longing for the days when he wore the leather armor and sword of a manor guard, when his life had a sense of purpose and direction. He could only hope that one day, he would find a way to escape this dark world and return to a life of honesty and dignity.

    The night was chilly, a harbinger of the approaching winter, and the constant wind in the cavernous hollow of the quarry didn''t help. The stars were twinkling overhead, casting an ethereal glow on the forest. But despite the beauty of the night, he couldn''t shake the feeling of dread that had settled in his heart. He was a prisoner in this place, even though he wasn''t bound by chains. And he knew that his days were numbered here if he couldn''t find a way to escape... whether he died by starvation or at the hands of bandits if he tried to escape again, it was only a small detail.

    "What are you thinking of?" Hyola asked.

    "Nothing really..." Calubo muttered. "Just random thoughts about life in Tiranat."

    One of the bandits was cutting up the roasted meat of the deer now, to give it to other bandits sitting there. Once all of the bandits had more than enough meat in their bowls, they put a small portion of the deer in a bigger wooden plate, and gave it to a young stonecutter to share with the others... all two dozen of them, from that single plate. When the young stonecutter who had gone to take the bowl from the bandits protested about it, he got punched in his stomach for his troubles. Immediately, others started to get up to defend him, but Nokozal told the bandit to stop, and let the man leave with that bowl, while warning the stonecutters not to complain about it or they wouldn''t get even that much. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Slowly, others helped the young stonecutter to walk to their own fire, where they divided up the meat amongst themselves, and started to eat it. It was just a small portion for everyone, but even getting this much meat was a rare luxury for them. A few weeks ago, the stonecutters had tried to bring a rabbit for themselves while hiding it from the bandits, but somehow Nokozal had still found out, and he had beaten one of them enough that he still had trouble walking properly. After that time, the stonecutters had learned their lesson, and rarely complained about their small portions of food, as much as they hated it.

    Even though winter was nearly here, none of the stonecutters had good enough clothing for the oncoming cold weather. The few crude fur coats that they had made from the animals killed in the past years, had only gone to the bandits. Now the bandits draped those blankets above their regular leather armor in the cold, along with their swords and daggers which they carried everywhere. The stonecutters had to make do with threadbare tunics, with just the fire to warm them. At least they had no shortage of wood here to burn for heating, or they would have frozen to death soon enough.

    He looked at Hyola. "It''s a strange thing, you know?"

    "What do you mean?" she asked curiously, as she ate her own portion of meat.

    "When I lived in Tiranat, I never really liked the place. We never had enough to eat there, and I often had to pull double shifts because of a shortage of guards in the past few months. Those days I was always dreaming of finding work as a guard in Cinran, so I could live in the big town instead of that poor village," he snorted, while looking at the little amount of meat in his bowl.

    He gazed at the bandits merrily laughing around their own fire, and telling bawdy stories while getting second and third helpings of the well-roasted deer meat. "But now that I am here in this Goddess-forsaken place, I would do anything to go back to my life in Tiranat. I had friends there... I had family there too, if you count the fatso. And after the previous baron was killed, at least Mr Duvas made sure that everyone in the manor got a fair portion of the limited food we had. It wasn''t like this place, where the bandits take everything we hunt and gather, and throw us the scraps."

    "It must be a nice place," Hyola said wistfully. She had told him that she didn''t even remember how a normal life as a free person used to be, since she had been a slave for nearly as long as she could remember.

    "Truth be told," he mumbled while looking down at the ground, "and I am not proud to admit it, but when I was going to Cinran that day, I had thought about running away with the gold I had. I don''t think I would have acted on that urge even if the bandits hadn''t found me that day, but I can''t deny that the thought did come in my mind. I guess the Goddess is punishing me for thinking about trying to abandon others in the manor who were depending on the grain I''d have brought... And after all, I couldn''t return with the grain anyway..."

    Hyola gazed at him for a moment, and put a hand above his own. "It''s not like that, Calubo. The Goddess is forgiving, and she wouldn''t punish you for just thinking about something bad." She continued, while looking at the other stonecutters, "Everyone has such thoughts, you know. Even though I consider some of the people here as my family, many times I have thought of running away to Kirnos or Cinran to find new work." She looked at him again. "But what matters is your real actions, and not just the thoughts you have. You didn''t actually run away with the gold by your own choice. Getting captured by bandits wasn''t something in your own control. The Goddess wouldn''t punish you for that."

    "What do you call this, then?" he muttered. "We barely get enough to eat here, and one of us is beaten nearly every day. If this isn''t Goddess'' punishment, then what is?"

    "I don''t know, Calubo, I don''t know..." Hyola muttered. "All I can say is that she must have some plans for us. It is not for us mortals to know about that in advance. We can just pray to her that she wouldn''t leave us in our current situation."

 Chapter 75 - 74. Raiding Plans

    Calubo gave a reluctant nod, but didn''t say anything while he ate what little remained of the meat.

    Soon, he heard some heated voices from the bandits. They seemed to be arguing furiously amongst themselves, their voices raised in a fierce debate about something. Nokozal, a huge grizzled man with a scar that ran from his temple to his chin and a big beard which was starting to get streaks of gray in it, seemed to be staring at the fire, while the other bandits bickered agitatedly.

    Calubo tried to listen to what they were arguing about, but only caught snippets of it. As he strained his ears, he heard one of the bandits protesting, "But the baron told us to...", but Nokozal immediately glared towards that man and hissed, "Shut up! This is my decision and it''s final." The other bandits grumbled for a while after that, but eventually became quiet.

    Once Nokozal saw that none of the other bandits was opposing him, he stood up along with the other bandits and walked towards the stonecutters, who had been looking towards them in curiosity. He put his hands on his waist, while the other bandits stood next to him, and announced, "Listen up, you freeloaders. On my previous trip to Cinran, I met someone from Torhan''s group in an alehouse, and guess what he told me?" Without waiting for any response, he continued, "Once he was drunk enough, he told me that they raided the village of Tiranat a couple of weeks ago, which means they..."

    Calubo stood up in surprise, and immediately asked, "What do you mean the village was raided?"

    Nokozal laughed loudly. "I meant exactly what I said. Once Torhan''s group heard that the village was unprotected, with its baron and many of his guards dead in an ambush a while ago, they went on a raid all that way across the forest, and stole all the grain from the village and burned half the houses when escaping."

    "There are children in that village, you bastard!" Calubo yelled with outrage on hearing that half the village was burnt. With many of their guards dead, it had hardly any protection right now, and lowlifes like these bandits wouldn''t hesitate once about killing anyone. He wondered if Nurobo and others were okay now.

    Nokozal laughed again. "And what am I supposed to do about it?" The bandit leader looked at him with mirth in his eyes. "Why? Do you wanna try running to that village again?"

    Calubo stared at him with hate, and started to retort but the bandit chief interrupted him.

    "Now shut up! I have listened to your whining long enough," Nokozal growled. "At least that sleazy bastard Torhan has a clay mine to get an income, while you bastards do nothing and are just freeloading."

    One of the women spoke up in response. "We still work all day! But we can''t cut any limestone before we empty the quarry from its water logging, you know that!"

    Nokozal glared at her. "Quiet, you old crone! I''m not here to listen to your excuses." He looked at all of the stone cutters gathered around the fire. "It''s been a couple of weeks since that raid, so more merchants will likely be visiting Tiranat soon once they hear that the village needs more grain to survive the winter. Although..." he scratched at his long beard, "I have heard that merchants are rarely traveling to that cursed village these days, because of a fear of getting ambushed, so I think it''s more likely that Tiranat itself might send a caravan to Cinran. Either way, it''s a good opportunity for us to get some grain for free."

    Calubo was seething inside to hear that this cheap bastard wanted to steal grain from those who really needed it, instead of spending any coin to buy it. But he really should have expected it, knowing how Nokozal had already turned to kidnapping to get more stone cutters, instead of buying slaves by spending gold crowns. However, he tried his best not to show his anger at this plan on his face, or he would get another beating for sure.

    Hearing that news seemed to bring some relief into some of the stonecutters, even though they knew what it meant. But when you didn''t get enough to eat, stealing from others didn''t seem as bad to those who were starving. However, he noticed that some of them, including Hyola, had clenched their fists in anger, even though nobody had the courage to oppose the bandit chief. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Nokozal tilted his head and continued, "That means some of us will be away from here for at least a few days. I am telling you all about this to warn you that if even one of you thinks that it''s a good opportunity to run away because of a shortage of guards and tries to escape from here, I''ll break that person''s leg and give a beating to every single one of you, even if others didn''t try to run. So it is up to you all to prevent any fools from getting any silly ideas in their minds and getting you all beaten in return."

    He turned to the bandits around him, and pointed with both hands to himself as he gloated. "This is where the brilliance of Lord Nokozal shines. Since we don''t know from where the village will buy grain from, I''ll make two groups, one to scout on the road connecting Tiranat to Cinran, and the other on the road connecting Tiranat to Kirnos."

    "But milord," another bandit said, "Kirnos might not even have enough grain to sell to Tiranat, while Cinran - which is a big town - certainly would. Shouldn''t we just send scouts on that road?"

    "And what if the road connecting Tiranat to Cinran is already blocked by snow?" Nokozal grunted. "That road is quite close to the mountains, as you know well, while the other road is always open, so Kirnos might be the only option for them if the road to Cinran is blocked by now."

    The other bandits nodded in acceptance of the logic.

    Calubo really wanted an opportunity to escape from this place and warn the village, but the consequences of getting caught were dire. He kept his face calm despite the anger he was feeling, and listened as the bandit chief continued, not caring that the rest of the stonecutters were also listening.

    One of the other bandits asked, "Lord Nokozal, can we take horses with us? We can reach there faster with them. Otherwise it will take us at least a day of travel, or maybe even longer to reach those roads."

    Nokozal put his arms on his waist as he seemed to think about it. "We only have three horses with us, so both of the groups can''t possibly get two horses to ride there. That means you will have to walk to the scouting locations anyway. So I''ll keep one horse here, to keep it fresh, and each group will get one horse. If either of the group finds any tracks of any caravan passing recently, then one of you will ride hard here to the quarry to report to me. Then I''ll send someone on that fresh horse to bring the other scout group back and then we''ll ambush the caravan. With most of their guards already dead with their baron, I''d say they can only afford to send a couple of guards out of the village to escort the caravan at most, which means they should be easy pickings for us, as long as we can spot them in time."

    One of the other bandits asked, "Lord Nokozal, what if any tracks we see are those of a caravan having already returned back? What If they don''t travel again?"

    Nokozal grunted, "That''s a big village with hundreds of people, so they will need more than one trip to get enough grain to feed them through the winter, assuming they have money left at all for multiple trips. And any caravan that travels in one direction will have to return back to the village. So we should get our chance. Even though we were late in getting this news, it''s still our best hope of getting enough grain before the winter." He pointed at three of the bandits and said, "You all will go to the road in the south going to Kirnos." He pointed at two others, "And you both will go east on the road connecting that village to Cinran. "

    Calubo was simmering inside, and quickly tried to think of something to sidetrack Nokozal''s plans, "I don''t think the village has enough coin left to send a caravan to buy grain anyway. I was going to Cinran with the last of our coin when you kidnapped me. You are just wasting your time by doing this."

    Nokozal turned around and glared at him. "Shut up! You have been using that mouth of yours too much and not doing enough work here." He stared at him for a moment before speaking, "You know what, you have been lazing around here for long enough. Now you need to earn your keep as well, so you will also go with others to the eastern road and keep an eye for any tracks of a caravan." He gloated, "This will be a good lesson for you to see what the mighty Nokozal can do to your former village."

    He turned to the other guards who were going to the road connecting the village to Cinran, and said smugly, "If Calubo tries to escape at all, you have my permission to beat him thoroughly and break an arm of his." The other bandits smirked while looking at him.

    Calubo was seething inside, but he still kept his mouth shut, otherwise he would get that beating right now. He was worried about Tiranat losing what little hope they had of getting enough grain to survive the winter. He didn''t know if Mr Duvas even had enough gold crowns remaining to send a caravan. For a moment a thought came in his mind that Nokozal had given him a good opportunity to escape, but then he crushed that thought immediately. Those bandits were ruthless and they would be keeping an eye on him continuously.

    And even if he somehow managed to escape from them, the retribution that Nokozal would give to the other stone cutters would be fierce. He didn''t want to see Hyola and others getting beaten up in retaliation, which Nokozal was sure to do in response to anyone running away. The people here were already malnourished and barely got anything to eat. If any of them got injured or sick on top of that, they likely wouldn''t survive the winter.

    Calubo prayed that the bandits wouldn''t find the caravan in time - if there was such a caravan at all. He also hoped that it would be well protected enough so that even if the bandits somehow managed to find it, it would be safe enough. Or at least he prayed to the Goddess that it would be, since he already knew how few guards were left in the manor to send with any caravan.

    Nokozal gave the final order, "Be ready to leave before dawn tomorrow."

    The five bandits nodded at the bandit chief and walked back towards their burning fire.

 Chapter 76 - 75. Perpendicular Lines

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day around dawn, Kivamus was standing outside the manor house with others while looking at the caravan getting ready to leave. Even without any wind, the air was chilly, and the warmth of the flickering fire in the brazier kept next to them was very much welcome. There was another brazier kept on the side of the caravan, where some of the guards were warming their hands, before they left the manor to brave the cold of the journey. This time only six wagons were leaving the manor, but Hudan had still provided twelve guards with them, not including Pydaso and his own guard, so that the repaired wagon would also have two guards on it on their return journey. The wagons were covered with an oilcloth, with each wagon driver having a spear next to him.

    Yesterday, Cedoron had come through on his promises to make the spears, and they had been able to provide seven spears to the escorting guards this time - one for each wagon on the return journey, even though their shafts would need to be replaced in the future with better quality wood. The blacksmith had actually made two more spears, but Hudan had told him that he was going to use them to train the rest of the new guards.

    Soon, Pydaso and Feroy walked towards him. The ex-mercenary looked alert and ready for the coming journey, with no trace of his binge drinking two nights ago on his face. Hudan seemed to be correct about Feroy when he said that the ex-mercenary was a trustworthy guard, and only drank when he was sure that his fighting skills wouldn''t be needed. That was good enough for now.

    "We are ready to leave, milord," Feroy said.

    "Good. May you have a safe and successful journey," Kivamus wished them.

    "I hope so, milord," Pydaso said. He looked up at the early morning sky. "With the weather already getting so cold, it won''t be long before it starts to snow." He added, "Because of a shortage of time before the road gets blocked, we have been pushing the horses very hard, since we have been completing the journey from here to Cinran within two days every time, even though it''s normally a three day journey at a relaxed pace. I just hope there is no injury to any horses because of that, since a delay would cause difficulty for me when I return back towards my home."

    Kivamus nodded. Without access to any satellite providing live weather updates, they had no way to know when the snowfall would actually start. He still hoped that they might be able to squeeze in a third trip before Pydaso had to return back, but it seemed increasingly unlikely now. Giving an inward sigh, he said, "We can only hope that everything goes well."

    Pydaso gave a nod in reply, and with a quick bow, returned back towards the caravan along with Feroy. Soon, the horses started to move after a quick whip, and the caravan lurched into motion. The sound of creaking axles and leaves crunching under the wheels filled the air as the wagons exited the gates of the manor one by one.

    Kivamus looked at the servants who were moving the brazier towards the shed, before they returned to their duties. He pointed at the brazier burning next to them. "Tell one of the servants to move this brazier to the north of the village, for the workers to use there. Cedoron should provide us with more braziers by evening, so we can put them in the places we discussed earlier."

    With a nod, Duvas gave the orders to the servants, and they returned back to the warmth of the manor house.

    *******

    A few hours later, Kivamus decided to take a look in the north of the village again to see how everything was going there. Something had been nagging him since yesterday, and he wanted to talk with the carpenter about that. With Hudan and other guards accompanying them, he and Gorsazo walked to the northern area. Reaching there, he saw that a good amount of space had been cleared there by now, and now the workers were hard at work cutting the trees further away from the village. Many of them were digging the trench for a new village wall, while Taniok was overseeing the debarking of logs nearby. He saw that the trenches for the foundations for the first longhouse block were already in the process of being dug.

    He sent a servant to call over the carpenter. Once Taniok was there, he asked, "I was curious about something. How are you making sure that the walls of the longhouse block would be perpendicular to each other?"

    Taniok looked at the workers digging the trenches. "Oh, that?" He said, "Give me a moment, milord," and he jogged towards where he had been cutting the planks on the left earlier. Soon he returned with something in his hands. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ''''I use this try-square, milord," Taniok said, and handed him a small wooden tool, which had two pieces of wood connected to each other at a right angle. Although this tool was still used on Earth sometimes, the try-square that Taniok had given him was made completely of wood, with a small hole at the end of each piece of wood.

    "I can see its use when you are making tables, chairs and such things," Kivamus said, "but how are you using this to keep the foundations of the block perpendicular?"

    Taniok shrugged. "It''s easy enough. I just tie a thin string or a rope on these holes, and put the try-square at one corner, and then I tell someone else to pull the ropes straight. This way I get two long ropes which are more or less perpendicular to each other. Then I make marks on the ground along these ropes, and we get perpendicular walls."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered. "That would work, more or less, but the people who are pulling the ropes straight could easily move away from the proper angle when they walk further to make the rope taut. It would still be close enough to a right angle, but there can certainly be errors."

    "Well... I don''t know of any other way to do this, milord," Taniok said curiously.

    Kivamus thought about it for a minute, and remembered a primitive way by which the Romans used to project right angles and straight lines on the ground. He told the guards who had come with him to bring to him one long stick of wood, and a few smaller ones, which were as straight as they could find them. Then he sent another guard to bring a small length of thin rope, and four small stones. "Call Yeden here too."

    It took a few minutes, but soon, the foreman, Yeden and the guards returned with straight wooden sticks and the other things in their hands. He told a guard to untwist the rope into separate strings. Then, he held the long stick in his hands, and told one of the guards to tie the stones with strings, and another to tie two small sticks together while making sure they were more or less perpendicular to each other.

    Gorsazo observed him carefully, as he started to explain.

    "Okay, here is a better way to do this," Kivamus began. "I am showing you the concept of how it would work, but you will need to make the same thing with completely straight pieces of wood to make it work properly." He took the long stick and tried to firmly insert it into the ground like a pole. It didn''t really go into the ground far enough to make it stand under its own weight though, so he told a guard to hold it vertically. "This vertical staff will allow the actual mechanism to be put above it. It needs to be made strong enough, but it only needs to be around five or six feet tall. The bottom of this staff also needs to be made sharp enough to be easily inserted into the ground."

    Seeing Taniok''s nod, he explained, "Then every time when you want to make sure that you are making foundations accurately at right angles, you should insert this staff around a foot away from the actual point where you want the corner to be. Now above this," he continued as he held a small stick above the staff horizontally, "you will join a small piece of wood which connects to the top of the staff on one side, and the wooden cross on the other side." He told another guard to hold it like he had described, while he tied one end of it to the top of the staff.

    "Now, this is the main mechanism," he said, as he pointed to the two sticks which had been tied together into a cross. He took the stones which had been tied to strings which were around a meter long, and tied the other end of those strings at the four ends of that cross, so that each stone was hung at nearly the same length from the cross.

    Finally, he took that cross, with four stones hung on a string on each of its corners, and put it at the other end of the small piece of wood that was connected to the top of the staff. He looked at another guard who was holding a piece of string in his hands, and then took that string to tie the center of the cross with the end of the horizontal piece of wood. It was shoddy work, but it should work well enough to demonstrate the purpose.

    He explained, "This is a very rough approximation, but you can see how it works right now. He told others to move back to one side, and then he told Taniok to look at two strings on the opposite ends of the cross, in a way that they were completely aligned with each other. "Now the line on the ground which is shown by these strings gives you one side of your square."

    "I can see that," Taniok nodded.

    "Good, now move to this place," Kivamus said as he pointed to the other two strings. "Try looking from here. Again, the line on the ground which is covered by these two strings is the other side of the square. As long as the wooden cross is made properly with right angles between both of its arms, this line and the line you saw earlier will be perpendicular to each other. The walls of a building will be along these lines and at the reference point - where these two lines intersect, you can make the corner of a building. This way you can tell a worker to mark places on the ground - while you observe through these strings to ensure that the marks are made correctly along them, and so you will get an accurate set of perpendicular lines, where you can dig the foundations later."

    It took a moment for Taniok to think about it, but Yeden spoke first while running a hand on his bald pate. "That''s... that''s really clever, milord!"

    Taniok stood up and shook his head slowly. "It would certainly work. But... but it''s so simple... I don''t know how I never thought of it myself!"

    Kivamus smiled, and said, "That''s alright. You know about it now."

    "But what is this tool called?" Taniok asked.

 Chapter 77 - 76. Groma

    "This tool is called a groma," Kivamus replied.

    Gorsazo had tilted his head a little, while he observed him with a frown, but didn''t say anything.

    Kivamus added, "Ideally we should use pointed pieces of iron instead of these round stones, for it to be more accurate. In our case here, where you only need to make a single building at a time, you can make these strings from which the stones are hanging to be a little longer, so that they nearly touch the ground. That way, you can put a mark on the places where all four stones touch the ground, and then you can easily tell workers to hold a string straight, and align the string with these marks. That will easily give you the corner as well as the location of the two walls for a new building."

    He pointed at the small piece of wood connecting the cross with the vertical staff. "And if you want, you can make this piece in a way that it pivots around the top of the staff, so that you can move the cross to another side of the staff if you need to. You can also make another pivot at the other side of this piece of wood, so that the cross itself can be rotated to align the lines with the desired directions."

    "That I can understand, milord," Taniok said with a nod. "But why didn''t you just put the cross right on top of the staff? That would also have worked and would be easier to make."

    "You are right, but this design does have its uses," Kivamus replied. "Let''s say you need to put the reference point - which is the center of the two lines - above a sturdy object, like a rock where you cannot insert the staff easily. In that case, setting the center of the cross away from the staff is helpful, because you can just insert the staff into the ground a little away from that rock, and you would still be able to put the reference point, that is, the corner of the walls, above that rock."

    Taniok nodded. "That makes sense."

    Kivamus added, "Apart from that, while making marks on the ground just under the stones would work well enough for a single set of perpendicular lines, but if you need to do planning for nearby areas at the same time, then offsetting the cross from the staff allows you to look in a straight line through the two strings, like you did just now. That way you can tell someone else to mark a distant point on the ground which lies along that same line. That allows you to ensure that even a distant point lies on the same line. This way you can ensure that a long wall, for example the new village walls lie in a straight line. For another example, if we are making a series of houses next to each other, then by using the groma, we ensure that they lie along the same line."

    "That would certainly be helpful for the village walls," Yeden said.

    Kivamus continued, "As you can guess, a groma can also be used to make a grid. You can mark the perpendicular lines at one intersection, and then you can move the groma further to each intersection, and you can draw perpendicular lines again using this. That will be useful when you clear the ground to make the roads as well."

    Yeden gave a nod. "Certainly, milord."

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, you should make one of these so that we can be sure that the longhouse walls will be made in proper alignments. You can ask Cedoron for him to give you small pointed pieces of iron, into which he has made a hole at the top, so that you can tie the strings into it. That piece of iron is called a plumb bob."

    Taniok nodded excitedly. "That I know, milord. I use a similar plumb bob whenever I''m making the walls of a building to ensure that the walls are standing straight, and are not tilted to one side. And this groma is easy enough to make. I can make one of it within an hour using a few such sticks kept in my workshop. I don''t know why I didn''t think of it myself in the past! But it will be really helpful here."

    "Certainly," Kivamus said. "It wouldn''t work well when there is a wind, but otherwise it would be a good idea to use it everywhere you need to make perpendicular lines on the ground. So, after our conversation you should go and make a groma first, before more trenches are dug."

    Taniok gave a nod. "I''ll do that, milord."

    Kivamus looked at the foreman. "How are the log movers working?"

    Taniok happily pointed at the machines nearby towards the north. "They''ve been very helpful, milord! Usually I keep both of them here in the north, but every few days I send one of them to the southern clearing area for Pinoto to use there." He gazed at the log mover for a moment, before he added, "There is a small problem though. Those wooden axles aren''t exactly smooth, so because of the friction between the axle and the ropes used to pull it, those ropes keep breaking again and again. While we have some extra ropes for now to make a new loop around the axle again, it will cause a shortage of ropes soon enough if it keeps going on like this."

    "That''s concerning..." Kivamus muttered. He thought about the problem for a minute. "You know what? Now that we have some spare iron, since we bought some extra iron ingots from Cinran, there is an easy solution for this. We can make a thin, but wide enough sheet of iron, and loop it around the axle to reduce the friction." He continued, "We can fix that sheet on the axle with some nails, along with some tallow rubbed on the iron sheet as well. This way, the ropes would last much longer - because that sheet of iron rubbed with tallow would be much smoother than the wooden axle."

    Yeden nodded. "That''s... a good idea." He frowned, "But are you sure we can spare that much iron for this? Iron doesn''t come cheap at all, I know that much."

    "This is an important thing," Kivamus began, "and since we cannot produce new ropes here, buying new ropes costs money as well. We only need to make two such sheets for the log movers, and they would easily last for years." He ordered, "Make the measurements around the axle, for how long and how wide that sheet needs to be, so that it can be fully curled around that axle, then send someone to Cedoron today with those measurements to give him a new order for two such sheets. Once he has made those braziers today, he should still have time to hammer two such sheets."

    Yeden gave a nod. "I''ll send someone soon. And I want to thank you again, milord, for making new braziers for us." He pointed at an extinguished brazier kept nearby. "Although we extinguished it soon after the sun came out to save on coal, even having that single brazier here allowed us to easily warm up our hands before we started to work in the morning today. Having a few more of them here and in other places where the villagers are working would be very helpful to us, and will prevent the workers from falling ill in the coming winter."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said. "And you can use as much coal as you need for that. While it may be fine these days to extinguish it in the daytime when the sun is out, you know that the sunlight will become rare in the winter, so you should use the braziers all day wherever you are working." He smiled, "Consider it a part of the job benefits."

    He added, "Most of you don''t have good enough clothing for the winter anyway. I''ll try to do something about that soon, but you still need a way to warm up your bodies when working in the winter. So every day in the morning when you are coming for work here, send a worker to the manor to haul some coal here in a cart to use in those braziers all day. We have more than enough coal in the barns, so you don''t need to worry about saving it. You can tell other places where the villagers are working to do the same with braziers."

    "I will, milord!" Yeden nodded with a smile. "Thank you!"

    "There is another thing I was thinking of," Kivamus said. "Since the ground will freeze in the winter, it would become much harder to dig. So once the trenches for the first longhouse block are completed, you should dig them for the second and third block as well. Of course, we won''t start the construction of those blocks until the first longhouse block is fully finished, but having all the trenches dug in advance will help a lot to construct the other blocks even after the snow starts falling."

    He added, "In fact, since snowfall will start soon, you should divert most of the workers to dig everything that is needed, including the trenches for the village walls and the gutters next to the new roads here, since it would become more difficult to dig after the snow starts falling. Of course, even then you should still keep some workers to keep cutting more trees so that we wouldn''t have any shortage of logs for building the longhouse blocks, but since we already have many logs stacked here, most of the workers should be diverted to digging for now. A simple way for that is to put the workers to cut those trees first which stand in the location of the trenches for the village walls. That will keep Taniok supplied with a small number of new logs, and you can easily clear the locations where you need to dig the trenches. Once the digging is completed, all the workers can resume cutting more trees."

    Yeden nodded. "I''ll make sure of it, milord. I was already thinking about doing that."

    "Good. Also, let Pinoto know that he should put his workers to start digging the small reservoir in the south that we talked about earlier. Let him know that it should be located around four hundred yards away from the village, so that it would be close to the farms there, and we can use that water to irrigate the farms in the future. Like here, he can resume the cutting once that is completed." Kivamus continued, "You should also tell your workers to dig a small trench to connect the gutters in the north here to that reservoir. This trench - which will be a bigger gutter, should pass close to the village on its west, so that we can connect more gutters to it later, when we rebuild the houses of the village in the future. This way, when the snow melts after the winter, all the excess water will flow into those gutters, and then it will gather into the reservoir in the south, which would prevent any flooding in the village itself. Now that we have a lot more new tools coming everyday, it should be feasible to dig all the trenches before the snow falls if you put most of the workers on that."

    "Of course, and I will let Pinoto know about it," Yeden said with a nod.

    Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Taniok, once you have made the groma, use it to mark out all the places today, so that Yeden can tell other workers to start digging there. Their locations will be the same as we discussed earlier. The first longhouse block right here after a ten meter gap from the rest of the houses to make a road, with the block being twenty-five meters on each side. Then a gap of ten meters for another road, and then the second block of twenty-five meters will be located after that. Since there isn''t any space for a third block before the village walls, two such new blocks will be made to our left, parallel to the first two blocks, that is, on the west of the first two blocks." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He added, "Among those two blocks, we will leave the space empty for the twenty-five meter block which would be closer to the village, so that we can make a new market square there in the future. The third longhouse block will be made on the other twenty-five meter block - the one closer to the walls."

    Taniok gave a nod, "It will be as you say, milord."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "That gives you enough work for now." He added after a moment of thought, "But there was something I was curious about. How are you going to measure the length of a meter? In fact, how do you even measure the length of a yard?"

    "Oh, I had made a measuring stick in the past which is as long as a yard, milord," Taniok replied.

    "Yes, but how do you even know that that is exactly how long a yard is supposed to be?" Kivamus asked.

 Chapter 78 - 77. Yard To Meter

    Taniok answered, "There is a marker in front of most temples of the goddess - or at least those temples which are made from stone whose walls would last a long time - which tells us the length of a yard. However, the local temple here is only a wooden building, so there was no point in adding such a marker on it when we were constructing it in the past. So, to get a proper length of a yard for use in the future, I had bought a straight wooden stick in Cinran, and after comparing it to the temple''s yard mark in Cinran, I made two marks on it at a yard''s width and cut that stick at those marks - so that I would get a stick which is the same length as a yard. Cedoron also has such a stick."

    "Alright." Kivamus asked, "Tell me, how long is that stick? Do you have it here?"

    "No, milord. My apprentice is using it at my workshop right now." Taniok spread his hands wide, and said, "But I would say that stick is around this long."

    Kivamus looked at the gap between his hands, and made an estimate that it was more or less similar to the length of the yard he knew on Earth, or maybe a little smaller. He asked, "Is that yard divided into smaller measurements? For when you need to measure something small, like the width of a plank?"

    Gorsazo looked at him sharply but didn''t say anything.

    "It certainly is, milord," the carpenter replied. "One yard is divided into two feet and seven inches."

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. That would make it very difficult to calculate anything at all. "Right... And how many inches are in a foot?"

    "Eleven, of course!" Taniok replied with bewilderment.

    Wow... Those are some strange numbers, Kivamus thought. He couldn''t imagine how the locals even got anything built from such quirky divisions of length.

    Taniok added with a confused frown, "It has always been that way, milord. You must already have known about those divisions. I don''t understand why you are asking me about this."

    Immediately, Kivamus realized that any normal person in this world, especially a well-read noble like he was claiming to be, would know about that. That must have been why Gorsazo looked surprised earlier. He scrambled to give an explanation. "Well... as you can guess, I never had a need to do any carpentry in my life, so I never thought much about those divisions. Even then, those divisions can vary between different regions, so I had to make sure before I changed anything."

    Taniok gave a slow nod. "That makes sense, milord. I apologize for questioning you."

    Kivamus waved a hand. "Don''t worry about it. Being curious is always a good thing, so you never need to hesitate to ask me any questions."

    Thinking about the divisions of a yard, it was so complex that even someone like him would have difficulty in calculating anything from those - especially without access to something as basic as a calculator. Using a meter instead of a yard would make it much easier to calculate things for Taniok and others, especially if they were going to build anything in the future which was even a little bit more complex than a longhouse.

    He turned to his guards. "Go on and bring me a few straight wooden sticks, around one and a half yards long. Just look around this place, you should be able to find something like that." As the guards jogged away, he looked at the carpenter. "How were you going to measure the dimensions of the longhouse in meters, like I have been telling you to, when you only have a way to measure a yard, and don''t even know how long a meter is supposed to be?"

    Taniok looked at the ground, and mumbled, "I was going to ask you about it soon..."

    Kivamus gave a sigh. "This just won''t do, Taniok! Like I told you earlier, I am not going to beat you, or even scold you for asking any questions to me. But you have to be open with me, and you have to ask questions when you don''t understand something! Otherwise we won''t get anything built in this place!"

    Taniok gave a slow nod. "I apologize, milord. I''ll try to do better in the future."

    "You certainly have to, Taniok. Never hesitate to ask me anything whenever you need more explanation about something." Seeing the carpenter nod again, Kivamus gave a deep sigh and thought about the problem again.

    Being able to successfully divide the length of a meter into ten smaller divisions, which would also make the calculation much easier, would be very helpful to them in the future. Apart from that, everything he remembered from Earth was based on formulas and constants which were based on the length of a meter which he was familiar with. While they had to think of immediate concerns of survival for now, in the future he wanted to make some machines to help them in dealing with all the problems in this place, as well as to ensure their future prosperity. And for that, he just couldn''t use this yard measurement with its unreasonable divisions.

    So even if they had to estimate the length of a meter for now, the closer they were to the length of the meter he was familiar with - instead of a yard which was smaller, the easier it would be to adapt things in the future when he was able to find the length of a meter accurately based on some universal constant. However, the problem remained about how to find how long a meter was supposed to be when he didn''t have any way to compare it to a standard measurement on Earth right now.

    If... if he made a seconds-pendulum, which was just a simple pendulum with a period of one second, couldn''t he find out the length of a meter easily enough? No, that would depend on the gravity of this place being exactly the same as on Earth, which was unlikely. Not that he had any way of accurately measuring the duration of a second here right now... It wouldn''t work... He shook his head again in frustration. It was such a simple thing, and yet without access to any modern instruments, it was not feasible for them to calculate the length of a meter or the duration of a second from scratch.

    He sighed. Just making a good estimate would have to do for now until they could get an accurate measurement. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The guards returned back, and he took one of the sticks from them. He put his left hand on one end of that stick, and told the carpenter to tell again how long a yard was. After Taniok showed it on that stick, Kivamus gave a nod. He slowly moved his right hand further on that stick, until he reached a distance between his two hands which looked like the same length as a meter on Earth. He realized that this was the body of Kivamus, and not Steven, so his estimate might still be wrong, but this was still the best he could think of right now. He moved his right hand a little to both sides to check again, and tried to ensure that the gap between his hands was as close to a meter as he could estimate.

    Once he was satisfied, he told Hudan to take another stick and break it off at the same length as that between his hands. Hudan gave a nod, and after making a comparison, he easily broke off that stick to the same length. Kivamus took that smaller stick in his hands, and taking a long look at it, he felt that this length should be nearly the same as a meter. He told the guards to break the other sticks to that same length as well after measuring it. Once they had done it, he ensured that all of the sticks were of the same length, and said, "Alright, since I don''t have a way to measure it accurately right now, I have made my best estimate that this is as long as a meter."

    He gave a wooden stick to everyone standing there, and said, "The beauty of metric measurements is that you can just divide the length into ten parts to get the smaller measurements. That applies for basically everything in metric, including weights, but that is for the future."

    He looked at the carpenter, "Now instead of dividing each yard into two feet and seven inches, and a foot into eleven inches, you can simply divide a meter into ten parts, to get a decimeter, which is one-tenth of a meter. Each of those decimeters can be divided into ten centimeters, which are one-hundredth of a meter, and each centimeter can also be divided into ten millimeters, which is as long as one-thousandth of a meter."

    Before Taniok got more confused, based on his expression, he said, "For now, you only need to remember that one meter can be divided into a hundred centimeters, that''s all. And one centimeter is nearly the same length as the width of the end of your little finger on your hands."

    He added, "I understand that it will take some time to think in terms of a meter, but the benefits of it will be worth it in the long-term, particularly since there is a lot of construction that will be happening here in the future. Once you have started using meters and centimeters regularly, you will see the benefits easily." Kivamus added, "It would certainly make it much easier to calculate any lengths and their divisions. Do you know about decimals?"

    Taniok nodded.

    "Good. Now, for a quick example, let''s say you have a plank of four meters length, which is four times hundred, that is, four hundred centimeters long. Then if you want to divide it into ten equal parts to make seats of chairs from them, you can just shift the decimal by one place to the left. So, by doing that in four hundred centimeters, you will get forty centimeters as the required length you need to cut. In the yard measurements, dividing something into ten equal parts would have taken much longer."

    Taniok looked at him for a moment with surprise, "That was very fast, milord!" He added, "It would certainly make it much easier if I don''t have to do long calculations every time to divide a length into feet and inches. Usually I have to spend a few hours calculating the lengths before I start to construct something. This metric does sound simple for sure."

    "It certainly is," Kivamus agreed. "From now on, I want you all to use a meter as the basic measurement of length." He looked at the foreman. "I will tell Cedoron to make a few iron sticks of this length so they won''t break easily. He will also need to divide it into a hundred equal parts, but I will explain that to him later on. Once that is done, you all should use that iron measuring scale to measure anything. Apart from the ease in calculating smaller divisions of it, you will see other benefits in due time."

    "Of course, milord," Taniok nodded.

    Yeden agreed as well. "I will do as you say."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "Alright then, you have your orders. You can get back to work now."

    After a quick bow, Taniok and Yeden started walking back while talking about the new metric measurements.

    He looked at Gorsazo for a moment, who was gazing into the distance. Shaking his head at his mistake, he said to others, "Well, let''s return now."

 Chapter 79 - 78. Food Sources

    In the evening, Kivamus and others were sitting in the manor hall near the fireplace, when a guard entered.

    He said, "Milord, the blacksmith has provided us what he forged today - eleven braziers and two iron sheets to wrap around the axles of the log movers. Taniok told us that he would attach the sheets on the axles tomorrow using a few iron nails."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus replied. "Eleven braziers is more than what I was expecting." He looked at the majordomo. "Give the braziers to the workers when they go for work from tomorrow morning, like we discussed earlier. Also, send someone to put one of them in the marketplace tonight itself, which should still leave us with a couple of extra braziers. You can put them up outside the manor gates whenever you are distributing the food, so that those elderly villagers and children won''t get too cold while waiting there."

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas said. "I''ll make sure of it personally. And now that we have enough braziers, I will also tell the servants to use them regularly within the manor as well, wherever they are going to be working in the cold."

    "Certainly," Kivamus nodded. "Also, put a servant on a regular duty to refill all the braziers in the village twice a day. A guard can go with him each time to escort the cart of coal."

    Duvas gave a nod. "I''ll do that, my Lord." He gestured for the servant to leave. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus began after a minute, "We also have to think of something soon to get more food, or we would start to have a food shortage again by the end of winter."

    Gorsazo said, "I have heard that the hunters have been bringing in a small amount of meat, but we can organize bigger hunting groups ourselves. Sending more of them out there while escorting them with guards would allow them to kill and bring in bigger animals, and that meat would be very helpful to add to ours as well as the villagers'' diets."

    Kivamus replied, "That''s a good idea. I have been thinking about that as well. But do we even have that many trained hunters in the village?"

    "Not really, milord," Duvas said. "We do have a few, but two of them are working as our guards now - Yufim and another new recruit, whose name I can''t remember right now. I think there should still be one or two other hunters in the village who have regularly been bringing in some small game, but as you know, nobody likes to go too deep into these forests. But if we send trained guards with them, that would make it much safer for them to go further."

    Hudan interrupted, "We will have to wait for that. As of now, we can''t afford to send our limited number of guards outside the village, at least until all the guards are back from the escorting trip to Cinran."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s true enough. But once they are back, we will have two dozen guards with us, not including the ones you are training with machetes. After that we can certainly send a few of them out to hunt in the forest every day." He added, "We can make groups of four people, two of whom will be good swordsmen from our guards, and they can also carry spears with them if needed. The other two should be archers. We can also send our own guards who are archers along with the hunters in the village if needed. That way the archers can hit an animal from far away and if required, the spearmen can go closer to finish them off. If we just send out two or three such groups out to hunt every day, they should be able to provide us with a steady supply of meat."

    "That''s a good idea, my Lord," Hudan agreed. "Four trained men in each group would be large enough that they can take on all but the most dangerous beasts - from which they should be running away anyway - and yet, it''s a small enough group that they will be able to move fast enough. I will try to add one recruit in each group - the ones who are showing the most promise - so that they can get some real fighting experience as well."

    "Good," Kivamus nodded. "But how will they carry the meat? Especially if they are going deep into the forests?"

    "We never really had to think about that until now," Duvas replied. "Usually, the hunters only bring in small game to the village market, like rabbits or pheasants. The previous Baron never liked to send his guards away from the manor, so we could never organize bigger hunting groups in the past, to bring in deer or boar. Of course, even with hunting groups of four men, they will still have to be careful of the much more dangerous beasts like bears and packs of wolves, not to mention adzees and other such top predators."

    "True enough," Kivamus said. "But even then, we need to send them to the forests, because we really need that meat. Now that it seems unlikely that the caravan might be able to go for a third trip, we need every source of food we can get to supplement our diets in the winter. Apart from that meat, the fur we will get from many animals can be used to make more fur coats as well." He added, "Since they can''t carry four-wheeled carts into the forests, I will look into having a few wheelbarrows made, which is similar to a cart but only has a single wheel, which makes it much easier to move it in difficult terrain. And having a few sledges would also help in the winter for the hunters to carry the bigger animals they hunt. Once Taniok gets some free time, I will tell him about that."

    "We did have a sledge here in the past," Duvas said, "but it was damaged a few years ago. The baron didn''t see much need to have it rebuilt, since there wasn''t much use for it, since we never sent big hunting groups into the forests."

    The outer door of the manor hall opened again, and Helga walked inside.

    "Oh, you are already here, my lord," she said with a little surprise. "I was looking for you around the manor. I need to talk to you about something."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked with curiosity.

    Helga sat at one of the armchairs near the fire, and took a movement to warm her hands by the fire. "You had told me earlier to look around for edible berries and other usable shrubs outside the village." Seeing Kivamus nod at that, she continued, "That''s how I was spending the last few days, and finally I found something of use. In the northwest of the village, maybe four hundred yards away from the last of the houses, I found a small puddle of water, and there were edible Rizako mushrooms growing there under the trees. I have brought a few of them with me, and I will cook Rizako stew for dinner tonight!"

    "Sounds wonderful!" Kivamus said with a smile. "How many mushrooms were there?"

    "Not that many..." Helga replied. "Maybe a few dozen at most. But I don''t know why nobody in the village ever ate them..."

    Duvas gave the answer. "It is very difficult to identify which mushroom is edible, and which is poisonous. A few months ago, when we were getting short on grains, one of the guards found some mushrooms in the forests, and not knowing better, we cooked it for lunch that day. Thankfully, nobody died from eating those mushrooms, but let''s just say, the next few days were not a pleasant experience for those who had eaten it. There was an unending line in front of the outhouses that day."

    "That makes sense," Helga said with a grimace.

    Duvas added, "That was the reason why I was unable to accompany the previous baron on his last trip to Cinran. In a way, eating those mushrooms saved my life."

    Helga began after a moment of silence, "Unless you know for sure that a particular mushroom is edible, you really shouldn''t try to eat them. Even if you don''t die from it, it can have serious side-effects like blindness and such." She gave a confident smile. "But that won''t be a problem now! While I was living at the inn, I got a lot of experience finding edible mushrooms. So I know for sure that the ones I brought with me today are edible, and tasty as well! Rizako stew is actually one of Lucem''s favorite dishes. Feroy really likes them too. You all will get to see how good it is tonight itself!"

    Others praised Helga after hearing that they would get something different to eat today, since their diet didn''t really have much variety these days. However, Kivamus was thinking ahead of tonight''s dinner. Mushrooms could be a decent source of nutrition for them if they could successfully grow a good amount of them here. They wouldn''t just add variety to their diets and make it more balanced, but they would also allow them to keep providing food to the villagers without starting food rationing if they couldn''t buy enough grain before the winter.

    He looked at others, and said, "If there were mushrooms in that place, that means they can grow in this climate, so can''t we try to cultivate them ourselves? Those few dozen mushrooms wouldn''t be enough to even feed the whole manor for a single day, but if we could grow them at a bigger scale, it would be really helpful for us in the winter. Although I''m not sure if they would even grow in snowy conditions." He looked at Helga. "Do you have any experience with that?"

    "As a matter of fact, I do, my Lord," Helga replied. "Like I had told you in the past, we didn''t get much income in that inn, so a few years ago I tried cultivating a batch of these Rizako mushrooms so that we would have something to eat in lean times. The first few tries were a complete waste. But I kept trying, and eventually I was able to successfully grow them in a closed barn there." She continued, "While it''s true that they can''t really grow in the snow, they can still survive in freezing conditions, although they will only start fruiting once the weather becomes warmer."

    She added, "In our case, since we can maintain warmer conditions indoors by burning braziers nearby, we should still be able to grow them indoors throughout the winter. I had no idea that I would be able to find them here! But now that I have already seen that they can grow here, we really should try to cultivate them." She thought for a moment before she continued, "I can use the help of some maids in this, and I would need a dedicated barn for that - since they only grow in the shade. That barn should be away from where people live - otherwise they can cause sickness if you stay close to them for too long. I learned it the hard way. Now, I always tie a piece of thick cloth to cover my nose and mouth so that I wouldn''t have to directly breathe the air when working close to them. Apart from that, some sawdust and small logs would be needed to provide a surface for them to grow. If you provide me with those things, I will do my best to cultivate them here."

    "That''s very good to hear!" Kivamus said with a smile. "As for closed rooms, we don''t have any empty rooms in the manor, but once the longhouse blocks have been built for the villagers, we can build more such buildings specially to grow these mushrooms. With more than enough coal to heat the buildings, we can maintain a good temperature for them as well." He asked, "You said that they were growing close to a puddle of water, and from what I remember, mushrooms need a good amount of humidity in the air to grow. So you will also need to make some water troughs in those rooms - maybe even metal troughs near the fire, which would make sure that some of the water would keep evaporating continuously and the air wouldn''t get dry there."

    "Certainly, I was already thinking of that," Helga said with a nod. "But it would take time for the longhouse blocks to be completed, and by that time these mushrooms might not survive in the cold."

    "That''s true enough..." Kivamus muttered. "Is there anything we can do about it?"

 Chapter 80 - 79. Levalas

    "What about using the wood from the damaged houses of the villagers?" Hudan suggested. "Since many such villagers are living temporarily with others now, we have many such damaged wooden houses in the village which are empty. We cannot grow any mushrooms there - since the villagers still live nearby, but we can still use the wood from those houses to build a temporary shed easily enough - maybe somewhere outside the walls of the manor, but still close enough that madam Helga doesn''t have to walk too far for that."

    "That''s a very good suggestion, Hudan!" Kivamus said. "We can make it south of the manor walls. There are no people living there, so it wouldn''t be a problem to cultivate them in that place. Duvas, do it tomorrow itself. Tell a few workers to tear down the houses which are completely damaged, after telling the villagers to remove any belongings from them. Ask Taniok to send one of his new apprentices to help and tell him to use that wood to make a temporary shed in the South outside the manor walls, maybe two hundred yards away from the walls. They should be able to make something by evening. It doesn''t need to be anything sturdy, but it should be able to last a month or two, so that we can cultivate the mushrooms there temporarily, until we can make a dedicated wooden building for them."

    He looked at Helga. "Once they have done that tomorrow, use the workers to bring in any small logs and the sawdust which would be easily available where Taniok was cutting the wood into planks. Think about what kind of water trough you need there, and send someone to the blacksmith to get a few such troughs made. Once everything is ready, you can transplant the mushrooms from that puddle along with some of the nearby soil inside that shed. This is an important project, and if we are successful with this it would really help to feed the villagers through the winter. So use any resources that you need for this."

    Helga gave a confident nod. "Leave it to me, my lord. I have experience with this, and it will give me something important to do when I am not cooking meals for us. I will still leave some mushrooms in the puddle there, so that they can provide us with more of them after the winter, in case we are not successful with the cultivation."

    "Good idea. Once we have made the longhouse blocks, I will put Taniok on this, so that he can make a big barn in the south in place of that shed. Assuming the mushrooms have survived in the shed until then, we will try to do mushroom cultivation at a larger scale, so that it can be an important source of food for us even after the winter." Kivamus added, "You should still keep looking around in the area we are clearing around the village in your free time, in case there are more such mushrooms or any usable shrubs."

    "Of course, my Lord," Helga nodded. "But all that comes tomorrow. For now, I am going to cook an excellent Rizako stew for you all!"

    There were cheers in the manor hall after hearing that, as Helga went further inside the manor house to start cooking the dinner.

    *******

    ~ Levalas ~

    ~ Count Ebirtas'' Mansion, Cinran ~

    Levalas, his clothes tattered and muddy, entered the gates of the grand stone mansion of Count Cinran and stepped into the courtyard. It was dusk now, and the fallen leaves on the cobblestone path crunched beneath his feet as he made his way towards the stables. The past week had been a long and difficult journey for him. After running away from the baron''s manor in Tiranat, he had been walking north through the dense forest in the chill of the coming winter, while trying to survive from dangerous beasts and poisonous plants all the way. After surviving on just a few fruits he had found along the way in the forest, he had finally reached Cinran in the evening after more than a week of walking.

    The Count''s mansion, where he was born nearly two decades ago, and which had been his home for all his life, was a formidable structure, its stone walls thick and imposing. A large, horse-drawn carriage stood in the courtyard, its polished wood gleaming in the fading light. Probably a baron had come here to visit the count today.

    He walked towards the western stables, which was one of the three stables in the mansion of the count. He had been working there as a stablehand for nearly all his life, since that dreadful day his destiny had been stolen from him by Count Ebirtas. Now once again he was back to the place he hated with all his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been doing unsavory jobs for Baron Zoricus in the past few years, not limited to stealing and putting a competitor''s warehouse on fire, and he had been adding up his coins one by one to save them. This was supposed to be his final task before he could finally leave this wretched life behind. But his luck had deserted him that day when he tried to poison the Baron of Tiranat, and the faint hope of leaving this place had now flown away from him. He shook his head with a sigh. Dwelling in his past wasn''t going to help him right now.

    Looking inside the stables, he saw that two stablehands he knew quite well were tending to the horses, their movements rhythmic and efficient while they fed the horses with hay. A small well, its water lapping gently against the stone sides, stood near the stables. A young maid, her face framed by a simple headscarf, was drawing a bucket of water from the depths. Once she had gone, he made his way towards it. He knelt beside the well, the axle creaking as he dipped the bucket into the cool, refreshing water. He pulled it up with a grunt of effort, his weary arms protesting all the way. Finally, he poured the water over his face and hands, the cool liquid washing away the dirt and grime of the past week, revealing his pale, gaunt features beneath. As he dried his hands on his tattered tunic, he saw two of the stablehands walking towards him with a smirk.

    "Oh! Master Levalas is here!" The taller one of them sniggered.

    The other stablehand asked with a smirk, "Were you out for a leisurely trip, your highness? We didn''t see you here for more than a week, and we had to do all the work since then!"

    "Shut up..." Levalas grumbled. "I had an errand to run for Baron Zoricus."

    "But you stink, Levalo! Have you been crawling through a muddy ditch?" the taller stablehand asked smugly. "I didn''t know highborns like you did that as a pastime these days."

    Levalas didn''t deign to give an answer to that, and used the water to begin washing his feet as well. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The other one added with a sigh, "Come on Levalo, and help us with the horses. It''s been difficult to handle all the work with just the two of us." He paused, while pinching his nose with his fingers. "But you know, maybe get a little cleaned up first, or the horses would run away from your stench."

    Immediately both of the stablehands started sniggering at the joke, and turned away to walk back towards the stables.

    Levalas called out, "Hey, do you know if Baron Zoricus is in Cinran right now? I need to report to him first. I will come back to help after that."

    The taller stablehand pointed at the large carriage standing nearby. "Oh, that''s his carriage. He is here today to meet with the count."

    Levalas gave a nod in thanks, and continued washing himself to get rid of some of the stink before he went to the baron, while grumbling under his breath. Damn that greedy bastard Zoricus, he was already the richest baron under the Count of Cinran, but he was still not satisfied even now. He already had huge land holdings in the west of Cinran, what would he even do with even more land in the south? These money-grubbing bastards had no limits on their greed.

    The baron was a frequent visitor in the Count''s mansion, though he didn''t always come by the same carriage, since he probably owned a dozen such carriages, which is why Levalas didn''t recognise that carriage. This is where Levalas had gotten acquainted with him in the past, and started doing disreputable jobs for him so that he could finally get enough coin to leave his wretched life behind.

    Once he considered himself a little more presentable, he dried himself with a rag kept nearby and walked towards the Count''s residence. His stomach was rumbling with hunger, but if the baron found out that he had gone to eat instead of reporting to him immediately, the outcome wouldn''t be pretty for him.

    Entering inside, he asked another servant there about Baron Zoricus, and he was pointed towards a room ahead. He walked there, and spoke to the three guards standing outside the room. "I''m here to meet the baron."

    One of the guards looked at him with raised eyebrows, while the older one glared at him. "Scoot off, lad, before we make you. The likes of you have no business meeting with a noble."

    Levalas sighed and looked at his tattered clothes. Of course the guards wouldn''t allow an unknown servant to meet the baron. "Just let the baron know that Levalas is here to talk to him. If he still doesn''t want to meet with me, I will leave without making any ruckus."

    Hearing his name, the guards looked surprised for a moment, before one of them opened the door and entered inside on the older guard''s order. Soon, the guard returned and whispered something to the others. The older guard stared at him for a moment, before he said, "Alright, you can enter. But we''ll be watching you. Don''t try any funny business, or you won''t leave in one piece." Seeing Levalas nod in reply, the first guard gestured at him to come along.

    As he followed the first guard, he heard the other guards muttering something about a servant having a noble''s name. He snorted at that, and entered inside, and found himself in a luxurious room. It was an elaborately decorated place, with many ornate paintings hung on the walls. The floor had pelts of a variety of animals, while there was a fire burning in the fireplace, keeping the room at a pleasant temperature, unlike the chilly weather outside.

    Baron Zoricus, a rotund man in his mid-forties with a huge pot belly, was sitting on a chair at one edge of a long dining table, while eating a lavish meal. A servant was standing nearby, with a carafe of what was probably some very expensive wine, ready to pour more into the baron''s glass. Levalas followed the guard and stood near the table with both of his hands behind his back.

    As he watched, the baron cut up a huge piece of meat with a sharp iron knife, and used his plump fingers to put the delicious looking meat into his mouth with a fork. Levalas'' stomach was making sounds in protest on seeing the feast laid out on the baron''s table, but he tried to keep his eyes on the wall in front of him.

    The baron''s keen eyes seemed to be looking into his soul, as he stared at Levalas while chewing the meat slowly. Zoricus looked at the guard and the servant. "Leave us."

    The guard looked quite surprised. "Are you sure milord? He is..."

    The baron glared at the guard and growled in a low voice, "Do I need to repeat myself? Clear the room and close the door. Now!"

    Immediately, the guard and the servant scrambled outside, closing the door of the large room behind them.

    The baron took a long sip from his glass of wine and looked at him. "Where have you been for so long, Levalo?"

 Chapter 81 - 80. Baron Zoricus

    The ease with which Zoricus called him Levalo, and the way he spoke his name like it was simply the truth, enraged him thoroughly. If the other stablehands called him that, Levalas tolerated it, because other than occasionally making some fun of his name, they didn''t hold any malice towards him, not when they all had been working together in those stables for nearly two decades. But when a noble like Zoricus said it, he felt that it was said only to show him his place. That he wasn''t a noble anymore, and would never be a noble in this life either.

    Levalas simmered inside, but managed to hold any anger from his voice. "I only call myself Levalo among the commoners. My name is Levalas, you know that."

    Zoricus scoffed. "Shut up. You aren''t a noble, not anymore. It''s in the past, and you should have learned your place by now." He took another bite of that meat, and added with a full mouth, "When Count Ebirtas finally keels over, his son will become the next count, not you. You don''t deserve to give yourself a noble name like Levalas anymore."

    Levalas clenched his fists. "I didn''t give that name to myself! My grandfather gave me that name!"

    The baron gave a big laugh, while he licked some gravy from his fingers. "Like I give a shit about that. You are a stablehand for the count now, and nothing more. Know your place, and be glad that he didn''t just execute you when you were a toddler." Zoricus glared at him. "But that''s enough chit chat. Now tell me, were you successful in your task? You should have returned a week ago."

    Levalas took a deep breath to calm himself. If he pushed his luck any further, it wouldn''t end well for him, but he''d be damned if he ever called this lowlife a lord. Not in this lifetime.

    Finally, he began recalling the events of the past week, "It''s not easy to assassinate a baron, you know that much. I had to travel all the way to that village to get a good chance to kill him. Later on, I was captured by the baron''s guards and I barely managed to run away from that village to save my life, so I have been walking through the forest for more than a week to reach here. I had to deal with all kinds of beasts on the way as well." Seeing that Zoricus'' face was getting red with anger since he was taking so long to get to the point, he added with a tinge of satisfaction, "And no, I wasn''t successful."

    Zoricus slammed his fist on the table, and some of the cutlery went flying away from the table. "Dammit, you useless cretin! How could you fail after I went through so much trouble to get rid of the previous baron of that damned village...!" He glared at Levalas. "All the nobles in Count Ebirtas'' court have been vying for those coal mines! Do you have any idea how difficult it was to prevent the Count from allotting the southern lands to a new baron for so long?" He muttered in a low voice, "Who knows what Goddess-damned reason made the Duke send his own son there as a baron, overriding the Count''s authority! This was my only chance to get those coal mines to my name, dammit!"

    Levalas enjoyed the expression on the fat baron''s face after he realized that his plot to capture the huge coalfields of Tiranat wasn''t going to be successful anytime soon. He felt a great deal of satisfaction on unintentionally foiling the baron''s plans, but somehow he still managed not to show any outward reaction. If he had known that this wasn''t just a usual shady job from Zoricus but something more personal - a way to add to his ever growing hoard of land holdings, then perhaps he would have just pretended that he had done his best to assassinate the new baron of Tiranat, without actually doing anything for this greedy bastard!

    Zoricus held his head in both his hands. "Where did I go wrong... I had planned everything..." he mumbled with a frustrated voice.

    Eventually, Zoricus woke up from his musings and glared hard at him. "How could you be so incompetent? I had heard from my sources that he was only traveling with a grand retinue of just one middle-aged advisor! It should have been so simple to put a knife into his neck. How could you have failed in doing even that?"

    Levalas thought about the day he met Baron Kivamus outside Cinran. The young man had already looked so confused and miserable, that he couldn''t think of any reason at that time about why Baron Zoricus wanted to kill the new baron of Tiranat.

    In hindsight, Baron Kivamus'' behavior was quite unlike what he would have expected from a son of the Duke. So he couldn''t bring himself to even try to kill him until they reached that village, in case he was mistaken about the man''s identity. Not to mention that Baron Kivamus was a noble, and he had never killed someone of that station! In fact, he had never killed anyone other than to save his own life - like in situations where someone else was trying to kill him when he was on one of Zoricus'' errands, but he couldn''t let the fat baron know about that little fact. He also had no idea at the time that Lord Kivamus was a son of the duke, or he would have never agreed to take this job in the first place! If the Duke ever found out about this... he shivered just thinking about it...

    For now, to cover up the reasons for his failure, he answered, "Your sources were wrong. Baron Kivamus had two other guards with him other than that advisor, and I didn''t get any chance to get close enough to him to kill him until we reached Tiranat. But once we arrived there, I found an excuse to stay within the baron''s manor in the village, and I managed to get an opportunity to mix some crushed Jocinaq leaves into his soup."

    Zoricus looked interested now, as he took another bite of that still delicious looking meat. "Oh! How did you even get access to Jocinaq leaves? They don''t come cheap at all." Zoricus lifted his left hand which was still dripping with gravy, and said, "You know what, leave it. I don''t care. Just tell me what happened after that. People rarely survive if they eat even a few Jocinaq leaves."

    Levalas nodded. "I thought I would be successful in killing him through that, but there was a problem. After I put the poison into his soup, a young maid who was taking it to the Baron was so hungry that she drank some of that soup herself, and immediately began foaming at the mouth, right in front of the baron. That''s why Baron Kivamus found out that someone was trying to kill him before he even got to drink that soup, and since I was one of the very few people new to the baron''s manor, the guards soon found out that I was the one to poison him and they captured me."

    Zoricus slammed his face on the table again. "Damn those greedy peasants! No matter how much you feed them, they are always hungry for more. The audacity of those peasants!" He took a deep breath, but kept cursing afterwards. "To think of drinking from the same bowl as a noble! Damn her!"

    While Zoricus cursed nearly everyone in existence in that village, Levalas kept waiting calmly until the baron''s temper simmered down. It would be better for him if he didn''t become the target of that wrath. Once he saw that Zoricus had calmed down, he added, "There was a reason for that. I found out later that most of the people were nearly starving in that village. That''s why that maid couldn''t resist drinking from that soup." Of course, even though he didn''t say it out loud, Levalas hoped that the maid was okay. He had no intention of killing an innocent child.

    "I don''t give a damn if that whole village starves," Zoricus scoffed. He glared at Levalas again. "All you had to do was feed him that soup, but you couldn''t even do that much!" sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Levalas shrugged, "It''s not my fault that someone drank that soup on the way. I could hardly have given the soup to the baron with my own hands. No sane noble would accept food directly from some unknown commoner."

    Zoricus gave a disgruntled nod. "But if you were unsuccessful in poisoning him, and he caught you soon after that, he would have executed you on the spot." He squinted his eyes as he looked at Levalas. "How are you still alive?"

    "I got lucky," Levalas replied. "Right after I was presented to the baron after the guards had caught me, I made up a story so that the baron wouldn''t execute me immediately. Since they were still trying to save that young maid, in that rush they tied me up in a barn for the time. But I managed to make the ropes loose enough after a thoughtless guard took me outside to take a leak. And later in the night, I freed myself and luckily found a loose plank in that old barn, and ran away from that village. But I had to walk through the forests for more than a week before I reached here." He didn''t think that mentioning Baron Kivamus didn''t want to kill him in the first place would be a good idea right now, otherwise Zoricus might start to doubt his whole story. He was still confused about how a noble could be so forgiving.

    Zoricus grunted. "That makes sense. But he must still have made his guards interrogate you for information. Did you tell them who sent you? If he knows that I was the one who tried to kill him, it would make life difficult for me in the future. And that means it would be the same for you."

    "I''m not an idiot," Levalas scoffed. "Of course I didn''t tell them anything else." However, what he didn''t say out loud was that he did make his false story close enough to the truth, and if Baron Kivamus was smart, he would get the hint. And anything that created more problems for Zoricus in the future, without implicating Levalas himself in it, gave him a whole lot of satisfaction.

    Zoricus pointed at him with his thick fingers, "You''re still good for nothing, if you couldn''t do such a simple task."

    Levalas didn''t say anything to that. He dithered for a moment about whether to tell him anything more, but decided that it would be a good idea to give a small amount of good news to the fat bastard, so that he wouldn''t take his anger out on him. "There is something else you should know about, which should make you happier. While we were on the road to Tiranat, there was another attack on Baron Kivamus."

    "Interesting..." Zoricus drawled. "They were obviously unsuccessful. Did you find out who sent them?"

 Chapter 82 - 81. Village Walls

    "I''m not certain, since they were killed by the baron''s guards," Levalas replied, "but they were very likely mercenaries sent by someone."

    Zoricus frowned. "Are you sure they weren''t just local bandits? Those forests are full of them these days."

    "I don''t know who sent them, but they weren''t just bandits." Levalas added, "I saw the leader of those mercenaries pointing directly at Baron Kivamus before telling the other mercenaries to target him first."

    Zoricus gave a slow nod. "That''s very interesting... It means someone else is already trying to kill him." He gave a booming laugh. "It seems the Goddess is on my side after all! Who knows, Baron Kivamus might die soon enough even though you failed to kill him, and I wouldn''t even have to get my hands dirty." He looked at Levalas Again. "Alright, you can leave now."

    Levalas thought this was a good opportunity to ask for his rewards. "But what about my payment? You promised me a hundred gold crowns for this."

    Zoricus looked at him for a moment and laughed loudly again. "A hundred gold? Are you insane? That was if you were successful. And even then, did you really think that I would give you a hundred gold crowns just like that? If you can''t do a task you wouldn''t even get a copper from me. Now get out of my sight!"

    And then Zoricus dug into his mound of food again.

    Levalas simmered inside as he walked back to the doors, while thinking he should have expected it. All the nobles were like this. What did he even expect from this greedy bastard?

    He had lived all his life under the thumb of Count Ebirtas and Baron Zoricus, after those two colluded to rob him of his destiny. He had been saving up for a long time to get out of Cinran and buy a new life under a new name somewhere else, and getting a hundred gold from this job would have allowed him to leave his pitiful life behind and finally move on to someplace else. That was why he had even thought of taking such a huge risk to try to assassinate a noble.

    But as he walked back outside, the same thought which had kept swirling in his mind for the past week took over again. Why did Baron Kivamus spare his life? As much as he thought about it, he couldn''t find an answer to it. No noble was that forgiving. And if a noble found out that you were trying to kill them, they would have executed him on the spot. But why did the baron spare his life?

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, late in the afternoon Kivamus was walking in the manor grounds with others. The weather was getting colder every day, while the sun was nowhere to be seen even in the afternoon. Although because of an absence of wind, the weather was still tolerable. Even so, those servants and maids in the manor who had to work outside were using a burning brazier next to them.

    Gorsazo began, "Yesterday, Yeden had asked for our help in marking out the areas where the trees needed to be cut first so that all the trenches could be dug before the ground freezes. So Hudan and I had taken a few workers who carried a bunch of sticks, and then we walked around the village at a distance of around hundred yards and we planted those sticks in a straight line where the trenches needed to be dug. We also put a mark on those trees, which were in the way, so that they could be cut first. Of course, the trenches for the northern side of the walls are nearly completed already, but we still had to do it for the other sides."

    "It was a good decision to put most of the workers to dig the trenches first," Hudan said. "It would only take a few more days to finish all the trenches at this rate, since nearly a hundred workers are doing that now."

    Gorsazo added, "Yeden also told me to let you know that the new iron sheets which Taniok has wrapped and nailed around the axle have been very helpful. The first rope which he used after that is still working without any damage at all. That will really reduce the number of new ropes that he needs to use for them."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s good to hear." he asked, "How''s the progress in the south now?"

    Duvas replied, "I met Pinoto in the morning today, and he told me that they have also cleared a decent sized area in the South by now. Burning the stumps has been helpful as well, since it has allowed the workers to continue cutting new trees. Now they also have a growing pile of logs, which they have been stacking up in a crisscrossed way, while leaving space between the logs to let them dry easily. Although the coming winter means that they won''t really start drying until the spring, the summer months should be helpful to dry them well, and in a year we should start to get seasoned logs."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said. "Although we will still have to use most of the logs to build the village walls first. But it''s good to start thinking of the future from now itself."

    "That reminds me to talk with you about the walls, my Lord," Hudan said. "Most of the stakes we have will be around two feet wide. But we still have to decide how tall those walls have to be."

    Kivamus looked at the walls of the manor nearby. "How tall are those walls?"

    Duvas replied, "Those stakes are around ten feet high above the ground."

    Hudan spoke after a moment, "I would suggest making the village walls higher, maybe around fifteen feet high above the ground."

    "Well, we certainly have long enough logs to make taller walls," Kivamus observed, "and that seems like a good height to deter any bandits who want to raid the village. Fifteen feet high above the ground... that means we will need to dig around five feet into the ground for those stakes to be stable."

    "That was my guess as well," Hudan said. "That''s why I had already told Yeden to tell the workers to dig around five feet deep trenches, although I still had to confirm it with you." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Don''t worry, that''s a good depth," Kivamus commended. "It should keep the walls strong enough."

    Hudan nodded. "Certainly, my Lord. Of course, we will add more defensive measures in the future, like digging a shallow trench outside the walls and filling it with small sharpened sticks - but that is something we should do only after the walls have been completed."

    Kivamus gave a nod in reply. "When all the trenches are completed and we start the actual wall construction, we should try to complete one side of the walls first, instead of constructing the walls all around the village at the same time. Let''s say, we can complete the northern side of the walls first, since that''s where most of the workers are working anyway, and it will help to protect the longhouses in the north. The workers can work simultaneously on the northern walls at a few different places, which will allow the walls to be completed faster."

    "That''s good thinking, my lord," Hudan said. "If we have even one side of the walls completed, that will give me one less side to worry about when defending the village in case of an attack. But what about the gates? Should we make a gate in the north as well? And where should they be located?"

    Kivamus didn''t reply for a minute as he thought about it. "While it''s true that making fewer gates would make it easier for a smaller number of guards to be put on duty there, we don''t know where an attack might come from. So it is always a good idea to have other gates to exit from, in case we need to evacuate the villagers while guards deal with an attack. And we do need a gate in the north for the northern road, and in the west for the road going to Kirnos. We also need to keep a gate in the South so that the farmers wouldn''t have to walk too far to reach the farms. That just leaves the east, where a new training ground will be built in the future just inside the village walls. We should keep a gate there as well, so that those guards can easily exit the village walls from there in case they need to flank any attackers in the west or on other sides."

    "It does make sense." Duvas added, "That means four gates, one on each side of the village walls."

    Kivamus nodded. "But there is another thing I was thinking about. It would be a good idea to make a few watchtowers as well, just inside the walls. It''s a different fact that we will be short on guards to man all the watchtowers, as well as all the gates, even if we put them on longer shifts, but that is something we can deal with in the future. But we need to plan thoroughly in advance. Although I am not yet sure how many watchtowers we will need." He looked at Duvas, "How long are the new walls going to be on each side? From what I understand, the shape of the new village walls would be like a rectangle, with longer sides on the north and the south."

    Duvas replied, "That shape is correct, my lord. As for the lengths, I can''t tell you about that myself. But Gorsazo, couldn''t you give an estimate, since you and Hudan went around the village to mark the locations for the trenches yesterday?"

    "It''s not like I had a way to measure the lengths of the trenches," Gorsazo answered, "but I can still give an estimate for sure." He gazed into the distance for a moment as he thought about it. "I''d say... the walls should be somewhere between two hundred fifty and three hundred meters long on the shorter sides. That is, on the eastern and the western sides."

    "As for the north and south," he continued, "I think those are maybe a third longer. So perhaps around three hundred and fifty meters on the northern and southern sides. It''s only an estimate though."

    "That''s alright, it still gives us a basic idea," Kivamus said. A sudden gust of wind made him shiver, and he missed the warmth of the manor hall. "Let''s return inside first, shall we? It''s getting cold here."

    "I was going to suggest the same, my lord," Duvas said with his arms around himself. "These old bones cannot tolerate cold too much."

    As they turned back towards the manor hall, Kivamus looked at the majordomo, who must be pushing sixty years now. He certainly would be feeling the cold much more than him. Well, at least the fireplace would be burning inside the hall.

    He looked at the guard captain. "How many watchtowers do you think we need to cover the whole wall?"

 Chapter 83 - 82. Unconventional Ideas - Part I

    Hudan gave it a minute of thought before he replied. "I''d say we need one watchtower at each corner for sure. Although, in the future, maybe we can add another watchtower in the middle of each of the longer sides, and if we are able to muster enough guards to man all the watchtower properly, we could even make a watchtower at every hundred meters, but we can''t possibly man that many watchtowers at this point."

    "So we need a minimum of four watchtowers then," Kivamus said. "Let''s keep it at that number for now, and we can consider adding more in the future. I was also thinking about making the gates next to the watchtowers, so that the gates will be well covered by the archers from the watchtowers. That''s why instead of making the gates right in the middle of the walls spanning from one corner to another, we should keep the gates at the corners of the walls. For example, the northern gate can actually be at the northeastern corner of the village wall." He added after a moment of thought, "Actually, that idea would allow us to get by with just three gates."

    He explained, "The first gate will be at the north-eastern corner, facing north, and the second gate will be at the south-eastern corner, facing south. That will allow easy access to the northern road, as well as to the farms in the south from their respective gates, and unless we are sieged by an attacking army from all sides, which is highly unlikely anyway, those opposite gates will allow the guards to flank any bandits who are attacking any of the other gates. And finally, the third gate will be in the western walls, near the southwestern corner, which will allow easy access to the road going southwest towards Kirnos as well."

    Slowly, they reached the manor house and entered inside, and took seats on the comfortable armchairs near the fireplace, welcoming the warmth of the burning fire.

    "Hmm..." Hudan muttered as he put his hands near the fire to warm them. "It should work, I think. Having one fewer gate to worry about would certainly make it easier to man them, especially since all the gates will be close to a watchtower as well."

    "indeed," Kivamus said. "Now, as for the height of the watchtowers, we need to make them high enough that it would allow the guards to keep an eye on a good amount of distance. We have decided the walls to be fifteen feet high, which is nearly five meters. So... the towers should be at least double of that height, shouldn''t they?"

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "Ten meters high watchtowers should be good enough, although I would have preferred them to be taller, since the guards don''t just have to keep an eye on the walls. We are clearing five hundred yards of ground all around the village, so the towers should be high enough that the guards can easily keep an eye that far. Even so, keeping in mind our other limitations of manpower, a height of ten meters would do for now."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "Ten meters it is. We will also need a lot more bows and arrows to arm the guards in the future, but that is something we can think about only after the immediate concerns are taken care of." He continued, "Also, we will only start the construction of the watchtowers after all the walls and the gates have been completed. Let Yeden know that the trenches for the stakes should be five feet deep, like you have told him earlier, and the stakes themselves should be cut at length of twenty feet, so that they will be fifteen feet high above the ground. Once all the trenches have been dug, he should put a dozen or so workers to start sharpening one side of those stakes so that the top of the walls will be sharp."

    "I''ll let him know, my Lord," Hudan nodded.

    Kivamus thought about the limitation of guards which would prevent them from manning all the watchtowers and the gates properly. It was true that they really did have a shortage of manpower, since they needed the able-bodied men to keep working as laborers, for all the things that needed to be done in the village. They couldn''t afford to take one or even two dozen more men out of the workforce to keep them as guards, which wouldn''t be productive for the village. However... While it was true that this was the medieval era, and the people here were habitual in thinking in orthodox ways, he wasn''t bound by such limitations himself. Even though they were short of able-bodied men by now, they weren''t short of working age women at all.

    While it was true that women still did have to work in this world, including a few who were working as manual laborers in the village, but those were the exceptions, and they were mainly those women who didn''t have anyone else they could depend on. Without any education and with the only jobs available in this era being those which required physical power had easily outcasted most of the women from the workforce, since they couldn''t carry logs or push carts full of coal as well as men could. That had relegated them to jobs like sewing, cooking and taking care of the children, which didn''t require as much physical prowess as a coal miner or a logger did. However, there were still many more things which they could be taught to do in this world, even without access to any modern machines like tractors or cars, which anyone could drive with proper instruction.

    He looked at others sitting near the fireplace before he broached this topic. While Duvas was educated well enough for the standards of this world, he had been living most of his life in the middle of nowhere, with the local customs deciding his mindset as well, not that people were any more progressive thinking in the bigger cities. Hudan was born in a commoner''s family and his values would be the same as others as well, and while Gorsazo was well educated and served as a teacher for a son of the duke, none of these people would be easily receptive to his unorthodox idea, but he still had to try.

    He began, "Like you said earlier Hudan, we are short on manpower, and we can''t easily man all the gates and the watchtowers. Even as a rough estimate, if we put just two men at each gate and each watchtower for eight hour shifts, we need a total of fourteen men for each shift, or forty-two men to cover all shifts. That doesn''t include any guards which we will still need in the manor itself, not to mention any men who might be sick or injured and might not be able to pull guard duty temporarily. Even if we extended the shifts to twelve hours, which we might need to do anyway, we will still need twenty-eight men just to man all the gates and watchtowers - again, that doesn''t include those we need in the manor. So as it stands right now, it wouldn''t be feasible for us to man all the guard posts with our current complement of twenty-four guards."

    Hudan gave a sigh. "I realize that, my Lord. I was already thinking about that problem. Feroy and I would have to pull guard shifts as well, which would give us two more men, but even then we would still be short of trained guards."

    "Exactly," Kivamus nodded. "That is why I want to suggest something new." As others looked at him in curiosity, he added, "We are short on man-power, of course, but we aren''t really short on woman-power, are we?"

    While Gorsazo frowned at him, Duvas asked, "What do you mean by that, my Lord?" S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I mean, while it is true that we can''t ask women to climb trees to cut the branches, or to carry the logs from place to place, we can recruit a few of them as guards, can''t we?" Kivamus added, seeing the uncertain expressions on others'' faces, "I know that they might not be able to fight hand to hand with a sword against a bandit, but we can still use them as archers, right? That way, they can be the ones to be stationed on the watchtowers, from where they can rain arrows on any enemy without needing to fight with them face-to-face where they might be easily overpowered by men."

    While Gorsazo kept frowning at him, he didn''t say anything at all. Hudan started to speak something, but the old majordomo interrupted him with an offended voice, "My lord, woman as guards? As warriors? That''s... that''s... shameful, my lord! With all due respect to you, it''s completely disgraceful for you to even suggest something like that!"

    Before Kivamus could reply, Duvas stood up from his chair in anger and continued speaking with an outraged voice, "If we have to let our women fight for us, we might as well submit to the bandits ourselves! What is the point of all this, if we can''t even protect women, and have to ask them to fight in our place?"

    Kivamus had expected that reaction, but for a moment he was so surprised with Duvas'' wrath that he didn''t know what to say. Once Duvas was done speaking, he sat down on his armchair again and stared at him with anger. Taking a deep breath, Kivamus began, "We are not asking women to fight in our place, Duvas. We are asking them to fight along with us! There is a difference in that."

    "I might be getting old now, my Lord," Duvas huffed, "but my ears are working just fine. I heard exactly what you said earlier. It doesn''t make what you suggested any more palatable." He looked at Gorsazo and asked, "What do you think? Do you support this outrageous proposal?"

    Gorsazo stared at Kivamus for a while before he shook his head slowly. "Not really, Duvas. I know that some of the knights have a woman or two in their retinue when they go to fight, but they are usually for doing tasks like cooking and sewing, not for fighting. I don''t think I have ever heard of any women being forced to fight as warriors anywhere."

    Duvas snorted, and glared at Kivamus. "See, even Gorsazo doesn''t agree to it, and he is from a big city! I don''t mean any disrespect, but I just can''t agree to it. You should stop thinking about such a half-witted idea, and the Goddess will make sure to protect us."

    By this point, Kivamus was getting annoyed after hearing their orthodox but naive views, even when their own survival was at stake here. He stared back at Duvas and Gorsazo and asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "Really? Just like she protected the previous baron from that ambush? Or like she protected the village in the previous bandit raid? I don''t want to criticize the Goddess, but I don''t think any deity would protect someone who was acting as stupidly as you all!"

 Chapter 84 - 83. Unconventional Ideas - Part II

    Duvas, who had always seemed quite religious to him, looked even more angry now and started to retort back, but Kivamus raised his voice and spoke over him, "Well, what do you propose then? Should we keep those watchtowers empty? Or should we not make those watchtowers at all? Because as you very well know, we need all the able-bodied men to keep working as laborers to finish those longhouses and the village walls soon, and then we''d need them to work as farmers from the next year, so we can''t afford to recruit any more men to work as guards."

    He tilted his head as he stared at Duvas. "Or, you know... we can just put the guards on twenty-hour shifts or something! Although we might not be able to properly man all the gates and the watchtowers even when using insanely long shifts, which still wouldn''t work anyway - since that will make the guards so tired that they wouldn''t be able to fight any bandits in the first place!"

    Duvas crossed his arms, and looked away. "I don''t know the solution, or I would have suggested it myself! But that doesn''t mean that we should force women to fight against bandits and risk their lives!"

    Kivamus nodded. "Exactly. Neither of us wants the women to risk their lives. But what do you think will happen if the bandits come on another raid here? I have no idea how many bandits are in these forests, but the news would certainly get around that we lost many guards in that ambush on the previous baron, and we also couldn''t defend the village in the previous raid. That leaves the door wide open for many more raids in the village. There will certainly be bandit attacks here in the future, you can be sure of that!"

    He added with sarcasm, "There is always an option to hire a few dozen more men as guards, which would mean the longhouses would be finished even later, leaving a few people to freeze in the winter. And in that case, the village walls might not be finished for months - and without village walls, the bandits would easily be able to raid us again and burn half the village while they run away. Is that what you prefer?"

    Duvas gazed away again and didn''t give an answer. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, don''t just look away now!" Kivamus asked the majordomo again, "Tell me, what do you think will happen if the bandits raid again? Since we do not have enough guards, we cannot possibly protect the whole village as it stands right now. So if the bandits do come here, and we keep the remaining guards just to protect the manor like the last time, what would happen to those women?"

    He added heatedly, "By now, the bandits would also know that we can''t afford to go out of the manor to fight them - based on their wonderful experience last time when they raided the village without any repercussions at all. So do you think this time those bandits would politely ask the women in the village to hand over their coins and stored grain and then they''d leave with a thank you? Or would they kidnap those women and children and take them away to sell them as slaves in Cinran, or maybe some fate even worse? Tell me which is the more likely outcome."

    Duvas gave a deep sigh. "I don''t know, my Lord, I don''t know! I do realize that we can''t protect the whole village if we are raided by bandits right now. And I know just as well what would happen to any women who are kidnapped by them. But... but to ask the women to fight for us...? It is completely unheard of... Even Gorsazo has never heard of women being forced to fight as guards anywhere. How am I supposed to agree to such a bizarre thing?"

    "I understand where you are coming from," Kivamus said after taking a deep breath to calm himself, "but desperate times call for desperate measures. I wouldn''t suggest this if we had any other option, but we cannot keep half the workforce idle just because they are women - especially when doing that risks their lives just as much as not asking them to fight, in case a bandit raid does happen soon in the future."

    "I do understand our situation... my lord," Duvas muttered after a while. "And like I have told you in the past, I will follow your decisions and orders, even if they go against what I stand for." He sighed. "But I still have to say... I don''t like it one bit."

    "That''s alright, Duvas," Kivamus said, with his expression hardened. "Sometimes, there are things in life that we might not prefer to do... but we still need to do them if they are necessary enough."

    Gorsazo still wasn''t saying anything, so he didn''t ask him again, knowing by now that he wouldn''t get any support from him in this matter. He gave some time to Duvas to come around to the idea, while he looked at the guard captain. "What do you think, Hudan? You have been very quiet so far."

    Hudan grunted, "I know just as well as others here that women don''t work as guards or in armies anywhere, and for good reason. And if you had asked me this question before I met Feroy, I would have given you the same answer as others. But talking with him in the past few years has opened my eyes to what happens to those women who are kidnapped by bandits or mercenaries. I would rather not speak of such things here, but it is usually a fate much worse than death, let me say that much," he answered with a grimace. "That was the kind of behavior which made Feroy start to loathe those mercenaries and forced him to leave that life behind."

    He continued, "Since we arrived in Tiranat and I saw the state of the village, I started to think of ways to protect the manor and the village better. And knowing all that Feroy has told me, the concept of asking women to fight as guards had certainly come to my mind in the recent weeks. So I do believe that as unusual as it may be, it is a better fate for women to die fighting with bandits while trying to protect their families and home than to be captured by them."

    The guard captain continued, "But I still never mentioned hiring women as guards to you, because the practical reasons which prevent them from working as warriors in the first place still stand true. The fact remains that even a moderately trained bandit can simply overpower women with brute force, so the vast majority of women cannot work as swordsmen or even spearmen. The same stands for bows. While I have seen a woman I knew shoot an arrow accurately enough in the past, but most often, women don''t have the immense physical power needed to pull the string of a warbow - especially the poorly fed women in this village."

    Kivamus nodded. "I do realize that, but that doesn''t mean that they would be completely useless in the defense of the village. That''s why I even thought of making watchtowers - so that we could employ women as guards. They wouldn''t have to fight face-to-face with any bandits if they are standing on top of the watchtowers. And I am not asking you to start training them in swordsmanship, since that is not what we need right now anyway. But if we could make something which allows women to shoot just as well as any man, and then place them on those watchtowers, then we could easily increase our guard force without slowing down the construction of longhouses and the walls."

    The first thing that came in his mind after that was guns - which could be operated by women just as well as any man, but he realized that making such advanced things in Tiranat wouldn''t be feasible anytime soon. However, if they could get even a few crossbows made in the village, those would still work just as well for them. However, an even more important outcome would be to get the villagers into the mindset that women can work just as well as men in basically everything. And that mindset would be very, very important for any future progress of this village.

    Hudan looked at him curiously. "What do you mean by that, my Lord? How could the women in this village suddenly become as strong as men to pull the string of those warbows? It''s a different fact that while we have around half a dozen lighter hunting bows, we only have two heavy warbows - which we have provided to the caravan. Even so, I can''t see any way that it would be possible for women to use them here." He continued, "But more importantly, even if we had some incredible way to do that, the families of the women here wouldn''t allow them to fight and risk their lives in the first place."

    "That''s... very concerning..." Kivamus muttered. "But don''t the villagers realize the risks if the bandits come and we are not able to fight them off? What if they kidnap the women? No family would prefer that, would they?"

    Duvas answered this time with a sigh. "The thing is, my Lord, that the locals here are not habitual of raids. Before the grain prices rose so high over the past two years, we didn''t have that big of a bandit problem here. But in the past year, a lot of people have lost their livelihood in the whole duchy of Ulriga, and not knowing of any other way to feed themselves, many have turned to banditry. There is also the fact that while the villagers did lose a lot of coins and stored grains in the recent raid, nobody was kidnapped or killed, since the bandits probably didn''t realize how short on trained guards we were at that time."

    He continued, "Thankfully, you arrived here soon after that raid, and now we are actively trying to do our best to protect the village, because as you said earlier, the next raid wouldn''t be so forgiving for the villagers. But from the villagers'' perspective, they likely would not realize the danger of people being kidnapped or killed, until it has already happened here."

    "That does make sense," Kivamus said. "But we cannot take the risk of letting people die or women getting kidnapped before the villagers come to their senses."

    Duvas added with a grimace, "Truthfully, even I hadn''t thought about it that much before you opened my eyes to the risks. But now I do think that it would be better to do our best to protect the village, even if we have to ask women to fight, instead of letting the bandits kidnap them. However it would take some really good convincing to the villagers for them to allow the women in their families to work as guards."

    Kivamus nodded, feeling glad that the majordomo was coming around to the idea. "I understand that. But even so, there would still be a few women in the village who would be willing to become guards so that they could earn good wages by themselves - maybe those who don''t have anyone else in their family, or those whose male family members are injured or sick - where the women would be the only bread earners in that family. You should ask them first, and see if they are willing to join as guards."

    Duvas gave a slow nod, as if he had to swallow a bitter pill - something necessary but completely unpalatable. "I will try to make them understand the risks of not doing that. It won''t be easy, but they already know that I try my best to help the villagers - even when the previous baron was here, so if such an unusual idea is coming from me - instead of from Hudan or other guards, it would lend it some more weight. Hopefully, we would be able to get some good candidates for Hudan to recruit."

    He asked after a moment, "We are only paying the workers and guards in grain right now, which costs only around half of their usual wages, but when we do return to paying them in coins, it would be very costly if we recruit too many guards. So how many women do you plan to recruit?"

 Chapter 85 - 84. Better Than A Bow

    "Let''s think about it," Kivamus said. He looked at the guard captain. "What is your opinion about this? Once we have the village walls ready, we can afford to keep only a small number of guards in the manor, while the rest of our current guards can be put on duty at the village gates and the watchtowers. Since most of the off-duty guards also stay in the manor in their free time, we would still have enough guards in the manor in case of an emergency."

    Hudan thought about it for a while before he answered. "Like you said earlier, my Lord, if we put just two men, or even women, at each watchtower and each gate, we''ll still need fourteen men for each shift, or forty-two in total. And in any case, even if the off duty guards would stay here in the manor, we would still need a few guards here on active duty in each shift, but that would add up to too high a number."

    He continued, "What we can do here to reduce the number is that, since three of the watchtowers would be built right next to the gates, we can put just one man on each watch tower in each shift, while the gates would still have two guards. Usually, it wouldn''t be safe to keep just two men at each gate, but since there would be someone keeping an eye on the surroundings from the height of the watchtower, they should be able to notify the manor quickly in case of an attack, especially if they are provided some sort of horn to signal emergencies like a bandit raid or an attack by some wild beast."

    Duvas said, "We do have a few ?old animal horn?s in the manor, even though we rarely used them. We can provide them to the guards in those watchtowers, so that they can sound an alarm in case of such an attack."

    "That will be very helpful," Hudan said. He continued, "The fourth watchtower in the north-west would still need to have two men in all shifts though, just in case an attacker shoots the guard there with an arrow from a distance. This way the other guard would still be able to notify the manor of an imminent attack. That would add up to..."

    "Eleven men in each shift," Kivamus answered, "or a total of thirty three men. That''s not including those in the manor, so it''s still too high." He added, "For now, until we are able to properly man every gate, we can just keep the gate in the south-east barred permanently from inside, so that the villagers can use the gates in the north-east and the south-west, which would still allow easy enough access to the workplaces outside the walls. However, that watchtower would still have a guard there in each shift, to keep an eye outside in that direction."

    He continued, "Ideally, we should have put two guards in the southeastern watchtower as well, just like the one in the northwest - because there wouldn''t be any gate guards there, but we can make do with only a single guard in the south-eastern watchtower for now, since it is close to the manor itself, where all the off duty guards will be resting, which means we can immediately respond to an attack from that direction. That leads us to two guards at those two village-gates each, and one guard at all the watchtowers except the one in the Northwest - which will have two guards. That adds up to nine guards in each shift, or a total of twenty-seven guards in total." He nodded to himself, "That''s doable, I think."

    "It seems so," Hudan agreed. "Since Feroy and I will be here in the manor most of the time anyway along with the off-duty guards, we can get by with just two guards on active duty at each of the two manor gates, which is a total of twelve guards for all three shifts. That means we need thirty-nine guards to be able to man all the gates and the watchtower, along with the gates of the manor. Since we have twenty-four guards right now, we would need to hire fifteen more men or women."

    "Right," Kivamus nodded. "Since we can put the women on guard duty at the watchtowers, we need five women in each shift, for a total of fifteen. That adds up nicely with the number of new guards we need to recruit." He looked at Duvas, "That means you need to try to recruit fifteen women in total. Let them know that they would get the same wages as the male guards. Of course, the payment will be in grain and coal for now, and coins in the future."

    "I will do my best to recruit them, my Lord," Duvas nodded. "I don''t know if we would be able to get that many women to work as guards though."

    "Just give it a try," Kivamus said, "you never know. And if we are unable to get enough women as guards, we will think of something else in the future."

    Duvas nodded. "But do we need to pay them the same wages as the men? Usually women are only paid a smaller amount than men, even when they were working as laborers in the mines, since they couldn''t do as much physical work as a man."

    Kivamus grimaced. Of course the orthodox thinking in the medieval ages would include blatant discrimination like that. He answered, "They are risking their lives just as much as men by working as guards, and unless you value their lives less than men, I see no reason to pay them a smaller amount. So let them know that their wages would be the same as male guards."

    "As you say, my Lord," Duvas grumbled.

    "However," Hudan began, "all that would work out only if the women could be just as good guards as men. So, even if we only plan to use the women as archers and not swordsmen, I am still curious about how we can make them shoot arrows just as well as trained male archers. Usually they need years of practice, and excellent muscle strength."

    "I was getting to that," Kivamus said with a smile. "Have you ever heard of something called crossbows? I read about that in a book in the Ulriga palace, and those could be very helpful to us here."

    "Cross...bows...?" Hudan muttered. "What does that even mean?" He raised his eyebrows. "Two bows which are built crossed to each other?"

    Kivamus laughed. "No, no, nothing like that." He looked at others. "Have none of you heard about it?"

    Duvas just shrugged, and didn''t say anything, while Gorsazo seemed to be looking far into the distance, as if lost in thought.

    Shaking his head, Kivamus explained to the guard captain, "What I mean is a device which is usually smaller than a bow, but instead of pulling a string to release the arrow - which requires a lot of physical power, it uses a mechanism which doesn''t take too much effort, and it would allow even women to easily reload it. More importantly, unlike bows, you don''t need to reload crossbows immediately before shooting them, since you can prepare them in advance, so that they would be ready to shoot immediately when needed. That allows the person using them to target and aim accurately, taking as much time as they need for that, unlike bows - where the archer needs immense physical power to hold a fully drawn bow even for a short time."

    Hudan looked intrigued. "That... sounds incredible... my Lord." He scratched his head, and muttered, "Although it seems similar to something I have heard in the past, I''m not sure..."

    He frowned for a moment, as if trying to remember something, then suddenly he said, "Right! Now I remember it. A while ago, when Feroy was telling me about his time with mercenaries, he mentioned that in an attack somewhere in Girnalica, his group had seen something called... Right, an arbalest! That''s what it was called. He told me that instead of normal arrows used in a bow, it used bolts, and while it took much longer to load it and shoot, it could be kept ready to shoot for a long while in case you already knew that you were going to need it."

    He added, "However, from what I remember, Feroy told me that those arbalests were even bigger than bows, and took a lot of strength to reload. But on the bright side, the bolts which those arbalests shot were powerful enough to easily take down a charging warhorse."

    Kivamus nodded, remembering reading something about it in his past life on earth, when he used to spend his free time reading all kinds of things on the internet. "Yes, crossbows use the same concept as them, but are smaller than them, and can be considered a more advanced version of that. Also, it''s good to hear about arbalests, since it means there are artisans who can already build them in the kingdom. Do you think we might be able to buy a few of them from Cinran, or Kirnos?"

    Hudan shook his head in reluctance. "There is basically no possibility of that, my Lord. From what Feroy told me, the only place in the whole kingdom where they are only built is in the capital Dorastiz. And from what I think, nobody would possess any arbalests outside the guards of the royal family in Dorastiz. Maybe the guards of the Dukes might have a few, but they are very rarely seen. I have never seen one of those myself in all my life."

    Kivamus thought about it from the memories of the original Kivamus. "I don''t think I ever saw something like that in the Ulriga Palace." He looked at Gorsazo, who was still lost and thought and asked, "What do you think?"

    Gorsazo blinked, as if he had forgotten he was sitting here. "Uh... What did you ask, my Lord?

    Kivamus repeated his question.

    "I don''t think I''ve seen something like that either..." Gorsazo replied after a while. "Maybe the Duke''s knights in Fort Aragosa might have a few of them, but I wouldn''t know about that since I''ve never been there. Truthfully, I''m not even sure what this arbalest is, since I''ve never seen such a thing."

    "That''s alright." Kivamus continued, "But it still means that we can''t easily buy them, if at all. However, we could still try to make them ourselves. I think I can sketch the design of it well enough."

    Hudan looked surprised. "You can, my Lord?"

    Kivamus smiled, "The concept isn''t that difficult, and I can certainly describe the design of it to Taniok and Cedoron, but they would need to make the necessary parts for it very precisely. It is up to them whether they can successfully build it based on my designs. Of course, there is no point in telling them about it until the longhouse blocks and the village wall is completed. But I think we should still be able to build them after that." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan said, "From what Feroy had described, it seemed like a very effective weapon if used properly. If we could even make a few of them here... it would really help in the defense of the village. And if we had enough of them to provide them to every guard, any attacking bandits wouldn''t know what hit them!"

    "True enough!" Kivamus explained, "In our case, if we put a few loaded crossbows on each watchtower, then in case of an attack, the women there can easily use those crossbows to shoot the bandits one by one, without needing to reload them again immediately. Of course, even then, those crossbows would need to be reloaded before they can be used again, but even those initial few bolts - which crossbows use in place of arrows, would allow even a single woman to take down three or four bandits just by herself, and without even getting injured."

    He continued, "In the future, if we are able to put two or even three guards on each watchtower, then the guard who has better accuracy, can keep shooting the attacking bandits with those crossbows, while the others can use that time to reload them. This would allow them to keep shooting continuously as long as they have enough bolts. This is something which cannot be done with a bow and arrow, since the person who is shooting them is the one who has to load the arrow. However, having crossbows would allow a woman to keep shooting at the pace of three or four trained archers with others providing her with loaded crossbows, or even faster if more people are assisting her." He added with a smile. "It''s a different fact that unlike a bow, it is much easier to use a crossbow, so it doesn''t even need much training for even an untrained person to use them!"

    "But it can''t all be good, my Lord," Hudan said with a frown. "There have to be a few shortcomings of arbalests or even crossbows when compared to a bow and arrow, otherwise everyone would be using them in place of bows, isn''t it so?

 Chapter 86 - 85. Crossbows

    "You are right," Kivamus replied. "Those arbalests are much heavier, and they are slower to reload as well when compared to a bow, which would make them undesirable weapons for most people. That means it would be very costly if a noble wants to produce them in bulk to equip his whole army with them."

    He continued, "However, what I have in my mind is something much lighter than arbalests, so that even women can use it. While it would still take longer to load than a bow, the crossbows would work just as well in the defense of the village, especially when shooting their bolts from the height of a watchtower." He added, "Also, while I think a well trained archer can probably shoot arrows at nearly double the pace of someone shooting with a crossbow, that limitation can be reduced by having others nearby to help load the crossbow."

    Duvas gave his opinion as well. "I think most nobles would still prefer every archer to shoot a bow himself, instead of letting a single person shoot with a crossbow while others are just helping him. Of course, it''s a different fact that it must be very difficult and time-consuming to make those arbalests, which would make their costs much higher compared to a bow - which can be made much more easily and cheaply. That must be why I haven''t ever heard of their use."

    Kivamus nodded. "That is true as well, but if we can produce them ourselves instead of buying them from another city, the prices should still be manageable for us. Cedoron seems like a well trained blacksmith. It will certainly take him a few tries to get all the iron parts right, but he should still be able to produce a working crossbow with the help of Taniok. And after we have worked out any problems in it, producing more of them would become much easier."

    He added, "Pydaso told us that the price of iron ingots was cheap right now, so that will also help to keep the costs low. But, even with their higher costs, we need the advantage of those crossbows to properly defend the village, especially with our limited number of guards - half of whom haven''t picked up a sword in their lives before we recruited them. With those crossbows, we can even use women to defend the village, while still letting the men work at other necessary tasks in the village - that''s something which wouldn''t be possible with a bow."

    Hudan nodded. "From what I understand now, a bow would still be a better weapon for an attacking army - since they can shoot faster and an army can be equipped much more cheaply with bows. But for those who are defending a fortified place - like Tiranat will be, after we have completed the walls and the watchtowers - a crossbow would work just as well. They might even be more useful than bows when we are defending against a big attack if we get other civilians to help the trained crossbowmen to reload the crossbows, while they stay below the side walls on the platform of a watchtower. That is not possible for an attacking army to do in the field, otherwise those civilians would be sitting ducks for our arrows."

    "You seem to have understood the uses very well," Kivamus commended him.

    Duvas asked, "But it will take time until Taniok gets enough free time to make those crossbows, so do you want me to postpone telling the villagers that we are hiring women as guards? Otherwise, we would unnecessarily be paying the women guards, since they wouldn''t be able to do anything without those crossbows."

    "No, you should tell them about that as soon as you can," Kivamus replied. "It wouldn''t be easy for the villagers to believe that women can be guards too, so it would take time until they can come around to the idea. Telling them about this in advance would help us in getting a trickle of volunteers regularly, since we very likely wouldn''t get as many women as we are hiring immediately. Also, most likely those women wouldn''t have fought even once in their life, and even if we gave fully loaded crossbows to them, it would take time for them to get into the proper mindset to be ready to shoot down a charging bandit, or even a knight in the future. So even though it will take time before we can make any crossbows, Hudan can use that time to give them the very basics of training. For example, he can start giving them physical training by making them run around the manor regularly, and they can still get very basic training with a wooden sword."

    Seeing that Duvas was going to interrupt him, he spoke over his voice, "I know what you are going to say. And I am not saying that women are going to become expert swordsmen anytime soon, but unless they learn to keep a cool mind even when someone stronger than them is coming at them with a sword in their hands with an intention to kill them, they wouldn''t be able to shoot a crossbow properly anyway. I know we are only going to put the woman on duty at the watchtower, but you can never know what will happen in an attack, so letting them get familiarized with other guards with whom they would be fighting together, and getting them in the proper mindset to be ready to shoot a charging bandit is just as important - just in case they have to use the crossbows while on the ground."

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, once we begin to get volunteers, you should start giving them basic training like I mentioned. In fact, you should do that with other guards as well. Any off duty guards which get sword training from you, should also be trained to become extremely fit physically. We have already talked about making a dedicated training ground in the east of the manor, but you should start on that from now itself."

    Hudan nodded. "I do make them run a little to get their bodies warmed up before I start to train them, but it is true that I can do better in that. I will start doing that from now on, and I''ll include more such exercises like sprinting, and jumping, along with making them run more to build their stamina. When we start to get women as guards, I will include them in the physical training as well."

    "Good," Kivamus said. Looking at his slightly protruding belly, courtesy of the lazy habits of the original Kivamus and his copious drinking - just like all nobles in this era, he said, "Actually, I will join you too."

    "Uh..." Hudan hesitated. "Are you sure my Lord?"

    "Yeah, yeah, I''m quite sure about this," he replied. He needed to get a lot more fit if he was going to endure life in a medieval place. His backside still remembered the pain of sitting on a bumpy carriage seat for nearly a week while on the journey from Ulriga to Tiranat. "Just let me know when you start physical training for the guards in the morning, and I''ll join you as well."

    Remembering from the memories of the original Kivamus, he said, "In the past I never focused on remaining fit and learning even the very basics of using a sword, since I spent all my time in the library. While I don''t think that I am going to become an expert swordsman, nor do I think I will have enough time for it, but even so, in the future, once I have gained some better physical fitness, I will join you for the basic training of using a sword as well. I know you and other guards will come with me to defend me wherever I go, but it''s not a bad idea to know enough swordsmanship to at least be able to hold on against someone who wants to kill me until the guards arrive. It has already happened twice, and I''m pretty sure it''s not the last time that someone tries to kill me."

    "It does make sense, I think." Hudan grinned. "But don''t think for a moment that I will go easy on you milord, just because you are the baron! If you are going to join other guards in training, you will have to go through all the same exercises as them."

    Kivamus laughed as well. "That''s fine, I wouldn''t expect anything else."

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    In the evening, Kivamus'' talk about other things with Duvas and Hudan was interrupted by the arrival of madam Helga in the manor hall. Gorsazo seemed to be quite distant to him for the past few days, and he hadn''t come to the manor hall again. He wasn''t sure what was up with him, but hopefully he would come and talk with him if there was any problem he was having.

    "It is done, my lord," Helga announced with a smile. "The temporary shed was completed in the south of the manor, and I have transferred the first batch of mushrooms there as well, after placing a few old logs and sawdust there. A brazier will be burning there continuously to keep the air inside the shed warm all the time. Also, while I did send a servant to tell the blacksmith to make a few water troughs, he told me that it would take time, since he''s already behind in making other tools, but he should still be able to give us two such iron troughs by evening tomorrow. For now, I have kept a few buckets of water there near the fire, which should work fine until then."

    "That''s good to hear!" Kivamus praised. "Yesterday''s Rizako stew was delicious, and I can''t wait to have it again. Eating such warm and tasty stew in the winter would be very nice for us and for the villagers as well. It''s a pity that Feroy wasn''t able to have that stew, since you said that he really likes it. And since we are using the remaining mushrooms for replanting, he wouldn''t be able to eat that stew any time soon unless we are able to cultivate them successfully."

    "That''s true enough, but he wouldn''t really mind if there is a good chance of getting Rizako stew regularly in the coming months," Helga replied with a smile. "We will know within a few days if the replanting was successful or not. And if it is successful, we will start to get the first crop of Rizako mushrooms in six to eight weeks. At that point, if the dedicated barn is ready for them, we can use those mushrooms to replant them again inside the barn at a larger scale, which would allow us to harvest a good amount of mushrooms in the coming months. That means, if everything goes well, then we should be able to provide those mushrooms to the villagers by the end of winter, at which point our grain stores would be getting low as well."

    Kivamus nodded. "Let''s hope for the best then. And good work!

    "Thank you milord," Helga replied with a smile. "I have to go and prepare dinner now."

    Kivamus gave another nod, and madam Helga went further inside the manor towards the kitchen.

    He looked at Duvas. "How is it going with the blacksmith? Has he taken on more apprentices? I thought he would be able to complete the water troughs by today."

 Chapter 87 - 86. A Fishy Trade

    "Everything is fine with him and he is providing us with tools every day," Duvas answered. "However not everyone is suited for blacksmithing work. By now Cedoron has found two men who are able to do the work properly, and he has now taken them as regular apprentices. But I did have to send a few new workers to him a few days ago, since some of the earlier workers were clumsy, and kept getting injured."

    "It''s true enough that blacksmithing is a risky work, and you can''t have someone close to the forge who is clumsy," Kivamus said.

    Remembering about the caravan, he added, "Hopefully, the caravan won''t have any problems on the road, and they will reach Cinran tonight."

    Duvas nodded. "Pydaso told us earlier that they were pushing the horses very hard to make this journey in two days, since it is normally a three day journey for wagons. I hope no horses get injured on the road, otherwise even this caravan might get stuck on the way, in case snow has already started on that road. Even if it doesn''t seem likely that we would be able to send the caravan on a third trip, we still need all the grain they will bring back on this trip." He continued, "Also, for now I have kept providing the free meals to the villagers - the children and the elderly - just twice a day, instead of the three times a day we promised them earlier."

    Kivamus frowned. In the winter weather people needed more calories than normal, not less. But it was also true that providing them three meals a day until the middle of winter, and then being unable to provide them even a single meal because they ran out of grain by then wasn''t a good idea either. He said, "I don''t like it, but it seems necessary. We might be able to provide them three meals if the caravan is able to go on a third trip, but for now, let''s keep it at two meals a day."

    Duvas nodded. "Like Madam Helga told us, if she is able to cultivate those mushrooms successfully, then those mushrooms will be helpful to add to the villagers'' diets by the end of winter. But even so, we still need enough wheat as seeds to start planting in the spring, so we are not going to get an abundance of foodgrains this winter for sure, even if the caravan is able to go for a third trip. Some meal rationing would still be necessary by the end of winter in any case."

    "Hmm... Rationing meals is certainly better than having people starve late in the winter, but we should have been able to do better," Kivamus muttered. "Isn''t there any other way to feed them?"

    Duvas thought about it for a moment, and said, "Well the northern stream does have a small amount of fish, which are sold regularly in the market square in the village. And that stream doesn''t usually freeze in the winter, so that does provide a steady but small source of food. Other than that, a lot would depend on how successful are the hunting groups we make after the caravan returns."

    Hudan said, "I will do my best to make sure it goes well, even though I certainly cannot guarantee anything. Yufim and Nurobo are very good archers, and an escort of swordsmen like we talked earlier, should allow them to bring some meat regularly. But there is always a chance that they are not able to find much in the snow, which would still leave us short on food."

    Kivamus thought about the problem for a while, and remembered that they didn''t buy anything from the only other nearby village.

    "You told me that the road to Kirnos is open even in the winter, so couldn''t we still buy something from there?" Kivamus asked. "Even a small amount of extra grain would be helpful to us." S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "It is still not really feasible, my Lord," Duvas answered. "Like I told you earlier, I did send a guard there before you arrived here, but the prices he mentioned for wheat were astronomical. And even then, Kirnos is a small village - only a little larger than Tiranat - so it wouldn''t have enough surplus grain to feed our village as well. The few farms that are located close to the coast near Kirnos are only enough to provide wheat to Kirnos itself. They don''t get enough surplus of grain to sell to us even in the years of good harvest. So they certainly wouldn''t have much these days when the harvest has been bad everywhere."

    "I remember that, but isn''t Kirnos located on the coast?" Kivamus asked. Seeing Duvas nod in reply, he said, "Then can''t we buy fish from them? They should have fishermen there, right?"

    "Of course they do, but they only catch enough to feed their own village," Duvas answered. "There has never been any trade of fish between Tiranat and Kirnos, since transporting a large amount of fish is very difficult between the two villages. Any merchant has to keep those fish in buckets of water on his wagon, which limits the amount of fish he can bring, and it also takes around a day and a half for a wagon to travel between the villages. Apart from that, it doesn''t help that the baron of Kirnos has always been a greedy person."

    Kivamus gave a laugh. "Isn''t it the same with all nobles?"

    Duvas gave a grin, "I never said anything like that, my Lord!" He added, "But there must be some truth in it, if you are saying so yourself."

    Kivamus laughed loudly in reply.

    Hudan gave a laugh as well. "Never mind that, Mr Duvas. Lord Kivamus knows we mean no disrespect. And it is certainly the truth." He asked, "So did our previous Baron never try to buy fish from Kirnos?"

    "It wasn''t exactly like that," Duvas replied. "Baron of Kirnos'' taxes on any merchant coming to sell anything to us are just as high as our previous baron''s taxes on any merchant coming here to sell anything. Overall it added up, and the prices became too high. As you can guess, our previous baron didn''t care about the village as long as his own meals were plentiful. As for the rest of the village, there is a merchant in Kirnos who occasionally comes here with a wagon to transport coal back to Kirnos. And often, he brings a small amount of fish on his wagon, although he hasn''t come here even once since our previous Baron died in that ambush."

    He continued, "However, it''s never a large amount, since that merchant only has a single wagon, and the villagers here cannot afford to buy such costly fish anyway. Also, just like the grain the merchants brought from Cinran, those fish also cost much higher than they should have because of the taxes which the baron of Kirnos as well as the previous baron of Tiranat put on every trade. That''s why, usually a few villagers go to the northern stream to catch some fish, and sell them in the market square. It''s never enough, but it did provide a small variety to the diet of the villagers."

    "That makes sense," Kivamus replied. "However, now our situation is not great in terms of the availability of grain, so we really need every other source of food that we can get. While we can be reasonably sure that the villagers won''t starve over this winter, but the amount of grains we have would only allow them to barely survive, and it would never be enough to make them feel full, especially if they have to keep working hard over the winter - which we certainly need them to do."

    He added, "So what I am thinking about is, can''t we start a regular fish trade between the two villages? Since the road to Kirnos stays open throughout the winter, it would help us a lot in feeding our village if we were able to buy even a small amount of fish regularly. What do you think it would cost us? I know we are already getting short on coin, but if it''s even somewhat feasible, I would like to do it."

    Duvas thought for a moment before he replied. "I really cannot give you an estimate on how much it would cost us, since just like the prices of grains have gone up, it would be similar for fish as well. Even though you are not levying any taxes on it since we would have to send a wagon there ourselves, Baron Kirnos'' taxes would still add further to the already high costs. There is also the fact that we cannot transport as much fish on a single wagon compared to the number of grain sacks we could carry."

    "How is that?" Hudan asked.

    Duvas explained, "See it this way. When we carry grain sacks, the weight of the sacks used to carry the grain is nearly nothing compared to the grain itself, which means nearly the whole load of cargo that the horses are pulling is of the grain itself. However, in case of fish, we would have to keep a lot of water buckets on the wagon to allow those fish to survive the journey, and the weight of the water and the buckets would add up to a lot, which means the actual amount of fish we would be able to transport in a wagon would be very small - when compared to the amount of grain we can transport in it. That''s why it costs too much to transport even a small amount of fish from there, even before the taxes."

    Hudan nodded. "It does make sense. If we could just put the fish directly into the wagons like coal, we would be able to carry a much larger amount, but even in this weather those fish would become rotten soon enough if we transport them without any water."

    Duvas added, "We also don''t have a place here to store even the live fish, so unless we are going to eat those fish immediately after receiving them, buying a large amount of those fish would be a waste anyway."

    Kivamus nodded. "In that case, can''t we buy salted fish from Kirnos?"

    "Salted fish...?" Duvas asked with his eyebrows raised. "I know that they are a delicacy for nobles, but preparing them requires a very large amount of salt - which doesn''t come cheap at all! While it may be fine to buy salted fish in a very small amount if you want it just for yourself, we cannot possibly afford to buy enough salted fish to feed the whole village. It would just cost too much... Also, Kirnos simply doesn''t have a need to salt those fish anyway, since it is located on the coast, and they can just catch more fresh fish whenever they need."

    "Okay, but what if..." Kivamus asked, "What if we bought even that small amount of live fish in a wagon inside those buckets, and then stored them in water here until we need to use them as food?"

 Chapter 88 - 87. Scouting

    Duvas shrugged. "We could certainly keep the fish in those buckets themselves, but it would be a very small amount anyway, and a single wagon of fish transported in those buckets would probably not be enough to feed even the whole manor for a day."

    Immediately, Kivamus thought of an interesting idea. "That was till now, but we are digging a new pond in the south of the village, aren''t we? I know we only thought of digging a small pond, but what if we expanded it further? Wouldn''t that allow us to put those fish in that pond? In time, and if the pond is big enough, those fish would start to breed there, and we would be able to get a steady supply of fish here itself."

    The guard captain gave a slow nod. "Hmm... That is a good idea... but digging the pond to be that big would take time." He added, "More importantly, if we just want a small number of fish for them to start reproducing in that pond, we can just transfer some fish from the northern stream to that pond. That would work just as well."

    "Oh! That''s right! Let''s do it then," Kivamus said.

    Duvas observed, "It wouldn''t be easy, but it certainly can be done."

    Kivamus nodded. "Of course. Digging the pond to be that big is a longer term project, and we cannot afford to put any workers on that right now, but once other things of more importance are done, we can certainly do it. And like Hudan said, we can just use the fish from the stream for that. Or, like I was thinking a few days ago, since we do need to fill that pond with water for irrigation, and it cannot be done bucket by bucket, so we will need to connect that pond with the stream anyway. And that way, some of the fish would migrate to the pond by themselves, and in due time, the village would have a steady source of fish right next to us."

    "I''ll let Pinoto know about this, so that he can plan the pond''s location well in advance," Duvas said. "We have already told him to dig a small pond, but work on that would only start after the trees have been cleared for a decent amount of area."

    Kivamus said, "Also, since we will have our three... no... four wagons back once the caravan returns from Cinran, so after that small pond is dug and filled with water in a month or two, we can still send a couple of wagons to Kirnos to buy some fish. By that time our grain stores would start to get low, so getting those fish into the pond would help them to reproduce faster so that we can start getting at least some fish by the end of winter." He added, "I realize that those fish are habitual of surviving in moving streams, but since that pond will still be connected to the stream, the water inside that pond wouldn''t be completely stagnant, especially since the farmers will be drawing water from it to irrigate the farms. It is far from ideal, but it should still allow us to keep fish there."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    It had taken them more than two days of walking but they had finally reached the road going from Tiranat to Cinran. He and the two other bandits, whom he had named the fatso and the runt based on how they looked, had walked all the way through the dense forest, along with the single horse that Nokozal had given them. It was a very cloudy day, and the weather was getting really cold now, with their breaths visible in front of them.

    The fatso spoke, while pointing at a small bluff at the edge of the forest right next to the road, "This seems like a good place to keep watch."

    The runt gave a nod and pushed Calubo''s back to keep him walking. Initially, they had tied both his hands behind him with a rope, but when that had led to him falling continuously, thus slowing them down further, the fatso had untied him with a warning that if he ran it wouldn''t end well for the stonecutters back at the quarry. However, the runt had suggested a better solution - better for him maybe! After that, the fatso had tied one of his own hands with one end of the rope, and Calubo''s hand with the other end of the rope. That still left the possibility open of Calubo untying the knot, but he didn''t want anything bad to happen to Hyola, so he hadn''t even tried to run. The bandits knew that fact just as well as him, so they were satisfied with that arrangement for now.

    As they walked towards that bluff, the runt said, "I think I recognize this place. I''d say that we are a few hours south of where the forest starts on this road when going southwards from Cinran."

    The fatso replied, "Then this should be a good place to plan an ambush, since any caravan coming south would be alert after they enter the forest, but by the time they reach here, they would have let their guard down. And from what you said about how far we are, any caravan going south would reach here around evening, which would be a good time for an ambush, since our shadows would mix with those of the forest, which would give us more time before they realize that there is an attack."

    The runt grumbled, "If the chief had given us another horse we would have reached here much faster, but we had to waste more than two days just walking to this place! Who knows if a caravan is still coming..."

    "You know why he had to do that," the fatso replied. "We don''t know for sure where that village will send the caravan, so he had to give a horse to the other scout group on the road going to Kirnos." He looked around for a moment while rubbing his arms around himself to warm his body.

    The ease with which they talked about looting a caravan, taking food from those who would be nearly starving if they didn''t get that grain, thoroughly enraged Calubo. And yet, there was nothing he could do about it, at least for now.

    The runt gestured towards the top of the bluff, while he tied the horse to one of the trees. "I''m so tired, man... I have traveled on this road in the past once, and from what I remember, this is a three day journey for any wagon or a caravan, which means we should have enough time to plan an ambush as long as they go on just one more trip. Come on, let''s go and lie down for a while."

    "I am just as tired as you are," the fatso replied while pointing towards the Arakin mountains in the east, "but it seems like it will start snowing within a few days here, especially this close to those mountains. So I think the caravan would likely be riding those horses hard, and they would try to complete the journey within two days for each side, which would shave off an extra two days from a full round trip. That means they might have already returned back."

    "Stop trying to jinx us!" The runt grunted, "Why are you even thinking of such a thing?"

    The fatso snorted. "Anyway, we should still take a look at the road to see if there are any recent tracks. We can rest after that." He pulled the rope tying him to Calubo. "Walk!"

    They started walking around the bluff and reached the road. For a moment they just looked around the road to see if someone was coming. Seeing nobody else was nearby for quite a distance, the runt squatted down and gazed at the ground for a while. "There are no tracks here, since it seems the ground has been dry for a while. Let me look around a little more."

    Then he walked away further on the road and kept looking at the road carefully. Suddenly, he started to shout, "Come here, I found something!"

    As the fatso tugged Calubo towards that place, the runt started speaking quickly as he pointed at the ground. "There was a caravan here! I''m sure of it. You can easily see from these marks that a horse has passed here, along with a wagon wheel. One of us should return back immediately to tell Nokozal about it!"

    "Are you an idiot?" The fatso scowled. "I can see that, but look at how dry the ground is. There certainly was a wagon which passed from here - but we can''t say for sure if those tracks are a few days old or a few months old! If we are wrong about this, and Nokozal brings everyone here for an ambush while the real caravan goes on the other road, he will tan our hides! I think we should wait for a day or two to see if there really is a caravan passing in front of us before telling him."

    The runt shivered for a moment, and Calubo thought it was more likely from the fear of getting beaten by Nokozal instead of the cold. "It would waste another day though..."

    The fatso muttered, "Eh... who cares... I am fine with it as long as the chief doesn''t give us a beating."

    "Come on then, let''s go back to that bluff," the runt grumbled towards them. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The fatso nodded and Calubo joined them without any protest. Making them think that he had completely accepted his current situation would only help him in the future if he did find a way to escape without the stonecutters getting any retribution for it.

    Finally, they started walking back and reached the top of the bluff and lied down at the edge to keep watch on the road, while still keeping themselves hidden. They might as well get some rest. It was going to be a long wait anyway.

 Chapter 89 - 88. Difficult Questions

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall with his arms splayed over the armchair.

    The caravan must be in Cinran today, he realized. Hopefully they would be able to buy everything they wanted, without any problems on the way.

    Today was also the first day he had joined Hudan and other guards in doing some running around the walls of the manor. He had also done other physical exercises, including some squats, push-ups, and short sprints, and he was feeling the full effects of that now. Not being accustomed to anything like that, especially in this thoroughly sedentary noble''s body, he felt completely exhausted right now. He might not have enough time to become as fit as the guards, but he still wanted to do something to get rid of his potbelly. Hopefully, he would soon be able to get to the level of fitness he wanted.

    At the moment, there was nobody else in the manor hall other than Lucem and Clarisa playing some word games on the long dining table, while he was the only one sitting near the fire. Looking at them, he couldn''t help but smile. With the financial troubles that Madam Helga had while running her inn, mostly because of a shortage of travelers due to the threat of bandits on that road, Lucem had barely been getting enough to eat at that inn. But at least here he got three full meals a day, like all adolescents his age should.

    The same went for Clarisa as well. By now, she seemed to have gotten over the horrifying experience of being poisoned, and appeared to be quite cheerful these days, especially since she had gotten a playmate in Lucem, who was maybe only a year older than her. Since that poisoning attempt, she had been spending most of her time here with Lucem and Syryne instead of working in the servants hall. However, Madam Nerida, who was always a stickler for rules, hadn''t liked her spending so much time playing instead of working, saying that Clarisa was still a maid of the manor after all. She had even complained to him a few days ago about it, to order Clarisa to work with the other maids in the kitchen in the servants'' hall.

    But he had immediately denied her. Clarisa had only been poisoned because he had arrived here, and such an experience could easily scar a person for life - especially someone as young as her. He considered himself responsible for that happening to her, so he felt a duty to make sure that she was still okay.

    When Madam Nerida had protested again about unfair treatment - since other maids had to work more because Clarisa didn''t work there, he had finally relented and said that since Madam Helga still had to make food for half a dozen people here in the kitchen of the manor house itself, she needed some help as well. So he had asked Madam Helga to let Clarisa work in the kitchen here, and she had immediately accepted, since she had also taken a liking to the young girl. That had satisfied Madam Nerida as well, and since then Clarisa had been helping Madam Helga in the kitchen here, even though she still lived with the other maids in the servant hall.

    Later on, he had asked Duvas about why Clarisa had been hired as a maid at all, especially since she was still so young. Duvas had told him that Clarisa was actually the daughter of a coal miner who used to live in the village here. However, a few years ago, her father died of a fever in a particularly harsh winter, and Clarisa had become an orphan with nobody to look after her. Duvas had told him that Clarisa must have been around eight years old at that time.

    However, when Duvas had found out about it, he had asked Madam Nerida to take Clarisa in, and to let her live with the other maids in the manor. Madam Nerida had immediately protested that they couldn''t afford to feed someone else, especially someone who wouldn''t even work for their meals. After some discussion they had come to the agreement that Clarisa would be hired as a new maid - even though she was so young at that time. The previous Baron had easily allowed that - he was getting another servant for free after all, since he usually had to buy new slaves from Cinran for that.

    Kivamus scoffed. That miserly bastard. If he had provided enough coal to the villagers in the past, Clarisa wouldn''t have become an orphan in the first place! Shaking his head slowly, he looked at Lucem and Clarisa, who were still playing that word game, ignorant of anything else going on in the world. He smiled sadly. He certainly couldn''t bring back her parents, but the least he could do was to make sure that she was taken care of.

    And now, Clarisa had started to do some simple work in the kitchen of the manor house, which had also eased the burden on Madam Helga and Syryne.

    For a while, he just gazed at the burning fire, while thinking odd thoughts. This wasn''t an easy world to survive in, and Clarisa becoming an orphan at such a young age was only one example of that. He certainly couldn''t do anything to help everyone in this world, or even in the kingdom. But he would certainly make sure that everyone in this village - his village - had enough food to eat and a roof over their head, with sufficient coal to keep their homes warm.

    *******

    After some time, Gorsazo entered the manor hall with an uncertain expression on his face.

    "My Lord, we need to talk," Gorsazo said in a low voice, making sure that the kids didn''t hear him. "It''s important."

    "Sure. What is it?" Kivamus asked. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo hesitated for a moment, and looked at the kids sitting nearby. "It''s better if we talk alone."

    Kivamus was a little confused now. Usually those two kids were sitting there most of the time while playing one thing or another, while Syryne kept an eye on them. However, Gorsazo had never requested to send them outside before. What was so sensitive that they wouldn''t let others hear about it? Giving a nod, he called out to the kids, "Hey, Lucem! Clarisa! Why don''t you both go and help madam Helga with the lunch? Who knows, maybe she will let you both taste the lunch in advance!" Lucem was always hungry these days, so that should do the trick of sending them away without making him curious enough that he stood to listen to their conversation from outside the door. It certainly wouldn''t be the first time that had happened. If Gorsazo thought that the coming conversation was delicate enough that he didn''t want any other listeners nearby, then so be it.

    Lucem looked surprised for a moment at the unusual request, but on the mention of food, he grinned. "As you wish, milord. I was getting hungry anyway!" Getting up from their seats, he and Clarisa went running through an inner door towards the kitchen.

    "Hey! Close the door before you leave!" he called out after them but they had already run away.

    Gorsazo just sighed and walked towards that door and pulled it close carefully, locking it from inside, and then he checked that the outer door was locked as well. The windows were also closed at this time of the day to keep the hall warm. Finally, he slowly walked back towards the fireplace, and sat on an armchair next to him. While Kivamus kept waiting for him to speak, Gorsazo seemed to be lost in thought, and kept gazing at the fire for a while.

    "What is it, Gorsazo?" Kivamus asked when his long-time teacher and mentor hadn''t spoken anything for a few minutes. "You can talk to me, you know. Whatever the problem is, we can find a solution."

    Gorsazo sighed, and after a while, he started speaking while still looking at the fire. "Something has been bothering me for a while, my lord. Initially, I wasn''t sure and thought it was only in my head, but at this point, I don''t have any doubts about it, not anymore."

    "What are you even talking about?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    Finally, Gorsazo looked directly at him. "Your behavior has been completely different since that day when you stopped your binge drinking while we were traveling from Ulriga to Tiranat. Again and again, you kept doing something, or saying something which didn''t match with the behavior of the boy I have known since he was a toddler. Every time I kept explaining to myself that such a thing wasn''t even possible, but again and again, you kept doing things which were completely different from what I would have expected from you in the past. It wasn''t just the mention of previously unheard things. Your whole behavior has been different from what I would have expected." He shook his head slowly. "Your behavior is not even like a noble in so many ways, and it is certainly unlike the Kivamus I''ve known since his childhood."

    At this point, Kivamus realized what his childhood teacher was talking about. But instead of saying anything in reply, he kept listening. He had no idea what to say to that in the first place.

    Gorsazo continued. "Most of the unfamiliar things you have told everyone, could still be explained away as the obscure knowledge of a well-educated noble. And if it was anyone else other than me, they probably wouldn''t even have questioned it. But I have known you for nearly as long as you have been alive. So you can''t fool me, not anymore."

    Kivamus gave a nervous smile. "What do you even mean, Gorsazo? I''m not trying to fool you, or anyone else for that matter..."

    Gorsazo tilted his head. "When you mentioned that metric system for the first time, while you were telling us about those longhouses, that''s when I started to have serious doubts about you. I do realize that there is a restricted section of the library in Ulriga palace, which only the family of the Duke has access to, but even then, I have lived there for long enough that I do have an idea about what kind of books are kept there. Nearly all of them are about the ancestors of the current duke. Some of those books have a list of the birth records of those who have been born in his line, while others tell about the exploits of his ancestors - mainly about the battles they won, and in some cases, about the skirmishes they lost against Binpaaz for control of those damned Tolasi Hills!"

    Gorsazo was starting to look quite angry now, as he continued, while still looking at him carefully. "Again, it is possible that there are a few other books there explaining some of the things you have mentioned in the recent past - I haven''t even been to that section after all, but I do know that that section of the library is quite small and has barely two dozen books. So it is just not possible that there are enough books there to contain so many completely unheard fields of studies in them!" He continued with outrage, "You might have spent more time in the library than me, but you couldn''t possibly have learnt so many things which I haven''t even heard of previously! Especially if there aren''t enough books in that section of the library in the first place!"

    Gorsazo''s eyes burned with anger, as he spoke with his fists clenched, "I am also a very well educated person, damn it! And it wasn''t like you mentioned just a single unfamiliar topic - somehow you seem to have a whole host of such things in your mind! That so-called metric measurement, the seed drill you mentioned a while ago, the concept of longhouses and many other such things were so extraordinary that even if I didn''t know about them in detail, I would have at least known about their existence!"

    He glared at him. "And yet, I''ve never even heard about them! So the only possibility that is left is that those books you mentioned in that restricted section of the library - which supposedly contain all that obscure knowledge - they don''t exist in the first place! And that means, you have been lying about them and who knows what else from that very day you stopped trying to drink yourself to death!"

    Kivamus didn''t know what he could say at this point to explain away everything. His mind felt completely blank, even though he kept trying to think of another excuse. He had been weaving a web of lies since his arrival in this world... He had kept giving fabricated excuses about how he had the knowledge of such extraordinary things - things which were completely unheard of in this place, but he didn''t know that it would all come crashing down so soon... In a single conversation, his childhood mentor had unraveled every last thread of that web, one after another, until he knew there was no possible way he could still claim that he was the original Kivamus.

    He had no idea how this conversation would end, and whether he would still be the Baron of Tiranat come tomorrow morning. He didn''t know what was done to those people in this world who were accused of experimenting with black magic or witchcraft - because that might be the only explanation for his knowledge that would make sense to the people here. He certainly hoped the punishment for it was not like that in medieval earth, where they burned such people alive, although that might be too much to hope for at this point, since all his lies had been proven to be exactly that - lies. He just kept listening as Gorsazo delivered one punch after another, while continuously trying and failing to keep his mind calm.

    Finally, Gorsazo pointed directly at him. "That means you certainly are not the Kivamus that I have known for the past two decades. So the only question that remains is that if you are not Kivamus Ralokaar, then who are you?"

 Chapter 90 - 89. Confession

    Kivamus knew that at this point he couldn''t just bluff his way anymore. At least there was the consolation that Gorsazo had come to him to talk about this privately, instead of directly gathering the villagers to burn him at a stake or something.

    He sighed, and making sure that the doors were still closed, he took a deep breath and continued, "I knew that you were the only one who could have guessed that. But, I don''t want to lie anymore, not to you. But I am indeed Kivamus, the same person you have always known."

    Seeing that Gorsazo was going to interrupt him, he put up a hand to stop him from speaking. He pulled up his tunic, and pointed at a scar on his left bicep. "I remember when you bandaged my arm after my brothers pushed me into a thorny shrub in the palace. I still have that scar as you can see. I also remember when my brothers locked me and my sister in a small storage room in the palace, and you were the one to find us, while both of us were crying. I still remember all the times my brothers have made fun of me, or tormented me. I am the same Kivamus as you have always known!"

    Gorsazo frowned, and looked at his face carefully for a while, as if searching for something in his eyes. "It is true that only you could have known about those things, since there was no one else nearby when those things happened. But what about those unfamiliar things you mentioned, like the seed drill, the metric measurements and other such extraordinary things? I am still completely sure that those books do not exist in the library."

    He gave a deep sigh while gazing at the fire. "But you also reminded me of those incidents which I had nearly forgotten - things which no one else could have known. And yet..." He looked back at Kivamus. "I don''t know what to believe anymore... But you still do not seem like the person I have known for nearly two decades."

    Kivamus gave a sigh with a sad smile. "You are not wrong, Gorsazo, but I am still speaking the truth. I don''t know how to explain it."

    Gorsazo gazed at him for a moment, before he said, "Try me!"

    Kivamus replied, "You said that you know me better than anyone else here - which is true. But that also means that I know you very well as well. You are the only person that I can genuinely trust in this place, especially when people have already tried to kill me twice. I have known you for long enough to be completely sure that you had nothing to do with the assassination attempts. Not to mention, you even tried to shield me with your own body when those mercenaries had attacked us at Helga''s inn." He added in a low voice, "But I am worried that you will not believe me even if I did try to explain... I just don''t want to say too much and lose you."

    Gorsazo snorted. "I have brought you up since you were a toddler. After your mother died, it can even be said that I was the one who raised you. Even though I might not be related to you by blood, you know that I have always treated you as my own son. Why do you think I came with you to this village from Ulriga, when only you were ordered to leave? So tell me, is it possible that a parent would ever abandon his child?"

    Before Kivamus could say anything in reply, Gorsazo added, "I do realize that it was your father, the Duke, who exiled you here, but we both know that he hasn''t really been running the duchy for many years now. Everyone knows that his health has been declining for the past few years. In light of that, whether it was Sarzolus or Tarilus who came up with the bright idea to banish their youngest brother far away from Ulriga, we might never know. Apart from your sister, none of them have ever really treated you like family anyway. But I have raised you like my own son!"

    He continued with a smile, "Trust me, even if you have grown up now, I am here for you and I am not going anywhere. I know that at least one person is trying to kill you, but I would give my life to protect you before I let any harm come to you. But you have to tell me something, dammit! Everything you have done in the past few weeks doesn''t make any sense at all! I am going insane just trying to think of an explanation!"

    "Alright then, so be it," Kivamus muttered. "And I am trusting you that you will not let another soul know about what I am going to say." Seeing Gorsazo nod in reply, he added, "Like I have said many times, I am Kivamus - the same person that you have known for so long, and that''s completely true. However, I also have memories of living a life as another person in another world, named Steven."

    Gorsazo looked confused. "I don''t understand. What do you even mean by that? How can anyone be two people?" sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I remember two lives," he tried to explain, "one of Kivamus, and one of Steven. I have no idea how such a thing is possible any more than you do, and yet, that''s how it is. I remember drinking too much that night on the road we were coming here hoping I''d never wake up because I had been sent to a no-name village by my father, while my brothers were going to be the Duke and the Commander of Fort Aragosa. And yet, I also remember celebrating with my friends on the planet called Earth after I had gotten a promotion in my job. And then I woke up the next day here in that carriage, as Kivamus, with the memories of both of them. As implausible as it might seem, that''s the simple and complete truth." He gave a shrug. "Maybe it''s as the villagers say, that the Goddess sent me here to help them, or maybe it was aliens doing weird shit, I have no idea..."

    "Aliens?" Gorsazo asked with a frown. "What is that?"

    "It''s a word on Earth - which means living beings from another world," Kivamus replied. "The point is, I have no better explanation about how I have memories of two people in my head, any more than you do. I don''t know if I am Kivamus, or if I am Steven. Or maybe, I am both of them. I have no idea..."

    Gorsazo didn''t say anything for a while. He seemed to be lost in thought after the unexpected revelations. Finally, he asked, "Tell me about that place, the one you mentioned earlier - Earth."

    "It was a wonderful place," Kivamus began. "Truthfully," he snorted, "I never thought so while I lived there, but now that I am here in a medieval world, I realize how wonderful that place was compared to Reslinor." He continued, "That world where Steven lived his life was completely different from this place. We had huge machines there - called trains - which we used to transport people and other things at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, or hundreds of miles per hour in the local measurements."

    Seeing Gorsazo''s eyebrows shooting up in astonishment, he added with a laugh, "We also had highly advanced machines called airplanes there - which flew in the air, and transported people thousands of kilometers in a single day. We had rockets, which had taken people to space - which means outside the planet and its atmosphere, tens of thousands of kilometers above the ground. We even managed to take people in one such rocket to the moon itself - which was hundreds of thousands of kilometers above the ground." He snorted, "Or so they claimed."

    Shaking his head, he continued, "We had very advanced machines there - called computers, that stored more information than all the libraries combined in all this world in something which was only a few feet big. We had things called phones and the internet, which allowed people to talk to someone on the other side of the planet in real time. There were so, so many things and advanced technologies there...", he said wistfully, his eyes getting wet with an intense yearning for his lifelong friends, his parents, and the familiarity of his past life. He had knowingly made himself busy with trying to manage everything in the past few weeks so that he wouldn''t have to think about London. He never had anyone else in this world with whom he could talk about it anyway. But finally being able to talk about his life on Earth with someone had opened the floodgates of memories.

    He added after a moment, blinking repeatedly, "Most of those things are not feasible here, not yet anyway, but I was a very well educated person on that planet. So I do remember the concept of how a lot of such things worked. And now that I am here, I believe the villagers to be my people, and I want to do everything to help them by using the ideas and technologies from that world. That''s how I know about those concepts - about the metric measurements, the seed drills and so on."

    He continued, "So, yes, I am Steven! But I am also Kivamus! In this world, I miss my sister Astela, as much as I dislike both my brothers, and yet I also miss my parents and friends from Earth..." At this point he was crying openly. "I really want to return back to Earth... I really, really want to... even if I have no idea if such a thing is even possible. And yet, I do not want to leave the villagers in Tiranat to starve at the whims of the nobles - not when there is so much I can do to help them!"

    Gorsazo looked at him carefully but didn''t say anything for a while. Finally, he gave a small smile and said, "Come here," and leaned towards him to hug him, while patting his back slowly. "I have no idea how any of those things you mentioned are possible. It seems incredible that you could talk to a person on the other side of the world! Or that humans could fly! And yet, I believe that everything you have told me is the truth in your own opinion. I have known you for long enough that I would have found out immediately if you were trying to make things up, even though that''s exactly what it seemed like for a moment." He added, "I still don''t know if any of those things are really possible or not, but I am convinced that you completely believe in all those fantastical things you told me."

    As Kivamus sat up straight again, and wiped his eyes with his sleeves, Gorsazo continued, "For a while I thought that there was a small possibility that you had gone completely insane, or maybe some cult-sorcerer had put a hex on you and taken over your mind! But what had reassured me, and prevented me from raising this topic with you earlier, was the time a few weeks ago when you said that you would use your own savings to buy food for the villagers. As different as you have always been from your brothers, you would have never done that earlier." He laughed. "Knowing you, you would either have drunk it away, or saved those coins as a miser - like most nobles like to do. I do know that the Duke barely gave you any allowance after all, especially compared to what your brothers got."

    Kivamus gave a laugh in reply as well, remembering the drinking habits of the original Kivamus, as well as his tendency to save what little money he had. Well, little money for a noble - it was still a fortune for any commoner.

    Gorsazo continued, "But after seeing that you were willing to do that much - that you were willing to use your carefully saved coins for the villagers - people who were commoners, not even nobles - people whom you had never even met before, I felt reassured that whatever had happened to you, whether it was a cult-sorcerer putting a hex on you, or something else, it was certainly a change for the better. That''s why I didn''t say anything before today."

    Saying that Kivamus still had tears in his eyes, Gorsazo patted his back again and said, "Don''t cry now. Even if you have the memories of someone from another world, you are still the Kivamus I have raised for nearly all your life. We will find a way to get through this. And I will have your back, as always! Even though I have no idea how you got those memories, I know that we can''t let anyone else know about it, so don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone else about it."

    Once Kivamus had calmed down, he wiped his eyes again and asked, "Do sorcerers really exist in this world? Can they do magic, or things like shooting fire or making ice from their hands?"

    Gorsazo looked at him for a moment in surprise and then burst into laughter. "Of course not! Where did you even get such an absurd idea? Those so-called sorcerers are charlatans and swindlers who prey on the gullible. There is no such thing as magic in this world!" And then he continued laughing loudly for a while.

    Kivamus didn''t know what the future held for him and if there would be more people trying to assassinate him or if he would even survive a full year in this world, but for now, he would have to be satisfied by the fact that at least he wasn''t going to be burned at the stakes anytime soon. He just shook his head slowly after the mentally exhausting conversation, and joined freely in that laughter, relieved that it had gone much better than he could have hoped for.

 Chapter 91 - 90. Surveillance

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    They had been waiting on that bluff for more than a day by now but there was still no sight of any caravan coming or going on the road. The weather kept getting colder but they couldn''t even light a fire here since it could be seen from far away in the darkness. He cursed Nokozal for kidnapping him, he cursed the weather for being so cold, and he cursed the runt and the fatso for keeping him here. He cursed his inability to run away, because of the consequences it would lead to for Hyola and others at the quarry. He even started to curse himself for starting to care about her, but then stopped himself. Even before he had been captured by the bandits, his life hadn''t been easy back in Tiranat, and meeting her had been a beacon of hope for him in his dreary life. And yet, he couldn''t stop blaming Nokozal for everything. Damn it all!

    It was late evening, and it was starting to get a little dark now. All of them had been lying at the top of the bluff, with just the top of their heads visible from outside while keeping an eye on the desolate road. It was hardly a road though. Maybe calling it a path going through the forest would be more accurate. All it had was a track of flattened grass.

    "Do you think there is a caravan coming at all?" The runt asked the fatso while scratching his back.

    "Hell if I know," the fatso shrugged, as he turned a little to get more comfortable at the top of the bluff. "I can''t just wish for a caravan to appear out of nowhere."

    "Still, we haven''t seen even a single rider coming or going from here," the runt replied. "At this rate we would have to return empty handed, and I don''t want to be the one to give bad news to the chief." He turned his head towards Calubo. "Hey, you have been far too quiet. What do you think? Is a caravan coming any time soon?"

    "How the hell would I know!" Calubo retorted. "You know that I haven''t left the quarry for weeks now." He pointed at one of his hands which was still tied with a rope connected to a hand of the fatso. "It''s not like I can go to the village to get any information."

    "But you must still know something!" the runt asked again, his breath visible in front of him in the cold.

    Calubo shrugged. "Like I told Nokozal the last time he asked, I don''t think the village has any coin left at all after that raid from uh... Torhan''s group." He added, "If they still had any coin... I''d say they would be able to send a single rider at most, not a full caravan."

    The runt squinted at him for a moment. "You don''t seem to be lying, but that''s a whole village. They have to have something left. Hmm... I still think..."

    Suddenly the fatso hissed, "Shut up, both of you! I see something."

    "What? Where?" The runt asked in a low voice.

    The fatso pointed towards the north. "There!" he whispered. "It is getting dark now, but there is still enough light to see it." S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I don''t see anything..." the runt squinted as he looked towards the north, while Calubo did the same.

    "Just stay quiet and keep watching," the fatso rebuked him. "We don''t want them to get even a hint that we are here." After the runt nodded, the fatso looked at Calubo. "You! Don''t you even think about shouting for help, or you know what the chief will do to the stonecutters and that girl you fancy!"

    Calubo seethed inside but managed to hold his tongue somehow. Gritting his teeth, he gave a reluctant nod and they hunkered down further to keep an eye on the road without being visible from outside.

    Soon, Calubo saw it as well. At first it looked like a single wagon with two horses pulling it. But slowly as the wagon came closer, he saw another wagon behind it, and another behind that one and so on. Slowly the wagons kept coming closer, and he counted a total of eight wagons in the caravan! He was surprised that there was even a single wagon coming here, but a whole caravan? And a caravan this big at that? As he kept looking, he saw that all of the wagons had an oil cloth covering them, so he didn''t know what they were carrying, but knowing everything, that had to be grain - and a lot of it!

    "Damn!" the runt grunted. "That''s a really big loot!" He glared at Calubo. "So you were lying, after all!"

    "Shut up," Calubo retorted back. "I told you I''ve been out of the village for weeks now. How would I know anything about it?"

    "Be quiet, dammit!" The fatso said angrily. "Not one more word until they are far away!"

    As the wagons started to pass in front of them, their axles creaking on the otherwise silent road, he counted the wagon drivers - and there were a total of fourteen of them driving the eight wagons. No, they weren''t just drivers! Except a portly man, all of the rest of them had a sword with them. Some even had spears and bows! They looked like well trained guards, not just hired wagon drivers! The last he remembered, the manor barely had a dozen guards left at the time he had left to buy grain from Cinran. Where did that many guards even come from?

    "Damn... Did the village really have that many trained guards with them?" the runt whispered.

    "Of course they did," Calubo replied with a faked grin. He had no idea how a dozen guards were out of the village to escort a caravan, since Mr Duvas couldn''t possibly have left the village undefended. Even so, he didn''t want to give any reason to these bastards to ambush the caravan.

    However, in the dying light of the recently set sun, he gazed at them carefully and slowly, he began to recognize some of them. There! Nurobo was there as well! He thanked the Goddess that he was still okay. And looking at his ever-bulging belly, it seemed that the manor wasn''t quite at the brink of starvation yet. There were also other guards of the manor whom he recognized easily. However, there were many others who weren''t guards at all! There was Tesyb, who was one of the young miners in the coal mines. He also recognized some others who were either miners or other common people from the village!

    He frowned. Why would those people be here pretending to be guards? None of them had any training at all, and wouldn''t last a minute in a fight with a bandit. However, as the runt cursed the presence of that many swordsmen in the caravan, he immediately realized that this was the exact reason those villagers were here dressed up as guards! It was a ruse to fool anyone who would want to ambush the caravan! They had even given leather armor and swords to those miners, even though they might not have held a sword in their lives ever before!

    He laughed inwardly with nervousness. He had no idea who had thought of something so audacious, something so... so reckless! He was just glad that these bandits had no idea if those were real guards or just pretenders. He would also have to do his best to talk up the defenses of the village - so that these bandits would give up on this plan to steal grain from the nearly starving villagers. It was bad enough that he couldn''t return back with any grain and lost the gold coins to the bandits. But he still had to try his best, so the bandits wouldn''t steal what little grain remained with the villagers.

    Even so, he didn''t think such a scheme could have been thought of by Mr Duvas. He wasn''t a person who''d ever do something so reckless. And with the previous baron already dead, there was nobody else in the manor to give orders to him anyway. So who had thought of this elaborate ruse? And where did they even get the coin to hire that many wagons and buy that much grain?

    Something must have changed in the village... He had no idea what it could be, but the village wouldn''t be the same now - not anymore. Especially since they had someone there who had the coin as well as the audacity to do something like this! Moreover, all this couldn''t have happened without the consent of Mr Duvas, and only the baron could give such orders to him. Did that mean Tiranat finally had a new Baron now...? It had to be! Who else could give such orders to Mr Duvas! He was getting very curious now. Was it someone from the court of Count Cinran?

    Seeing that the new baron was spending so much of his coin to buy food for the villagers, he couldn''t be a bad person, could he? This made him want to return back to the village even more! He smiled inwardly, making sure not to let his face show anything from outside. Let the bandits think that the caravan had a dozen swordsmen escorting it, and that the village had that many trained guards to send outside! Nokozal couldn''t possibly think of ambushing that caravan now, even though Calubo himself had no idea if the caravan would go back for another journey to Cinran.

    Slowly all the wagons moved ahead, and before long, they were out of their sights in the south.

    The runt sat up finally, and glared at him. "You knew that the village had this many guards didn''t you?"

    Calubo grinned. "Indeed, like I have been telling Nokozal so many times! But it''s not like any of you ever listened to me. It''s pointless to try to attack them."

    The fatso stared at him as well as he stood up, while pulling Calubo up as well using the rope. "I don''t believe you. I don''t think a small village would have that many guards. Did you even recognize anyone?"

    "Of course I did," Calubo replied with a grin. "There was Nurobo the archer, and Tesyb the expert swordsman." To make the village seem even stronger, he added, "I have trained with those guards for years, even though I could never actually defeat them."

    "Of course you couldn''t defeat them, you can''t fight for shit!" The runt snorted.

    Calubo shrugged and looked away. He could hardly have defeated any of the bandits when they were trying to beat him in a group after the time he had tried to run away, when he had his own hands tied and without any weapon in his hands. Give him a good sword, and he would easily take on Nokozal one on one! However, he chose to keep his mouth shut. There was no point in trying to claim that he could fight better. All it would do was to get him another similar beating.

    The fatso shook his head slowly. "I still don''t believe you. Nokozal said that the village couldn''t have that many guards."

    The runt added, "Doesn''t matter if they were guards of the village. Both of us saw that there were more than a dozen swordsmen guarding that caravan. They might very well be hired mercenaries, but in any case that village has a lot of men to defend themselves." He swore, "Damn it! I don''t want to be the one to give Nokozal the bad news."

    "But we still have to tell the chief about the caravan," the fatso said, and gestured at Calubo. "It''s not like we can send him with the horse."

    "I have to be the one to ride back, don''t I?" The runt muttered. He looked up and down at the fatso. "The horse would die if you rode it that far anyway."

    The fatso snorted. "Off you go, then. I will keep an eye on Calubo here." He scowled, "Don''t know why Nokozal even sent him with us. He is a deadweight at best."

    Calubo frowned, but kept his mouth shut.

    The fatso continued while looking at the runt, "Try to ride fast. The earlier you report, the sooner the chief can decide what to do. We can''t be sure if the caravan would go for another journey - especially since it seems like it would snow soon here, but if the village had enough coin to buy that much grain and hire so many wagons, they might just have the coin for another trip. Still, even though I don''t think the chief would want to ambush this caravan anymore, it is not our call. We have to give him the news as soon as we can, or it''s our hides on the line."

    The runt gave a reluctant nod, and moved to untie the horse which had been grazing on some grass nearby.

    Soon, Calubo watched him ride away, as he returned back towards the top of the bluff along with the fatso. He didn''t know what the future held for him, but at least those in the manor and other villagers wouldn''t starve now, with that much grain going to Tiranat.

    He just wished that he was back in his village, instead of with these damned bandits. He gazed at the fatso with the corner of his eyes. Could he...?

 Chapter 92 - 91. Status

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    In the morning, Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall near the fireplace, after they were done with their breakfast. It was a simple meal of fresh bread, a couple of eggs along with some cheese that Madam Nerida had made a while ago from the small amount of milk that they got from the two cows remaining in the manor, and yet it felt quite fulfilling in the current times.

    "That was nice..." Hudan breathed. "Thank you for regularly including us in the meals as well, my lord. It has been awhile since I ate good food like that."

    Kivamus waved him away. "Think nothing of it. We still can''t afford to feed eggs and cheese to everyone in the manor after all. We have a lot of work left to do."

    Since he had started training with the guards for the past three days - even though it was only for a short duration, he was starting to feel the effects of it, and his whole body was still aching. He couldn''t possibly keep up with other guards or Hudan, but at least he had started trying to become more fit.

    Looking at Gorsazo he smiled internally. His conversation with him two days ago had gone much better than he had expected, and even though Gorsazo knew a lot about him by now - including how he had the knowledge of such unheard-of things - he had seemed fine after it, unlike how distant he had seemed before that conversation.

    As Syryne started to pick up their wooden plates, he asked, "Any luck with trying to preserve Losuvil leaves after plucking them from that vine?"

    "Not yet, my Lord," she answered. "I have been trying every day, but without access to more Losuvil leaves for experimenting on them, it would be difficult anyway. That vine we had found only had a few leaves left anyway, and I already used half of them. Unless we find more Losuvil vines, that is our only source, so I have left the remaining leaves there."

    Kivamus nodded. "I''ll see what can be done about that soon. We do need to locate more sources of Losuvil vines."

    "That will help a lot," she said, before taking the plates to the kitchen of the manor house.

    Duvas began, "It has been around a week since the caravan has been out. If everything goes well, they should return by this evening."

    Gorsazo nodded. "Looking at the weather outside, it doesn''t seem like we would be able to send the caravan for a third trip."

    "Seems like it," Hudan said. "Although I did see the sun peeking from behind clouds early in the morning today, even though we haven''t seen the sun for nearly a week now. Eh... doesn''t really mean anything, since the clouds covered the sky completely soon after that."

    "What is the progress with the work in the north?" Kivamus asked.

    Duvas replied, "Yeden had reported in the evening yesterday that all the trenches in the village have been dug completely by now. That includes those for the walls, and for the foundations for the three longhouse blocks. It was a good idea to do that for three of them, since it gives us the option to continue the construction even in the winter."

    Kivamus nodded. "What about the trenches for the drains in the north of the village?"

    "Those too have been completed," Duvas said. "Yeden has dug the drains around the location of the three longhouse blocks, and then he has connected them to a bigger drain which passes from the west of the village to the southern area. Of course, since the pond still hasn''t been dug, that drain ends abruptly in the South for now. But Pinoto should be starting the digging of that pond soon.

    "That''s good to hear." Kivamus asked, "What about the village walls? What is their progress?"

    Hudan replied this time. "Since all the trenches have been dug by yesterday, Yeden has told me that he will put some workers to start cutting the logs into stakes of twenty feet length from today. I have also told him to put a few workers to sharpen one end of those logs, so that those stakes will be pointed at the top end before we start to put them into the trenches to make the walls." He added, "Also, unlike the logs we are using in the walls of the longhouses, we are not removing the bark from the stakes for the village walls, so that will save some time as well."

    "That''s true." Thinking about the cold weather, Kivamus said to the majordomo, "Although we have provided enough braziers to the workers by now, you should tell them to build a temporary shed in the northern area where they are working and also in the south. They can put a brazier inside that, so that the workers can occasionally go and sit inside it to warm up their bodies." He added after a moment, "You know what, make that shed a little bigger in the northern area, so that Taniok doesn''t have to work in the open. He is the only carpenter we have, and cutting logs into planks can be done just as well inside those sheds."

    Duvas gave a nod. "I''ll let them know, my Lord. Putting up such a temporary shed doesn''t take long. The workers can put it up in a few hours. However, Taniok has now started overseeing the workers to build the walls of the longhouse, so he has stopped cutting more planks for now."

    "Oh! It''s good to know that he has already started the walls." Kivamus added, "Even so, he will still need to cut more planks for the other things like the door, the bunks and the roof. So it will still be a good idea to provide a shed for him to work inside."

    Duvas replied, "He does have a good stack of planks by now to use in the first longhouse block. But you are right, he will still have to continue cutting more planks at some point. I will let the workers know to make the northern shed bigger."

    "Good," Kivamus commended.

    Talking with Syryne earlier about the Losuvil vines had reminded him about something else. He said, "While the guards would have to go deeper into the eastern hills to see if there are more Losuvil vines found there, I would like to take a look in that area today, at least till the coal mines, to see what the condition of flooding is inside them, as well as to the stream. I also need to know what is the slope of the ground from that stream to the area where we will build the pond - to see how feasible it is to transfer water between them."

    "That will need me to bring along half a dozen guards at least," Hudan replied. "Unlike when we visited to the north of the village, which were still very close to the village, we would have to go much further to visit the stream and the coal mines, so I will have to take more guards this time. But we already have a shortage of guards in the manor and if we take half a dozen guards for that visit - which will take a few hours at least, then it will only leave five or six guards to defend the manor as well as the whole village during that time. That is way too risky."

    "Hmm... It does make sense," Kivamus said.

    Hudan nodded. "I think it''s a better idea to wait until the caravan has returned from its second trip. After that, we will have more than enough guards to spare a few for that visit. By that time, I will also have trained them even more, so that in case of an attack - even if by a wild beast, they wouldn''t just run away at the first sign of danger, leaving you alone."

    "Okay. Let''s postpone it for now." Kivamus added, "But in that case, I still want to visit the northern area today."

    "That is doable," Hudan replied while standing up. "Just give me a moment to gather a few guards to accompany us, and I will meet you at the gates of the manor."

    "Alright then." Kivamus stood up as well. "Gorsazo you should come along as well, Duvas can stay back in the manor to keep an eye on everything here."

    With a nod, Gorsazo got up as well and they left the manor house. Coming outside, Kivamus looked at the sky, but it was very cloudy again. It seemed that the slight clearing of the sky earlier in the morning was only a blip. He sighed. There was nothing they could do about it.

    Reaching the gates of the manor, he saw that the guards on gate duty stood even straighter when they saw him coming there. He waited for a while, and soon Hudan returned with a few guards and they left for the north of the village. While walking there he remembered that the conditions of most of the houses were not good enough to keep the people inside safe from the freezing weather. It was a good idea to dig the foundations for more longhouse blocks, since it would allow them to shift most of the villagers into them - not just those who were homeless, which would be much warmer for them than these shabby houses.

    Soon they reached the northern area where a lot of work was in progress. The first thing he realized was that the trees had been cleared for quite some distance now. Although, to be fair, the cleared area was only around a hundred meters at most, and that too only for a small width of land - but it still felt good to see even that much progress. Without access to any modern machines, it would take quite a while until they could clear the planned five hundred meters of area all around the village, not to mention the land needed for the farms in the south, which had to be located ahead of that cleared land. He could also see that the trenches for the three longhouse blocks had been completed by now. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Looking at the location of the first longhouse block, he saw that the wall on one side of it was already in the process of being constructed using the unbarked logs. The workers were using a long and sturdy rope thrown around a horizontal branch of a tree which was still standing in the area which would become the courtyard of the block in the future, as a leverage to lift the logs into place. A couple of horses were also standing there to help the workers in that. It was a slow process, but finally the actual construction of the longhouse block had started.

    When Taniok, who was overseeing that process, realized that he was there, he told the workers to continue working in the same way, and walked towards him.

    When Kivamus looked closely at that tree - which was completely devoid of any leaves by now, he noticed that it looked different from the common fedarus trees here. For one thing, it wasn''t nearly that tall, and it had more horizontal branches than were common on the fedarus trees. Its bark also looked a little different from them. As the carpenter reached closer, he asked, "Which tree is that? It doesn''t look like a fedarus tree to me."

 Chapter 93 - 92. Bilona Nuts

    Hudan gave a shrug. "I''m not completely sure. But now that I notice it, it does look a little different to me as well."

    "Oh, that''s a Bilona tree," Taniok answered as he reached there. "It is one of the few fruit trees found near the village. You surely must have eaten bilona nuts in the past, my Lord?"

    "So that''s what it was!" Hudan exclaimed. "I knew it looked a little familiar."

    Searching his memories for it, Kivamus realized that he, or at least the original Kivamus had indeed eaten them in the past. It was a delicacy for the nobles - who liked to snack on them while they drank their precious wines. It was kind of similar to cashew nuts in taste - though it was curved on only one side and was brownish in color. "I do remember eating the nuts, but I didn''t know what their trees looked like." Pointing at the empty branches of the tree, he asked, "But I don''t see any fruits on the tree right now."

    "Oh, it gives fruits in the summer," Taniok replied. "They sell for quite a lot of money too, so in the summers, some of the younger villagers usually went into the forests - not too deep of course, and brought those nuts to sell to the manor to the previous Baron or any visiting merchants."

    He continued, "When I realized that the longhouses were going to be built in this area, I made sure to tell the workers not to cut this tree, even though it is quite close to one of the inner walls of the block." Taniok added while moving his hand over his balding head, "I hope that was okay, my Lord..."

    "Of course, it''s fine," Kivamus reassured him. "It seems like you needed a tree in the middle of the block anyway for help in putting up the walls."

    "That''s true enough," Taniok replied with a satisfied smile. "Since bilona trees have many branches, their wide leaves give good shade in the summer as well. That was another reason to keep a tree in the middle of the longhouse blocks. I have thought of keeping a tree in the middle of the other blocks as well, wherever it is feasible."

    "That''s a good idea." Kivamus asked, "But are there other bilona trees nearby?"

    "Not here in the north," Taniok replied. "I''m not completely sure about it, but I think there are another few in the west of the village."

    Kivamus nodded. "Tell Yeden to make sure that they are not cut at any cost. If something gives us food in this place - no matter how small in quantity, we need to take good care of that source."

    "I''ll let Yeden know about it," Taniok agreed. Pointing at the first longhouse block, he said, "Now that we are using the logs as the walls instead of planks, these buildings will be made much faster." He added, "Looking at the current weather there is no way we can finish even the first longhouse block before the snow starts falling, but that decision will still save a lot of time."

    "That is true." Kivamus added, "While there is still some time before the walls and roof are completed, I want to remind you that you have to make a wooden floor with planks as well, since it would get quite cold on the ground otherwise."

    "I remember that, my Lord," Taniok replied.

    "What about heating the longhouse blocks?" Hudan asked. "Shouldn''t we also plan for a stone fireplace inside them?"

    "No, no, there is no need for that," Kivamus immediately said. "We simply don''t have the time to make a permanent stone fireplace inside them - especially since these longhouses will only last a few years at most. These walls are not being made from seasoned wood after all." He continued, "But when the first longhouse is close to completion, I will ask the blacksmith to make a few new braziers for use here."

    Taniok looked surprised. "I can''t deny that those will work well enough, but can you even spare that much iron, milord? Usually the previous baron even prohibited me to use any iron nails in any houses of the villagers outside the manor. But do you really want to provide so many iron braziers to the villagers? We will need at least five or six to heat each longhouse block properly, or nearly twenty braziers for all three of them - whenever we are able to complete them."

    "Don''t worry about that," Kivamus reassured him. "We were able to buy a decent stock of iron ingots from Cinran, since the demand for non-essential goods has fallen quite a bit there because of the high grain prices. That includes iron ingots. So I''ve told Pydaso to buy more of it on the second trip. It still doesn''t come cheap, but it was a very good deal so I have decided to stock up on a good amount of iron ingots for use later. There wouldn''t be any problem in making more braziers." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I understand that, my lord," Taniok said. "But that''s not what I meant. Whether the price is a little lower or higher, you can certainly afford it. You are the baron of the village after all. I know that you have already provided a few braziers for use here and in the marketplace, and I am very thankful for it. But do you really want to spend so much iron for the villagers?"

    It was only now that Kivamus realized that the carpenter wasn''t really surprised about how he was able to get so much iron. Taniok seemed more surprised that the baron would do something like that for the villagers. He shook his head in exasperation. The previous baron had certainly set very low standards of administration and for taking care of his people, when the villagers seemed surprised that he would do everything that was possible to prevent his people from freezing to death in the winter.

    He replied, "You don''t have to worry about that, Taniok. Like I have said in the past, I will do everything in my power to make sure that nobody freezes or starves to death in this village ever again. And I do mean that." He continued, "You just do your best in all the construction work you are given. Leave any worries about procurement of raw materials and their costs to me. I will take care of all that."

    Gorsazo gave a knowing smile on hearing that.

    "As you wish, my Lord," Taniok said with a genuine smile. "And I have to thank you again for taking care of the villagers so well. It is just surprising for us commoners to be treated like actual human beings."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "I have certainly seen how nobles like to believe that they are above people of low birth." He scoffed, thinking about how someone - very likely a noble - was trying to murder him for a while now. He muttered... "Like they would be better than even a street thug if they behave like that."

    "Uh... what?" Taniok asked. "I couldn''t hear you, milord."

    "It''s nothing, forget about it." Kivamus continued, "We have already talked about the design and the dimensions of the inner part of the longhouse block, including for the communal kitchen and the storage room. I can also see that the walls of the longhouse will be quite strong with those logs as the walls. However, I also want to make sure that the gate is also strong enough. So when you are making that gate, make sure to consult with Hudan so that he can tell you more about the design of the gate - to make sure that it can withstand some force from outside."

    Taniok nodded. "I was thinking about making the gates just from some leftover planks - since the gate wouldn''t affect the heating of the inner area of longhouses, but I will do as you say."

    Hudan said, "Don''t worry about it, my Lord. I will make sure that the gate is built strong enough." He added, "However, one thing that I wanted to add in the design is that I would prefer there to be another gate in each longhouse block - preferably on the opposite side of the main gate. It''s fine even if the second gate is a small one, but I just want there to be another way out on the other side of the blocks, so that people have an option to exit from there as well - just in case there is a fire here - either due to any bandits who are attacking the main gate, or even from an accident in the kitchen."

    "That''s... a very good idea," Kivamus said with a nod. He looked at the carpenter. "Okay, then. You have to add a second gate into each longhouse block as well. It wouldn''t change much in the design - since those gates can be just around a meter wide - enough to allow people to exit from there, unlike the main gate which will be nearly three meters wide."

    He added, "Also, make sure to attach a few strong hooks on the inner walls on both sides of the second gate, so that the gates can be barred from the inside. Usually, the second gates will be kept closed from the inside, and only the main gate will be used, but in case of an emergency, it will allow people to exit from there as well, without making that gate a weak point in the walls."

    Taniok seemed to think about it for a moment. "I''ll make sure to do that, my lord. It wouldn''t be too difficult anyway."

    "Good!" Kivamus continued, "While we do have a well in the marketplace of the village, apart from the one in the manor, I also want to make a well here in the north in the future. That can be built in the area we have left empty for a new marketplace here in the future."

    He explained, "That way, if we have to build more longhouse blocks in the future, we can make two more such blocks in the west of the new marketplace - which will make it such that the central twenty-five meter square will be the new marketplace, while there will be five such twenty-five meter blocks surrounding it - where people will be living in the longhouses. That will allow them easy access to the new marketplace as well as to the new well for drawing water. Of course, we will only be able to dig that new well only after the winter."

    "That reminds me," Hudan said, "while we will certainly need a couple of buckets for that well, it will be a good idea to provide more such buckets which the villagers can keep inside the blocks after filling them with water. That will allow them to quickly put out any fire without running to the well to draw water - which will waste time and might allow the fire to grow further."

    Kivamus nodded. "Of course. That''s a good idea." He said to the carpenter, "Once the longhouse blocks have been completed, add that to your list of things that you need to make. Or you can just tell your apprentice to make the buckets - it''s a simple thing after all. He can ask the blacksmith to provide any iron strips needed for that. I will take care of any payments for the iron."

    With another nod, he turned back to return to the manor with others. The work was progressing well here. Now they just had to hope that the caravan returned back safely.

 Chapter 94 - 93. Return of the Caravan

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ On the road to Tiranat ~

    They had been outside the village for a week now and finally they were approaching the village again. He was thankful to the goddess that the trip had gone without any trouble. This time they had been lucky that no wild beast had attacked them on the way. There was a small scare a few days ago after they had camped in the same clearing when going to Cinran, when one of the guards on watch duty had woken up everyone with a claim that he saw a young adzee between the trees late in the night. It was a spine chilling night for everyone since it was well known that adzees always moved in packs, and if an attack happened, it would be from a full pack of adzees, unless that young adzee had gotten separated from its pack.

    After that, all the guards had been wide awake and ready with weapons to fight against the adzees, knowing very well that without being fully covered in plate armor like a knight, their weapons might not do anything more than inconvenience the pack of adzees before they relished a hearty meal of freshly killed guards. But thankfully, no attack had happened, and nobody had even seen any other adzee after that. Even so, all the guards had been clutching their weapons with them all night long, with nobody getting any sleep that night.

    Back in Cinran, they were able to retrieve their wagon which they had given for repairs to the wainwright, and seemingly the Goddess was smiling upon them, since they were able to hire another wagon along with two horses to pull them. Feroy had told them that they certainly could not take the risk of any information about their caravan getting into the wrong hands, so they did not try to hire any other mercenaries for that wagon. With just fourteen of them in total including Mr Pydaso and his own guard - since they had not anticipated that they would be able to get another wagon to hire, it had led to two of the wagons having only a single guard with them. But thankfully they had been safe on the journey.

    Those extra two wagons had meant that this time they were able to carry a bigger amount of wheat with them to the village along with some other things. That grain would go a long way to feed the villagers in the coming winter.

    Based on the cloudy skies these days, along with the bone chilling cold they had braved on the journey, the harsh winter of Reslinor was nearly here now, so the caravan wouldn''t be able to go to Cinran again before the roads were blocked. They could still try, but there was a big possibility of the wagons getting stuck on the road on their return journey because of snow on the road.

    A lack of wind in the forest had prevented them from shivering too much, even though it was still very cold. For a while, it had seemed that it would already start snowing on that road - especially since it went much closer to the Arakin mountains than Cinran or even Tiranat.

    However, he still wished that the manor would be able to send the caravan again. He had no idea how much grain was needed to feed the whole village, and he had to trust that Lord Kivamus and Mr Duvas would do their best to keep the whole village fed. Even so, he did know that any extra grain wouldn''t hurt their grain stores. That he would be able to meet his sister once more in that case was certainly not the reason behind him wanting to go on another trip. Not at all!

    He shook his head to clear his mind as he saw the familiar trees of fedarus giving way to open ground a few hundred yards away in front of them. They were nearly back to the village now. He just hoped that the grain they had brought with them would be enough - since it didn''t seem likely that they would be able to go on another trip, as much as he wanted to.

    Looking at the wagon in front of him with bulging sacks of grain loaded on it, he couldn''t help but thank Lord Kivamus for doing so much for the villagers in the short time he had been here. A few weeks ago he couldn''t have imagined that even the homeless children and the elderly would be getting two meals a day - even if they had no coin to pay for it! At that time, even those with working age men in their families didn''t have enough to feed their children because of the persistent shortage of grain in the village, but the baron had been trying his best to make sure that nobody went to sleep on an empty stomach.

    He didn''t know where the coin was coming from to buy all this grain - especially since the manor was barely able to sell any coal these days. The small amount of coal that Mr Pydaso took with him on these two trips was much less than the amount the village usually sold to Cinran in the past. Before leaving for Cinran this time, he could easily see the strain on Mr Duvas'' face when he was talking to the Baron on their resting day. He had been too far to hear any of that conversation, but it had to be about the limited coin the village had. They weren''t able to buy anything before the new baron came here, after all. Even so, there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He would let his betters worry about the finances.

    Although it had been a few weeks since that last bandit raid, he couldn''t help but worry about another such raid. Even though the baron had recruited a dozen more guards - they were barely trained as of now, and in the face of a serious bandit attack, he didn''t fancy the chances of the village too much. Still, he had to do his best in what he was tasked with - and that was to protect the caravan on the journey and the manor after that.

    Back in Cinran, after much pleading, Feroy had allowed him to visit his sister as long as he didn''t take too much time. But he had been happy for however long he got. Isuha was living alone in such a big town, and any visit from her family would make her happy. And as expected, she had been overjoyed to see him again. Once he had given her the news that their father had now been employed as a foreman in the village - one of only two such supervisors in the village for now, she hadn''t been able to stop her tears of happiness from flowing. Since his father had gotten injured a few years ago he hadn''t been able to work at all. So finding out that he could still contribute to the village, while earning some coin as well was a very welcome news for her.

    Just in case, he had asked her if she had told anybody about him and the caravan before leaving. However, that had gotten him an immediate whack on his head, along with a scolding that she wasn''t an idiot to let that information out and risk her brother''s safety! He rubbed his head thinking about that. She had hit him hard and it still hurt a little!

    As they came closer to the tree line, he saw that narrow trench across both sides of the road again. He still didn''t know what their purpose was going to be, especially since they were more than a hundred yards away from the last of the houses. As they crossed that trench, he and the other guard on his wagon kept a sharp eye on their surroundings - since this was the time when caravans lowered their caution and were easy to ambush, even though they were right next to the village now. This time his wagon was in the middle of the caravan so he couldn''t see the village very clearly yet, but he was certainly very happy to be back to the village now.

    As their wagon crossed the tree line - which was much farther from the village now, he saw that a lot of laborers were doing a variety of tasks here and there. In fact there was a worker doing something anywhere he looked around him.

    It was evening now, and it was soon after sunset, with only a small amount of daylight remaining. But he could see the zeal with which all the villagers were working even in that small amount of light available at this time. Seeing everyone hard at work gave a good deal of satisfaction to him. He still couldn''t forget the droopy eyes and spiritless walking of the villagers a few weeks ago. At that time nobody had anything to do, and the whole village felt like it was just wasting away. However, today it seemed like everyone was doing their best to make sure all the tasks the baron had given them were completed on time. Everywhere he looked, there was some kind of construction or other work going on.

    Closer to the houses, he saw that many workers were hard at work pulling up debarked logs one by one using a rope to make another wall of a longhouse, while one side of those walls was already completed. He wasn''t sure how a longhouse was supposed to look - but however it was shaped, it was certainly going to be very large, looking at the square shaped arrangement of the trench which went around those hard working villagers.

    There were two such square shaped trenches, one inside the other. However, the outer one had to be above twenty-five yards on each side! Assuming that would be the outer wall of the longhouse, just how big was that longhouse going to be? He could easily see a hundred villagers living inside that building! A normal house in the village outside the manor was usually around five to eight yards on the longer side. Even the largest houses in the village were not bigger than ten yards on a side! He shook his head again with a smile. He did know that there were nearly a hundred villagers who were homeless before other villages had taken them in temporarily, but even so, Lord Kivamus certainly didn''t do things at a small scale, did he?

    Looking around, he saw that there were many other trenches as well. Further away from the village - towards the tree line, there were two other such pairs of square shaped trenches. He could guess that those were also going to be longhouses in the future. However, there were many other smaller trenches there as well, and those seem to be interconnected to each other and to a bigger trench going towards the west of the village. He couldn''t guess what those trenches were for. Well, no matter, he would find out soon enough anyway now that he was back in the village.

    More importantly, he was happy to be back home! He wasn''t sure if he could have said that a few weeks ago - he had hated his inability to do anything to provide food for his half-starved parents at that time. But their situation had changed so much in the last few weeks. Now he was a guard in the baron''s manor, and his father was a foreman - both of them with a regular income! Very good income, in fact, since guards and foremen were paid more than coal miners, after all. So today, it couldn''t be truer to say that he really was happy to be back home!

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 Chapter 95 - 94. Maisy And Elsie

    ~ Maisy ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy was smiling today, as she waited outside the baron''s manor along with many other villagers for the caravan to come back. Someone had seen the caravan coming from the north, and before long the news had spread throughout the village like wildfire. So she and Elsie had been waiting in the empty area here for the caravan to pass in front of them, along with Mr Kigeir.

    She had heard from others that the villagers had also gathered here when the caravan had arrived a week ago as well, but she hadn''t found out about it in time that day. But today she didn''t want to miss it! It wasn''t every day that a caravan came to the village, after all.

    So when she had asked Mr Kigeir that she wanted to go there, he had agreed easily, and Elsie - his daughter and her new best friend now - had tagged along as well. Timmy had wanted to come as well, but his own new best friend - the younger son of Mr Kigeir - had wanted to play with some wooden toys again, so he had changed his mind before leaving.

    Unlike the first time when she had come here for the first free meal, when she and Timmy had been scared by such a big crowd, she didn''t feel scared today - at all! There was also a brazier burning close to them, since Mr Kigeir hadn''t wanted them to get sick in this cold, so he had asked a few other villagers to make some space for them near the brazier. Without that, it would be really, really cold! They were standing at the front of the crowd, so that she and Elsie would be able to see the caravan easily.

    Elsie was just as energetic as ever, and kept pointing out people she recognized here and there in that crowd. Looking at her and Mr Kigeir - who had put his arms on the shoulders of both kids protectively, she couldn''t help but smile. Living with his family in the past two weeks had probably been the happiest time of her life. She got three meals a day now! That was something which she couldn''t even have dreamt of in the past.

    Of course, two of those meals were provided to the children and the elderly outside the baron''s manor, but seeing the frail bodies of her and Timmy, Elsie''s mother had decided on the very first day that she would provide another meal to them at their home when she cooked for others. Maisy had thought of protesting, but when the rare smell of fresh bread that Elsie'' mother had bought from the baker wafted throughout the house, she had forgotten about denying that tasty, tasty bread!

    As she heard a commotion from nearby, she shook her head to stop thinking about food again. It was wonderful living with Mr Kigeir''s family, but she knew that it wouldn''t last very long. She had heard that the new longhouses that the baron was making for the homeless and orphans would be finished soon, and then she and Timmy would have to move there. Elsie still didn''t know that they would have to move away from Mr Kigeir''s house soon, and she already knew that Elsie would be sad to lose her new best friend, just like she would be. But at least Maisy would have very good memories of the time living with them.

    Giving a sigh completely unsuited for her ten year old life in this world, she looked as the first wagon exited the last row of houses and started to pass in front of the waiting crowd towards the gates of the manor. Two huge horses were pulling that wagon, along with two scary men with swords who were sitting on the wagon''s seat.

    But as they came into the light of the braziers and burning torches kept nearby, they slowed down the wagon, and one of those men stood up and pulled away the thick cloth covering the wagon, and pointed at the many sacks kept there with a roar. Immediately, the waiting crowd started cheering and clapping loudly as well. Elsie asked Mr Kigeir about those sacks, and he told them that they must contain grain!

    As more and more wagons kept coming, she tried to count them, but soon she forgot her counting as the enthusiasm of the crowd became too loud. All those wagon drivers were now standing on their seats, cheering just as loudly as the villagers. When Elsie started cheering, she couldn''t help but start clapping as well. It was rare to see everyone so happy in the village! She even saw the old Father Edric there, who was one of the few people to give some food to orphans like her and Timmy.

    It felt really good to her to be a part of such a happy crowd. Also, all of those wagons had so many sacks kept on them! That was so much food! She hadn''t ever seen that much food in a single place in her whole life!

    The wagons kept moving slowly, and one by one, they started to enter the open gates of the manor. As the last wagon entered the manor, the cheers of the villagers died down slowly, and many of them began to return back. But she would still stay here, because soon she and Elsie would be getting their evening meal here, after all. As the crowd started thinning further, she saw a few maids of the manor along with a few guards coming out of the manor, and as always, they were pushing forward a couple of carts towards them! She couldn''t wait to eat the warm, tasty food again!

    In the beginning, even after she had gotten food for the first time here, she had sadly thought that it was only a one time thing. Although she had heard that the baron was the richest man in the village, how could even someone like him afford to feed so many people every day? S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    But day after day, they kept getting food here two times a day, and slowly she had started to believe that it wasn''t just a lucky dream where she and her little brother got to eat warm food every day. Now it was a regular part of their lives.

    As Mr Kigeir pushed the two of them gently towards the children''s line forming in front of the gates, Elsie took her hand in her own, and started pulling her towards the carts.

    For the first few days, every child had to be present here to be given food, but slowly the maids had started recognizing them, so they had allowed younger children to stay at home in this cold weather if there was someone who could take the food to them. So Mr Kigeir would take two other bowls of food back to their home for his own younger son and Timmy.

    Usually they only got porridge or bread with plain soup, but sometimes they were given warm stew with vegetables! She had also heard from a maid a few days ago that there might even be something called cheese given to them in the future. She hadn''t ever heard about anything called cheese, but Elsie had assured her that it was very tasty! Elsie had said that she had even eaten some cheese in the past!

    Well, she would decide whether it was tasty or not, after she actually got to eat it! She couldn''t believe everything Elsie said after all, since she had still never seen any unicorn in the village, even though Elsie kept saying that they lived in the village too. And Maisy had even looked for them!

    She would try again to look for any unicorns which were hiding in the village, but that was for later. For now, she couldn''t wait to find out what they would get to eat today!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    It was morning now, and he was going to have breakfast with others soon. For now, he was standing outside the manor house looking around the place, while clutching his fur coat tightly around himself. Yesterday, the caravan had arrived back safely, and he had found out that they had even been able to hire an extra wagon. Everyone in the manor had been quite happy to know about it.

    However, the weather had remained overcast throughout the night, as usual, while it kept getting colder every day. Earlier, when he had gone to do some running along with other guards, he had felt that it must be around five degrees Celsius now. While they were still above freezing temperature for now, it wouldn''t be long before they would see snow here. Although Feroy had reported to him that they hadn''t seen any snow on the road either, when they were returning. And since that road was located closer to the Arakin mountains, it would take a few more days to start snowing in Tiranat after snowfall started there. However, he had again seen the sun shining for a short while in the morning, before the clouds covered it again.

    Of course, after giving him the basic report of the caravan''s journey, Feroy hadn''t wasted any time before he got... well, wasted. They only had a small amount of ale remaining in the manor now, but he had still allowed Feroy to drink, since it wasn''t likely that the caravan would be able to leave again after all. He had led the caravan safely through two journeys, so he deserved to have a night of rest anyway.

    Coming back to the present, he noticed that the servants of the manor were already hard at work unloading those sacks of grain into the waiting carts, before leading them to the growing stockpile of wheat in the grain barn. Thankfully, they had enough braziers now, so the servants were able to work in relatively warmer conditions under the wagon sheds. He had also gone to take a look inside the grain barn along with Madam Nerida earlier, and she couldn''t have been happier to see so much wheat being stored there. It was such a rare sight for them in the past few months, after all.

    Before leaving for the village alehouse yesterday, Pydaso had let him know that he would be back before noon today to finalize the payments for everything. Kivamus would have to wait until then to find out the full details of what they had been able to buy. Even so, having two extra wagons this time compared to the first trip would certainly have allowed them to bring more grain than last time.

    However, even with that, they would still be short on grain by the end of winter, and they wouldn''t be able to start planting seeds unless they bought more grain. The one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain that they had estimated to feed the village for four months hadn''t included any grain to use as seeds after all. That would need another sixty sacks of wheat. And from what Feroy had told him, the prices of grain would keep rising through the winter, and even if they bought more wheat after that, it would cost quite a bit more. Buying more grain now would have been much safer and cheaper for them. He sighed. If only they were able to go on another trip...

    Even though the weather kept getting worse every day, he would still try to convince Pydaso to go on another journey to Cinran, as unlikely as it seemed for him to agree to that. For now, he would have to wait for him to report back. Although even if the merchant didn''t agree, at least there was the consolation that with all their horses back, the construction of everything would speed up with their help.

    Soon, Syryne came outside the manor hall, and told him that the breakfast was ready, and others were waiting for him. Giving a nod, he started walking back to the warmth of the manor hall.

 Chapter 96 - 95. Hyola

    ~ Hyola ~

    ~ The Limestone Quarry, somewhere southwest of Cinran ~

    It was the morning of another cold day, and she and the other stonecutters were going to start today''s work. They were walking towards the pit of the quarry with buckets in their hands, to remove the small amount of water that still remained there. One of them was riding in a wagon with two nodors pulling it, so that they could put the buckets filled with water on that wagon before he took the buckets to throw the water outside in the forest.

    She gazed towards the east, even though all she could see was the towering leafless trees right now. It had already been a few days since the scouts of bandits had gone away from the quarry and without getting any more news, she was getting worried about Calubo now. Even though she had only known him for a few weeks, they had somehow become very good friends in that short time. She just prayed to the Goddess that some of the Count''s knights who patrolled the major roads didn''t get to them, since it wouldn''t end well for Calubo either, even if he was not there by choice.

    She sighed, and shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Thinking negatively wouldn''t make the outcome positive anyway. Nokozal, who was supervising them, started to shout at them to start working instead of wasting time, so she took her bucket and dipped it in the nearly freezing water, and took it to the waiting wagon. As she turned back after putting the full bucket on it and picking up another empty one, she heard a commotion towards the path which led from the quarry pit to the forest outside. Looking there, she saw that it was one of the bandits who had gone to scout the roads. He was riding his horse hard, and soon he reached near them to report to Nokozal.

    She slowed down her walk to listen to what they were saying.

    "Millord! We found it, we found a caravan on the road going from Tiranat to Cinran!" the bandit reported, out of breath. "I rode nearly all day yesterday to get this news as quickly as I could to you, although I still had to stop for the night since I couldn''t reach here before it got too dark to ride a horse in the forest."

    She scoffed on hearing the bandit address Nokozal as ''milord.'' Like he was some noble! But she continued hearing carefully, to see if there was any news of Calubo.

    "Doesn''t matter, since I was right!" Nokozal gloated at the other bandits who had gathered nearby. "See, that''s the genius of Lord Nokozal! I knew there was going to be a caravan after all!" He looked back at the bandit who had come on horse. "But why are you so late? I thought you would be back yesterday."

    "We did see some tracks on the road there, but the ground was very dry, so we couldn''t be sure if those were recent tracks," the bandit replied. "I didn''t want to report back unless we were sure, so we waited for another day to see if there really was a caravan, and we got lucky and saw a line of wagons going south."

    "Tell me the details," Nokozal grunted. "How many wagons? I hope there were many!"

    "It was a caravan of eight wagons going south towards that village," the bandit answered with a grin.

    "Eight wagons!" Nokozal exclaimed. "I can already see us getting rich! I don''t think they could have had more than a couple of guards though, right?"

    The bandit seemed to grimace for a moment, before he added, "Actually, we counted a total of fourteen men guarding the caravan."

    Hyola felt a quiet satisfaction on hearing that. The number of guards being that high would mean the bandits couldn''t try to ambush that caravan, which means Calubo should be safe now. She stayed nearby to keep hearing further, hoping Nokozal didn''t notice her dawdling.

    "What? That''s impossible!" Nokozal barked. "A small village like Tiranat couldn''t possibly have that many guards to spare to accompany a caravan, unless they leave the village completely undefended!" He growled as he glared at the bandit, "Can you even count to fourteen?"

    The bandit flinched. "I sure can, milord! And I counted them twice!" He added, "Apart from a portly middle aged man who didn''t have any visible weapons with him, the rest of the men all had swords. Some even had spears and bows! They all looked like experienced fighters to me."

    "I don''t believe it!" Nokozal snapped with a scowl. "I don''t think that village could even have that many swordsmen in total, otherwise Torhan''s group wouldn''t have had such an easy time raiding that village a few weeks ago."

    He added, "Eight hired drivers for eight wagons I could understand, but they are all well-armed men? And fourteen men at that, not just eight?" He glared at the bandit again. "Were you drunk? Or did you steal from my stash of ale again? Since that''s the only reason I can think - because you couldn''t even count properly! Because you were drunk again!"

    "We didn''t take any ale with us, milord, and I am not lying!" the bandit protested. "But I don''t know if they were guards of the village itself. They might very well be hired mercenaries from Cinran."

    Nokozal grunted. "I don''t think a small village would have enough coin to spare to hire a dozen mercenaries." After a moment of thought, he grinned. "I still don''t believe that number, but it''s good for us either way. If there is only a small number of guards with the caravan, we will ambush them on that road, and just in case you are right - which I still don''t believe at all - it would mean that the village still has a lot of coin stashed away if they spent money to hire those mercenaries. So once the mercenaries return back to Cinran, we can raid the village itself and get the grain directly from there, since they wouldn''t have enough guards to defend themselves if they had to hire mercenaries from outside to escort the caravan. It''s a win-win for us either way." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The other bandit gave a nod. "I don''t know if they will go on another trip to buy more grain though. It looked like it was going to snow soon on that road - since it is much closer to the mountains."

    "You said they were going towards the village," Nokozal said, "which means most of the wagons and those mercenaries - if they really do exist - have to return back to Cinran anyway." He looked at the other bandits there. "So we will go there with all the men we can spare, and see it for ourselves. And depending on what we see, we will either raid that caravan - even if we just steal some horses from them, otherwise we will travel further to raid the village itself."

    Hyola felt worried to hear that they will raid anyway, which means they might make Calubo fight along with them too.

    Nokozal looked at another bandit. "You take the fresh horse, and ride fast to the south, and return back with the three men who are scouting there. They already have a horse with them, so the four of you can ride back on the two horses themselves, instead of walking here. It will take nearly a full day for you to reach there and another day back, so I expect all of you to return before tomorrow evening. We will leave immediately after that towards the eastern road on foot." He looked back to the bandit who had come back on the horse. "You rest for now, because you will have to come with us to show where the other two are staying on that eastern road. I will leave some other men here to keep an eye on the stonecutters while we are away."

    "We''d have reached the eastern road by tomorrow if we had all our men here," one of the bandits grumbled. "These two extra days while we wait for others to return back are a complete waste... Who knows if there will even be a caravan when we reach there..."

    "It''s because someone had decided to send scouts on both the roads..." another bandit muttered. "And we don''t even have enough men with us to ambush the caravan without them. It was a genius stroke of brilliance, milord!"

    "Shut up, unless you want a beating!" Nokozal said with a scowl. "If we had sent all of them in a single place, and a caravan had gone on the other road, we would never have found out about them. This way we should still be able to catch the caravan on their journey back to Cinran." He glared at the stonecutters who had been listening from nearby. "Get back to work, you freeloaders, or there would be no food for you tonight!"

    Grumbling under her breath, Hyola walked back towards the pit of the quarry with others, while dark thoughts about the safety of Calubo swirled in her mind. What if the bandits made him fight with them? Would he even agree to fight against the guards he had known for all his life? What if he denied Nokozal to fight the village guards? Wouldn''t that bastard Nokozal beat Calubo then?

    Or what if he did something worse? What if Nokozal just killed Calubo so that he wouldn''t side with the villagers? She shook her head to try to clear her mind. It didn''t work.

    As she walked with other stonecutters to the pit of the quarry to fill the bucket with water again, horrible thoughts came to her mind. What if Calubo was already bleeding away somewhere in the forest, as the other bandits who had gone with him just laughed at the dying man?

    She gazed back at the bandit chief with hatred in her eyes. What had she done to deserve this fate? Why did she have to be sold as a slave? Why did that bastard have to capture Calubo and bring him here, which only led to her caring so much about him? As a slave she couldn''t afford to care about anyone, when she didn''t even know how her own future would turn out to be... Couldn''t she have been born with the fate of living her life as a free person? Couldn''t she have been born in the Tiranat village, where she could have lived a happy life with Calubo?

    With watery eyes, she dipped her bucket in the water to fill it again before putting it on the waiting wagon, and then picked up another empty bucket from there. As she walked back towards the water, she looked at the cloudy sky. It wouldn''t be long before it started to snow. It was already so cold, and without the stonecutters getting much food, at least some of them would surely freeze to death in the winter. She blinked her eyes furiously to stop tears from flowing. What had she done to deserve this fate?

    She just stood there for a while, being unable to find the energy to start working again, when an older woman noticed her as she was bringing her own empty bucket. Walking towards Hyola she patted her back.

    "Don''t worry, child," the older woman said in a calming voice. "I know what must be going on in your mind - we have all been there at some point. But you have to trust the Goddess that she would take care of us. We wouldn''t have survived this long without her blessing after all."

    Wiping her eyes, Hyola gave a slow nod. The older woman was right. She had to keep faith in the Goddess.

    It was the Goddess who had let her meet a kind soul like Calubo in this dreary place. She had to keep faith that the Goddess wouldn''t tear them apart so soon. Giving a weak smile, she used the nearly freezing water to wash her face and thanked the woman.

    She nodded to herself, trying to gather her courage. She had to keep faith in the Goddess, especially in these dark times. She didn''t know what the future held for her, but she would trust that the Goddess would give them a way out of this situation, somehow...

    With renewed vigor, she dipped the bucket into the water again, filling it to the brim, and started walking back towards the wagon.

 Chapter 97 - 96. Shopping List

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Around noon, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall with others, as they waited for Pydaso to arrive. While the weather was still very cold, the sun had shone for nearly an hour before the clouds had covered it again. Until the morning, it had still seemed like it would start snowing any time, but somehow the weather had started clearing a little by now.

    "If the weather stays like this, couldn''t we try to send the caravan again?" Gorsazo asked. "While it is true that by now we have enough grain that the villagers shouldn''t starve over the winter, we will still be short on grain by the end of winter, not to mention the grain we need to start planting seeds after the winter ends."

    Duvas replied, "Although Feroy told us that it still hasn''t been snowing on that road, it won''t be long before snow starts here too you know. And what if the wagon gets stuck in the snow on the road? We wouldn''t get any grain in that case, and we might even lose a few horses and guards on the road!"

    "That''s true, but the weather has surprisingly been clearing up for a day now," Gorsazo mentioned.

    "Don''t jinx it, Mr Gorsazo!" Hudan chided with a smile.

    Kivamus said, "We don''t know how the condition will be on that road after a week, but if the weather improves further by evening, we will try to persuade Pydaso for another trip. He is the one who has traveled on this road the most times out of any of us, so his opinion will be the most important in this. So let''s wait for him before we talk about that further." He continued, "It depends on whether he is willing to brave the road for another trip. While we could still try to send our own wagons even if he doesn''t want to return here again - assuming the weather does get better, it might still not be worth it to risk the wagons getting stuck in the snow, when we will only be getting four wagon-loads of grain in return."

    Thinking about the shortage of grain everywhere, he asked, "There is something I was curious about. Even if the weather does get clear and we are able to send the caravan for another trip, would Cinran even have enough grain for us to buy again? We have been buying a big amount after all, so what if the caravan doesn''t even get enough grain to buy in the markets of Cinran?" sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas gave the answer. "Don''t worry about that, my lord. There is no risk of that. The quantity of our purchases would certainly be noticeable in the markets there, but the harvest was only around a month ago, so the grain stores of the merchants there would still be quite full at this time."

    He explained, "From a very rough estimate, I''d say Cinran needs something like five to six thousand sacks of grain every year to feed the people who live there, and even with the third trip we would still be buying around two hundred sacks only. More importantly, since we don''t have any farms here, we buy all our grain from there every year. So in a way, you can say that the local merchants there would already have factored in our regular demand as well, when deciding how much grain to buy from the local farmers."

    He added, "It is still true that because of the bad harvest, they will have a shortage of grains for sure, but even so, they do have more than enough grain to sell to us."

    Kivamus nodded. "Alright, that removes another worry from my mind."

    Before long, a servant announced the arrival of Pydaso.

    The merchant entered the manor hall, and with a quick bow to the baron, he took an empty seat near the fireplace.

    After giving a minute for Pydaso to soak in the heat from the fireplace, Kivamus asked, "So were you able to buy everything this time?"

    Pydaso nodded. "Indeed, milord. We were lucky that we were able to hire another wagon, so we returned with eight wagons in total. I have brought sixty-six sacks of grain this time, along with twelve sacks of vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, onions and some salt as well. The rest of the space was taken by iron ingots and the ropes you had wanted me to buy."

    "Oh! You were able to buy vegetables too!" Kivamus replied with surprise. "That is very nice to hear." He added, "We had estimated that your total cost this time would be around three hundred and thirty gold crowns - half of which we had paid you in advance before you left for this trip. Duvas will pay you the remainder today after calculating the exact amount."

    "Thank you for that, milord," Pydaso said with a smile.

    With the amount of grain the merchant had brought this time, including the vegetables - which still counted as food, they had purchased a total of a hundred and fifty seven sacks of edible grain and vegetables. That still left them short of the one hundred and seventy-five sacks of grain that they needed to feed the village for the four months, not to mention what they needed for use as seeds.

    They were also spending a lot of their limited amount of gold on buying the grain, with the total for these two trips easily rising to above seven hundred gold crowns. While this was certainly a necessary expense, he really had to hope that other traders would start coming to the village after the winter, otherwise it would become difficult to feed the village without selling more coal regularly. Pydaso alone couldn''t buy nearly enough coal by himself.

    He asked, "Would it be possible for you to go on another trip, Pydaso? You must have seen that the weather has seemed to be clearing up a little since yesterday. And in any case, it still hasn''t started snowing on that road."

    The merchant didn''t give a reply immediately. He seemed to be thinking about it for a while, before he answered, "I do understand that. Even so, it won''t be long before the snowfall starts, and there is a big chance of the caravan getting stuck on the return journey here, or when I return back towards home in case it does start snowing soon."

    He added after a moment, "However, it is still true that the snowfall hasn''t started yet. So that does leave a small possibility of going on another trip before I return back. But I would prefer not to take that risk."

    "So... What will it be then?" Kivamus asked. "Can you go for another trip or not?"

    Pydaso replied, "Tell you what, let''s leave the decision for tomorrow morning, since I can''t return back towards Cinran before then in any case. If the weather gets more clear by tomorrow morning, that should delay the snowfall another few days even on that road, which means we would be able to go on another trip. However, if the weather gets bad again before it is time to leave in the morning, then I will apologize for not being able to help you more, and I will return back to my home."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That''s understandable." Thinking more about it, he said, "Since you will be taking your four wagons back with you either way, we certainly have to fill them with coal for you. However, let''s do this. We will also fill the other four wagons of the manor with coal as well, and depending on your decision tomorrow morning, you can leave with either four wagons to go back to your home, or with eight wagons to buy more grain for us from Cinran. And in case you are unable to go for a third trip for us, we can just unload that coal from our wagons later on, so that wouldn''t cause any problems to us."

    "Oh, that''s a good idea, milord!" Hudan said.

    Kivamus continued, looking at the merchant, "So let''s also finalize the details right now in case you are able to go on another trip, since we wouldn''t want to waste any time tomorrow morning. Depending on your decision tomorrow, we will make another advance payment to you before you leave, instead of right now."

    "That works for me," Pydaso replied.

    "Alright then." Kivamus continued, "So in case you go for the third trip, I still want you to buy as much grain as you can. And of course, you should buy more vegetables too." Thinking about other edible things which could survive the winter, he said, "Add some butter and cheese to it if you can. Apart from that, buy as much iron as you can fit in the wagons."

    "Of course," Pydaso nodded.

    "If I may add something, milord," Hudan said with a grin, "Feroy saw how low we are on ale these days, so he was grumbling about how we could survive the winter without ale." He added with a snort, "He was even muttering today that this was why the goddess has held back the snow until now, to allow us to buy more ale!"

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh at that. It was true that while they certainly couldn''t afford anything like wine with their dwindling finances, having some ale could be a good moral booster for the guards and villagers. He said with a nod, "Pydaso, add that to the list as well. Just one barrel would be more than enough."

    "Alright, I''ll make sure to buy it as well," Pydaso replied with a laugh. "Would that be all then?"

    "Let me think," Kivamus muttered. If they really were able to send the caravan on a third trip, it would really help them a lot in feeding everyone over the winter, even though they still might not have enough wheat to use as seeds after the winter. Apart from that, if they were successful in farming mushrooms at large scale, and breeding some fish in the southern pond later, that would also help in their food security. Although digging that pond would be a lot of work by itself.

    However, while they still had to clear a big area of the forests and finish a lot of construction over the winter, the villagers would still get some idle time late in the winter, since they couldn''t prepare the fields for farming until the ground started to thaw after winter. That would be the perfect time to do something else to help the village in the future. He wasn''t yet sure what else they could do, but he would certainly need to make a lot of notes and designs for that, for which he needed a way to write or draw.

    He asked the merchant, "Is there any slate or chalk available in Cinran? For writing?"

 Chapter 98 - 97. Soaps

    "I''m not sure..." Pydaso muttered. "I have heard that slate is a type of rock, but I don''t know how you could write on a cliff... Not that I would be able to transport even small chunks of that rock here. I am not sure where to find chalk either... But can you really use them to write?"

    "I don''t think it would be very difficult," Gorsazo said. "Isn''t chalk a type of limestone? Like the white cliffs found in some places?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed." Now that Gorsazo knew more about him, he was glad to see that he was supporting him instead of asking uncomfortable questions in front of others. He said to the merchant, "If it is not found nearby, let''s leave that for now. But you should still be able to buy some paper or parchment, along with quills and ink to write on them, right?"

    Pydaso gave a firm nod. "Those I can certainly buy, my lord. Paper doesn''t come cheap at all, but I will make sure to bring some parchment and ink for you."

    Kivamus nodded and began to think about what else they might need over the winter. Remembering the very crude version of soap that they used in the manor, he thought that if the caravan was able to go on a third trip, that would also be something they should stock up on, since they couldn''t manufacture it here - not yet anyway. Even that soap - a crudely made harsh soap with a really nasty smell - was a luxury here, but at least it did its task well enough. When he had arrived in the village, he had been gratified to see that at least there was some kind of soap here, otherwise he didn''t even want to imagine the kind of diseases which could spread in the blink of an eye.

    He began, "There is one last thing that I wanted to add. You should also buy a good amount of soap from Cinran if you are able to go for the third trip." He asked curiously, "How much does soap cost, anyway?"

    "Around four to five coppers for each large bar of soap," Pydaso replied, "which lasts around a month for a family - although people usually try to make it last at least twice as long." He added, "Of course, that''s the cheaper soap I bring here for the villagers. However, the previous baron preferred the luxury soap, which costs around one gold for each large bar, or around twenty times that of the commoners'' soap, so only nobles can afford it."

    "Twenty times as much!" Kivamus exclaimed with surprise. He looked at Duvas with raised eyebrows. "Did the previous baron really buy that? Even when the villagers didn''t have enough to eat?"

    Duvas gave a reluctant nod. "It''s true enough, my Lord."

    "Wow!" Kivamus just shook his head. What was wrong with the heads of these nobles!

    Duvas added, "However, all we had left with us when you arrived was the commoners soap, so we couldn''t provide the luxury soap to you."

    "No, no, forget about it. We can''t possibly afford something which costs that much!" Thinking from the memories of the original Kivamus, he realized that the soap he had been using in the Ulriga Palace must have been the luxury soap, but it wasn''t something he had focused on, so he didn''t know much about it. He looked at the merchant. "Why is it so costly anyway?"

    Pydaso explained, "While the cheaper soap is made in many places, including Cinran itself, but in the whole kingdom of Reslinor, the luxury soap is only produced in Plumron, which is quite a bit far away from here in the north. So although the luxury soap is quite costly even there, transporting that soap so far also adds to its price."

    He continued, "The soap guild of Plumron has kept the method of production of that luxury soap a secret, so nobody else can make it in the kingdom anyway, and believe me, people have tried." He added with a shrug, "I can''t really say what''s the actual difference between them for the luxury soap to cost that much, since I have only ever used the cheaper soap. But I have heard that the luxury soap is much softer on the skin and I can certainly attest that it has a very pleasant smell, so that must be why nobles prefer to use only that soap. Which one do you want me to buy, milord?"

    "Only the cheaper soap for now," Kivamus replied with a grimace. As much as he disliked using the harsh soap they had here, he couldn''t possibly splurge for something that costly right now. He was quite sure that the actual cost of that luxury soap wouldn''t be nearly that high, but medieval guilds were well known to jealously guard their secret techniques, which allowed them to charge a fortune for something that simple.

    He added, "We need enough of it to last the village for at least three months. At a rough estimate, if each large bar lasts a month for a family, we will need around two hundred and fifty such bars, which will cost around a thousand coppers, or ten gold crowns." He nodded to himself. "It''s affordable enough, and I don''t want a disease outbreak here because of a shortage of soap."

    Hudan asked, "But that sounds like it would take a lot of space on the wagons - space in which we could keep more grain."

    "No need to worry about that," Pydaso said. "Although that seems like a large amount, it would still take less space than a single sack of grain."

    Kivamus nodded. "We can afford to buy one less sack of grain to prevent a disease outbreak here. Make sure to buy it." After a moment of thought, he said, "That is all that I can think of right now to buy from Cinran. The cost of grain should be around three hundred gold crowns this time as well, along with another hundred gold for the remaining items. You will take coal worth around either forty or eighty gold with you, depending on whether you leave with four or eight wagons. So we can adjust that amount from the payment tomorrow morning before you leave."

    Glancing at the windows of the manor hall, he added, "Assuming the weather stays clear by tomorrow morning and you decide to go for the third trip, Duvas will provide you half of that amount as advance at that time." He continued, "Of course, after we have unloaded everything from the wagons, we will still be filling all the eight wagons with coal today in preparation for the third trip, even if it turns out that you cannot go for another trip."

    "That is fine with me, milord." Pydaso stood up from the chair. "I will take my leave then. I do hope that the weather stays clear, since the extra income would be very helpful for my family in the coming winter."

    Kivamus gave a nod in reply. "I hope so too." He looked at the majordomo. "Duvas, go and give him the remaining amount for the second trip now."

    Duvas nodded. "Of course, my Lord."

    *******

    In the evening, Kivamus was walking in the manor with others, happy to see that the weather was clearing further. The sun had been out for over an hour in the afternoon before the clouds covered it again. If it stayed like this by tomorrow, they really would be able to send the caravan for another trip.

    As he saw Madam Nerida hurrying towards the servant hall, he remembered that soon it would be time for the free evening meal for the elderly villagers and the children. He asked the majordomo who was walking next to him, "You are also regularly providing the grain to those villagers who have taken in the homeless people, right?"

    "Of course, my Lord," Duvas replied. "Every week we give sufficient grain and coal to every worker, as well as to those people who have taken in the homeless villages, apart from the free meals twice daily. When we had started doing this, our grain stores only consisted of around twenty five sacks of wheat, so I was quite worried about distributing it so freely, but thankfully we have been able to buy above hundred and fifty sacks by now in total. So that helps a lot, even though we will still be short on grain by the end of winter at this rate."

    "Let''s just hope that the caravan is able to leave again," Gorsazo said. "If that trip is successful, we might even be able to provide three meals a day to the children and elderly."

    "That''s true," Kivamus said with a nod. "Duvas, make sure to send a guard around the village every few days to check that all the homeless people are still living inside the homes of those people who had taken them in, and they haven''t just been thrown out. That will also make sure that nobody is left outside now."

    "I''ve already told Hudan to do that late in the night," Duvas replied, "so that if any of the villagers were trying to be too smart about that, then those guards would easily be able to tell me about them."

    "I have been doing it every day," Hudan said, "but that hasn''t been a problem so far.''''

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said.

    Hudan added, "I was thinking that if the caravan is able to leave tomorrow, then we should provide two more guards to them, so that every caravan will have two men on it. This time there were eight wagons, but only twelve guards of ours, not including Pydaso and his own guard, and that had led to two wagons having only a single guard with them, which made them a weak link."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus replied, as they reached the training grounds in the south-eastern part of the manor. Kerel was already there practicing with some new guards. He added after a moment, "But wouldn''t we be too short on guards here in that case?" S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I realize that," Hudan said. "However, a few of the workers are showing good talent with a machete - the ones I have been giving some basic training to, in the northern area of the village. So I was thinking of getting your permission to hire them as temporary guards. I want to take on four more guards for one week, so that we can send more guards tomorrow in case the caravan is able to leave. I had already made sure with Mr Duvas that those men can be trusted, before I started giving them training, so their loyalty isn''t in any question. And once the caravan returns, we can just release those temporary guards so that they can work as laborers again."

    "Alright, you should do that," Kivamus replied after a moment of thought. "That third trip would be very important for us, so it is better if we don''t take any risk with it by not providing them enough guards."

    "That''s true, my Lord," Duvas said. "The success of this trip would decide how well we are able to start planting seeds after the winter. So the importance of this trip cannot be overstated."

    Hudan added, "In that case, I will take my leave now, so that I can talk to those workers in the north before they return back to their homes, or it would be too difficult to find each of them in the village at night."

    Kivamus waved him away. "Go on then. Let them know that while it''s temporary, for a week they will still get the higher amount of grain and coal which the manor guards get, which should give them enough of an incentive to join us as guards. Otherwise, they wouldn''t want to risk their lives when they can just keep working as laborers."

    "I''ll make sure to tell them about it," Hudan replied, before he turned back towards the gates of the manor.

    Kivamus looked at the partly cloudy sky, and hoped that the weather would stay clear for a few more days. If the weather became worse tomorrow, then it would hurt them a lot if the caravan was unable to leave again.

    Well, there was no point worrying about it any more, since it was out of his hands now. He would find out how it goes by tomorrow anyway. He had to be patient till then.

 Chapter 99 - 98. Roofing

    The next morning Kivamus and others were standing near the gates of the manor, watching the caravan get ready for departure. The weather had cleared up further, and while the sun had just risen at this time, there were only sparse clouds in the sky, despite the chill in the air. The wagons had already been loaded with coal to the brim, before being covered with an oilcloth.

    Earlier in the morning, after looking at the clear weather, Duvas had said that the goddess had smiled on them after all. They had quickly sent a runner to Pydaso in the village alehouse, but they had found that the merchant was already on his way to the manor with a grin on his face. It wouldn''t just be the village which would be benefiting from another trip, after all. They had provided Pydaso with half the expected expenses for this trip in advance, so that there wouldn''t be any delay in purchasing anything. Since then he had been going over everything in the caravan to make sure that it was ready to leave.

    Hudan had also provided fourteen manor guards to escort the caravan this time - only half of whom were experienced ones - not including the merchant and his own guard. And finally, the caravan looked ready to go with two men on each wagon. Soon, he saw Pydaso and Feroy walking towards him.

    "We are ready to leave, milord," the merchant reported.

    "Good! Make sure that everything goes well."

    Feroy nodded with a grin. "Don''t worry about that, milord. With this many guards, we could even take on an adzee, you know?"

    Kivamus seriously doubted that, since by now he knew how dangerous those beasts could be, but he didn''t say anything. However, Hudan raised his eyebrows in response.

    Noticing that, Feroy quickly added, "You know what I mean!"

    "I didn''t say anything," Hudan grinned.

    "I know what you were going to say..." the ex-mercenary snorted. "Forget it, I don''t care." Then he gave a grin as well. "By your leave, milord, we should set out now. I''ll make sure that the trip goes well. This time, the caravan will be carrying ale after all!"

    Kivamus just laughed in reply, and waved them away.

    Before long, the guards climbed to their seats, and with the creaking of axles, the caravan rumbled ahead.

    As Kivamus watched the wagons leave the gates of the manor one by one, he thought that only the future will tell how the trip will go, but they had done everything in their hands to make sure of the caravan''s safety.

    Duvas looked at the sky, praying to the goddess. "I just hope that there are no problems on the road this time. May the goddess let us have just one more successful trip, then I wouldn''t wish for any more blessings this winter."

    Kivamus just watched the wagons leaving silently but didn''t say anything. After two attempts to kill him, it had been far too quiet after that. Although it was true that any news traveled really slowly in this medieval world, and the coming winter would slow down everything further, he just had a bad feeling about this trip. However, shaking his head, he chided himself for thinking like that. He had to hope for the best. Negative thoughts wouldn''t help them here anyway.

    *******

    In the afternoon, he was sitting inside the manor hall waiting for lunch, while talking about the progress of the longhouse blocks with the others. The fireplace was providing a good amount of heat to the manor hall, keeping the room warm enough, otherwise it was way too cold these days.

    Soon, Madam Helga brought a warm pot of vegetable stew to the long dining table, and began ladling out generous helpings of the stew into various bowls with Syryne''s help. Until now, they had only been eating meals which had been prepared using wheat, whether it was bread or porridge, apart from the one time that they had eaten the stew made from Rizako mushrooms. While they were still given a couple of eggs sometimes, it was rare enough that it rarely counted as a variety in food.

    However, with Pydaso bringing potatoes, carrots and even onions this time, Madam Helga had started making different types of meals now, instead of providing the same old food every day. While the quantity of vegetables was still not that much, he had told Madam Nerida to use those vegetables when making the free meals for the children and the elderly. They were the weakest part of society, and they needed good nutrition. Of course, once the caravan returned this time with more vegetables and grain, he had decided to allow those vegetables to be provided to the rest of the villagers as well, when they were given their weekly quota of grain rations.

    Duvas began, "Yesterday, one of the workers was asking me why aren''t we making the longhouse blocks to be two floors high, since that would mean even more people could be provided housing within a single longhouse block."

    "What did you tell him?" Kivamus asked, while taking a sip of the warm broth with a wooden spoon. It was certainly much better than the bland meals they had been having till now. With Madam Helga''s experience in cooking food in an inn, she certainly knew how to bring life to the meals, as long as she was provided with enough ingredients.

    Duvas replied, "I told him that it would require making a strong floor for the second story, which would take much longer than what we are doing now. It would require making a lot of strong beams from the logs to support the weight of the upper floor, which will increase the construction time by a lot."

    Hudan asked, "I was curious about that as well. How are we making the roof?"

    Kivamus replied, "I had talked with Taniok about that earlier. He will make simple wooden shingles for the roof, which will itself be slanted on both sides to prevent snow from gathering over it. And Duvas is correct in saying that it will take much longer and would be much more difficult to build a single two-story longhouse, instead of making two separate longhouses of one story each. And it''s not like we have any shortage of space here that we need to expand vertically instead of horizontally." He added, "But there is another reason for limiting the longhouses to a single story only."

    "Unlike the buildings within the manor, we aren''t making those longhouses to last for decades after all." He explained, "We all know that we are constructing the longhouses from unseasoned logs, so they are not going to last more than a few years. That is itself a good enough reason to keep the construction simple. But more importantly, while it may be fine to make walls from those logs, because the structure of the building would still be safe enough, it wouldn''t be the same if we make a floor for the second story from those unseasoned logs."

    He continued, "If we make the floor from them, they will easily warp in a year or two which would create weak points or even gaps in the floor of the second story - and that could lead to a young child falling through that space, or even an adult breaking their foot if it gets stuck there - in case the plank above that empty space gives way. I don''t see any reason we need to take such a risk, especially since that building wouldn''t even last too long, not to mention it would take even longer to finish a two story building."

    "It does make sense," Hudan said with a nod.

    Kivamus continued, "The planks on the first floor would still have the ground under them, so there is no such risk if we make a single story longhouse like we are doing now. That''s why we decided to keep the longhouses to a single story, and will be using wooden shingles as the roof. By the time we need to tear down those longhouse blocks in a few years, we can decide whether to make a two story building at that time. But for now, single story buildings will be good enough with our hurried pace of construction."

    *******

    It was evening now, and Kivamus and the others were watching the guards train in the manor, when a servant reported that the blacksmith was there to talk to him.

    Soon, he saw Cedoron walking towards him.

    "How is it going with you?" Kivamus asked.

    "There are no problems, milord," the blacksmith replied. "I found out that the caravan had brought more iron ingots this time, and that they have left for another trip. Are they buying more iron again?"

    Kivamus nodded. "The high grain prices have made the prices of non-essential goods much lower, so Pydaso is getting a very good deal on iron ingots. So I''ve told him to buy more so that we can stock up on them for further use in the winter."

    Cedoron said, "That is really nice to know, milord. With the way you are giving me new orders for making something every day, it''s good to know that I am not going to be short on iron at least." He added, "Today I came here to tell you that the initial order which you had given me for making two dozen axes, half a dozen machetes, and a dozen saws is nearly complete now, and I will be able to provide the remaining tools by tomorrow. Of course, I might have been finished with them sooner but making other things like braziers and the iron troughs you wanted for uh... growing mushrooms I think, made me take more time than I thought."

    "That''s not a problem," Kivamus replied. He continued, "You must have noticed that the construction of longhouse blocks has finally started. We are only putting up the walls right now, but after that Taniok will need quite a few hinges, some hammers, and of course, a lot of iron nails. So you should start working on forging them after you are done with the initial order of tools." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "As you wish, milord," the blacksmith replied.

    Kivamus added, "Once you have made enough hinges and hammers, and after training your apprentices in making iron nails, there is another thing that I want you to start working on." Seeing Cedoron give a curious nod, he said, "But before that, I wanted to ask how was your experience with specialization of tool production?"

    "Oh! It was a wonderful idea, milord!" Cedoron shook his head slowly before adding, "I don''t know why I never thought of something so simple myself. It has really helped me speed up the production of everything. I will use the same method for making iron nails and other things as well."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said. "Now I want you to make something which is called a wheelbarrow. It is similar to a cart, but instead of four wheels, it only has a single one."

    "A cart with only a single wheel!" Duvas exclaimed with surprise. "How will it even balance itself...?"

    Seeing the surprise on the faces of the majordomo and Cedoron, as well as the knowing smile of Gorsazo, Kivamus said, "It is nothing complex, but here is a very basic diagram of it."

    He bent down and using a sharp stick, he began to make a crude drawing on the ground itself.

 Chapter 100 - 99. Wheelbarrows

    Once he was done with the drawing, Kivamus pointed at the relevant parts of the drawing, and explained, "It will only have a single wooden wheel at the front, and a big iron tray in the middle where we can keep the load, as well as two strong wooden handles for pushing them - which will support the iron tray from the bottom as well. This design allows most of the weight to be transferred to the wheel when lifting the tray and pushing it, which makes it easy for even a single worker to lift and transport what would normally take two or three workers."

    Seeing others'' nod, he added, "Another benefit is that it can carry a variety of loads and can easily travel over uneven terrain. So it will be very helpful in many situations, such as when moving a small amount of coal - for example, when the servants are taking coal to refill all the braziers in the village. Using a wheelbarrow, a single servant can easily transport a full sack of grain as well, when taking it from the grain barns to the servants hall - which needs a cart and a horse right now. Later on, it''ll also be helpful in carrying seeds for sowing as well as the harvested grain when we start farming next year."

    He continued, "For now, it will help in speeding up the construction of buildings, since a single worker can easily carry a lot of planks and other supplies like nails and hammers wherever needed in a single trip, instead of moving back and forth multiple times, or needing one of our limited number of horses to pull a cart."

    Duvas nodded slowly. "That does sound very helpful, if it can really work like that..." He asked, "Can''t we also give such a wheelbarrow to the guards when the hunting groups go into the forests? Because as you said, it will allow them to easily transport the animals over the uneven terrain in the forests."

    "That''s certainly another way it can be used," Kivamus replied, "and it does work like I said, trust me on that." He added, "We can also make a two-wheel version of it if needed later, which will be more stable on level ground. But for now, we will only make the one-wheel version, which will have better maneuverability on the uneven ground in the village. A one-wheel design also helps the workers to unload it accurately - in case of a bulk load like coal or grain, which wouldn''t be possible with a two wheel version."

    He looked at the blacksmith. "As for you, you just need to make half of the parts - namely the load tray in the middle - which will be quite similar to the water trough you made earlier, but a little bigger and deeper. Other than that," he added while pointing at the bottom of the drawing, "you only have to make the simple iron supports for the trough here, as well as for the wheel here. I will tell Taniok to tell his apprentice to make the wheel and the wooden handles, which are simple enough that he doesn''t have to work on them himself."

    Cedoron gazed at the simple drawing for a while before he nodded. "I can do it, since it looks simple enough. If I have any confusion about it, I will have to ask you again, but I don''t think that there would be any problem. But I still don''t see how it will allow the worker to lift thrice as much as he could normally lift."

    Kivamus gave a smile. "You''ll see it when it is completed. Try to work on it alongside your other tasks, so that we can get one such wheelbarrow up and running before Taniok starts working with planks in the longhouse blocks. I know it will take a lot of iron, but at least we don''t have any shortage of that right now." He added, "I think you will need to make around half a dozen such wheelbarrows eventually, but don''t start on the second one until we have tested the first one properly to see if there is any problem in it."

    Cedoron nodded. "Of course, milord."

    Remembering that all the tools here were just primitive iron tools instead of the long-lasting modern steel tools found on Earth, Kivamus continued, "It will take time for you to provide enough iron nails and make all the wheelbarrows, but once it''s done, I want you to keep making more axes and saws, since we have a lot of forest to clear and not nearly enough tools for that."

    He explained, "Once all the longhouse blocks are completed, I will put in those workers to clear the forests as well, for which we will need even more cutting tools. And with the amount of use that those tools are seeing everyday, even the new tools will start breaking down soon, so having a ready supply of more tools will keep the work ongoing instead of slowing it down because of a shortage of usable tools. At that point you will also have to work on repairing those tools which can still be repaired, while the rest might need to be reforged."

    "That''s true," the blacksmith said. "When the coal mines were working, I had to repair at least a few tools everyday, so I do realize that I will have to start work on repairing some of the tools soon."

    Kivamus asked with his eyebrows raised, "But will you be able to handle all that work by yourself?"

    Cedoron nodded. "It''s true that my workload is much higher now compared to those days, but I''m slowly training my new apprentices in everything related to blacksmithing, so they will soon be able to do most of the repairing work by themselves. So you don''t have to worry about our workload, milord, we can handle everything you throw at us."

    "Good!" Kivamus added, "Since digging isn''t feasible in winter anyway, we don''t need any more shovels and picks immediately. The ones we have left over from coal mining will do for now." He finished, "That''s all for today. Let me know as soon as the tray for the wheelbarrow is completed."

    "I will do as you say, milord," Cedoron replied. Giving a quick nod in respect, he said, "I will take my leave then."

    Kivamus nodded and waved him away.

    ********

    ~ Hyola ~

    ~ The Limestone Quarry, somewhere southwest of Cinran ~

    Finally, the pit of the quarry was nearly cleared of water, and from tomorrow they would have to start cutting limestone again. It was evening time now, and after working for the whole day, she was waiting for the bandit chief to tell all the stonecutters that today''s work was over, so that they could leave for resting now.

    As she kept another bucket of water on the waiting wagon, which was only half full this time, she noticed a commotion towards the sloping entrance of the quarry. Looking there, she saw that a few of the bandits were back. Once the guards at the makeshift barricade waved them inside, the two horses - each with two bandits on them - rode towards Nokozal, who was standing near the stonecutters while yelling at them to work harder.

    As the four bandits got down from the tired looking horses, one of them walked to the bandit chief and started to give a report. Being curious about it, she stayed nearby to listen.

    "Milord! All four of us are back from the southern road connecting Tiranat and Kirnos," the bandit reported.

    Nokozal growled at the bandit, "You are still late! You had left yesterday morning and it took you two full days! Why did you waste so much time!"

    The bandit cringed. "I wasn''t wasting time, milord! I know that I was on a horse, but it took me some time to search where others were hiding to scout any caravans on that road."

    "Forget it!" Nokozal growled.

    One of the other bandits who had come from the south asked curiously, "Is it really true that someone spotted a caravan? I couldn''t believe it when I heard about it!"

    "It is indeed true," Nokozal gloated with a grin. "That village has indeed managed to buy more grain after all! Good for us!"

    He gathered other bandits nearby, and once everyone was listening, he said, "We will leave immediately to the east where others have seen a caravan going to Tiranat village."

    Another bandit who had just arrived protested, "We have been riding for two days, milord! We don''t have enough horses for all of us to ride further, and we are in no position to walk all night!"

    "I didn''t ask for your opinion!" Nokozal barked.

    But another bandit added, "Milord, you will want to take the horses with us to scout that road further, but two of our three horses are also very tired right now, so they won''t be able to walk much either."

    Seeing Nokozal angry enough that it seemed like steam would start coming from his ear made Hyola hide a laugh, but she kept listening further. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After a while, Nokozal grunted. "It does make sense, so we will leave at dawn tomorrow. There are fourteen of us including the two who have gone to scout on the eastern road, and we also have to leave some men here to keep an eye on all the slaves here. So the four men who just came from the south will stay back, and the rest of us will leave on foot."

    "Thank you, Lord Nokozal," one of those bandits who would be staying back replied.

    The bandit chief glared at those bandits who would be staying back and barked, "If I find out that even a single slave has escaped, it wouldn''t end well for you all." He added, "I will still take all the three horses with me, since you all don''t have a use for them here anyway." He looked back at the bandits who would be going to the east. "Our plan is to ambush the caravan on the road going from Cinran to Tiranat."

    One of the other bandits interrupted, while pointing at another of them, "But he reported that the caravan had a dozen swordsmen guarding it! Shouldn''t we take all of our men with us? It wouldn''t be easy even with fourteen of us against the twelve guards of the caravan, but at least we would still have an advantage since we are ambushing them. But if we leave four men here..." he trailed off at the end.

    Nokozal just laughed loudly. "It''s not possible that the caravan had a dozen guards! And I am not leaving my camp undefended for Torhan''s group to steal what little grain we have left as well as our slaves when we are out. Because that bastard will surely do it if he gets even a hint of it!"

    Another bandit gave a nod at that. "That''s true enough."

    "Now get some rest and make sure to water the horses," Nokozal ordered. "And be ready to leave at dawn tomorrow."

    After that, the bandits dispersed to their tasks and Nokozal told the slaves that they could stop working now since it was getting too dark for that.

    With a tired nod, Hyola and others kept the last of the buckets on the wagon, before some of them left with it to empty the buckets in the forest outside. As she walked back, she couldn''t help but worry about Calubo again. Earlier she had thought that Nokozal would give up on the plans to ambush the caravan after he heard that it had a dozen guards protecting it, but it seemed like he was more reckless than what she had expected.

    She just prayed to the goddess that the caravan would be really so well protected that Nokozal would give up on ambushing it, since it would mean Calubo would stay safe as well. And in case the bandits did attack the caravan, she prayed that those guards would put these lowlifes out of their misery.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day around noon, Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall. Lucem and Clarisa were playing something like a game of tag and seemed to be chasing each other all around the hall, while Syryne was trying to make them sit down for eating but to no avail. She looked at him for help, but he just gave a smile with a shrug. He saw no harm in letting the kids play for now. Soon they will stop anyway when they get bored of it or after they smell the food.

    Duvas began, "The caravan should reach Cinran by evening today. Hopefully this last trip can be uneventful as well. We have been quite lucky so far, but I don''t know how long that luck will last us."

    Hudan said, "I did tell Feroy to take it easy on the horses this time, since the horses have been completing that three day journey within two days for many times now. If one of those poor beasts breaks a leg because it was too tired to know where to put its feet, it wouldn''t feel good to any of us. So hopefully he will take the full duration of three days, at least for one side of the journey."

    Duvas replied, "I don''t think Pydaso would agree to that, since he is already in a hurry to leave for his home before the snow blocks the road. There is also the risk that if Feroy takes an extra day on each side, then the snow might block the road by the time they return here."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said, "but it hasn''t started snowing yet, and the weather is fine today as well. I don''t think there is much risk of that for now."

    "It''s true that the sun is still out, but I don''t know how long this clear weather will last," Hudan commented. "I just hope they don''t push the horses more than they can take it."

    Soon, madam Helga entered the hall, and said with a big smile, "My Lord, as you had told me, I have been looking for other edible mushrooms and berries near the village, and today I did find something."

 Chapter 101 - 100. Toloraberries

    As Helga took a seat on one of the empty chairs, Kivamus said, "That''s really good to hear. What did you find?"

    "It''s nothing too much, but I saw a few Bilona trees in the west of the village, maybe around five hundred yards away from the last houses," she replied. "They only give fruit in the summer, but it is good to know that there are such trees nearby."

    "I''ve already heard about them from Taniok, but they won''t be helpful to us right now," Kivamus said. He had been hopeful that she had found something else, but it was old news, and those trees wouldn''t give any more fruits in the winter anyway.

    "Oh, that''s not the only thing I found," Helga continued with a smile. "Those trees are growing right next to each other, and there are many toloraberry shrubs growing on the ground below those trees, and they are edible. Not too many of course, but there must still be a dozen such shrubs between those Bilona trees, and they still have some fruits on them." She looked at Duvas, "Did nobody here know about them? They are bright blue, for Goddess'' sake."

    "Of course we knew about them," Duvas snorted. "But you must also know how sour they are."

    "That''s true enough," Helga said with a grimace. "I''ve only tried eating them along with some honey, otherwise I can''t eat them at all."

    Duvas nodded. "People still eat them despite their sour taste, because eating something is better than starving, but nobody actually likes to eat them. When the village was short on grain a few weeks ago, some villagers regularly went there to pluck toloraberries to sell in the market square. But it''s not like we can afford any imported sugar here to make their taste better, and we rarely get any honey here to sweeten them."

    He continued, "However, since Lord Kivamus came here, people have started to get wheat again, which is much more preferable than eating those sour berries, not that there are enough of them to feed more than a few people. The fruits you saw there must have grown in the last few weeks, although they wouldn''t be giving any more fruits, now that winter is here."

    Kivamus nodded on hearing about them. These toloraberries sounded a lot like cranberries, which could usually only be eaten if you made some kind of sauce or jam with them using a lot of sugar - except for the fact that toloraberries were blue colored instead of red. But without access to a lot of cheap sugar or honey to sweeten them, they would be difficult to consume.

    He said, "It''s still good to know that those shrubs are found between those Bilona trees. I''ve already told Yeden to make sure those Bilona trees are not cut, but we have to preserve those toloraberry shrubs as well." He looked at Duvas, "We have already gotten a lot of rope from the caravan''s last trip, right?"

    Seeing Duvas give a nod, he said to Madam Helga, "Take a few workers with you along with some rope, and use them to surround that area. Tell them to tie those ropes around those Bilona trees while keeping a space of around five to ten meters on all sides of them. That will be our first ecological reserve." He added, "Duvas, tell the foreman Yeden and Pinoto to make sure nothing is cut in that area between those ropes even by mistake."

    "I''ll do that, my lord," the majordomo replied.

    "I''ll also make sure to surround that area with ropes today itself," Helga said as well. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Good," Kivamus said. "We have to make sure to take care of anything that provides us with food. I haven''t seen those Bilona trees with leaves yet, but I was told that they provide good shade in the summer. So in the future, even after we have cleared the area around that place, it can be made into a small park, where people can sit under those trees in the summer."

    "That sounds like a good idea, milord," Helga said. "But I should leave now to take care of marking that area."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "You can leave now."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    They had been waiting for a few days by now, with no news from Nokozal. The fatso had still kept one of the hands of each of them tied with a rope, which was foolish in Calubo''s opinion, but he was reminded repeatedly that if he even tried to run away, it wouldn''t end well for Hyola, so he hadn''t even tried. It was also true that without a horse, it would take way too long for him to reach Tiranat anyway. For now, he was just biding his time instead of trying to run away. However he kept wondering if Hyola was okay now.

    Even with only the fatso remaining there other than him, their limited rations of dried meat had ended yesterday. After they had gotten too hungry, they had managed to catch a rabbit a few hours ago in the morning. Although there was a risk of any fire being seen from a distance, they had still made a small fire away from the road to cook it - since with the road being so rarely traveled, there was nobody to see it anyway.

    They were still lying on the top of that bluff, but soon he heard the creaking of wagon axles. As they kept their heads low, they saw that the caravan was going north again. This time they still had eight wagons, but there were sixteen men escorting it this time.

    "Damn it! There are two more swordsmen this time," the fatso muttered. "At least we are lucky that the caravan is going for another journey."

    "Speak for yourself!" Calubo retorted.

    "Shut up! Without more grain it will be you stonecutters who will starve first!" Fatso muttered under his breath, "Where the heck is Nokozal anyway? We missed a good chance!"

    Calubo could still recognize many of those guards as former miners, but at least the caravan looked well defended to any observers who didn''t know the truth. Either way, even if Nokozal reached here in time, at least he should give up trying to ambush the caravan now. The bandit chief couldn''t be so reckless that he would want to attack even now, could he? Even so, he had to do his best to discourage the bandits from an attack.

    "What good chance are you talking about?" he said to the fatso with a smug smile. "When I said earlier that they are village guards you didn''t agree with me, so that means they must be hired mercenaries right? And you already know how cruel those bastards are! Do you really want to fight against them?"

    He smirked as the fatso couldn''t think of any reply to that.

    *******

    They kept waiting for Nokozal to arrive the whole day, but there was still no sign of him. And without being able to light a fire for warmth in the night, they were shivering throughout the night. After all, making a small hidden fire for cooking a rabbit was a very different thing than a much bigger fire for heating themselves in this frigid weather - especially in the darkness of the night.

    The next day around noon, the clouds had covered the sky again, and it had started to become windy now. Snowfall couldn''t be more than a day or two away now, and there was still no sign of the bandits. At this time the fatso was himself getting itchy about returning back to the quarry.

    After a few hours, when Calubo was starting to become hopeful that maybe a pack of adzees got the bandits on their way, he heard the sound of people talking behind them in the forests. Soon he saw that Nokozal had arrived there along with many other bandits. Calubo counted that there were ten bandits in total, including the fatso here and the runt who had come back.

    Truth being told, since he knew that those were untrained men pretending to be guards in the caravan, so at most half of them would be experienced men - or maybe even less, which meant if the bandits really did attack the caravan, it wouldn''t go well for the village guards, since the bandits would have numbers as well as surprise on their side. But other than him, nobody knew that the caravan was not really escorted by that many trained swordsmen, so there was still some hope of Nokozal not actually attacking the caravan and killing his friends and his cousin.

    As the bandits started to settle down away from the bluff, the fatso moved towards them, dragging Calubo along with him, and said, "Milord, there is good news. I saw the caravan going north again with eight wagons, but I don''t know if it will go back to that village."

    Nokozal grinned, while rubbing the scar on his face. "Eight wagons again! It seems luck is really on our side this time. We are going to get a good haul, for sure!"

    Calubo interrupted, ''Don''t get too happy. You don''t know for sure if the caravan will return back to the village again. And while the caravan certainly had eight wagons, they also had sixteen men with them - and all but one of them were well-trained swordsmen. You cannot possibly want to attack them unless you are suicidal!"

    Nokozal glared at him. "That bullshit again!" He looked at the fatso. "I know Calubo has a reason to overstate the number of guards that he claims that he saw, so you tell me the real number of escorting guards."

    The fatso nodded reluctantly, looking at the bandits gathered there. "He is not lying, milord. We really can''t attack them with our numbers. We have just ten men here, but there really were sixteen men in the caravan. And he''s right that all but one of them looked like trained swordsmen." By this point Nokozal was getting red in the face with anger, so the fatso added in a low voice, "I know you said that the village couldn''t have that many guards, so perhaps they were mercenaries...?"

    "Again that nonsense!" Nokozal barked. "Can''t any of you even count?" He glared at the runt who had gone back to report to him. "You told me that the caravan had twelve guards, and now this fatso is saying that they had sixteen guards? Both of you are cowards and just don''t want to risk your lives in a fight! That''s why you both are exaggerating that number! Do you even know how costly it would be to hire even half that many mercenaries?"

 Chapter 102 - 101. Scheming

    None of the other bandits said anything in reply to that question. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The bandit chief stroked his long beard for a moment. "Actually, never mind that. It''s a fact that a poor village like Tiranat couldn''t possibly have that much money - not after that raid by Torhan''s group - which means they must have been the village guards in the caravan, however many there are. And that means it was the village which sent the whole caravan this time, and it''s not a merchant who is visiting there with his wagons." He grinned. "So we have been lucky after all, since the caravan has to return back to the village again! And we''ll still get a chance to ambush them!"

    As the fatso and the runt started to say something in protest, Nokozal made them shut up with a glare. "Be quiet for now! I already know the caravan couldn''t have even half that many guards! But we''ll find out for sure in a day or two. And if the actual number of guards is even one man lower than what you reported, then be ready to work as a stonecutter for the whole winter."

    The other bandits grimaced at that, and nobody said anything in response.

    *******

    The next morning, snow had finally started falling here, and it had become freezing cold, especially since they couldn''t even light a fire here, or the caravan would become aware of an ambush if they noticed the fire.

    Nokozal had gathered everyone in the forest a little further from the bluff to finalize his plans for the ambush, with one man still keeping watch on the road. Calubo was also with the others, with his hands still being tied to a rope. As the fatso pulled him with his rope towards others, Calubo looked wistfully at the dried meat the bandits had brought with them and hoped that they gave him something to eat as well. This continuous snow had made him feel even more hungry than usual.

    Soon, the bandit chief began, "As you can see, snowfall has started here already." He pointed at the runt and added, "And from what he said, this road would likely get blocked within a few days from the start of the snowfall, so the village cannot send any caravans again before winter. That means this is our one and only chance to get enough grain to survive the winter comfortably. So we have to make this work!"

    The other bandits nodded seriously, before Nokozal continued, "I can accept that there might be other civilians or merchants in that caravan - whom you might have mistaken as guards, but the village couldn''t possibly have sent more than one swordsman for each wagon. That means a total of eight guards, unless you idiots couldn''t even count the number of wagons properly!"

    "No, milord, we counted correctly..." the fatso mumbled.

    Nokozal just snorted in response. He spoke again, "Those eight guards - who also have to try to protect any merchants as well as the wagons - against the ten of us. It won''t be easy, but with good preparation, we should be able to kill or disable most, if not all of the guards - since they aren''t likely to surrender willingly into our hands."

    He continued, "We will leave the merchants alone in the attack, since they wouldn''t be any threat to us, so our priority will be to target the guards only. But if there are still any survivors amongst them, we will take them in as slaves along with the civilians."

    The runt who was rubbing his hands together to keep them warm in this bone-chillingly cold weather, pointed at Calubo. "What about him? Where will he be during the attack?"

    Nokozal stared at him for a moment. "Don''t know what I was thinking when I sent him here." He gestured towards the forest vaguely. "Just tie him properly to a tree and gag him so he can''t run away or warn the caravan." He smirked, "Actually, you know what, tie him in a place so that he can see the guards falling to the might of Lord Nokozal!"

    The other bandits grinned before giving nods of anticipation, as Calubo simmered in anger.

    Nokozal glared directly at Calubo. "But if you still try to warn them somehow, I will kill you where you are standing, and then I will kill that girl you like back at the quarry. And it will be your fault that many other stonecutters will die as well, because if we can''t get enough grain here, then whatever we catch in the forest will go to us first, even if the slaves are starving. So unless you want that to happen you will stay quiet."

    Calubo was seething at his treatment. If only he had a chance to put a knife in this bastard''s neck... But holding his tongue, he just gave a nod in reply. At least he had the consolation that this bastard would be up for a big surprise when he saw that there really were that many guards in the caravan!

    The bandit chief pointed at the nearby bluff. "I looked around this place earlier, and it seems that you idiots at least found a good place to ambush them. From what I have been told, any caravan traveling southwards on this road would reach this place around evening, so that will help us as well, since the sun will be on our back. Now we don''t know if the caravan will return by this evening or tomorrow, so we will be ready with the ambush by afternoon today, just in case."

    Seeing others nod, he continued, "We have two archers with us, so the both of you will stay on the top of that bluff, since it''s a high point and you can easily target the guards from there." After two of the bandits who were armed with bows and arrows gave understanding nods, Nokozal looked back at the remaining bandits. "Our strategy will be to attack the caravan from both sides simultaneously, while the archers will keep raining arrows on them."

    He pointed at the fatso, "You will take four swordsmen including yourself to the other side of the road. Don''t stay too close to the road, but you should still be in a position so that you can attack immediately on my signal."

    "Of course, milord," the fatso replied. "I will go along with you to take a look at good hiding positions on the other side of the road later."

    Nokozal nodded. "I will keep the remaining three swordsmen with me on this side, near the bottom of the bluff. This way we can attack the caravan with four men from each side, along with the archers'' support from the top. That should be more than enough to take out three or even four guards in the initial surprise attack. And after that, we will likely have double the number of men on our side compared to the guards who are still standing, so it will be easy to take out the rest of them - assuming they don''t run away after that."

    The bandit chief continued, "We cannot let the caravan get any hint that there is anyone else in the forest before we start the actual attack. So before my signal to charge at them, nobody will move a muscle!" After others nodded in acceptance, he said, "Now the signal will be me making the sounds of a bird whistling in the forest. It will be two short whistles, then a long one, and then another short whistle. And immediately at the last whistle, the two archers will shoot their arrows to take out the guards in the last wagon. And then the rest of us will fall upon them like devils from hell!"

    The bandits roared in anticipation before Nokozal added, "My target is to make the signal when more than half of the caravan is ahead of our position, and then we will attack them from behind. Our main target will be the last wagon, and if the archers have taken down the guards on that wagon in the initial attack, we will target the second last wagon."

    He continued, while giving a harsh stare at the fatso, "Since we will have numbers on our side over the two guards in the last two wagons, we should be able to kill them easily. And if we are successful in that, then we will target another wagon immediately after that. By that time the rest of the guards in the caravan should be heavily outnumbered, so they will likely be running away with their remaining wagons and horses. If all goes well, we should be able to get at least two wagon-loads of grain, which will last us for quite a long time."

    As others nodded in understanding, Nokozal said, "But remember, even if they have only eight guards, we are also just ten men. So unless we take out a few of them quickly in the first attempt, it will become very difficult for us. So we all have to attack at the same time. That means nobody will make any move unless I make that full signal!"

    The group of bandits nodded in acceptance with a chorus of ''of course, milord''.

    Finally, Nokozal gave a satisfied nod. "That is all for now. Let''s get something to eat first and then we will take our positions before noon. If the caravan doesn''t pass this evening, we will assemble again once night has fallen, and then we will take the same positions tomorrow as well." He balled his hands into fist, and raised them upwards before bellowing, "Let''s hope that the goddess allows us to get a good bounty this time! For food! For freedom! And for Lord Nokozal!"

    Immediately the other bandits gave a roar as well, and the bandit''s plan to ambush the caravan had begun.

    As they dispersed to their tasks, Calubo just hoped that Tiranat''s elaborate ruse of presenting the caravan as well-defended wasn''t found out by the bandits. He prayed to the goddess that she would bless his friends amongst the guards and his cousin to keep living. He also prayed that these bastards would die at the hands of the Count''s knights soon and he could be a free man once more. But he also knew that right now, he was only a deadweight for the bandits at best, and a possible enemy at worst - in case Nokozal thought that he might join the caravan guards to attack the bandits too.

    Only time would tell if he was going to survive even one more day between the bandits.

 Chapter 103 - 102. Anticipation

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus was standing outside the manor house looking at the clouds covering the sky, along with the biting wind which was now blowing continuously in Tiranat. Until yesterday, it had still been sunny, although the clouds had started to cover the sun again. But overnight, the clouds had completely covered the sky, and now the weather had again gotten bitterly cold. He had no way to find out what temperature it was right now, but he guessed that it had to be only a few degrees above freezing point. It might probably already be snowing on that road, so it wouldn''t be long before the snow started here as well.

    Once he returned inside the manor hall, Helga came to talk to him.

    "The replanting of mushrooms has been somewhat successful, my Lord," she reported. "In the temporary shed we had made in the south of the manor, less than half of the mushrooms are still standing, while the remaining didn''t survive the replanting. It could have been much worse though."

    Kivamus nodded with a frown. "Will those remaining mushrooms survive then? What if they perish as well in the coming days?" S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I am fairly sure that they''ll survive," Helga replied. "While that shed is far from windproof, the air inside the shed is fairly warm with two braziers burning inside it all the time within that small area. I''ve also told a maid to refill the water troughs there twice a day, so that the air inside that shed will remain moist. So I believe the rest of the mushrooms will be okay now. However, now that we know it is possible for mushrooms to survive the replanting there, I will transfer the remaining mushrooms from that puddle as well into that shed today. They are much more likely to survive there than in the open."

    "Do it," Kivamus said. "It will be some time before we can make another barn in the south for those mushrooms, but at least now there is some hope of getting edible mushrooms regularly in the future."

    Helga gave a nod before she exited the hall to go outside.

    Duvas, who was sitting near the fireplace, beckoned him over to sit there as well.

    Kivamus nodded, before he sat on an armchair near the fire. "The caravan should be in Cinran today, right?"

    "I believe so, assuming they didn''t have to spend three days on the road this time," Duvas replied.

    Kivamus nodded. "Hopefully the snow will hold back for a few more days. We don''t need the headache of finding out that the caravan has been stuck on the road." After a moment, he asked, "What is the progress of everything here?"

    Duvas began, "Taniok has completed all the walls of the longhouse now, and today he is cutting up the planks into smaller shingles to start making the roof. He told me that he has enough planks that he should be able to make the door, the roof, as well as the floor with them. From the remaining planks he might be able to make around half of the bunks as well, but he doesn''t have enough planks to make all the hundred and twenty-four bunks with them. Of course, once he has used up all the planks, he will cut more of them to make the bunks, but that will add another few days to make all the remaining bunks there, before we can call the first longhouse block to be completed."

    "That''s true, but I am glad to know that it is getting close to completion now. Even that first longhouse block will allow us to shift most of the previously homeless villagers there, which will take off the burden from those who are giving them shelter for now." Kivamus added, "What about the other things?"

    Duvas continued, "After cutting the logs into stakes of twenty feet, Yeden has already started putting them into the trenches for the village wall since a few days ago. He told me that he will start the construction of the gates after most of the wall has been put up. By today, he should have put up around a third of the wall in the north."

    "Good, good... Then it won''t be long before we have a strong village wall around us!" Kivamus added, "Once the walls and the gates have been completed, Yeden and Taniok can start work on the watchtowers. Of course, that will only be done after two longhouse blocks have been completed. Since the third longhouse block is not a big priority for us right now, we will leave it for later, until all the other important things have been completed."

    "Certainly," Duvas said. He continued, "In the South, Pinoto has been steadily clearing away the forests, and by now he has cleared up an area around two hundred meters wide and a hundred meters deep. There is still a long way until we have cleared enough of the forest for starting planting in the spring, but at least the work is under progress now. Also, I had told him to put a few workers to start digging the pond in the south a few days ago, so that there will at least be some place where the runoff water can gather when the snow starts to melt after the winter. Otherwise, there would have been no point in completing all the drainage trenches, when the water doesn''t even have any place to go. Of course, he will put those workers to cut trees again once a small part of the pond has been dug."

    Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. "That''s good thinking." He was glad to see that everything was going so well now. He was certainly overdue to get some good luck by now, after all.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere on the road between Tiranat and Cinran ~

    Yesterday had been a waste - at least for the bandits, since the caravan didn''t travel on the road by nightfall. The bandits had been crouching in a position to ambush the caravan for all that time, while he had been tied up to a tree for the whole duration, along with a gag on his mouth, so he was already in a bad mood since then. What had he even done to deserve this?

    He gave a deep sigh. There wasn''t anything he could do about it without risking Hyola''s safety.

    The bandits had rested in the night, and today the bandits had taken their positions again - which included his own position of being tied to a tree, along with a cloth tied over his mouth so he wouldn''t be able to warn the caravan. However, he had still been tied close to the bandits who were hiding near the bluff - to keep an eye on him just in case he managed to free himself, and in a position from where he could see the road clearly.

    The weather had kept getting worse and it had been snowing continuously since yesterday, and by now a small layer of snow had started to pile up on the road, which also meant that it was so damn cold right now, he thought while shivering. The bandits hadn''t lit any fire since yesterday morning to avoid the risk of the caravan guards spotting it, and by now he felt like his fingers had already started to freeze over.

    It didn''t help that he had been tied for most of the last week - including the time he traveled from the quarry to this place, and he hadn''t even been able to do any walking or jogging to warm himself up. He scoffed at the thought. It wasn''t like the bandits would untie his hands just so he could exercise. And with him barely getting any food these days, he was already feeling weak by now. His hands were continuously aching where they were tied - especially in this freezing weather, and he didn''t look forward to another full day of waiting while tied up to a tree - or maybe even longer, in case the caravan didn''t come today either.

    As he gazed at the desolate road, he couldn''t even imagine how much he would hate himself if the bandits really did attack the caravan, and he was unable to help them while still being able to clearly watch his friends die one after another.

    No! He tried to reassure himself that it wouldn''t happen. Nokozal couldn''t be so reckless that he would want to attack a caravan with so many swordsmen, would he?

    ********

    It was evening now, so all the bandits near him were ready to attack in case the caravan returned back soon. Calubo didn''t know why the return of the caravan had been delayed, but he did hope that the caravan had been safe till now.

    While he had seen that the caravan had sixteen men when they were going to Cinran - with all but one of them looking like trained swordsmen, what if some of them had to stay back in the town for some reason? What if they couldn''t even buy enough grain in Cinran, since there was a grain shortage everywhere after all? And even if the town had enough grain to sell, how much could Tiranat even buy with their nearly empty treasury?

    He couldn''t help but think of even worse thoughts as the day turned into evening and the shadows started becoming longer, but still without any sign of the caravan.

    What if the caravan was already stuck on the road because of snow? What if some of those guards had decided to stay back in Cinran in defiance, because they barely got anything to eat in Tiranat - since that was certainly the case while he was there.

    It was true that just a few days ago he had seen that the caravan going to the village with so many wagons - most likely full of grain, but he didn''t think that the whole village would get enough to eat just from those eight wagons, especially since the village wouldn''t be able to buy any more grain until after the winter. And if even a few of the caravan guards had decided to leave the pitiful life of their village behind, and stayed back in Cinran, the charade of the caravan looking so well-protected would disappear immediately, and Nokozal wouldn''t hesitate for a moment before attacking the caravan.

    No! It couldn''t be! He shook his head forcefully to rid himself of such thoughts. All the signs pointed towards the possibility that there was already a new baron in Tiranat, and from what he had seen so far, the new baron seemed to be doing everything he could to buy enough grain for the village before the snow blocked the road for the next few months. So he had to stay hopeful that the Goddess would keep the caravan safe from these bastards.

    *******

    After some time, when the sun was close to setting, the runt muttered while looking at the bandit chief, "It seems like today was a waste as well, wasn''t it? Should we return back now, milord? I''m already so cold and tired..."

    Before Nokozal could give any reply, Calubo heard the familiar sound of the creaking of wagon axles. The caravan was coming.

 Chapter 104 - 103. The Moment Of Truth

    Immediately, Nokozal and three other bandits who were sitting in a crouch near the bluff got ready with their swords out, while the archers nocked an arrow on their bows at the top of the bluff.

    Calubo had seen that his cousin Nurobo was also in the caravan when they were going north, so what if the bandits really did attack them? A single lucky arrow might mean that he would be without the last of his family in this world. Shaking his head, he tried to reassure himself that everything will go well. It had to!

    Before long, he saw that the first of the wagons started to pass on the dirt road in front of them between the continuously falling snowflakes. Looking closely at the caravan, he saw that once again, the caravan seemed to have sixteen men, all but one of whom seemed like well-trained swordsmen. The guards looked ready and alert for anything, but only he knew the reality that it was just a sham. However, the bandits didn''t know anything about that, did they?

    Although Calubo had been tied a few yards away from others, he was still close enough to see the expression on the face of Nokozal. Taking his eyes away from the grain caravan passing in front of them in the continuous snowfall, he looked at the bandit chief''s face and it seemed to be drained of color.

    By now, Nokozal had to have realized that the fatso wasn''t lying and the caravan really did have sixteen armed men in well-used leather armor with swords on their backs. More importantly, the caravan looked like it was fully loaded again - so the bandits really could have gotten a lot of loot if it didn''t look like the caravan was so well guarded. At this point, Nokozal must have known that they really couldn''t attack the caravan, after all. Calubo couldn''t put it in words how satisfied it made him feel.

    One by one, the wagons and the horses kept passing in front of them, while Nokozal seemed to be clenching his fists hard enough to draw blood. The other bandits were alternating between looking at Nokozal''s face and the caravan, waiting for any sign that they really would have to fight so many trained swordsmen. He could clearly see the fear on the runt''s face, who looked terrified about the bandit chief ordering them to recklessly start the attack, since the runt would be amongst the first ones to die in that case, being as small as he was.

    Looking back at the caravan, Calubo again recognized a few of the guards as those who used to work as coal miners until recently, so he knew that if the bandit really did choose to attack, it might not end well for the caravan. But as the wagons kept passing, Nokozal just gritted his teeth, and the whistle which all the other guards were waiting for, never came.

    Once he saw the wagon in which his cousin Nurobo was sitting along with another guard, Calubo had a sudden urge to just somehow grab his attention. Nurobo and the other guards would be going back to their village, and with Tiranat probably having enough grain now, Calubo didn''t want to stay between these bandits for even one more day, but he firmly crushed that thought as soon as it arrived. He wouldn''t be able to do anything to grab the caravan''s attention anyway with his hands and mouth tied already, and more importantly he knew the reality of that caravan. If it really led to a fight between the bandits - who were already prepared to attack the caravan, and the caravan guards - many of whom probably had no idea about how to fight, he didn''t rate the chances of the caravan too highly. More importantly, he knew what it would mean for Hyola and other stonecutters back at the quarry. So he ruthlessly put an end to the selfish and stupid idea.

    As the wagons kept passing in front of them one by one, he saw that one of the guards in the caravan - someone who actually looked more like a mercenary than a normal guard based on his flinty expression and steely eyes - someone who was probably new in the village, since Calubo didn''t recognise him at all - looked towards the bluff where the bandits were hiding. For a moment he thought that the guard would be able to clearly see him and the other bandits, and he got nervous that if the guards decided to stop and fight the bandits, it wouldn''t end well for the caravan. But thankfully, the moment passed, and that guard looked forward again and Calubo was finally able to give a sigh of relief after that.

    Of course that steely eyed guard would know the caravan''s situation much better than him, and looking at the scars visible on his face in the last rays of sunlight, he seemed like a veteran of many battles, so he would already know what to do in such situations - especially if he had realized that there was an ambush waiting for them here. Calubo did realize how unlikely that was, since the bandits had taken more than enough care to make sure that nobody would be able to see them from the road, but that still hadn''t stopped him from getting worried again.

    Eventually, the eighth wagon passed in front of them, and soon, the last opportunity to begin the ambush had passed as well. Such an elaborate plan to attack the last wagon from two sides along with the archers and the bandits'' swordsmen... And it had failed before it had even started. All because of someone in Tiranat who had played such an audacious gamble.

    It was true that it might also have gone very badly for the caravan, but the final result was that that gamble had paid off extremely well. He was also glad to know that all that grain would go a long way to feed the village this winter. All of it made Calubo feel so satisfied! If only he were in the village when the caravan returned triumphantly with such a narrow escape from the mouth of death for most of the miners pretending to be guards...

    When he saw the anger on Nokozal''s face at his failure, Calubo got a huge urge for a moment to start laughing loudly at the absurdity of it all, but somehow he managed not to show any expression outside.

    Once the caravan had gone completely out of their sights, Nokozal slammed his sword in the ground. "Damn it! Damn it all! How the heck could this have happened!"

    The bandit chief immediately started cursing everything, from the bandits, to the caravan and its guards and all other things in existence. Soon, the bandits hiding on the other side of the road came there as well to see what had happened.

    However as soon as Nokozal saw the fatso returning from the other side, he bellowed, "How the heck did that damned village get so many guards to spare? I thought there would be seven or eight guards at the most!"

    The runt spoke softly, "I did tell you about them, milord."

    "Shut up!" Nokozal barked, "You told me the caravan had twelve men, then the fatso told me that it had sixteen men, and the next time someone would have told me that they had a bunch of knights escorting the caravan! Who was I supposed to believe!" He scowled. "I know you all are cowards, so I thought you all must be exaggerating that number so you wouldn''t have to fight! But apart from a fat old man who couldn''t have fought even once in his life, the rest of them seemed like trained guards, dammit!"

    "We still would have fought if you had ordered us, milord," the runt said, "since trying our chances to get some grain is still better than starving after all. But there was no way we could have taken on those sixteen men by ourselves."

    "How the heck did Torhan''s group raid that village so easily then?" Nokozal glowered at everyone there. "If that village really had so many guards to spare, where were they hiding those guards when they were raided by Torhan''s men!"

    The fatso replied, "We do know that Torhan''s group is a large one, much bigger than ours and they have a lot more horses too. So maybe they just raided with many more men than us?"

    Nokozal grunted, before glaring at Calubo. "I guess you weren''t just trying to scare me off to save the lives of your friends when you told me that the village had so many guards. But why do you think your village couldn''t defend themselves from that raid, if they really do have that many men?"

    In the past few days here, Calubo had been worried that if the bandits left him tied here, and in case the ambush went badly for them, he would either freeze or starve to death, since he wouldn''t even be able to call the other guards for help with his mouth tied with a cloth. He didn''t know which was the better fate for him. So he had to use this rare opportunity to get into the good graces of the bandit chief, while still not giving away the weakness of the village he had lived nearly all his life in.

    On that day a few weeks ago when he had been caught by the bandits, they had interrogated him about Tiranat, and he had wildly exaggerated the number of guards that the village had, knowing that another bandit raid into the village would completely leave the villagers to starve. But he had no idea at the time how helpful that bluff would be in the future.

    And today he was the only one who had realized the elaborate ruse the village had put together to show that they could easily spare so many trained swordsmen to escort a caravan, but the bandits didn''t know anything about that. And he had no intention to correct the bandits'' flawed assumption. He had to do his best to present it in a way which would keep his cousin and his friends safe.

    He still had the cloth tied on his mouth, so he tried to speak but all he could do was to make some muffled sounds. But one of the bandits moved to untie that cloth at Nokozal''s gesture, although they still left him tied to the tree. But at least he could breathe properly now. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Speak!" The bandit chief ordered.

 Chapter 105 - 104. New Target

    Thinking about how to tell it in a way so that the bandits would leave the village alone, Calubo said, "Of course we had that many guards in the manor! There is no chance that the baron''s manor would be breached in any raid. They have tall palisade walls surrounding the manor after all!"

    Nokozal looked at him carefully and said, "You were not lying about the number of guards in the village, so I will believe you for now. Maybe you are finally learning your place as a slave under me. That''s good." He continued with raised eyebrows, "So this means that the guards are there just to defend the manor... And they don''t give a damn about what happens to the rest of the village..."

    Shit! Calubo immediately realized that he had put his foot in his mouth. But he didn''t know how he could fix his mistake without letting the bandits know about the ruse - which would be even worse for the village.

    Nokozal started to pace from left to right. After a while, he said to all the bandits, "So what if we couldn''t ambush the caravan? This grain is going to that shitty village after all, we can just raid the village itself to get the grain."

    What had he just done... Calubo realized with a growing horror. By trying to make it seem that the manor was so well defended, he had made it seem like the rest of the village was completely undefended!

    "Uh... Chief Nokozal..." he began to speak to try to undo what he had done, but Nokozal immediately put his hand up.

    "You shut up. I''m done with you for now," the bandit chief.

    Calubo tried to interrupt him again, "But that''s not..."

    "Quiet!" Nokozal barked. "I just told you to shut up." Then he gestured to another bandit towards Calubo''s face.

    Seeing that the other bandit started to put back that piece of cloth over his mouth, Calubo tried once more to undo his mistake, "Please... Lord Nokozal! Listen to m..." and then his mouth was bound firmly again, and he was unable to say anything else after that.

    Damn it! Damn his stupid mouth! Calubo castigated himself for the horrible mistake. How could he be so foolish! After it had seemed that it would finally go well for the caravan, was it really going to be his stupid mouth which would be the cause of another raid to the poorly defended village? He kept cursing himself for speaking without thinking, as the other bandits continued the discussion.

    Another bandit asked, "But milord, how can we possibly defeat the guards in their own village where they would be even better defended, when we couldn''t hope to defeat that many men even on this road in a well planned ambush?"

    "Because those guards are cowards and scared of any raids!" Nokozal replied with a huge grin. He tilted his head towards Calubo, while straightening his long beard with a hand. "You heard what he said. Those guards don''t give a shit about what happens to the rest of the village. And just like in that last raid by Torhan''s group, none of the manor guards would come out to defend the village this time either! It is a golden chance for us!"

    Other bandits nodded excitedly in response to it.

    Nokozal continued, "We will leave immediately for Tiranat to raid that village!" He kept speaking to the bandits who were now grinning in anticipation. "We know that no sane merchant would trust a noble with his goods! So that means apart from what that manor needs to feed their own cowardly guards, the rest of that grain would go to the village itself. And since the guards wouldn''t come out to defend the village - no matter how many there are, it would be much easier to just take that grain from the villagers themselves than trying to ambush a caravan!"

    The bandit chief raised his voice and roared, "The goddess has been looking out for us after all! She has given us an even better opportunity to get a lot of grain before the winter instead of making us risk our lives in an ambush! Do you see the brilliance of Lord Nokozal now?"

    The bandits roared loudly on hearing that.

    "And not just that," Nokozal continued with a grin. "It is also a good opportunity for us to get more workers without spending a copper to buy more slaves. We know that some of our older slaves would die in the winter anyway, but this way we can easily get a replacement for them without spending anything! And that coin will go towards buying more ale for us in the winter!"

    Immediately the other bandits started roaring chants of ''All hail Lord Nokozal!'' with their drawn swords raised towards the sky - which glinted in the dying light of the sunset amidst the continuously falling snowflakes.

    For quite a while, they kept cheering and praising that bastard, while Calubo was seething inside on hearing him talk about people like they were cattle to be owned!

    After the chants had died down, Nokozal said, "There are ten of us, so even with our three horses we will have to travel on foot, so it''s going to take us at least two days of walking to reach the village. Then we will rest for a few hours before we attack the village around midnight."

    The bandit chief gazed at all the bandits for a moment before he pointed at the runt. "You, take one horse and ride south to the village immediately. It''s your responsibility to scout Tiranat. Make sure to take a good look around the village and try to find out where that grain is being kept and any other weak points. Don''t go too close to the manor, but try to take a look at the village from all sides."

    At the runt''s nod, Nokozal continued, "Keep in mind that the caravan will be right ahead of you on this road, so you will have to travel through the forests for most of the way. And make sure not to be seen by anyone on the caravan when you are passing them."

    "Leave it to me, milord, this is what I do best," the runt said with confidence and walked towards a horse, before untying it and riding south immediately in the falling snow.

    Nokozal glared at Calubo while he gestured to another bandit to untie the former guard from the tree. "You are coming with us too - even though you are nothing but a deadweight right now. And don''t try to get smart or it won''t end well for you!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    It was evening right now and he was sitting with others near the fireplace, thankful that they had more than enough coal to burn it continuously. The past few days had been uneventful other than the weather which had been getting worse continuously, with no sign of the sun anywhere. The wind had been blowing heavily as well, making it nearly freezing outside the manor house.

    Apart from his morning runs around the walls of the manor with Hudan and other guards, as well as the occasional rounds to take a look at everything in the manor, he tried to stay inside most of the time these days. He had never liked the cold even when he was in the comfort of a modern flat in London, and he didn''t like it any more here in the wooden buildings of Tiranat. He spent most of his free time scribbling ideas on a piece of parchment, which could be implemented in the village during and after the winter.

    Duvas remarked with a frown, "It''s been more than a week since the caravan went out for the third trip. I had thought they would be back by yesterday evening, but there is still no sign of them."

    "We can only hope that there weren''t any problems on the way," Gorsazo commented. He looked at Kivamus. "Should we send someone on the northern road?"

    "Let''s wait for today as well, and see whether they return by tonight," Kivamus said, "otherwise we will send a rider tomorrow morning to see if he can find the caravan on the northern road."

    At Gorsazo''s nod, he asked, "What is the status of the longhouse block?"

    Hudan replied, "I had gone there in the morning and saw that all the outer walls of the block were already completed, and most of the inner wall was complete as well. I think all the walls should be completed by tonight itself, and if not, then it''ll be done by tomorrow at the most."

    "That''s really good to hear," Kivamus said with a smile. "That means Taniok should be starting work on the roof tomorrow itself."

    As they waited for the caravan''s return, he remembered that the wheelbarrow - which would be a simple but very innovative machine in Tiranat - should be completed by today. He had been giving instructions about it to the carpenter''s apprentice as well as to Cedoron for the past few days, and it would be very helpful if it was made before the work on the roof started.

    After a while, a servant announced the arrival of Cedoron.

    The blacksmith came inside the manor hall, and said, "Milord, I have completed the first wheelbarrow. You should take a look at it outside."

    "That''s wonderful!" Kivamus added, "Let''s go then."

    Putting his fur-coat tightly around himself to protect himself from the biting cold, he and others exited the manor hall and saw the wheelbarrow kept right outside it. It was getting dark now, but there was still enough light to see the wheelbarrow clearly. A few servants and maids had also gathered nearby in curiosity at the unusual cart with just a single wheel.

    Taking a thorough look at the wheelbarrow from all sides, he said, "It seems good to me. Now we just have to test it to see if it works like it should."

    Duvas gave a nod, and pointing at a couple of servants who were standing nearby, he ordered, "You both take the wheelbarrow to the coal barns and load it up with coal. Then we''ll try to see how well it works." Looking at Kivamus, he muttered in a low voice, "I do trust your opinions, milord, but I just can''t see how such an unusual cart can do all that you claimed."

    Kivamus just gave a smile in response instead of saying anything for now. They all will find out soon enough anyway.

    One of the servants, who was curiously poking at the weird looking cart, looked back at Kivamus with confusion. "But milord, where will we hitch the horses to it? I don''t see any hook here to attach any ropes..."

    Kivamus smiled and replied, "A wheelbarrow is designed in a way that makes it very easy to move, so you don''t even need any horses for this. That''s why I even had this wheelbarrow made here, since you all can just pull it by yourselves. Now let''s move it to the coal barns."

    Giving a puzzled nod, one of the servants walked to the front of the wheelbarrow, and tried to pull it forward by holding the front side of the tray, while another one stood behind it and ignoring the handles, he started to push the tray like a four-wheeled cart. Immediately, the wheelbarrow lifted up on the front, while both the servants got disbalanced and left the wheelbarrow in confusion.

    Shaking his head in amusement, Kivamus said while pointing at one of them. "Only one person will be more than enough to move it." Then he pointed at one of the servants and told him to simply pull it forward using the handles, after lifting them a little.

    The servant nodded again, and getting into position, he lifted the handles with ease and started pulling the empty wheelbarrow in the direction of the coal barns, while Kivamus and others slowly walked there as well.

    Duvas said, "The servants would have to take around half a cart of coal to refill all the braziers for the night soon enough anyway, but now they can use this wheelbarrow for it and we''ll soon find out if it is better than a cart or not."

    As they reached towards the coal barn, they saw that the servants were already shoveling coal into the tray of the wheelbarrow in the light of a burning brazier nearby, and before long, it was filled to the brim.

    "Go on then!" Kivamus said with encouragement. Seeing the confused looks of the servants, he explained, "One of you should just pick it up from the handles and take the wheelbarrow wherever you need to refill the braziers."

    The servants still hesitated. One of them said, "But milord, we always hitch the cart to a horse, and it''s the horse which pulls its weight. I was able to bring this uh... wheelbarrow... from the front of the manor house to here because it was completely empty earlier, but now it seems way too heavy for that. How can we humans pull such a heavy cart by ourselves?"

    Kivamus smiled. "Just give it a try, and you''ll be surprised." He pointed between the handles, "Just stand here and lift the handles a little, and try to walk forward."

    Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 106 - 105. Another Machine

    "As you wish, milord," the servant replied. He dubiously positioned himself between the handles, and using all his might, he tried to lift the handles up. It seemed a little difficult at first, but as the wheelbarrow lifted further upwards, all of a sudden the servant lost his balance as the handles moved up too fast. He had to immediately leave the handles to prevent the wheelbarrow from toppling over, making it fall on the ground with a thud.

    Looking thoroughly surprised, he looked at Kivamus with confusion, who just grinned and gestured to him to try again. Giving a firm nod, the servant took that same position again and this time he lifted the handles much more carefully. Once the iron stands had left the ground, the servant confirmed that he was well balanced, and holding the handles tightly, he pulled the wheelbarrow forward, which started moving ahead easily.

    "Well I''ll be damned!" Duvas exclaimed. "It really works! A single person is easily doing the work of a horse!"

    "What did I tell you?" Kivamus replied with a grin. And at the onset of winter in the approaching night, another machine was born in the village of Tiranat. There was a long way ahead on the path to progress, but this was a good step in that direction.

    Hudan gave an appreciating nod as well. "It will certainly be very helpful for us in the future, since it will allow us to use our limited number of horses where they are really needed - to pull the really heavy loads."

    The observing servants and maids were looking very surprised by now, after seeing that a single man was easily pulling the amount of coal which would have needed a horse to pull it earlier. After that servant pulled the wheelbarrow ahead for around a dozen meters without any problems, he turned it around and pulled it back towards them with a grin.

    After he reached close to the waiting people, he put down the handles slowly, and walked towards others. Looking at Kivamus with wonder, he said, "It really works milord! It does! It still took some effort, but I never thought I''d be able to pull that much coal just by myself!" He grinned at the other servants and maids, as he bragged, "Didn''t you know? I''m as strong as a horse!"

    The other servants were still looking surprised, while one of the observing maids quipped, "No, you''re not!" and a few other maids burst into sniggers.

    Kivamus was still gazing fondly at the wheelbarrow when another maid started to clap in celebration, and immediately, all the other servants, maids and even a few off-duty guards who had walked there seeing the commotion started to clap and cheer as well.

    Before long, another servant said to the first one, "Let me try too!" And without waiting for a response, he took a position between the handles of the wheelbarrow which was still full of coal, and started pulling it forward like he was going for a joy ride in a luxury sports car. Looking at the ear to ear grin of that servant, a few other servants started to draw lots using a bunch of sticks to be the next one to try pulling the wheelbarrow.

    Laying eyes at the wheelbarrow which had somehow become a rare source of enjoyment for the residents of the manor, Cedoron remarked with wonder, "I had tested the wheelbarrow before bringing it here to see if the supports were strong enough, but seeing that it works so well is still surprising to me. How did you even think of such an idea, milord? It''s so simple, and yet I never thought of it!"

    Before Kivamus could give a reply, Gorsazo said with a grin, "This is what happens when a well-read noble uses his brain productively for the help of his people. I already know that Lord Kivamus'' mind holds a lot of such creative ideas. This is just a small example of it!"

    Kivamus grinned as well, knowing that Gorsazo was covering for him, since his mentor knew that the real reason for his knowledge couldn''t possibly be told to others here.

    After a while, when a few of the servants had taken their turns in pulling the wheelbarrow, he called them closer and asked, "Now that you all have seen that it does work like it should, I want to ask if you all found any problems in using it. Is there anything which you all think would be improved?" Getting feedback from the real users of the wheelbarrow was just as important as him thinking of making this machine in the village.

    Most of the servants just shrugged and said that it was fine but a young servant said, "Milord, can I say something?" At Kivamus'' nod, he continued, I think the handles should be a little lower than they are right now. For those of us who are tall enough, it wouldn''t be any problem, but for most of us, it would be a lot easier if the handles were just a few inches lower." After hearing that, the other servant started to nod as well.

    Looking closely at the height of the handles, Kivamus realized that it was true enough. He said, "Cedoron, that''s one improvement that you should keep in mind when you make more wheelbarrows. You can just make the iron supports below the tray a little shorter. That will make the handles lower and easier for everyone to pull it."

    "Of course, milord," Cedoron said with a nod. "That was my mistake I think. I am quite tall, and when I was making those iron supports, I took my own height as a reference when deciding how high to make them. I will change it for the other wheelbarrows, and if you don''t need this wheelbarrow immediately, then tomorrow morning I can make the change for this one as well. It wouldn''t take too long."

    Kivamus nodded. "In that case, you should do it." He continued, "Apart from that, I don''t see any other obvious problems, so you should keep the same design for now. The iron tray also looks sturdy enough. But you should send someone to tell Taniok''s apprentice to make more wooden wheels and the supporting bars with handles.

    "I''ll do that, milord." Cedoron asked, "So you want me to make five more of them?"

    Kivamus gave a nod again. "For now. We will have to decide if we really need more of them after that." He added, "But before you leave, I also wanted to ask you to make a few more braziers as well. We don''t need them immediately, but the first longhouse block is close to completion now, and we will have to start shifting people there within a week. So I want five or six new braziers ready by then. And you don''t have to worry about iron, we have plenty of that thankfully."

    "As you wish, Milord," Cedoron replied. "Those braziers are simple enough, so I''ll put an apprentice on them in a day or two. If that''s all, I''ll take my leave for now. I need some rest now after working all day to complete this wheelbarrow."

    Kivamus waved him away as he watched other servants and even a few guards take a turn in pulling the wheelbarrow. He couldn''t help but smile after seeing their innocent pleasure at such a simple thing. However, before long, Duvas had to tell them to stop playing around and get back to work.

    The servants grumbled for a moment, then with huge grins on their faces, they immediately started to draw lots again to decide who would get to use the wheelbarrow first, since it would mean getting to spend even more time with the new machine. Picking up that same bunch of sticks they had drawn from earlier, once again they drew the sticks one by one, and after the draw, that young servant was the one who got the longest stick, and with a whoop of joy, he took his place between the wheelbarrow before taking it to refill the braziers in the manor.

    Another servant who had drawn the second longest stick proclaimed that he would be the one to take the wheelbarrow to refill the braziers in the market square of the village as well as outside the manor, since it would be time for the evening meal for children and the elderly soon. The servant with the third longest stick claimed the morning spot for himself to refill the braziers, and on and on it went with other servants claiming the future spots after that until Duvas had to shoo them away to get them to start working.

    As Kivamus watched the servants and maids scurry around the manor to complete their tasks before it got colder in the night, he heard a commotion towards the gates of the manor. It sounded like the crowd of villagers waiting for the evening meal was cheering in happiness about something.

    Immediately, a servant came running towards him with joy. "Milord!" he reported with a grin, "the caravan is back!"

    "Finally!" Hudan exclaimed. "I was getting worried about Feroy and the others by now."

    "Thank the goddess!" Duvas prayed while looking at the sky. "She really listened to my prayers of letting this third trip go without any problem after all!"

    Gorsazo looked at Kivamus with a smile. "We have been really lucky, my lord. When we arrived at Tiranat there was barely a few weeks of grain remaining in the manor, and after we had gotten the grain from two trips of the caravan, I thought even that was much better. But with the grain from this trip, we''ll be really set for the winter!"

    Kivamus nodded as well with a satisfied smile, as he saw the first of the wagons entering the gates of the manor. "It''s true enough, Gorsazo. We will talk with Pydaso tomorrow in detail, but for now it does seem like we would be able to start planting seeds in the spring. It seems like it might start snowing any day now, but I am thankful that it held back long enough for the caravan to return without any problem."

    Slowly, the rest of the caravan came inside the manor and the guards started to climb down from their seats after a long journey. This time the caravan had taken longer to return than it had in the previous trips, but thankfully, it seemed that all the eight wagons were here safely.

    Soon, he saw Feroy jogging towards him. With a beaming face, he reported, "Milord, we are back! And as promised, I brought back the caravan safely." He added with a sly grin, "It was carrying our precious ale, after all, you know?"

    Kivamus laughed along with others in response. The nearby servants and maids were also whispering with each other happily, likely in anticipation of getting three meals a day from now. It felt really good to see that rare smile on everyone''s face after the last few months they had spent near starvation.

    Giving a nod, he said, "That''s really good to hear." He added with a smirk, "And don''t worry, you''ll certainly get your ale tonight!" sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "That''s what I was waiting to hear, milord!" Feroy exclaimed with a huge grin. He added, "Now that this was the last caravan journey before the winter, the guards who returned with the caravan can take some rest as well."

    "Indeed," Kivamus said with a nod, "and you can allow a mug of ale to those guards as well, but no more than that. And no ale tonight for the guards who didn''t go to escort the caravan this time, since we don''t want all the guards drunk at the same time."

    "That''s certainly true," Feroy replied. "Although the guards will understand the need to have at least half of them alert, this decision still won''t be popular."

    Kivamus nodded. "They do have to stay alert on duty for tonight, but from tomorrow the pressure on them will still reduce a lot, now that we have all of our guards back, and they wouldn''t have to pull double duty so frequently either. That fact will have to be enough to placate them."

    "It''s alright, milord. I''ll make sure there are no problems," Feroy said with a nod.

    "Good." Kivamus looked at Hudan, "You should give a day off to the guards who have arrived today. They deserve a night of rest after traveling on those chilly roads for weeks. And you can also tell the temporary guards we had hired that they can return to work as laborers from tomorrow, but keep them on just for tonight."

    "Of course," Hudan nodded, "that''s a good idea anyway."

    Kivamus looked back at Feroy. "We were expecting the caravan back by yesterday. What caused the delay?"

 Chapter 107 - 106. Missed Opportunity

    "It''s already been snowing heavily on that road for the past few days, you know?" Feroy replied. "Even then we should have returned back on time but yesterday morning, a wagon wheel became loose after a big jolt from a pothole on the road, and nearly came out from the wagon. Usually it wouldn''t have happened, but we had overloaded the wagons for this last journey to carry as much grain and other things as we could."

    The ex-mercenary added, "However, even with an overloaded wagon, we would have just steered the wagons around such potholes on the road, but it just wasn''t possible to see the road surface for the past two days because of the snow which is already gathering on the road."

    "So the snowfall has started after all," Kivamus said while looking at the overcast sky.

    Feroy continued with a nod, "We certainly couldn''t afford to leave that wagon back, so we had to spend the whole day yesterday trying to fix it. That''s why we lost another day on the road."

    He winced as he added, "It felt really risky at that time as well - especially during the night spent on the middle of the road, since the caravan was just like a sitting duck during that time, not to mention how cold it was spending the nights in the open. We couldn''t even afford to light a fire there, or we would have become an even bigger target - for wild beasts if not for bandits. But I made sure to send a few guards to patrol around that area every hour or so, and thankfully we didn''t see any recent sign of other people being there."

    Kivamus grimaced as he thought about the situation. If any bandits had been nearby at that time, and if they had realized that one of the wagons was stuck on the road, it would have been a golden opportunity for them to try to capture at least that damaged wagon as long as they had enough numbers for it.

    He asked Feroy, "How did you fix the wagon then?"

    Feroy replied with a shake of his head. "We got really lucky there. One of the new guards had some experience with woodworking since he had worked for some time as an apprentice to the village carpenter in the past. He was able to make a temporary fix to secure the wheel, which allowed the wagon to start moving again. But we still had to move slowly after that, you know? Otherwise that wheel could have come out from the axle completely, but thankfully it didn''t happen. That being said, that wagon wheel really should be repaired properly by the carpenter before using it again." S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Would Taniok even be able to fix it? We had to send our damaged wagon to Cinran for repairs after all."

    Duvas gave a shrug. "We''ll have to see, my Lord. It depends on how bad the damage is. In the wagon we had sent for repairs, one of its axles and the support of the wheel was damaged, which is why it couldn''t carry any load even though the horses were still able to pull it to Cinran. This time it only seems like one of the wheels came loose, so it might just be a simple fix. I will ask Taniok about it tomorrow."

    Hudan remarked, "It does seem like we have used up more than our fair share of luck by now. The caravan was able to go on a third trip before the winter, and they weren''t ambushed on the road when the caravan was stuck there."

    "The goddess has really been kind to us in the last few weeks..." Duvas muttered while looking at the sky. "Let''s just hope our good luck lasts for a while."

    "That''s true enough..." Feroy muttered. "But we shouldn''t jinx it by speaking about it, you know?"

    While others gave nods in reply, Kivamus watched the servants move the wagons under the shed for the night. The unloading would only be done tomorrow in daylight.

    Looking at Feroy who was nearly shivering, he said, "Let''s return back to the manor hall now. Hudan, tell the guards who have returned to take some good rest in the night after they get their evening meal. Madam Nerida should be able to whip up something hot for them quickly. They look like they are freezing."

    With a nod, Hudan walked towards the guards, and the others returned back to the manor hall.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Walking southwards on the road to Tiranat ~

    They had been walking continuously for the whole day yesterday, with the snow falling continuously, then after a stop in the night for rest, they had been walking for the whole day today as well. And with barely enough food given to him, he didn''t have words to describe how tired he was feeling. It was nearly dark now, and he couldn''t wait for Nokozal to order everyone to stop for the night.

    Soon, Nokozal told them all to move a little deep into the forest, and after finding an empty clearing, they tied their horses to the trees for them to graze, and all the bandits laid down on the ground wherever they could find some flat space. From Calubo''s own estimate, it would take another two days of walking before they reached Tiranat, and he wasn''t looking forward to that long walk at all.

    After a while, when the bandits had cooked a meal out of a couple of rabbits they had caught there, he heard the sound of the hooves of a horse on the road nearby. Immediately, all of the bandits got up with alarm and started to draw their swords in anticipation of an attack. However, the bandit who had been left next to the road to keep an eye there, walked inside along with another person and it turned out that it was the runt on that horse. Calubo was surprised to see him back since he had gone to scout the road and the village.

    Looking at the runt, Nokozal barked, "Why are you back again! I told you to go and scout the village, or did you not hear me clearly?"

    Walking close to Nokozal, the runt said, "Milord, there was a very good opportunity for an ambush on the caravan, so I had to get this news to you. But it took me so long to find you all that the opportunity would certainly have passed by now."

    "How?" Nokozal growled. "What do you mean by that?"

    The runt reported, "When I was passing in the forest next to the road, then maybe around half a day back from the village I saw that the caravan had stopped in the middle of the road, even though it was daytime. So I tied my horse there, and observed them for a few hours from a nearby bluff. It turned out that one of the wagons had gotten their wheel loose, and the whole caravan was just sitting in the middle of the road without being able to move further!"

    Immediately, Nokozal jumped up to his feet. "Tell me! Where are they? We cannot miss such an opportunity!"

    The runt shook his head reluctantly. "It''s no use, milord. Like I said, the opportunity would have passed us by now. I had seen them stuck on the road this morning, but based on the guards'' setup, it looked like they were stuck there since yesterday at least. It couldn''t have been earlier than that since we saw them passing in front of us just two days ago. So I think they would have had enough time to fix it by afternoon today."

    He added with a shrug, "And even if they were unable to fix it, it was a big caravan of eight wagons, as you had seen earlier, so they would have just transferred their goods to the other seven wagons before leaving. Either way, they were only around half a day back from the village so they would surely have reached Tiranat by now."

    "Damn it!" Nokozal cursed. "Damn it all! Couldn''t you have brought this news sooner? Even with our lower numbers, we could have just shot arrows at them from the forest, and we might have taken out half of them without even lifting our swords, since they wouldn''t have been able to go far from their caravan! How could we have missed this golden opportunity!" Starting to curse everything again, he started walking back and forth while stroking his graying beard.

    Calubo was surprised to find out that the caravan was stuck on the road. For a moment, he thought that the goddess had abandoned the villagers, and the bandits would be able to kill those guards and loot the caravan after all. But a wagon getting a loose wheel was still a common enough occurrence that it could have happened to any caravan traveling on any road - not to mention one traveling on this run-down road in the middle of forests. But at least it seemed like the bandits still wouldn''t have it too easy.

    Finally, the bandit chief stopped his pacing and said to the runt, "Your information is no good if it gets to me so late. But no matter, you will go back right now to scout the village."

    The runt gazed longingly at the roasted rabbit legs in the hands of other bandits.

    "What are you dawdling for?" Nokozal growled. "Get back to your horse now!"

    "But it''s already dark, milord!" The runt protested after another quick look at the food in the hands of others. "I can''t ride the horse at night anyway..." He wheedled again to the bandit chief. "Can''t I just leave at first light?"

    Nokozal snorted, "You young''uns are so fragile! When I was your age, I used to travel all the night when needed!" After a while, he grunted, "Fine. You can stay here for the night, but be off before dawn!"

    "Thank you, milord! Thank you so much! You are so kind!" The runt praised the bandit chief and after a quick bow, he immediately walked towards another rabbit which was still being roasted on a small fire with hunger gleaming in his eyes.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    The next day in the morning, Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall while waiting for Pydaso to arrive. Duvas was busy overseeing the unloading of the wagons, while Hudan and Feroy were trying to decide a new watch schedule for the manor as well as the for the rest of the village now that all the guards were back, since it was the first time they had enough guards to properly patrol the village.

    Lucem had gone to watch the training of the guards in the morning despite the cold weather, while Clarisa and Syryne were helping madam Helga in the kitchen of the manor house. For the moment it was only Gorsazo who was sitting within the hall.

    The weather had kept getting colder today as well, and it seemed that snowfall would start any time now, but they had still been lucky that the caravan had been able to return from the third trip without any incidents. There was also the consolation that they had more than enough coal for now, so there wouldn''t be any problem in providing enough heating for the villagers. But he had to wait for the merchant before he found out exactly how much grain he had brought.

    However, seeing that other than Gorsazo, the hall was empty, and after making sure that the doors were closed properly, he said, "There is something that has been bugging me for some time now. So I wanted to ask you about that. I''ve been thinking of talking about this for a few days now, but it is a sensitive matter and I never got a chance to talk to you alone in the recent days."

    Gorsazo nodded. "What is it, my lord? You can talk to me about anything."

    Kivamus explained, "It is about the divisions of yards and feet into inches which the carpenter Taniok mentioned a few days ago. As you know, I still have most of the memories of the original Kivamus, but there are still some things about which my memories are hazy, especially in the things where he didn''t focus much on, and that includes this topic. I was very curious about it when the carpenter told me about those weird divisions, but this wasn''t something I could have asked in front of any other person."

    Seeing Gorsazo give an understanding nod, he continued, "But now that you already know everything about my origin, I can be completely frank with you, so I want to ask you if there is any good reason behind it. Those divisions do not make any sense at all!"

    He added, "I know that every place has their own customs, but math is math everywhere. It cannot be easy for anyone - especially the common people who are not even educated - to divide things using those measurements. And this is something which nearly everyone would be using every day, so how come nobody ever tried to make more sensible divisions of lengths?"

 Chapter 108 - 107. The Mad King

    Gorsazo gave a nod while looking into the distance. After a while, he said, "There is indeed a good reason behind that, but it''s not something that most people know much about, not these days anyway." He continued, "This concerns the founding of the Reslinor kingdom."

    Now Kivamus was really curious about this, so he gestured to him to keep going.

    Gorsazo explained, "These divisions of measurements were made by a previous king - the first king of the Reslinor Kingdom, Kreslinus Vorlarken, better known as ''Kreslinus The Mad''. He was the one who conquered those regions of Cilaria which we currently know as the Reslinor Kingdom, more than a hundred years ago. The name of the kingdom is derived from his name as well, as you can easily guess. Since then, the Vorlarken Dynasty has been ruling the kingdom continuously for more than a century now. The current king of the Reslinor Kingdom, as old as he is by now, is a direct descendant from the same line."

    He added, "In fact, even though you might not remember this now, your name is also derived from the name of the first king of the kingdom. You were physically very weak when you were born, and people were saying that such a frail baby might not survive more than a few days. But your mother wanted you to become as strong as the founder of the kingdom, so she gave you the name Kivamus, somehow you did survive despite everything pointing to the opposite."

    Thinking about the mother of the original Kivamus, Kivamus could only remember very hazy memories of her, since she had died when he was just two years old while giving birth to his sister Astela. He wasn''t sure whether to feel good that his name was based on someone who was called Kreslinus The Mad, but he could certainly understand the sentiments of a mother who thought her child wouldn''t survive a week in this world.

    Gorsazo continued, "I haven''t yet seen even fifty winters yet, so it was obviously long before my time, but there are annals of the exploits of Kreslinus The Mad which tell a lot about his life. I had read quite a bit about him in the past, so I do remember many things about him, even though most people would just know the name of the founder of the kingdom."

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows in curiosity, and asked, "But why was he even called by that name? Was he really insane?"

    Gorsazo laughed. "Not at all. He was not even close to being mad, but he was certainly very ruthless when conquering his enemies. So his enemies had given him that title, since he didn''t give any quarter to his enemies who didn''t surrender at the first notice when he went out from the city of Dorastiz to conquer other kingdoms."

    He explained, "Before that, the western part of Cilaria had always been divided into many smaller realms, and while many previous northern rulers had tried to conquer the south as well as the vice versa, Kreslinus The Mad was the first one to siege and conquer all of the north and the south - including the capital of the former southern Kingdom of Ulriga - which was one of the best defended fortresses at the time."

    He continued, "So when King Kreslinus was out conquering the region which would later become the Reslinor kingdom, he had given orders to his armies not to leave anyone alive in the cities and towns of his enemies if they didn''t surrender at the first notice. Of course, he couldn''t slaughter every person in the huge cities like Plumron and Ulriga or there wouldn''t be anyone left in the kingdom for him to rule over, but it still happened often enough that with time, that name stuck to him, and eventually, he even started calling himself by that title."

    As Kivamus thought about it, the first king''s actions sounded similar to Genghis Khan, even though the Mongols had conquered a lot more land. He continued listening as his mentor explained further.

    "Now coming back to the topic of discussion," Gorsazo said, "before the time of Kreslinus The Mad, people did use a different measurement, but the kingdom was still very divided in the years after he conquered most of the western part of Cilaria, and there were frequent skirmishes between different regions of the kingdom."

    Gorsazo continued, "So to change that and unify the people of the kingdom, King Kreslinus decided to change something fundamental which people use every day, so that people would remember about his name many times in a day - including his ruthlessness - so that they wouldn''t even think of trying to revolt against his rule. So he decided to make new measurements of weights and lengths, such as how many inches would be in a foot and a yard, based on the date of his birth, the eleventh month and the twenty-ninth day of that month."

    "And since then," Gorsazo added, "one yard contains twenty-nine inches, and one foot contains eleven inches. In other words, one yard became equal to a length of two feet and seven inches after that. It is the same for weights as well. One bilan of weight contains twenty-nine stones."

    "Wow..." Kivamus voiced with raised eyebrows.

    Gorsazo nodded. "I wasn''t alive during that time, but I can imagine that it would have caused a lot of commotion and resistance against the forced order to start using such difficult divisions. But that was the whole point," he remarked. "King Kreslinus made a proclamation that anybody who still used the previous measurements would be executed immediately after being found out. And that certainly did the trick, since instead of trying to depose the mad king, people scrambled to adapt to those absurd measurements."

    Gorsazo snorted, "Of course, many people would have used that chance to get rid of their competitors and enemies by claiming that they were still using the old measurements to get them executed. Regardless, since then these measurements have been used throughout the kingdom, and nobody even dared to use the old measurements - which had made a lot more sense, but nobody wanted to fall afoul of the mad king and be executed."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "Well that explains why such weird divisions would be used here. And of course, people will adjust to most things given enough time. However, now I am worried that telling people to use a different measurement would cause much more problems than I had thought of at that time..."

    Gorsazo shrugged. "I wouldn''t say that it''s going to be easy, but a lot of time has passed since the time ''Kreslinus the mad'' ruled this kingdom. And by now, I know for a fact that some people do use different measurements in many places, especially the merchants who like to use simpler length and weight divisions which make more sense, even though they use the official measurements when interacting with any nobles."

    He continued after a moment, "So, while nobody will come to execute you for this in today''s era - or I would have stopped you immediately that day, but I don''t think any nearby nobles who learn of it will be pleased by this, especially after they learn that you have already proclaimed your barony to be free of slavery."

    Gorsazo added after Kivamus'' nod, "It''s a different fact that the southern nobles have never been fond of the ruling dynasty anyway, and they have never liked the fact that a northern king had forced them to change something so fundamental within their own kingdoms - although none of them would even think of trying to secede from the kingdom these days in light of Kingdom of Binpaaz''s frequent raids into Reslinor after huge sources of iron ore were found in Tolasi Hills a few decades ago."

    "Tolasi Hills..." Kivamus muttered. "I remember you telling me about them when we were coming to Tiranat. Anyway, other nobles are hardly in a position to criticize me if they allow merchants within their own domains to use different measurements. Such a thing couldn''t have gone without the notice of nobles."

    Gorsazo gave another shrug. "That''s true enough. But it wouldn''t stop the nobles from crying foul if another noble himself goes against the established conventions. Most likely, they will use this as another chance to complain about you to the Count of Cinran, or even the Duke of Ulriga - which means one of your brothers in reality."

    Kivamus snorted. "I don''t think I''m going to get any favors from any of them, even without going against their rules. But what about the king himself?"

    "That''s a different matter altogether, since that proclamation came from the capital Dorastiz and not from Cinran or Ulriga." Gorsazo continued, "But then again, we are in the far south of the kingdom, so it''s not like the king will care much about what a small no-name baron is doing so far from the capital. Times are already changing from the dark days of the mad king, and like I have mentioned in the past, there are already a few nobles in the north who don''t keep any slaves, even though they might not have prohibited slavery outright like you have." Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He added, "The king is already very old, and nobody knows how long he''s going to live. So in the capital city of Dorastiz, people are going to be more worried about how the succession of power will play out in the coming years once the king passes away, instead of getting bothered about what a small baron is doing at the frontier of the kingdom."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus said with relief.

    "Even so," Gorsazo remarked, "while the people in the capital wouldn''t be concerned about these changes, any nearby nobles - maybe even the count of Cinran - will certainly grab any chance to diminish the power of another noble - which will be you in this case. Especially since they will already know that you have basically been banished by the Duke of Ulriga."

    Kivamus snorted and shook his head. "That is true enough, but it''s not like they wouldn''t be doing this anyway even if I was dancing completely to their tune. At least a few of them are already trying to kill me, so even if I follow the absurd rules made by a mad king more than a century ago, they still aren''t going to like me anyway."

    He continued, "You already know by now that I have a lot of knowledge in my head - things which those nobles couldn''t even dream of - and for me to secure the safety of the village and myself, I have to make the village a lot stronger and much more prosperous than it is right now. And for any of that to happen, I simply cannot continue to use those absurd divisions and their orthodox rules of keeping humans as slaves! I know I am going to face a lot of resistance in a lot of things, but I have to push through it, or we will remain a small and poor village - where a simple raid by just a dozen bandits can bring the whole village to starvation. I cannot let that happen again."

    Gorsazo nodded. "I am completely with you on that, my lord. Even though I have no idea how you have the memories of two people, I know that you are doing your best to protect the village and the common people, so you have my full support in everything you do - even if it goes against the established norms."

    Kivamus smiled. "I''m really glad for that."

    He continued, "We also don''t know who was behind the ambush of the previous baron, but the nearby nobles certainly must have a hand in it, since that would allow them to get access to the coal mines here - because for now, that''s the only thing worth a damn in this barony anyway. And it hasn''t even been a month since I''ve arrived here, but they are already trying to kill me as well, and that situation is not going to change without me transforming everything here fundamentally and making the village a lot stronger and richer."

    Kivamus shrugged. "And of course, those nobles would have even more of a reason after that to try to seize or conquer our village. So I have to keep pushing through, even at the risk that such changes wouldn''t be liked by any nearby nobles. Because these villagers are my people now and they depend on me. So I will do everything in my power and knowledge to prevent such a thing from happening ever again. I will protect them from the greed of those nobles and keep them safe, no matter what!"

    *******

    After a while, when Duvas and Hudan had returned to the manor hall, a servant announced the arrival of Pydaso.

    The merchant entered inside, and after a quick bow to the baron, he took an empty armchair near the fireplace. After putting his hands close to the fire, he exclaimed, "Goddess! It''s cold outside!"

    "That it certainly is, especially with the constant wind these days," Kivamus said. "I also found out that it has already started snowing on the road to Cinran."

    Pydaso nodded. "It began when we were returning from Cinran. It won''t be more than a few days before that road gets enough snow to make travel impossible through it."

    Duvas remarked, "Looking at the weather in Tiranat today, it looks like that snowfall is not far away here as well."

    "It does seem so," Pydaso said, "although you all should still be glad that Tiranat is not located as close to the Arakin mountains as that road is, or the village would get buried within several feet of snow in the winter." He added, "Anyway, I will return back towards my home near Ulriga early tomorrow morning. We nearly lost one of the wagons yesterday because of the damn snow, and it will keep piling up on that road in the coming days. And I don''t want to take any risk of getting stuck there."

    "That''s alright," Kivamus said with a nod. "So tell me what you have brought this time, and then we will finalize your payments."

 Chapter 109 - 108. The Final Tally

    Pydaso began, "This time I brought sixty-one sacks of grain with me, along with fourteen sacks of the vegetables which you had ordered. The rest of the space was taken up by more iron ingots, a barrel of ale and the commoners'' soap you wanted."

    He added, "Oh! And before I forget, I was also able to bring some butter and cheese this time. Those weren''t cheap, but since it wasn''t a big amount, I bought it anyway since you had specifically ordered me to buy them."

    "That''s fine," Kivamus said. "And it''s good to hear that you were able to buy all of that. And what about the parchment and ink you had promised to bring?"

    "Of course, I brought those as well." Pydaso added, "Now should we tally up the total price?"

    At Kivamus'' nod, Duvas took over and started negotiating the price of everything with the merchant one by one, while scribbling on a parchment with a quill. Kivamus tuned out their conversation, trusting the penny-pinching majordomo to get the best deal he could for the village.

    While he waited for the result of how much all this purchasing would set him back, he mentally added up how much foodstuff they had been able to buy in these three trips, and it turned out to be two hundred and six sacks of wheat along with twenty-six sacks of vegetable, not including the butter and cheese.

    Including those vegetables as part of the diet would reduce their consumption of wheat, and so the village would be able to get by with just one hundred and fifty sacks of wheat for the winter months, instead of the one hundred and seventy-five sacks that they had planned for in the beginning.

    That left them with around fifty-six sacks of wheat for sowing as seeds in the spring, before taking into account the grain they might lose to rodents or rotting, although this being the winter should reduce that by a good amount. It certainly wouldn''t be the same in the summer months, but that worry was for the future.

    That meant they were still short on wheat for sowing compared to the sixty-six sacks they needed to sow to harvest their targeted amount of six hundred and sixty sacks of wheat to feed the current population of the village for a full year, while still retaining enough grain to use as seeds in the year after that.

    However, while they wouldn''t be able to complete all the sowing without buying more grain, fifty-six sacks would still allow them to complete most of the sowing. He nodded to himself in satisfaction. That was much better than what they had anticipated a few weeks ago. Being able to send the caravan for a third trip had certainly helped a lot in that, and sowing wouldn''t have been possible without it.

    Now he just had to make sure that nothing happened to their new stockpile of grain during this time. They couldn''t afford to lose even a single sack of grain to a bandit raid right now. But at least all the guards were back now, and with Hudan and other experienced guards training the recruits regularly, they will hopefully be able to repel any bandit attack even before the village walls were completed.

    Before long, Duvas nodded, and said, "So the total cost for this trip comes out to be three hundred and forty seven gold crowns for the food, and ninety six golds for the remaining items. That is a total of four hundred and forty three gold crowns for everything. After reducing the price of the coal which Pydaso will take back with him in the four wagons, we have to pay a total of three hundred and ninety seven gold crowns and eight silver pieces."

    Kivamus looked at the majordomo. "Alright Duvas, go and pay that amount to Pydaso now. As Duvas went inside the manor hall to bring the required amount of gold, he looked at the merchant and said, "You have been very helpful to us, Pydaso. Without you agreeing to take the risk of making a third trip, it would have become a very difficult situation for us.

    Pydaso gave a genuine smile. "Think nothing of it, milord. It was also helpful for me to agree to go on those trips. Now I can return to my family with my head held high, knowing that I will be able to provide for them in the winter. And while I have to finally leave by tomorrow, it''s been very good doing business with you, milord. And I will certainly be back after the winter, soon after the snow melts and the road from Cinran opens again."

    "I''m glad to hear that. And of course, you would be more than welcome here," Kivamus replied with a smile as well. "While I believe that other merchants will also start to come to the village by then, you will still be the first choice for us whenever we want to buy or sell something."

    He added, "However, I was curious about something else. You had brought two other drivers with you when you arrived in Tiranat for the first time around a month ago, only one of which is still with you." He added with a grimace, "The less we mention of your other driver the better. So how are you planning to drive back the four wagons this time?"

    Pydaso replied, "Today I''ll ask around in the village for two men who wish to accompany me back to Cinran for the good wages of a wagon driver, where I will return the two wagons I had rented from the local merchants. And after that, those hired drivers will either have to walk back to Tiranat through the forests, or they could stay back there while looking for some work to spend the winter in Cinran."

    "Is that normal?" Kivamus asked with curiosity. "I mean, will you even be able to get someone here who wants to leave their home for a few months?"

    Pydaso shrugged. "I am not certain about that, Milord, since it is the first time that I have lost a wagon driver because of... those reasons. And because you had given me a big order, I also had to rent another wagon from Cinran. So it''s an unusual situation for me as well. However, from what I know, there are always a few people in every village who are willing to do a job for coin, whether it''s working as a wagon driver, or staying in a bigger town for a few months to look for work there. It''s not like everyone always has a paying job in any village, so they should still be willing to accompany me back."

    Pydaso continued, "However, from what I have heard in my short stays here, I realize that these days you are providing a lot of work to the villagers. If anything, there is more work to do in Tiranat than there are people willing to do it. So I''m not really sure if I will be able to find someone for it. But I still have to try." He added with a shrug, "It''s not like I can leave those two wagons back here, or I would never be allowed to rent a wagon from Cinran again."

    Kivamus nodded slowly as he thought about it. After a while he said, "You know what, you''ve been very helpful for us, so I think I can help you in this. From what I know, it would be unlikely for anyone in the village to want to stay back in Cinran for this particular winter - especially with the concerning food situation everywhere, and it won''t be a safe journey either if they walk back on foot through the forests."

    He added, "That journey will easily take a week or two on foot, and they might not even survive the journey, either because of the cold, or if a wild beast attacks them. There is also the fact that you will be vulnerable to any bandit attacks on the road if you travel with unarmed people as wagon drivers."

    Kivamus continued, "So tell you what, I can send two of my guards with you to drive the wagon to Cinran. And I''ll also provide them with two horses, which they can use to ride back. While a wagon would surely get stuck on that road if enough snow has gathered by the time they return in a few more days, the guards can just circle around a big pile of snow on their horses and move for a short while through the forest. So they will be able to return back on horses, even though any wagons wouldn''t."

    Pydaso looked thoroughly surprised for a moment before he said, "That is a very good offer, milord, and it does make sense. Of course, this is because the winter is still starting. Give it another week or so and even travel on horse or foot wouldn''t be possible anymore - at least that close to the mountains."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "That''s true. But even then, it will only take the guards a few days to return back on a horse, and since the snow will still not be that deep within the forests, it should be doable. As for those horses, you can just hitch them to one of your wagons while going to Cinran, and then those guards will take back those horses before returning. This way I will be reasonably sure of your safety, and I wouldn''t have to risk two of my villagers losing their lives in the forest." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Pydaso seemed to think about it for a while before he stood up and bowed. "Thank you so much for this, milord. I will gladly accept your generosity."

    "You have helped us a lot in the past few weeks," Kivamus said with a smile, "so I don''t want you to harm your business by being unable to return your rented wagons. And if the merchants of Cinran had refused to let you rent a wagon from them again, I would also be losing out on trading through you. So you can say that this benefits me as well."

    "That''s true enough," Pydaso said, "but at least let me pay the wages for those guards for that duration. It''s the least I can do to return back the favor."

    "Well, I already pay the monthly wages to our guards," Kivamus said, "but since those guards will also be risking their life more than they would have if they stayed back here in the manor, so you can give them whatever you think will be a good amount for a wagon driver''s wage as a... let''s say, hazard pay. That full amount will be just for those guards themselves."

    "That... is an interesting term, milord," the merchant remarked. "But I gladly agree. I would have had to pay the wages for a week for two wagon drivers anyway if I had hired someone from the village for this, so I will just give that amount to those guards themselves. And I thank you milord, once again, for helping me so much."

    Kivamus smiled. "Think nothing of it."

    By then, the majordomo had returned with money, and he provided the previously agreed upon amount to Pydaso, who counted them carefully with the deft hands of a merchant, and after giving another quick bow, he turned around to leave.

    However, Kivamus called him back. "Before you leave, Pydaso, I want you to try to buy something for me when you return back here after the winter."

 Chapter 110 - 109. Isomi and Savomi

    Seeing Pydaso''s curious gaze, Kivamus continued, "I would like to buy a map of the region around Tiranat, and one for the whole of Southern Reslinor as well if you can find it. Duvas has told me that such a map wouldn''t be available even in Cinran, but there is a good possibility of getting those maps from Ulriga. And you have mentioned that your home is in a village close to Ulriga as well.

    At the merchant''s nod, he continued, "So before you return back here after the winter, I want you to buy those maps from Ulriga if you can manage it at all. I don''t mind paying a high price for it, as long as it is not a ludicrous amount."

    Pydaso nodded slowly. "I cannot guarantee that I will be able to buy them, but I will try my best." Giving a quick look at the majordomo, he added with a smirk, "I know that Mr Duvas wouldn''t pay me even a copper more than a reasonable amount for a map, as rare and pricey as good maps are."

    Kivamus and others gave a good natured laugh at that, while Duvas just snorted and shook his head in amusement.

    "That''s why I trust Duvas with my money," Kivamus said with a smile.

    Pydaso nodded. "So don''t worry, milord, I will only buy them if I can find them at an acceptable price." He added, "I will leave my wagons here for tonight as well, and then I will come back tomorrow morning before dawn. Please make sure that the guards are ready to leave by then. I really don''t want to risk the wagons getting stuck on the road."

    "Of course, Pydaso," Kivamus said with a nod. "Don''t worry about it."

    And with a final bow of gratitude, the merchant left the manor hall.

    Kivamus turned to the guard captain and said, "Take care of that today. Make sure to send only experienced guards this time. We need them to be able to hold their own in case a wild beast attacks them on the road."

    Hudan nodded in reply. "I already have two men in my mind whom I plan to send, and with the extra income in the form of, uh... hazard pay... that they will get, I believe they will readily agree to it. And since there will be just two of them when returning, they should hopefully be able to move quickly through the forest without any problems."

    "Good." Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Now that we have bought everything we are going to buy before the winter, tell me just how much gold we have spent by now." He added with a grimace, "Although I am already scared to even think about it."

    Duvas nodded and took a minute to scribble a few things on the parchment he was holding in his hands. After a while, he replied with a surprised look, "After including our income from selling coal to him, we have spent a net amount of nine hundred and fifty three gold crowns!" He explained, "That amount was spent to buy the food grain, iron ingots, as well as other things from Pydaso. Apart from that, we have spent around twenty-eight gold as the wages for people with specialized skills whom we still pay in cash. That includes the blacksmith, the carpenter and his apprentice, as well as the two foremen."

    He added with a sigh, "But at least we are supplying all the materials to them - including iron which we purchased for cheap from cinran. If we were buying the forged tools directly from the blacksmith it would have been even more costly. Apart from that, Hudan is also entitled to a regular wage, with him being the guard captain, but he has told me that he wouldn''t take any wages until we are able to pay the regular wages in coins to the other guards as well."

    Giving a nod of thanks to the guard captain, Duvas continued, "Normally, we would also be giving wages to our guards and the coal miners, or in our current condition, to the villagers working as laborers, but providing them grain and coal directly means that we haven''t had to spend any coin on them. So that''s our total expense for now, since we aren''t paying anyone else in coins right now. Everyone else in the manor is also being provided with only food and lodging for now."

    "But that still means we have spent nearly a thousand gold crowns already!" Gorsazo exclaimed. "That''s close to half of what we had in the treasury!" He shook his head at the thoroughly unwelcome news. "We still have to pay the taxes to the Count whenever his men come asking for it, apart from what we will need to spend after the winter to buy more grain for the summer months. Not to mention our coal mines are still flooded!"

    "All that''s true enough," Kivamus said, "but this was a necessary expense. If there are no other problems, we will be able to ensure that no one dies from the cold this winter, not to mention we are ensuring that nobody in the village goes to sleep on an empty stomach."

    "That''s true," Duvas sighed, "but ensuring all of that still takes a lot of cold hard cash. And we don''t even have a source of income right now..." He took a few deep breaths before adding, "No, you are right. Nothing is more important than ensuring the survival of everyone in the village."

    "Certainly," Kivamus nodded. "Once the first longhouse block and the village walls have been completed, we will get a lot of free labor, and I will put some of them to start clearing water from the coal mines. By that time the carpenter will also have some free time, so I will try to find a better way to remove the water instead of doing it manually bucket by bucket. Actually, no. Taniok also has to work on making the watchtowers after that, as well as the crossbows - not to mention repairing the damaged wagon, apart from other things..."

    "That is certainly a lot of work for one man," Gorsazo muttered. "It''s a pity that we only have one trained carpenter in the village..."

    "Well he does have an apprentice he is currently training," Duvas said, "but it will be a while until he can do any precision woodworking like Taniok. Anyway, I showed him our damaged wagon earlier in the morning, and he told me that he will be able to fix the wheel, but it will still be time taking." He continued, "But we are not in any hurry to use that wagon right now, since we also have our other three wagons back from Cinran now, so I have postponed repairing it until at least the first longhouse block is completed."

    "That was a good idea," Kivamus said.

    He looked at the guard captain after a moment. "We still haven''t gotten any women joining us as manor guards, have we? After we told them that they would get the same wages as the men, I had thought we would be getting plenty of applicants for it, but so far we haven''t even gotten a single woman who wants to be a guard."

    "Actually, my lord," Hudan interrupted, "earlier in the morning I did get two young women as applicants for guards. "In fact, they are sisters - Isomi and Savomi. But I don''t know them, and I have no idea if they are trustworthy, so I was waiting to ask Mr Duvas to meet them once, before I hired them."

    Gorsazo asked, "Didn''t you select the guards through a test when you were recruiting them last time?"

    Hudan shrugged. "It''s not like we have enough female applicants that I have to select from them based on their proficiency - like it happened with the men. If Mr Duvas says that they are dependable, then I will recruit them without any questions, especially since we are not selecting them for their expertise in wielding a sword anyway."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said. "But did you ask why they wanted to work as guards, when no other woman in the village wants to do that?"

    Hudan nodded. "I certainly asked about it. I found out that they didn''t have anyone else in their family to provide for them. When the coal mines were working, they used to work there hauling the coal in baskets from inside the mines to the waiting wagons outside. And even then, they were only hired on the days when the mining foreman didn''t have enough men to do that."

    He continued, "Since the time we announced that everyone in the village could work as laborers, they have been picking small stones in the newly cleared land in the south of the village to clear the fields for sowing in the spring. When they heard that we were looking for women as guards, they wanted to join us immediately, but it took them this long just to build up the courage to actually come to the manor and ask us to join the other men as guards."

    The guard captain added, "They told me that instead of picking stones they would rather do something more to help and protect the village, but before that announcement they had never thought that they could actually become guards in the manor. Not to mention, if they get selected it would be a permanent position for them, and they would get more wages than even the men who work as laborers, since we would be paying them the same wages as other guards, who already earn more than laborers."

    "I think I know who you are talking about," Duvas said while stroking his whitening beard. "But I will still go with you later to confirm if they are the same women I''m thinking about. And if they are, I know we can trust them as guards inside the manor, because I have known them for more than a decade since the time they were still children."

    He added, "The father of those two sisters, who used to be a coal miner as well, was injured in a small bandit raid three or four years ago, and he died of injuries later that winter. So I can understand why they hate bandits and want to do something more to protect the village."

    Kivamus said, "It''s a good thing that we got at least two female guards, even though we still need many more of them for all the watchtowers." He added, "Hudan, once Duvas has confirmed them as trustworthy, give them lodging within the servant hall with the other maids, and include them in the training for other guards. But you should focus more on their physical fitness than actual weapon training in the beginning."

    Hudan nodded. "I was already thinking of that. They will need to become a lot more fit for them to work as guards, so I will slowly increase their training until they can keep up with others."

    "Good." Kivamus added after a moment, "There is still some time until all the watchtowers and gates are built, but even then it seems like we will still be short on guards at this rate. We have already asked for women to apply as guards, but so far we have only gotten two applicants. Is there anything else we can do about it?"

    S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 111 - 110. Three Meals A Day

    "I''m not sure, my Lord," Duvas said. "We really cannot afford to hire more men as guards if we are not getting enough women as applicants, or all the work in the village would slow down a lot."

    After a moment, Kivamus said, "What about... what about hiring the elderly villagers or maybe those who are injured or disabled for this?"

    "What?" Hudan asked with surprise. "How could elderly villagers do the work of a guard?"

    "No, no," Kivamus shook his head. "I don''t mean that you should recruit them as regular guards. Let me explain. We all know that it will take some time for the villagers to come around to the fact that they can send the women from their families to work as guards, if it ever happens at all."

    He continued, "More importantly, we need to recruit fifteen women as guards for all the village gates and the watchtowers, but at this rate I don''t think if we would get even five women for that, especially since it''s unlikely for that many women to have enough free time in the first place to work as a guard full-time."

    "I do understand that," Hudan said, "but in the current condition of the village there should still be many women free to work - mainly those who used to work in the coal mines in supporting roles. Even so, I understand what you are trying to say. But how could elderly villagers do the work of a guard?"

    Kivamus shrugged. "I never said that they would have to do the work of a guard. I meant that we could still ask them to keep watch from the watchtowers. While it''s true that they won''t be any match for a bandit in a fight, that''s not really a factor when they are sitting high up on the watchtowers like the female guards. Even then, I''m not even asking them to shoot crossbows, like we want the female guards to do. What I am proposing is that we could just put those men up there to sit in the towers and watch the surroundings."

    He added, "This is something that basically anyone in the village can do. As long as they have sharp enough eyes, it doesn''t matter how old they are or if they are already injured. We can just make a list of trustworthy elderly villagers, and we can hire some of them as watchmen for the village. As long as there is a horn on every watchtower which they can use to warn the village in case of a raid, they don''t even need to be fit at all."

    He looked at the guard captain. "Immediately after the blowing of a horn, you can prepare our guards for immediate battle. And if we eventually do get enough female guards, we can put them up there too while armed with crossbows."

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "It is more likely that we are going to get a slow trickle of women who want to become guards, and it will still take time to give them proper training, as well as to build those crossbows in the first place. So until then this idea can certainly work." He added, "And later, when we put women armed with crossbows on our watchtowers, which will be exactly that for now - towers from which the elderly villagers will watch for danger - to become actual offensive towers, which will become a real threat for any attacking bandits!" Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Indeed," Kivamus said.

    Duvas said, "There is another benefit apart from that - it would also give the elderly and injured villagers a job to do. I know that most of the villagers are proud people and they would rather work for their meals. So this way they wouldn''t feel like they are a burden on the village since right now they are only getting their food as charity from the manor."

    "That''s a good thing as well," Kivamus said with a nod. "It will help with morale. And it wouldn''t even cost us anything for now, since we are already providing them food. We will reconsider what to do about it when we start paying everyone in coins."

    He continued while looking at Hudan, "Since physical prowess is not important for this job of a village watchman, all you need to do is to test them about how good their eyes can see what we need them to see. To check that, you can put those elderly villagers who are willing to do this near the tree line, and then you can put one or two guards in the forest who will slowly move towards the elderly men. Then those of them who spot the approaching guards quickly are the ones you need to hire. Repeat that process a few times to make sure that it was not just a lucky guess."

    "Of course, that will be a good enough test for them," Hudan said with a nod. "I will start doing it when the construction of the first watchtower starts."

    Kivamus continued after a nod, "We can keep those of them who are good with the job even after we get enough female guards, since that would allow us to train the women properly, so they can eventually work side-by-side with the male guards as crossbow-women, just like archers accompany swordsmen."

    Hudan nodded with a smile. "That''s a good idea! I like the fact that this way we might get enough guards to properly man every post as well as to patrol the village, without even spending more money to hire more men. I have already started putting two men to patrol around the village at night since yesterday, so I would certainly like us to have more guards. You can never have enough guards, after all!"

    Kivamus laughed at that. "You will be a good general for an army! Anyway, we are probably already reaching the limit of how many people we can take out of the workforce to employ them as guards without slowing down other important projects. So you will have to make do with the number of guards that we have planned for."

    *******

    Soon, the inner door opened and Madam Helga walked inside the hall. "The afternoon meal will be ready soon, milord. Syryne is transferring the food into bowls with Clarisa''s help, then we will bring it all here."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus replied with a smile. "I was already getting hungry."

    Helga nodded, and added with a sigh, "If only Lucem was helping us instead of running around here and there all day. Have any of you seen him recently? I don''t know where he has run off this time."

    Hudan replied, "I am not sure. For the last few days he has been coming to watch the training of the guards in the morning. But I am not sure where he went after that..."

    Helga shook her head. "Forget it. He will come when he gets hungry anyway."

    As she turned back to go towards the kitchen inside the manor house, Kivamus called her back and asked her to take a seat as well.

    Feroy wandered inside the hall at that moment, and took a seat near the fireplace place as well.

    Looking at others, Kivamus continued, "Talking about morale earlier has reminded me that we should do something more to improve the morale of the villagers, since we have procured enough grain now that nobody will starve over the winter. Maybe we can have something like a feast for everyone in the village."

    "That would be something unexpected to the villagers..." Duvas said. "More importantly, that would be something which the villagers of Tiranat have never experienced under the previous baron''s rule. So I think they would be overjoyed by something like that."

    "But we are already providing food to many villagers, aren''t we, milord?" Feroy asked. "Or has that stopped while I was away?"

    "We aren''t exactly giving food to everyone in the village, you know." Kivamus added, "Only the elderly villagers and the children are included in it. But for tonight''s meal, we can prepare a feast outside the gates of the manor for the whole village. Everyone would be welcome here, no matter if they are already getting weekly grain rations from us or not. Also, now that we have a good quantity of vegetables in our stores, we can make something much more tasty for them, rather than just porridge which we generally provide as the free meals."

    Madam Helga nodded slowly. ''I think that would be a good idea, milord. Earlier today, Madam Nerida and the other maids were already talking about preparing something good for the manor residents in tonight''s meal to celebrate getting the caravan back safely. So extending it to all the villagers might not be a bad idea."

    Kivamus nodded. "Certainly. And at the beginning of the feast, we can announce to the villagers that from now on, we can afford to provide three meals a day to everyone - that includes our servants, maids and guards who live within the manor, as well as those people to whom we provide free meals. For the rest of the villagers - who earn their meal by working as laborers - we can increase their food quota by a half, which will allow them to have another meal a day as well."

    "I can already tell that it would be very welcome by everyone," Duvas said with a nod, "and especially by the laborers, since they need a lot of food to keep working all day."

    "That was my intention from the beginning," Kivamus replied, "but until now we weren''t sure if we would get more grain in the third trip of the caravan, and it was better to provide two meals to everyone throughout the winter instead of giving them three meals for a while then telling them that there is no more food. However, that won''t be a problem now."

    He added, "In that announcement, we will tell them that that increase will mostly come in the form of wheat but it will also include vegetables from now on. Having potatoes, carrots and onions in their meals will provide a more balanced diet to them. Also, we have already bought a lot of soap for the villagers, but until we start paying them their wages in coin, they won''t be able to purchase it from us. So we will also include a large bar of soap every month for each family as a part of their wages. This will continue until we start paying them directly in coins instead of grain and coal like we''re doing now."

    "Oh," Feroy exclaimed, "I can''t tell you how happy that would make everyone, milord. When I lived with other mercenaries in the past, their stenches annoyed me more than having an empty belly!"

    He added with a snort, "The baron giving a free bar of soap to every family after a hard day of work? Nothing would make me happier if I were a laborer''s wife!"

 Chapter 112 - 111. Unexpected Changes

    Kivamus couldn''t help but laugh at that vision, while others joined in it as well.

    After a moment, when everyone''s laughter had calmed down, he looked at Madam Helga. "I held you back because I want you to coordinate with Madam Nerida regarding this. It won''t be easy to prepare food for so many villagers within the manor, while maintaining quality and taste in it. But you already have experience preparing food in a large quantity in an inn, so you should be able to help her in that. And you can use the help of any off-duty servants or guards in the preparation of food as well."

    "It''s not going to be easy, just like you said," Helga replied, "but we will have to manage somehow. I can imagine how good that feast will feel to the villagers, since my family was in exactly the villagers'' hopeless situation before we arrived here with you. Having a baron who cares for them is like a Goddess'' blessing. So don''t worry, Milord, I''ll make sure to do it well. Getting enough raw food is always the difficult part. Cooking it for people after that is no trouble at all."

    "Good!" Kivamus added, "We also have some cheese and butter which Pydaso has brought for us, so we should also provide some of that to the villagers as well, along with the vegetables."

    Duvas interrupted, "But we don''t have enough of those to feed all the villagers, my Lord! I understand that those would be good things in a feast - things which most of the villagers rarely get to taste but our remaining cheese and butter would end within a few days if we provided it to everyone."

    "No, no," Kivamus interrupted. "I know that we didn''t buy that much of it. What I meant is that we can provide a small amount of cheese and butter just for tonight - for the feast." He looked at Madam Helga. "You and Madam Nerida will be making a lot of bread for tonight anyway, so it will be good to provide something to add more flavor to the feast. But, like duvas said, we don''t have enough of it and it doesn''t come cheap either. So make sure to provide only a small amount of it to everyone."

    At Helga''s nod, he added, "But you know what, while you should keep the quantities small, you can provide a second helping to the children if they want. It''s not something we can provide to the villagers regularly, but this is a feast, so I want everyone to know the taste of those. Especially the children."

    Madam Helga gave a warm smile. "Don''t worry milord, I will manage it properly so that everyone gets a taste of cheese and butter, while still keeping our food stores intact." S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Perfect!" Kivamus said with a nod. "The villagers have gone through a very bad time in the recent months. So I want to provide them at least a single day of happiness before the harsh winter is upon us."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere inside the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    After a long journey, the group of bandits had finally arrived near Tiranat sometime this morning. Nokozal had kept their two remaining horses for his own use so he wouldn''t have to walk much, while the rest of them had to keep trudging through the continuously gathering snow on the road.

    The journey had been tiring even before the snow had started on the road, but after that, the weather had turned way too cold on the road and it became exhausting to keep walking. At least Nokozal had allowed them to make a fire whenever they stopped for the night - where they also cooked whatever little prey they caught in the forest as food - since without that fire to heat up their bodies after walking in the snow all day, they might have just frozen on the road.

    However, as they came closer to the village, the snowfall had stopped. Or more likely, looking at the dry ground here, snowfall hadn''t started here yet, but it wouldn''t be long before it did.

    Calubo had been cursing the bandits and his useless luck for everything he was going through, but when he got the first look at the village he had lived in for nearly all his life after being away from it for so long, he couldn''t help but become emotional at the sight. Although he couldn''t see much from where they were hiding in the forest in the north-west of the village, just the sight of those run-down wooden houses was enough to remind him that whatever its flaws, it was home.

    He had immediately wanted to run to the village after that, and for a moment he had nearly started running, before he realized that his hands were still tied behind him, and he would be shot down by one of the archers of the bandits immediately before he even reached the village. So somehow, he had controlled his urge to run to the village with teary eyes. Of course, he didn''t let any other bandits notice that his eyes were wet or they would find a way to use even that against him.

    Although they did have a small rabbit to eat yesterday night, it wasn''t enough to feed everyone, and of course Calubo got the smallest portion of the food. By now the small amount of dried meat that they had brought with them from the quarry had also run out, so even after the fatso''s continuous complaints to try to hunt something else since he was too hungry, Nokozal had scolded the fatso and told everyone that they had to hold on for today, since they were too close to the village now, and they couldn''t afford anyone in the village to spot a fire.

    That had led the bandits to start grumbling, but nobody had dared to go against the orders of the bandit chief. And since then, they all had been hiding under bushes and shrubs, waiting for the runt to report to them.

    Immediately after they had arrived here, the bandits had gone closer to take a look into the condition of the small village called Tiranat, while dragging Calubo along with them, as always. After they went closer, he had seen a lot of people near the village doing one thing or another - far more than he had expected, particularly in this near-freezing weather. He also saw what was perhaps a huge barn being constructed ahead of the last houses of the village, for which a new roof was being put up now by a few people who had climbed above it.

    Another noticeable thing was that there was a tall wall being built around the village! For sure, he could easily see that those were being built by wooden stakes, unlike the mighty stone walls of Cinran, but still, he had never expected that one day there would be a wall around the whole village of Tiranat! At this point only a small part of the wall was completed in the north, and he couldn''t see what was the status of the walls on the other side of the village, but the fact that there was a wall being built at all was completely unexpected to him in the first place. It must have been the doing of the new baron as well, just like it had to be him who had thought of that ruse for the caravan.

    Even other than the wall and that huge barn, he saw a flurry of activity everywhere - of people running here and there while carrying something, of a log being pulled by a pair of horses and some kind of wooden contraption with giant wheels, while near the tree line, there were many people who were either sawing the upright trees or chopping branches from already fallen trees.

    The few villagers who looked idle were huddled around a few burning braziers - perhaps trying to heat up their bodies before they returned to do whatever they all were doing there. He heard other bandits grumbling at the sight of the villagers having a fire to draw heat from, while they were freezing here. However, Calubo was confused about something after seeing those braziers. Who provided the coal for the villagers to use there anyway? He didn''t think any villagers could afford to buy it themselves. And what about those iron braziers? Those couldn''t be cheap at all!

    At one point he thought he saw a man pulling some weirdly shaped cart, but uh... it had a single wheel only...? But how could a cart work with only a single wheel anyway? Since there was no way a man could pull what would normally need a horse for it! He had shaken his head after that, thinking that he had started to imagine such things because of his constant hunger.

    But whether that weird cart really existed or it was just his imagination, there was way too much activity in the village. And he had no idea why so many people were doing whatever they were doing in the cold - shouldn''t they be working in the coal mines?

    Or were those coal mines still flooded with water? But even then, why were so many people outside their homes in this near-freezing weather anyway? He didn''t understand any of it.

    Soon, Nokozal told them with a frown that they had seen enough, and ordered everyone to move further back into the forests. Once they had retreated to a far enough distance away from the village, a bandit muttered with his voice full of surprise "What the hell has happened here?"

    The fatso asked, "Isn''t that a boundary wall we saw being constructed? I know that it is far from complete right now, but why are the villagers making it now when they were fine without a boundary wall for years! If we had come here after a few weeks, we might not have been able to attack the village at all with that huge wall In place!"

    Nokozal didn''t reply for a while, then he said, "It doesn''t change anything for us, since that wall is still not complete anyway."

    "But milord," another bandit asked, "you certainly saw that the village has too much activity right now. Shouldn''t we wait here for a few days to scout them further before we attack?"

    Nokozal glared at him. "And waste even more days stuck here in the cold while being hungry as well? Who knows if those idiots at the quarry still have a hold of my slaves or not! No, we can''t afford to wait anymore."

    "But still, milord," the fatso interrupted, "you have seen that a lot of area right outside the village has been cleared of trees, so we wouldn''t have any cover for that distance, and there were a lot of villagers moving around everywhere, so we would be spotted long before we reached the first houses."

    Nokozal nodded slowly. "It''s true that there is no point in attacking them in broad daylight, so we will wait for the night. Those villagers would have gone back by then and we would have the benefit of darkness, especially since the skies are cloudy, so there would be no moonlight as well at that time."

    He looked around the place for a moment, then pointed to a group of shrubs further away from the village. "That is a good hiding spot. Since there isn''t any good cover closer to the village, we will hunker down under those bushes until it gets dark. I had already told the runt that we will wait for him in the northwest of the village. After he reports to me about what he has scouted, our plan will be to raid the village tonight."

 Chapter 113 - 112. Doubts

    By the time the bandits moved under those shrubs, Calubo hated them enough that he really wanted the bandits to be crushed by the village guards, but he had also seen the reality of the caravan''s defense earlier.

    Even though that ruse of presenting untrained villagers as seasoned guards had worked - and it had to be a ploy by the new baron of Tiranat, whoever it was, since only the baron had the authority to do such a thing - and the bandits had left the caravan alone on the road, but now that Nokozal had come here to the village with everyone to raid it, he didn''t know what would happen to the village now. Those coal miners might be able to hold their own in a brawl in an alehouse, but they would be cut down immediately by these ruthless bandits. He couldn''t see a way out of it right now, but he had to hope that the goddess would take care of the village.

    ********

    It was around noon now, and soon they heard the crunching of leaves nearby. Immediately all of them got alert with their swords ready, while still hiding under the shrubs, but after they heard a series of bird whistles, the bandits relaxed, and started to get out from their hiding spots. Calubo was allowed to get up as well, and he saw that it was the runt, with his horse tied a little distance away.

    Nokozal and others gathered together to see what the runt had found.

    Coming closer, the runt reported with a frown, "Something isn''t right, milord. But I don''t understand any of it..."

    "What do you mean?" Nokozal asked.

    The runt continued with an agitated voice, "I don''t understand what''s wrong with the village. The weather is nearly freezing here, but instead of staying inside their homes - or what''s left of it anyway after Torhan''s raid - the villagers are out running around the village doing only goddess knows what!"

    The runt added, "They seem to be out of their houses throughout the day - logging trees, cutting branches, digging trenches, and Goddess knows what else! And all that activity is not just in the north either. They are doing that in the south as well, at the same scale, while some men are also cutting trees in the east and the west of the village. All around the village there is someone doing something!"

    The runt continued after Nokozal''s nod, "In the day and a half that I''ve been here, I have never seen any area around the village in any direction being empty during the day. So there is no way we can approach the village in daytime without being seen by someone."

    "I noticed that too. But it doesn''t matter," Nokozal said. "I plan to attack around midnight anyway, since that''s when their defenses will be at their lowest. Carry on."

    The runt nodded. "It is true that in the night we would have a better chance, but there is something weird with that as well. Two nights ago when I arrived here, I didn''t see anyone outside the village throughout the night - that was the day the caravan reached here. But yesterday night, I saw regular patrols by a pair of guards all around the village throughout the night!"

    "What?" Nokozal snapped. "I told you to be careful that you were not seen by anyone! How could you be so careless!"

    The runt shook his head immediately. "No, milord! I wasn''t seen by anyone. I''m sure of it! I never even went close to the village during the day."

    Nokozal growled, "So how do you explain that they started patrolling around the village the day after you arrived here?"

    "That''s just one of the weird things with the village, milord," the runt replied. "Other than that, I had thought that most of the men would be away from the village working in the coal mines during the daytime - which I heard to be located in the east when I came here a few years ago - which would have meant that it would be better to raid the village in the day, when barely any able-bodied men would be there to defend their houses. But the men don''t go towards the coal mines at all! It''s like they have given up on mining any coal! It doesn''t make any sense!"

    "What are you talking about? Why would they give up on coal mining?" The fatso asked while rubbing his belly which was already making sounds in protest of not getting anything to eat recently.

    "I have no damn idea! But didn''t you see it while coming here?" The runt asked while gesturing towards the village. "It''s like those villagers have gone mad, since they are willingly staying outside their homes in this freezing weather! It''s not like their village was flooded like our shacks in the quarry were!"

    "That doesn''t make any sense..." Nokozal frowned. "Their baron is already dead, so who is even ordering them to do this? Because I know no sane man would go out in this village unless he was ordered to do so by a noble."

    "But it''s true, milord!" The runt protested. "I have looked at the village from all around it by now, so I know what I''m talking about. Nothing makes sense in the village right now!"

    Nokozal didn''t reply for a while, as he started pacing back-and-forth while stroking his long beard.

    Another bandit suggested, "We really should wait for a few days so that we can scout them further, milord."

    The runt suggested, "What if... what if we just waited for the caravan to return back to Cinran?"

    "But why would it even go back?" the other bandit asked. "Lord Nokozal told us that the village couldn''t have enough money to hire mercenaries, so those had to be the village guards escorting the caravan. Which means they have no reason to go back now."

    "I understand that..." the runt added, "but I told you that I have been to this village in the past. And as you saw it''s only a small village. There is no way they could afford to buy eight wagons for the village, which means the caravan certainly should have had at least a few wagons which came from Cinran. That means at least those wagons would still have to return back, wouldn''t they?"

    The other bandit nodded. "Right! So can''t we just raid that smaller caravan? If the swordsmen we saw with the caravan were the village guards, they wouldn''t accompany the caravan back, would they?"

    The runt looked excited now. "That''s true! We should still easily be able to kill or capture the few men which would accompany that smaller caravan. We can just ambush them and steal food from those wagons, without having to risk our lives in raiding the village!"

    "Are you both idiots or just cowards?" Nokozal growled. "Why do you think those wagons would have food? The village wouldn''t have sent a caravan to buy so much grain from Cinran in the first place if they had enough food to sell it there! Everyone knows about the coal mines here, so those wagons will just take coal with them to sell in Cinran - if you are right and they do go back, which is still not certain."

    The runt looked red in his face with embarrassment, but he added, "Then we can just steal that coal!"

    "And what would we do with that coal?" Nokozal asked with a glare. "What use would it be to us when we can just burn firewood in the quarry? It''s not like we have any shortage of it there." S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Then..." the runt suggested, "then... we can sell that coal and those horses in Cinran! Yes, that''s exactly what we should do! This way we wouldn''t have to fight with a dozen swordsmen of the village, if not more!"

    "Shut up!" Nokozal barked. "We don''t have any use for coal ourselves and I can''t fence that amount of coal anyway. It''s not like it is stolen jewelry which I can easily take in my pockets to sell to my contacts in Cinran!"

    As the runt began to say something in protest, Nokozal glared at him again. "I told you all that we can''t afford to wait here for too long! If Torhan got any hint that my quarry is unprotected, then all my slaves would be stolen by him for sure. And we really need that food! So we have to attack the village anyway! That''s the end of this discussion."

    The fatso nodded, "I agree that we do have to attack, but you saw that there were people all around the village. How will we approach the village without being seen?"

    Nokozal didn''t say anything in reply as he began to pace back-and-forth again. After some time, he said, "It doesn''t matter. Those villagers still have to go inside their homes for the night. And we already plan to attack around midnight, so the villagers spotting us won''t be a problem. The plan remains the same."

    "But what about the patrols by guards?" The fatso asked. "They patrol at night too."

    Nokozal stopped his pacing. "It''s just two men, and there are ten of us. We''ll send them to the Goddess if they come in front of us when we go to raid."

    He looked back at the runt. "You go back to what you were doing and keep an eye around the village. Then join us here a few hours after night has fallen to tell us if anything else has changed. We will attack soon after that."

    The runt asked doubtfully, "But can we even afford to fight that many guards? You saw there were more than a dozen swordsmen just to escort the caravan! That means the village might have even more of them!"

    "Stop being a coward!" Nokozal barked. "It doesn''t matter how many guards there are in the village, since they would all be hiding inside the manor walls, just like it happened in the previous raid. So they wouldn''t be a threat to us as long as we stay clear of the manor."

    As the runt began to protest again, Nokozal snarled, "Now shut up. Not one more word about this, or I will have you flayed for being a coward!"

    The runt immediately became quiet after that, but he still looked doubtful.

    Nokozal glared at all the other bandits. "Is there anyone else here who wants us to keep waiting?"

 Chapter 114 - 113. Immigration

    Nobody made a sound in response.

    Nokozal gave a satisfied nod. "Good! That''s what I like to hear!"

    He continued, "If we raid the village bravely instead of hiding in the quarry like cowards, we will still be able to get what we want from them, no matter how many guards are hiding in the manor! I am not going to leave empty-handed from here after spending this long away from my quarry in the cold!"

    For a while he looked towards the village and didn''t say anything. Then he gazed at all the other bandits again and grinned. "Just keep following the plans of Lord Nokozal, and the goddess will ensure that we return with a great haul of grain and slaves! We attack at midnight!"

    Some of the bandits gave predatory grins in anticipation, while others only gave grunts and nods in acceptance, with nobody daring to cheer or make any other loud sound this close to the village.

    Nokozal continued, "For now, a few of you go nearby carefully and see if you can find any berries here for us to eat. After that, two of you will always stay awake in turns to keep an eye around us while the rest of us will take naps so that we are at full energy when we attack."

    "As you say, Lord Nokozal!" the bandits replied collectively.

    And with that, the plan for raiding the village had begun.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus was walking in the manor with others, to see how the preparations for the feast were coming. It was starting to get dark now, with the last rays of the sunset giving the cloudy skies a golden hue. The weather kept getting colder continuously and snowfall was expected to start any day now.

    Since his announcement that there would be a feast earlier in the day, all the servants and maids in the manor seemed to have a constant smile on their faces. It was such a rare occasion for everyone, that every person in the manor wanted to give his best to make the feast a roaring success.

    As he walked towards the servant hall, Duvas reported, "We have bought some meat from the hunters in the village to use for tonight''s feast. Well, actually we bought all of what was available in the village market, since the one hunter that the village still has cannot bring too much meat by himself. And it did cost a little more than I thought..."

    "Don''t worry about the cost for today," Kivamus reassured him. "It''s not like we do this every day. We want everyone in the village to have a memorable dinner tonight." sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Duvas nodded. "Of course, my lord." He added, "Earlier in the day, a few servants and guards had gone to the stream in the east to catch fish, so we will have some fish as well in tonight''s feast. Apart from that, Madam Helga has brought all the remaining Toloraberries and Rizako mushrooms from where they were found outside the village, although we won''t get any more of those for the winter."

    He remarked, "By the way, Feroy should be happy to know that he will get to eat Madam Helga''s famous Rizako stew tonight, but he seems to be a little off today."

    Kivamus looked at Hudan who was walking next to him. "Why is that?" He asked with a frown.

    Hudan shrugged. "I can''t say. But I''ll ask him when I see him."

    Kivamus asked, "Is everything okay with the guards otherwise?"

    "Of course," Hudan replied. "Now that we have all our guards back, I have even started putting a few of them to patrol around the village every hour of the day."

    "Good. And what about asking for volunteers to accompany Pydaso back to Cinran?"

    "That wasn''t a problem at all," Hudan replied with a snort. "I got more than enough volunteers to accompany him when the guards found out that if chosen, they would earn real coin in the form of hazard pay. So I have selected two of them and they will go along with the merchant tomorrow." He continued, "That being said, the wagon driver of Pydaso had come to meet me earlier."

    "Oh..." Kivamus muttered. "What did he want?"

    Hudan replied, "He wants to stay back here in Tiranat, instead of returning back with Pydaso."

    "That''s... unexpected," Kivamus said with his eyebrows raised.

    Hudan said with a grin, "Actually... it''s not, my lord. Although he has been out with the caravan for the previous three weeks, apart from the single day breaks between trips, he said that he found out about everything you are doing for the villagers - including feeding the elderly and the children even if they can''t pay for it. He told me that he was an orphan since he was young, and he had to scrounge around for food everyday before he became old enough to get some paying work. He doesn''t want his children to go through the same situation in case something happens to him."

    "This world isn''t easy to live in, that''s for sure," Kivamus remarked. "It''s even more true for orphans. Then what will happen to his family if he stays back?"

    Hudan continued, "Actually, he wants to bring his whole family here from where he lives in a small village west of Cinran. Of course, he would have to return back with Pydaso for now, but he said that when he comes back here in the spring, he wants to bring his children and his wife here as well."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus muttered, thinking about it. "And what did you tell him?"

    "What''s there to say, milord?" Hudan asked. "Before you came here, people died regularly in Tiranat because of the cold in the winter, or because of sickness all year round. And from what I''ve heard, Tiranat has always accepted more workers here to keep the coal mines operational and fill the positions left empty by those who died."

    Duvas interrupted, "That is true enough, my Lord, and we have never sent anyone back who wanted to move to Tiranat. But we had only planned to continue the free meals for the winter! To continue that in the future as well... that would take a lot of coin. Coin which we don''t even earn right now."

    Kivamus sighed. "I do understand that..." He gazed at the tall trees devoid of any leaves surrounding the village as he thought about it.

    Could it be done though? Could he really afford to continuously feed everyone who couldn''t work in his village without going bankrupt in the future? It was one thing to do it just for the current population of Tiranat - which was only a small village at best. But if people started to immigrate here in the future because of that, the costs for feeding those people could easily get out of hand.

    However... that would also mean more available workers... Workers which he could use to start many kinds of factories and industries here. As of right now, the village population was so small that it would never be more than a coal mining village. But he wanted to make Tiranat a lot more prosperous and secure, for his own safety from his brothers and other nobles who wanted to grab his land, as well as for his people.

    No, he didn''t just want to do it - he needed to do it! And that would mean continuously letting more workers immigrate here to work in those factories, even though none of them existed yet.

    While it was true that if he continued the free meal program for those who couldn''t feed themselves, the cost of that program would keep increasing continuously. But on the other hand, if he utilized those workers well, it would also mean a constant increase in the income of the village as well. He thought more about it for a while, then nodded to himself.

    "Let''s do it then. We will continue the free meal program for the foreseeable future." Seeing that Duvas was going to say something in protest, he added, "I understand your concerns, Duvas. But it''s not like the village population is going to double all of a sudden. Even if Pydaso''s wagon driver brings his family, that''s not even ten more people. And even if we assume that a few more people from his village might accompany him here because of the same reasons, it''s still a very slow process, so we will have time to think about how to integrate them into the village and how to feed them."

    Duvas seemed to be considering it, but Kivamus continued, "See it this way. More workers would mean more output of coal, which would mean more income for us. And that extra income would easily allow us to continue the free meal program for those who can''t feed themselves, while filling our nearly empty coffers at the same time."

    That seemed to do the trick for the penny-pinching majordomo, based on the way his expression changed after hearing that they would be making more money.

    "That''s true enough, my lord," Duvas said after a moment. He shrugged. "More income is always good."

    "Can''t deny that... milord," Hudan commented with a grin. "So I don''t have to say that he can''t bring his family here, do I?"

    "Not at all." Kivamus added, "In fact, if you meet him again, you can hint to him that others from his village would be welcome here too. But don''t say it directly, since we aren''t ready to take in a surge of people at once."

    Hudan nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

    Kivamus looked back at the majordomo as he continued walking towards the servants hall. "So, is that all we have for the feast tonight?"

 Chapter 115 - 114. Preparations And A Speech

    Duvas replied with a rare smile, "No, my lord, there is also something else. A few laborers had found a single honeycomb a few days ago, further inside the surrounding forests in the east when one of them had wandered too far, and until now we hadn''t disturbed it. But Madam Helga ordered a few servants to get some honey from it, and she will use it to make something sweet using those berries, as a dessert of some kind. I think it''s called a Toloraberry Pie."

    He added, "There won''t be much of it, since it was only a single honeycomb and we have left most of it intact for the future, but it will still give everyone something sweet for a change - even if everyone only gets a single bite of it."

    "Oh, that''s still wonderful!" Kivamus said with a smile. "I can''t wait for it!"

    It had been a long time since he had tasted anything sweet, apart from the few dried fruits which he had found to be remaining in the manor from the personal stores of the previous baron. He had shared them with others in the manor house, and it had been weeks since then. He really couldn''t wait for the Toloraberry Pie.

    Duvas continued, "We also needed to invite the villagers for this feast, so I had told a few servants to announce the news in the market square of the village. However, since this is the kind of news which spreads like wildfire, the villagers have already started gathering outside the gates. The food is also going to be ready soon and the feast will start within an hour."

    "It''s good to hear that everything is going well," Kivamus replied.

    As he reached the servants'' hall, he noticed something immediately. In the open area outside, a constant wind was blowing, making it feel even colder than it already was, but as he entered inside, the atmosphere felt completely different. Inside the servants'' hall, he saw the full hustle and bustle of the ongoing preparations for tonight''s feast. All the maids and servants of the manor seemed to be doing one thing or another, while even the off duty guards were helping them wherever needed.

    The left side of the servants'' hall, which had the beddings for the male servants and guards, was completely empty right now, since everyone was busy doing something. A few braziers were lit nearby within the hall to keep the air warm and to allow those who were coming from outside to heat up their bodies, while the number of fires already burning inside the kitchen for cooking were more than enough to keep it balmy there.

    He walked towards the right where the kitchen was located, after taking a moment to warm up his hands from a brazier. Once he entered inside, the maids and servants immediately paused their work and began to stand up in respect, but he gestured to them to keep going. "No, no, just carry on, and don''t mind me. I''m only here to take a look."

    With quick nods, everyone returned to what they were doing. He took a moment to see everything which was happening inside the kitchen. Some of the maids were busy on one side of the kitchen while peeling potatoes, chopping onions, and even some carrots to put into stews, while the other maids were cooking a variety of food in huge cauldrons on the other side of the kitchen.

    There seemed to be a vegetable soup, a meat stew, and some fish recipe as well. He also saw chopped up mushrooms kept on a slab on one side, probably in preparation of making the much vaunted Rizako stew of Madam Helga - even though he had heard it would only be limited to those living in the manor house. Apart from that, there were also some potatoes being boiled in a corner.

    A few servants were kneading the wheat flour into dough, while others were taking that dough to the clay oven outside through the back door in the kitchen to make fresh bread for everyone. Some eggs from the small chicken coup in the manor, along with a jug of milk from their two cows were also kept on one side, for use wherever needed. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Since they didn''t have cauldrons big enough to prepare food for all the villagers in a single batch, other off-duty guards and servants were transferring the already prepared food into wooden buckets and putting it into carts to get ready to transport them outside the gates of the manor. That would also empty the cauldrons so the maids could make another batch of food for the villagers.

    Madam Nerida was busy in supervising the maids and ensuring that everything was done as smoothly and efficiently as possible, while Madam Helga had a spoon in her hand and she kept taking a sip from every pot and cauldron, and added local herbs where needed to ensure that the taste was to her likings.

    Satisfied that everything was going well, he turned to return outside. On the way, he saw a servant pulling their only wheelbarrow towards the kitchen of the servants hall, on which a sack of flour was loaded - likely bringing it back from the miller in the village. The servant looked happy while working, probably because he was the one who had gotten to use the wheelbarrow today. While the initial excitement of getting to use the wheelbarrow had mostly calmed down among the residents of the manor, they still seemed to be drawing straws to be the one who gets to use it.

    Truthfully, while he knew how helpful that wheelbarrow would be, he hadn''t expected that it would become such a sought after thing amongst the people here. But he was glad to know that it had worked out this way. Cedoron should be providing more wheelbarrows to them in the coming days, which should be quite helpful for transporting goods as well as for the morale of the servants here.

    *******

    Sometime later, while he was sitting in the manor hall with others, a servant entered the hall.

    "Milord, all the preparations for the feast are complete," the servant reported. "You can start the feast now."

    Kivamus nodded, and the servant returned back.

    "Do I need to say that it is open now?" he asked as he stood up, others rising with him.

    Duvas nodded. "At the very least, my Lord. It would be even better if you gave a speech to the villagers, even if only a short one."

    "A speech...?" Kivamus repeated as he exited the manor hall and started walking towards the gates of the manor. How was he going to give a speech! While he had more than enough experience of leading his small engineering team in the company he worked at, he had never been good with speaking in public. He asked again, "Do I really have to?"

    Duvas shrugged. "You don''t need to, of course. But it would be good for the villagers to hear from their new baron for the first time. So far, while many of them have seen you when you have visited the forested areas that we are clearing, I believe it would help everyone''s morale if you said something to them as well."

    "But what will I even say to them?" Kivamus asked. "You know that I was a bookworm before I came here and I spent most of my time in the library of the Ulriga Palace. I have no experience in talking to so many people at once, or in giving speeches..."

    "Don''t worry too much about it, my lord," Gorsazo reassured him. "Those aren''t power hungry nobles standing outside, waiting to pounce the moment they see a weakness. They are just common people - your people - and they just want to see and listen to something from their baron, no matter what it is."

    He added, "If you don''t know what to say, you can just talk about what you have done for the villagers so far. It would be good to tell them the updates about the progress of the longhouse blocks, as well as the fact that we have been able to buy enough grain to feed everyone over the winter. It wouldn''t just be a rumor if the baron himself was telling them about that."

    Kivamus gave a hesitant nod as he reached the gates of the manor, the clamor of the villagers rising in volume. He still wasn''t sure how he was going to give a speech in front of so many people, but it was also true that he wasn''t just a common person on modern earth anymore. He was a noble now, and his people looked up to him. So he had to act like a noble as well, as strange as it fell to him.

    Reaching outside, he realized how crowded it was there, even though the guards were doing their best to organize the crowd. He saw that the area right outside the gates had been barricaded by a rope, with the villagers standing outside it in mostly haphazard lines, with wooden plates and bowls in their hands, while the servants and maids were ready to serve them from the huge buckets of a variety of foodstuffs which they had brought here in carts.

    He saw that there was a small wooden bench kept near the gates which was surrounded by guards, and that''s where Duvas was pointing him to go. But as soon as the crowd realized that he had come outside, they all started looking at him, making him feel even more nervous.

    Hesitatingly, he climbed on the bench and gazed at the veritable sea of humanity looking back at him. It seemed that most if not all of the villagers were already here. And he had to give a speech in front of all of them...

    He shook his head to clear his mind. He had to do this. At least there was a consolation that the villagers were not expecting a long speech, based on the hungry looks they kept giving the buckets of food.

    Trying to calm his nerves again, he raised his hands above him, making a hush fall on the crowd. Swallowing once again, and after clearing his throat, he steeled himself and started to speak in the loudest voice he could muster. "My dear villagers. It hasn''t been long since I arrived here, and yet it feels like we have been together for ages. When I arrived here a month ago, I realized how poor the situation of the village was. But it wasn''t your fault at all. Because of the whims and greediness of nobles, you and your children didn''t even have enough to eat!"

    Seeing that many of the villagers gave nods at that, he continued, "But no more! That situation will never be repeated here as long as I am the baron of this village!"

    Immediately the villagers started cheering happily. After giving them a moment, he raised his hands again to silence the crowd. "I know you all must still be worried that the village has a new baron. You must be thinking about how he will turn out to be? Will he care for us? Or will he do his best to empty our pockets of the little coin we have?"

 Chapter 116 - 115. The Feast

    ~ Kigeir ~

    ~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    Kigeir watched as the young baron climbed on a bench and began to speak to everyone. His pale skin and highly unusual silver hair had made him noticeable easily when a group of people had come outside of the manor, and it had caused a hush to fall over the villagers.

    As he listened to Lord Kivamus continue to speak, he thought about the day''s event with wonder.

    Today had started out like any other day, with him clearing his shop of the dust it gathered regularly, even though he rarely got any customers these days. However, while he was unable to work as a manual laborer with his ever-present knee ache getting even worse in the cold weather, his older son, who had seen seventeen winters by now, had gone off to join the laborers to work in the north of the village. His younger son and daughter, who were the same ages as the orphans he had taken in, stayed at the upper floor of his house while playing one game or another, as always.

    But then someone had gone running through the streets, yelling that the baron''s guards had an announcement to make at the market square. Being curious about it, he had told his wife to watch the shop, which was located on the lower floor of his own house, and he had gone to listen to the announcement. And it had turned out to be far from anything he could have expected!

    The baron was going to provide a feast tonight! And it would be open to every single villager! That was something which had never happened in this village in the past... The guards had also assured them that the baron would put his guards to patrol the village so that nobody got any thoughts of trying to steal from the unoccupied houses of the villagers - so that they could enjoy the feast without any worries.

    However, the news that there would be a feast for everyone had been so unexpected that the villagers standing there had started to ask the guards again and again if it was really true. And as it turned out later, it was...

    Returning back home, he had given the good news to everyone there, with his wife and the children overjoyed to hear that they would get to eat so many things tonight. His older son wasn''t there at the time, but surely, he would also get the news along with other laborers since this was the kind of news which didn''t take long to reach everyone''s ears.

    In the evening, he had taken everyone in his family along with him to the empty area outside the gates of the manor, and they had been waiting there with other villagers for a while. The weather was nearly freezing, but a lot of braziers had been lit up all around the empty area to keep it warm, while someone had recently swept the area clean of any dust as well. He knew that the snowfall would start any day now, but at least it seemed like they would be able to enjoy the feast without any snow.

    Before long, he had seen the preparations for the feast start in earnest, as some of the servants of the manor began to carry empty wooden tables there, while others began pushing carts full of steaming buckets to outside the gates in an area they had previously separated with a rope. The baron''s guards were already there trying to make the villagers stand in lines, assuring them that there was enough for everyone, so they should stay in their lines and wait for their turns. But despite their assurances, nobody wanted to be the last one in line and be told that there was no more food remaining for them.

    That had even led to many scuffles between villagers who said that they were the ones who had reached the line first. One of those arguments even resulted in a brawl which had to be broken up by the guards. But then the guard captain, who was a huge man - someone who made others obey him just by being present there - simply told them in a calm voice that no one would get any food at all if there was even one more fight like that. That had calmed down the villagers, and after that they began to agree immediately to whatever the guards were ordering them to do.

    Soon, after he and his family had taken a place in one of the lines as well, he saw that the servants had unloaded many buckets of food within that area bound by a rope, and sent the carts back in the manor, probably to bring more food. That was when the new baron had arrived there, and began giving his speech. Since this was the first time when the baron was speaking to all the villagers, they all had been listening attentively to him.

    Coming back to the present, he heard the baron telling them about all the measures that had been taken for the well-being of the villagers. He told them that the feast had been organized in celebration of procuring enough grain for the villagers to feed them for the whole winter - and from the next week, vegetables would also be included in the weekly grain rations of everyone! That had led to a chorus of happy cheers erupting from the villagers. The baron had given the crowd a moment to enjoy the announcement, before he raised both of his hands to make the crowd quiet again.

    Lord Kivamus also told them about the approaching completion of the first longhouse block. That had given Kigeir a bittersweet taste in his mouth, since it would mean that Maisy and Timmy would move there as well. With the way he saw Elsie chattering continuously with Maisy, he knew that his daughter would miss them a lot. Even now, as they were standing in a separate line for the children, they seemed inseparable, even though Elsie seemed to be the one doing most of the talking.

    The baron also mentioned his unexpected policy that there would be no slavery allowed under his rule from now on. The villagers had certainly heard rumors about that - including the gossip that the girl whom the village blacksmith now lived with, also used to be a slave under the previous baron, and that she had been given her freedom by Lord Kivamus.

    But rumors had a way of getting out of hand, so he didn''t know if there was any truth in that gossip. However, to hear the baron proclaim that himself had made it set in stone. He wasn''t sure if such a news would be welcomed by other nobles - especially since the southern nobles of Reslinor were well known to keep a lot of slaves - but he would let his betters worry about that. He had more than enough worries anyway.

    Before long, the baron''s speech came to a close, and he announced the feast to be open! The villagers immediately started yelling praises for the new baron, while chanting ''All hail Lord Kivamus, long may he reign'' again and again. Although other than being taught about how to count numbers properly from his father, Kigeir didn''t have any other education, but even he knew that only kings and queens reigned, not barons, but who was he to fault the villagers in their rare times of happiness and enjoyment. Once more, the baron stood up on the bench and raised his hands, putting an end to the chants, and told the villagers to enjoy the feast.

    Immediately after that, the servants and maids of the manor began ladling out whatever they were serving, and the various lines of villagers began to move forward. Rising up on his toes to look at the front where the food was being served, he saw that the wooden tables had been kept parallel to the manor walls, with a few buckets and a lot of wooden bowls or plates kept on the tables.

    For each group of three tables which were put together, the guards had organized the villagers to stand in a line in front of the leftmost table, and from there every person moved right to be served from the next serving stall on the right. There were a few other such lines in parallel to his own line, but they all would be served the same food, wouldn''t they? He shook his head. There he went worrying again.

    The line of villagers was still moving slowly, and he was getting really curious about what they would get to eat because of the variety of delicious smells that were wafting in his direction. As he waited impatiently for his turn, he saw the village priest, father Edric - with his ever growing white beard - talking to the majordomo Mr Duvas, before the young baron and others returned back inside the gates of the manor. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In another line, he even saw Dalaar and his cronies standing patiently for their turn. He couldn''t help but snort at the sight of the young troublemakers diligently following the guards'' instructions to stand properly in the line. Free food was free food, after all, no matter what anyone thought about their rulers - especially if it seemed like it would be a feast fit for nobles.

    As the line kept moving further, it was his turn soon.

 Chapter 117 - 116. A Meal For Nobility

    After Kigeir put his wooden plate in front of him when he reached the first serving stall, the maid standing behind the table put a generous helping of a meat stew in a bowl and after putting it on his plate, she gestured him to move further to the next serving stall on the right. Giving a thankful nod, he walked to the next stall, where another maid gave him mashed potatoes and pointed him to the right again.

    All that rich smell was making his stomach growl in hunger, but with not a small amount of willpower, he controlled himself to not start eating right there, and waited for everything to be served before he began to eat the wonderful meal. On reaching the next stall, he was provided a medium sized part from a loaf of freshly baked bread, and then it was a walk to the next stall. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Eventually, he had gotten everything that was being given, and he found an empty place where he sat with his wife and his older son, while waiting for the children to arrive back from their own separate line. Looking at his plate which was full of so many types of food, he tried to remember when was the last time he had eaten something like this, and it turned out to be... never.

    He had visited an inn in Cinran once in the past, and that was the last time where he had seen so many kinds of foods being served, but that day he had been unable to buy more than a simple bread and soup. But it seemed he would finally get to taste the meals for nobility tonight, since only nobles could possibly afford something like this!

    In his plate, there were three kinds of soup and stew, two kinds of bread, some mashed potatoes, and there was even a small amount of butter and cheese! But it didn''t end there - at the last serving stall, he had been given a very small part of something called a Toloraberry Pie, which the maid had advised him to eat after he had finished everything else. That was the only thing which smelled sweet, and with the villagers nearly never getting to eat anything like that, he had really wanted to devour the small part of pie immediately, but somehow he had told himself that he should do what the maid said. She was the one providing the food after all.

    However, he saw that the children were still some time away from the front of their line, and being unable to wait, he took a wooden spoon and took a sip of the fish stew, and it tasted out of this world! Next, he tried the mashed potatoes, and it was slightly salty and buttery - just like it was supposed to be!

    Then he tried the other things one by one, all of which tasted better than anything else he had ever eaten. As he took a moment to look around him in the light of burning braziers in the nearly freezing weather, he saw that nearly every villager - including his family sitting next to him - were doing their best to savor the taste of the unexpected bounty as long as they could. Who knew if they would ever get to eat something like this ever again in their lives? They had to try their best to remember this night, when Lord Kivamus hosted a feast and provided them food which must only be eaten by nobility!

    Giving a happy smile to his wife and elder son, he delightfully took another spoonful of the meat stew, and closed his eyes in wonder at the marvelous taste of it. Thank goddess for sending Lord Kivamus as the new baron of the village!

    Kigeir chuckled as even he couldn''t stop himself from wishing the young baron''s reign to be long and prosperous!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    Wiping his forehead of the sweat which had gathered there after he gave a speech in front of so many people for the first time, Kivamus climbed down from the bench and walked towards the gates of the manor. At least it had gone well enough, he thought. It was a daunting task for him to speak in front of that many people, and he wasn''t sure how he had accomplished it.

    "That was a good speech, my Lord," Duvas complimented with a smile.

    "Indeed. You did well," Gorsazo said. "The speech was neither too short nor too long." He smirked, "Although you won''t be defeating any seasoned statesman in a debate anytime soon."

    Kivamus laughed. "I don''t have a lifetime experience of teaching and speaking to a lot of people like you have, Gorsazo. I''m just glad that it''s over."

    He looked back towards the crowd of people, and saw that the lines had already started moving. After getting the meal on their plates, it seemed like some of the villagers had closed their eyes in enjoyment of what they were eating at the time. He smiled looking at the satisfying scene.

    However, he noticed an old man walking slowly towards him, his long white beard noticeable immediately. He had expected the guards to stop anyone from approaching him, but when he saw a guard bow to the old man, he became curious about it. As he looked carefully, he saw that the old man was wearing a white robe of some kind, with a thin rope serving as a belt around his waist, although it must have been years since that robe could have been called new.

    As the man came closer into the light of a brazier burning nearby, Kivamus realized that the robe was already patched over in many places. There was also some kind of loose cowl or a hood on the robe, but the old man wasn''t using it right now. The man seemed to be older than even Duvas, who was probably approaching sixty years himself.

    Stopping in front of Kivamus, the old man gave a nod to him. "I''m glad to finally meet you, Lord Kivamus."

    Kivamus gave a nod as well, but raised his eyebrows in confusion at the person whom he hadn''t seen before.

    "My apologies milord, I should have introduced myself first," the old man said, his long wide beard moving as he spoke. "I''m Father Edric, and I have been the ordained priest of the goddess'' temple for this village since Tiranat was founded."

    "Oh!" Kivamus exclaimed. "I''ve heard about you. You were the one who took care of the orphans and the elderly in the village, when no one else did."

    "I am just doing the goddess'' work," Father Edric said with a grandfatherly smile. "But please don''t fault the villagers for not helping them, since most people here could barely afford to feed themselves."

    The old priest continued, "The recent times haven''t been good for the village. Although I tried my best, my efforts weren''t nearly enough for the villagers. But it does seem like the goddess has finally heard our prayers, since she sent someone like you here." He added with a smile, "I also heard your speech earlier, and I could tell that you were neither lying nor boasting about having enough grain for everyone this winter. And probably for the first time since this village was founded, I am fairly sure that no one will die of the cold or hunger this winter. So I thank you for that, milord."

    Kivamus shook his head. "No, no, I''m not doing anything special. This is simply what any noble should do for his people."

    Father Edric nodded sagely. "That''s certainly true enough. And yet, what you are doing is not common at all."

    He gestured towards the villagers, every one of whom seemed to have a rarely seen smile on their face. "Just look at them, milord. I have probably never seen the villagers this happy in the past few years. Believe me, milord, you are doing Goddess'' work here." Then Father Edric gave a bow to him, his snow-white beard nearly touching the ground in the process, before he added, "You have my sincere gratitude for easing our work to take care of those at the bottom of the society."

    Kivamus wasn''t sure what to reply to that, since he didn''t know anything about the beliefs of the goddess'' followers. So rather than saying something odd and upsetting the priest and others, he just returned a short bow as well.

    After standing straight again, Father Edric added, "I won''t take any more of your busy time, milord. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the elderly priest turned back and returned towards the crowd of villagers.

    Kivamus smiled looking at everything going so smoothly. "It was a good idea to give the feast, wasn''t it?" He asked no one in particular, as he and others started walking back inside the manor, the clamor of the villagers fading slowly.

    Gorsazo nodded. "I''d say so, my Lord. It would certainly boost the villagers morale a lot. And it will give them a reason to keep working hard even in this freezing weather."

    "That''s true," Duvas said, while stroking his short beard. "I think the most important announcement for them was when you said that now we have enough grain to feed everyone for the winter. That has basically never happened in Tiranat."

    The majordomo continued, "While in some good years, the manor did have more than enough grain to feed every villager in the winter, the previous baron never allowed us to give it for free to those who couldn''t afford to buy it. But this year the villagers know that they and their children won''t go hungry, whether they can afford to buy any grain or not. I think that fact will keep the villagers'' morale high throughout the winter."

    "Let''s hope so..." Kivamus muttered, while thinking about the miserly bastard who ruled this village as the baron before him. Shaking his head, he said, "I will do my best to ensure that it remains so in the future as well."

    Looking towards the kitchen of the servants hall, he saw that the servants were loading another cart with steaming buckets - likely containing the next batch of food from the kitchen, before starting to push it towards the gates of the manor. A couple of maids were also following the cart with ladles in their hands to serve the villagers. But even more importantly, all of them seem to have a smile on their faces.

    As he walked further, he noticed that the manor looked nearly empty from inside, since nearly all of the servants and off-duty guards were outside the gates to either serve the villagers in the feast, or to help in controlling the crowd. It was rare to see the manor so empty, but it was for a good reason so he didn''t really mind it.

    He reached towards the manor house with others, eagerly waiting for his own meal from the feast - which would also include the Madam Helga''s much vaunted Rizako stew, unlike the villagers'' feast - not to mention the Toloraberry pie which he couldn''t wait to try. Thinking of the Rizako stew, he remembered that Feroy, who really liked it, should be able to enjoy it as well tonight, since he was unable to eat the Rizako stew the last time when he was out with the caravan.

    Looking around, he tried to see where the ex-mercenary was, but he couldn''t find him. Thinking about it, he realized that he hadn''t seen Feroy since the morning.

    "Where is Feroy?" he asked others.

 Chapter 118 - 117. Instincts

    Gorsazo and Duvas looked around as well, but Feroy was still nowhere to be found.

    "I''m not sure, my Lord," Duvas replied. "I think the last time I saw him was in the evening, but I haven''t seen him since then." He asked, "Should we ask Hudan? He is outside the gates keeping an eye on the feast, but he should still know where Feroy is."

    Kivamus nodded. "Actually, yes. Ask him to come here. You were telling me earlier that Feroy seems off today, and now we can''t find him anywhere. It''s getting me worried."

    Giving a nod Duvas walked towards the servants'' hall and after calling a servant, he told him to bring Hudan.

    Kivamus and others waited for Hudan outside the manor house, though it felt very cold here, since there were no braziers nearby.

    "Is Madam Helga still outside?" he asked.

    Duvas nodded. "No, she returned back to the kitchen to check the taste of the next batch of food, although Syryne is still helping out the other maids to serve food."

    Before long, they saw the huge build of Hudan jogging towards them. Reaching nearby, he said, "You asked for me, milord?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Where is Feroy? None of us have seen him since the evening."

    "Oh..." Hudan muttered with a frown. "He is out in the village for a patrol."

    "Alone?" Kivamus asked. "But why?"

    "He had been saying since the morning that everything was going so well, that something didn''t feel right to him - even though he couldn''t tell what he felt might be wrong." Hudan continued with a shrug, "I think he was getting edgy for no reason, probably because he had spent the last three weeks out with the caravan, while constantly worried about an ambush. So I told him to relax, but he said that he trusted his instincts and something just felt off to him. So even though there were two guards already out on patrol, he went for a patrol around the village himself."

    Hudan added, "I did tell him to take another guard with him, but he said that we needed our guards to keep the villagers'' crowd in control, and that he would be fine by himself. And since the evening, he''s been out of the manor, and hasn''t returned back yet."

    Kivamus frowned after listening to that. "What do you think about it? Could he be right?"

    "I haven''t the foggiest idea," Hudan replied. "After he went out, I did ask the guards who were out on patrol in the previous shift whether they had seen anything suspicious, but there was nothing to be concerned about." After a moment, he added with a shrug, "Although I can''t deny that Feroy''s instincts are often right, and without trusting his instincts, he wouldn''t have survived long while living with mercenaries, but it''s not like he''s living between such cutthroat bastards here."

    Kivamus still wasn''t sure what to think about it. On one hand, there was no basis for him to be worried, especially since Hudan had confirmed with the guards who were previously on patrol. But on the other hand, it seemed like Feroy did trust his instincts, so there could still be something there.

    "I''m sure it''s nothing, milord," Hudan reassured him. "Don''t worry about it, and just enjoy your meal. I''ll keep an eye on everything outside, and I''ll come back to report to you after the feast has ended and the villagers have returned to their homes."

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ In the middle of a feast! ~

    Ten-year-old Maisy was waiting in line for her turn to get food along with Elsie. Her little brother Timmy and Elsie''s younger brother were standing behind them, talking about a neighbor of Mr Kigeir who had become a manor guard. Did they really want to become guards? It didn''t matter right now, since tonight, she would get to enjoy eating at a feast!

    She didn''t even know what a feast was before tonight, but as it turned out, she loved feasts! Although it was very crowded here, the villagers were standing properly in lines now, and there was no more shoving to get ahead in the lines anymore. It was a different matter that she hadn''t even eaten anything from that feast yet... But she already really, really, liked feasts! But the line still wasn''t moving!

    Well, that wasn''t true. The line of children in which they were standing was still moving, but it was moving so slowly! And she was hungry!

    "When will our turn come?" Elsie whined from her place behind Maisy.

    Maisy shrugged. "I don''t know..."

    Elsie pointed towards the front of the line, and whispered, "I think that fat boy there is taking too much food. That''s why the line isn''t moving!"

    Maisy grinned. "You don''t know that. Because you can''t see there! Because you are still too short!"

    "No, I''m not! And I''m still taller than you, shortie!" Elsie retorted, and looked away while sulking, but Maisy knew that her bad mood wouldn''t last long.

    Before long, Elsie asked again, "When will our turn come... I''m hungry!"

    "Stop nagging!" Maisy chided. Elsie looked away with a huff and began playing with her long blonde ponytail.

    To be truthful, Maisy still didn''t know what a pony was, and how its tail could look like a girl''s hair, but Elsie had told her so, so she had believed her. Mostly. But she still hadn''t found any unicorns in the village - even though Elsie still kept claiming they lived in Tiranat - so she knew that she couldn''t believe everything Elsie said.

    As she looked at her friends'' hair, she thought that maybe... in the future, she would also keep a ponytail like Elsie. Maybe... She wasn''t sure how it would look on her black hair, but it had to be better than the haphazard way she had chopped it off a few months ago so it wouldn''t get in her face.

    As she waited in the line, she saw that there was also a barrel full of water kept near the tables, from which a man - who was probably a servant in the manor - was pouring water with a wooden ladle for another man to drink. Looking at the small amount of steam rising from the barrel, she was glad that it wasn''t cold water or Timmy wouldn''t be able to drink it at all.

    She wistfully looked at the maids who were serving the food. Would she also be able to become a maid in the manor in the future? She knew that for now, Mr Kigeir and the baron of the village were providing food for children like her, but eventually she realized that she would have to take care of herself and her brother and provide food for themselves. But was it even possible for an orphan like her to get such an important job in the village? S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Even Elsie - who was a merchant''s daughter - wanted to become a maid in the manor so she could earn coin by herself, unlike Elsie''s older brother who wanted to become a merchant like Mr Kigeir, while their younger brothers still weren''t sure - although they spent most of the day talking about manor guards or doing mock battles between themselves with wooden sticks.

    A short while ago, she thought that she had seen a maid earlier who looked to be only a few years older than her, but although she kept craning her neck to look ahead, she hadn''t seen her again. Maisy realized that she was too young to become a maid right now, and Elsie had even told her that there was a lot of competition to become a maid in the baron''s manor. But she still hoped that in the future, she would be hired as a maid of the manor. Maybe Elsie could also become a maid there! Then both of them would be maids in the manor! And she wouldn''t be bored at all and they could be friends forever!

    They kept waiting as the line moved further, and after a very, very long time, her turn came, and the pretty maid behind the table who had short red hair put an empty plate in front of her.

    Elsie giggled from behind her, "Awesome! You didn''t get anything, which means more for me!"

    "Shut up," Maisy retorted, "or I will take your food too!"

    "I won''t let you!" Elsie said with a grin.

    Maisy just laughed at their banter - which was another new word that she had learnt recently - and waited as the maid began giving small portions of so many kinds of food on that wooden plate. When it was full, the pretty maid handed her the plate with a smile, and told her to eat the small sweet smelling thing only at the end - something which she called a tulora... no, uh... toloba, no! uh... a toloraberry pie! Yes! That''s what it was called! And finally, the maid told her to enjoy it and sent her away.

    She saw that as she moved away, Elsie grinned and walked to the front of the line, playfully shoving her on the way, but Maisy managed to prevent anything from falling off her plate. She moved a little away to the side as she waited for Elsie and their brothers to get their food too, and finally she looked carefully at her plate.

    And she couldn''t recognize what most of those things were... It seemed like there were three kinds of soups but she didn''t know what kind, along with two kinds of bread. But what was the difference? She would have to wait for the food expert Elsie to come and tell her. There were also many other things as well, which she didn''t recognise.

    After a very long time - time she spent wondering what all those bowls of food on her plate contained - all of them had got a plate full of food in their hands, and then they marched to where Mr Kigeir and his family were sitting. They all took a seat next to them, but she noticed that Mr Kigeir and others had already eaten half of their food - which was a lot more than what was given to children in their much smaller plates, but eh... it didn''t matter. She couldn''t eat that much anyway.

    She poked Elsie, who was sitting next to her, and asked her about what those whitish things were on their plates. She saw in the light of a brazier which was burning nearby, that it was nearly milky in color, but there were two such things.

    Elsie nodded and sagely pointed at one of those things. "This is butter." But she kept looking at the other thing with a frown. Eventually, she asked Mr Kigeir, "Papa, what is this?"

 Chapter 119 - 118. Cheese And Butter

    "Oh, that''s cheese," Mr Kigeir replied with a smile. "You can eat the cheese and butter along with bread, but not both of them together. Just take some of that cheese with your finger, and put it on the bread before eating - just like you do with butter. And don''t forget to thank the maids if you go for another helping of those."

    Elsie nodded, and took some butter on her fingers before tasting it.

    Maisy couldn''t miss this opportunity to tease her new best friend. "You said you had already eaten cheese in the past, but you didn''t even recognize it! Weren''t you lying earlier?"

    "No, I wasn''t!" Elsie retorted, before she took a sip of soup - probably while she thought of an excuse. Suddenly, she looked at Mr Kigeir with wide eyes, "We can get more of these?"

    "Yup," Mr Kigeir nodded. "You kiddos are lucky. We adults were only given one helping, but children are allowed to go for seconds. Although I don''t think you will get any more pie, since there was so little of it, but you should be able to get most of the other things again."

    "Awesome!" Elsie looked at Maisy and grinned. "I''ll finish my food first, and I''ll take whatever is left on the tables!" S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No, you won''t!" Maisy retorted back, and quickly took a sip from one of her soup bowls, but Elsie saw her, and lifted a bowl in each of her hands, and quickly began drinking from them one by one, to be the first one to go for a second helping.

    "Slow down, both of you!" Mr Kigeir''s wife scolded them. "You won''t get to eat a feast like this again any time soon. So you should savor and enjoy it instead of trying to race with each other."

    Elsie gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, ma."

    Maisy nodded as well. She was smiling as she picked up a piece of bread to eat along with butter, thinking their competition was over, but suddenly Elsie pointed at her and complained, "But ma, she was the one who started it!"

    "No, I didn''t!" Maisy replied immediately.

    Elsie was going to retort again, but Mr Kigeir spoke to both of them. "It doesn''t matter who started it! Just slow down and enjoy your food." He pointed at Timmy and his younger son. "They are eating more properly than you all, even though you both are older."

    Chastised properly, both of them gave nods, and skipping the competition for now, they began to savor each bite.

    It was only now that Maisy got a chance to put some butter on bread, and when she tasted it, it felt so... smooth and yummy! The soup and stews were good, but butter was better! And it even rhymed! She giggled to herself thinking about it, before she focused on her food again.

    This was the first time she had ever tasted butter, and it was as good as Elsie had claimed it would be. After that, she took a small piece of cheese and took a bite of it without any bread, and it tasted amazing! By now, she was completely sure that she hadn''t eaten anything better tasting than cheese or butter! They both tasted amazing!

    Then she took a small piece of bread, and looked at the cheese and butter waiting on her plate. Now she was confused. Which of those should she eat first?

    Suddenly, she laughed at herself. Looking at Timmy, who had closed his eyes in enjoyment as he ate something, she realized how much things had changed for them... Only a few weeks ago, she didn''t know how she would find any food for her brother and herself. She had scrounged through all of the garbage piles in the village, and there wasn''t anything left anywhere. But today... Today she was confused if she should eat butter or cheese first!

    She realized that it was a rare feast, and choosing between butter and cheese wouldn''t be a problem for her any time soon in the future. But for tonight, she couldn''t help but look at the sky in thankfulness. Maybe the goddess was watching over them after all.

    After she was done with all of the food, she looked at the last thing remaining on her plate. And it was the Toloraberry Pie. She lifted it up carefully, and gently took a very small bite of it. And for a moment, she couldn''t understand the taste even though it felt really nice... It was only then that she realized that it was sweet tasting!

    Yes! That''s what a sweet taste meant! The Toloraberry Pie was what something sweet really tasted like! Now she had a new favorite food, along with butter and cheese!

    As she thought more about it, she suddenly realized that until now, she had thought that the porridge which the children got served to them every day as the free meal tasted sweet, but that porridge wasn''t really sweet at all!

    As she took another small bite of the pie, her eyes started getting a little wet. Once again, she took another small bite, and even though she hadn''t eaten something that sweet ever in her life, she found that she liked the sweet taste of a pie. A lot.

    Finally, she saw that only one small part of the pie was remaining, and she decided that she wanted to savor it slowly. Or maybe she could hide it in her pocket to taste it tomorrow... But then she noticed that Elsie - who had eaten her own serving of pie before other things - kept eyeing that last piece of pie on her plate.

    Recognising the danger immediately, she quickly snatched that last piece of Toloraberry pie from her plate and put it in her mouth, and then grinned at Elsie, who just huffed in response, and began to eat her own food again.

    Soon, she stood up with her plate to get a second helping of everything, but Elsie - who had still not finished her food - noticed her, and after immediately gobbling up whatever was left on her plate, she started to walk quickly towards the tables where the maids were still serving to the children, and quickly overtook her, so she would be the first one to get the second helpings. Maisy also started walking faster, until both of them were running towards the tables.

    However, instead of worrying about who would win the race, Maisy laughed at both of their antics, and after Elsie noticed it, she joined her in laughing as well, even though neither of them stopped running.

    Their rivalry wouldn''t stop any time soon, it seemed. But Maisy didn''t mind it at all. It was the first time she had gotten a best friend, and she loved every moment of it, even if half of it was spent in bickering between her and Elsie. Giving a shake of her head, she happily let Elsie take the lead, and followed behind her best friend. Cheese and butter were waiting for her, after all!

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere inside the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Night had already fallen and the icy winds had picked up, making it too cold to stay anywhere in the open, especially without a fire nearby. But the bandits didn''t really care about that, and most of them were snoring under whichever bush they had chosen as their bed.

    It seemed like a full moon night, but because of the dense clouds, the visibility was quite low, though it was still enough that he could barely make out Nokozal and another bandit sitting next to each other maybe a dozen feet away. They were the ones keeping watch right now, and they seemed to be whispering something together - probably planning how to attack tonight.

    Calubo couldn''t help but give a sigh. Because of a continuous worry about what was going to happen to Tiranat tonight, Calubo had been wide awake since the morning. Would these bandits also put the village to fire, just like Torhan''s group of bandits had done around a month ago? Would the village''s food supply also be looted by these bastards, making the villagers starve in the winter? Would his cousin Nurobo even stay alive after tonight? He didn''t know. So he hadn''t stopped praying to the goddess for a moment, since that was all he could do right now to help the village.

    A little while ago, he had heard some kind of cheers from the direction of the village, but he didn''t know why that would be. The last time he was in the village, the villagers didn''t have anything to cheer about anyway. But perhaps the new baron had done something about it? At the very least, the village should have quite a bit of grain now, based on the two caravans he had observed coming to the village. If only he were in the village as well...

    The fatso, who had been deemed his caretaker by Nokozal, had tied both of his hands together, as always, and had tied the other end of the rope to his own hand. However, despite the continuously growling stomach of the fatso, he was fast asleep right now, a few feet away from Calubo with seemingly no worries at all, making him hate the fat bandit even more.

    Soon, he heard the crunching of leaves from nearby - a sound which felt even louder in the night - making Nokozal and the other bandit on watch duty stand up slowly with their swords ready. But immediately after that, he heard a series of bird whistles from the same direction, making the bandits relax. Before long, he saw someone walking towards the bandit chief, and while he couldn''t see the newcomer clearly, it had to be the runt based on his small build.

    "So, what news have you brought?" Nokozal asked the runt in a low voice - a sound which still carried over well enough in the night for Calubo to hear without much difficulty.

 Chapter 120 - 119. Reports And Attempts

    "There is a feast tonight, milord!" The runt reported with an animated voice.

    "What the hell are you talking about?" Nokozal growled. He gestured at the darkness surrounding them, with no food in sight anywhere. "Are you a damned idiot?"

    "I meant in the village, milord," the runt replied. "The villagers are having a feast right now, while we are nearly starving here!"

    "You''ve got to be kidding me!" Nokozal barked. But since the runt did not refute him, the bandit chief gave a scornful laugh, before asking with surprise, "There is really a goddess damned feast in the village tonight...?"

    "It''s true, milord!" The runt confirmed again. "I saw it myself! Of course, I couldn''t go too close, but I saw that just outside the walls of the baron''s manor, there was a huge crowd, and there seemed to be so many tables full of food kept next to those walls! What else could it be, if not a feast?"

    As Calubo listened to the runt describe the feast, it seemed like the runt was salivating at the thought. But a feast? It didn''t make sense to Calubo either. Why would the village be having a feast? And who could even afford to give a feast in the village in the first place?

    Did the new baron come with a lot of gold crowns with him? Since only a rich noble could afford to give a feast in these difficult times, when most people couldn''t even afford to buy two meals a day for their families. But even if he had, why would the baron give a feast to the village? It had never happened before in Tiranat. The previous baron hadn''t even given a feast to those who lived in the manor - not even once! So the whole village having a feast tonight didn''t make any sense at all!

    The runt continued in an agitated voice, "I even climbed a tree in the east to see it clearly. And you wouldn''t believe what I saw there! There had to be a dozen tables kept right outside the walls - all of them loaded with a variety of food! And many people - probably servants or maids of the manor - were serving the villagers from there. I had never even seen so much food in one place in my life before tonight!"

    The other bandit, who was keeping watch along with Nokozal, muttered, "Now I wish I had gone to scout the village..."

    Nokozal grunted and didn''t say anything for a while. Eventually, he scoffed. "Well, so what? It doesn''t matter to us if the village is having a feast, since all their food will be ours anyway after tonight!" He added after a moment, "In fact, it''s better for us this way. We will give a couple of hours for the villagers to get full of food and ale, and for them to go to sleep in their homes. That''s when we''ll attack - when they''d be sleeping defenseless after that damned feast!"

    The runt added, "But I did see a lot of guards out in that crowd, probably keeping an eye on the villagers so they wouldn''t steal anything!"

    The other bandit asked, "Doesn''t that mean that the guards do come out of the manor? What if they attack us when we are raiding the village?"

    "Are you an idiot?" Nokozal chided. "It''s a damned feast! Of course the guards would come out so they could eat as well! How could those greedy bastards give up on a free meal?" He scoffed, "You talk like you have never met any guards of nobles! They are the first ones to ask for bribes just to allow us to enter the damned gates of a town!"

    The bandit chief continued, "So when we raid the village, and if the guards hear about it, they will be the first ones to run inside the gates of the manor before shutting them from inside, just like it happened when Torhan''s group raided them! Those cowards wouldn''t dare to come out and face us in battle!"

    The other bandit sounded unsure as he said, "I hope so, milord."

    "Don''t you worry, lad. You all just keep following my orders," Nokozal said confidently, "and the goddess will give us a huge haul of grain tonight! She already made the village have a feast tonight, which would make it easier for us to attack later. Don''t you see? She is already favoring us!"

    After a moment, Nokozal added, "Well, we''ve been awake for a while now, so let''s take our turn to rest. You," he ordered the other bandit, "go and wake two other men to keep watch until it''s time for the raid."

    While the bandit chief and others found a shrub to sleep under, Calubo was worried sick about the fate of the village tonight. Why did the goddess make Nokozal bring him here, if he couldn''t even do anything to help the village? Was it just to make him see the demise of the village - the place he had lived in for nearly all his life? Was that what all his prayers amounted to?

    Soon, the bandits settled down to rest, and as it turned out, it was the fatso along with another bandit who got the watch duty for the next few hours.

    "Let''s walk a little further from others," the fatso said to the other bandit, "so we wouldn''t wake them by talking."

    "Why do we even need to talk right now?" the other bandit asked curiously. "Sound carries far in the night, so we should just keep a watch on the surroundings."

    "Because I am hungry! And being hungry makes me sleepy!" the fatso grumbled. "I won''t be able to keep watch tonight if there isn''t someone to talk with me." He tilted his head towards Calubo. "And I have nothing to talk about with this idiot, who is the only other person who''s awake right now." Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The other bandit sniggered, and gave a nod. "I agree with you there."

    Calubo just let them have their fun at his expense. There was no point in provoking them right now.

    Since it was the fatso who had gotten the duty to keep an eye over Calubo, so instead of leaving him with the other sleeping bandits, he tugged the rope tying Calubo''s hands, and pulled him along as well. The fatso walked a little further away from the other sleeping bandits to a wide fedarus tree, where he lazily settled down on the ground with his back to the tree, while facing away from the direction of the sleeping bandits. Calubo sat near them as well, while thinking about the coming raid.

    The other bandit had also followed them, and he sat with his back to another tree nearby. Both of the bandits had also removed their swords from their backs and kept them next to themselves on the ground, so they would be more comfortable when leaning against the tree.

    The other bandit muttered to the fatso, "Now that you have mentioned it, I am feeling hungry too. Those handful of berries we found earlier were barely enough for all of us to eat." He looked at the fatso. "I kept telling you yesterday to save the last pieces of the dried meat we had brought with us from the quarry. But you said no, we will find more meat tomorrow! And look at us now, having nothing to eat!"

    "What was I supposed to do about it?" The fatso grumbled. "I was hungry, so how could I not eat something which was right in front of me?"

    The other bandit snorted. "You still should have saved some for today, you damned fatso."

    "I''m not fat!" the fatso retorted immediately.

    "Of course you aren''t!" The other bandit sniggered. "But why are you hungry all the time anyway?"

    "Hell if I know," the fatso answered with a lazy shrug, as he adjusted his position to get more comfortable, with his back still to the tree. "I''ve always been hungry."

    As Calubo tuned out their banter, he thought that if only there was a way to separate these two bandits, maybe he could even find an opportunity to run away from them. He eyed the sword lying next to the fatso, and wished he could get his hands on it...

    But the fatso had still kept his arm on that sword, so it wasn''t very likely that he would get it. And even if he could snatch that sword - which wouldn''t be easy at all, since it was kept on the other side of the fatso - the other bandit would immediately cut him down after that, especially with both of his hands still tied together with a rope.

    As the bandits became quiet after their recent topic died down, Calubo tried to think of a way to separate them.

    "Shouldn''t one of you be sitting on the other side of the camp to keep an eye on both sides of us?" Calubo asked both of the bandits. "What if the knights of Count Cinran come and attack the rest of you while they are still sleeping?"

 Chapter 121 - Announcement

    Hear ye, hear ye, future Dukes of Tiranat!

    From Londoner To Lord just updated its Patreon! And now you can join the exclusive club of the new Dukes of Tiranat!

    More importantly, the reason for this announcement is that I have just brought up the Patreon to 30 chapters ahead (that''s chapter 149!) That means you can read 60,000+ words ahead of royalroad right now! [Hint: It''s snowing on patreon!]

    Also, FLTL is nearly at 6000 followers now! I never thought this story would reach this kind of success when I launched it, but here we are.

    And come on, you know you love FLTL, and I know you love FLTL. No, don''t try to look around, I''m talking about you! The awesome and amazing you who is going to become a Duke in the future!

    And I''m so glad to know that you are enjoying FLTL so much. Now here is the secret portal to get isekai''d and become a Duke (or a Duchess!):

    <><><> PATREON <><><> S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 122 - 120. Conjectures

    "Shut up!" the bandit snapped at him. "I didn''t ask for your opinion."

    The fatso sniggered as he taunted Calubo, "Like you would know anything about the count''s knights! You were only a manor guard in this pitiful little village, not a knight in the count''s retinue!"

    Immediately the other bandit started to laugh as well. "The count''s knights coming to these forests in the middle of the night? And on the same day we are here? Don''t make me laugh! So you are an idiot after all."

    Calubo sighed. There went that plan of separating them. Trying to salvage his attempt to separate them, he said with a shrug, "The knights might still come... you can never know..."

    "Yeah, I can!" the fatso boasted. "I have actually been to the count''s mansion in Cinran - unlike you - so what would you know? Anyway, shut up now unless you want to get a beating."

    Calubo didn''t say anything after that. He had tried his best to separate them, hadn''t he?

    But he still felt guilty. It was his mistake of telling Nokozal that the manor guards might not leave the walls of the manor if a raid happened, and because of that, these bastards were going to raid Tiranat. They''d probably even burn the houses and kill many villagers during that attack. So he still felt responsible about it, since it had all started with his own mistake. And yet, there still wasn''t anything he could do to help the village, damn it!

    As the other bandit started telling the fatso about the feast in the village, with even more exaggeration than what the runt had told them, the fatso''s stomach growled loudly.

    "Dammit! I''m really hungry now!" The fatso grumbled again as he sat up straighter. "And being so hungry is already making me sleepy. Why did the chief have to put me on watch duty right now?"

    The other bandit shrugged. "Doesn''t matter, man. The chief said that we''d get to eat as much as we want after tonight! So just hold on for now."

    The fatso grumbled something again, then settled down with his back to the tree again, while the other bandit continued his tale of the feast.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    Kivamus and others had just finished their own feast, and while Clarisa and Syryne cleared the wooden plates and cups from the long dining table, he moved to sit in front of the roaring fire in a comfortable armchair, with others following him as well. The feast was a rare change from their regular meals, and while they couldn''t afford it frequently, it still made him happy that he was able to eat something like that in this world.

    "That was a wonderful meal, Madam Helga," he praised the former innkeeper. Remembering the taste of the only sweet thing he had tasted in the past few weeks, he said, "I particularly liked the Toloraberry Pie! It''s a pity that we won''t be able to have more of it until after the winter, when those shrubs begin to give fruit again. But still, it was a delicious feast."

    "Thank you, milord!" Madam Helga replied with a smile, as she picked up another empty plate from the table to take it away.

    "I''d love to have more of the Rizako stew, though," Feroy said as he leaned back further on an armchair. He had returned to the manor an hour ago while looking a little edgy, but after seeing the feast in front of him, he had seemingly focused only on the food. The ex-mercenary added, "Nothing beats the taste of that!"

    Madam Helga laughed. "You were the one who grabbed the cauldron of the Rizako stew for yourself, so you could soak up any leftover broth with bread! So you know that there isn''t any more of it left, Feroy!"

    Everyone laughed remembering that, while Feroy looked unabashed. He just shrugged. "What can I say, it was just that delicious."

    "I am glad to hear that. And don''t worry, you''ll be the first one to eat the Rizako stew whenever I make it the next time, assuming we are able to replant the mushrooms again in new barns," Madam Helga replied, before she walked away with Clarisa with the empty plates in her hands.

    Feroy grinned. "I can''t wait!"

    Kivamus smiled seeing the rare smile on the face of the ex-mercenary. It was good to see that everything was going so well.

    "How is the meal for the villagers going?" he asked the majordomo.

    Duvas replied, "The feast is nearly over now, and the villagers have started returning back. But there is still a small crowd remaining in front of the gates, mainly of those children who are still finishing their second helping of food, along with their families who are keeping an eye on them."

    "Hmm... I am glad that we were able to provide the children something tasty," Kivamus said with a smile.

    "Certainly," Gorsazo said with a nod. "The winter months were already difficult for commoners even in Ulriga - where it didn''t snow that much - but here in Tiranat, they would be much more severe and with a lot of snowfall. So the rare experience of eating in a feast would be something that will keep the villagers'' morale high, instead of them just trying to survive the bleak winter days."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s true enough."

    Hudan stood up from his armchair. "I should go and take a look again at the feast, to make sure that everything is going well."

    Before Kivamus agreed to him, Feroy interrupted with a serious expression, "Wait here for a moment, Hudan. I have something I need to talk about."

    "What is it?" Kivamus asked curiously.

    "I didn''t mention it earlier while we were eating since I didn''t want to spoil the mood," Feroy said, "but you all still need to know about it." He added with a shrug, "You can certainly call me paranoid, but I am usually right about such things."

    Hudan''s expression became serious as he retook his seat. "What are you talking about?"

    "I''ve been feeling that something is off since the past few days, you know?" the ex-mercenary began, "and after what I found out today, I don''t think I was wrong."

    Duvas looked concerned, while Kivamus and others listened carefully.

    Feroy continued, "I asked around with the guards who were on watch duty in the previous few days - including those who went to patrol around the village in the night - but they hadn''t seen anything out of the ordinary. So, earlier in the evening, I took a look around the village myself, but I didn''t find anything unusual either."

    "I told you there was nothing," Hudan said with a frown. "I asked them exactly the same thing earlier and got the same answer. So why are you still worried about it?"

    Feroy raised one of his hands to placate Hudan. "Just hear me out." He continued, "Something still didn''t feel right to me, so just before I came here for the dinner, I went outside to where the feast was being held. I thought that it was a good opportunity for me to ask around, since all the villagers had gathered in the same place. Otherwise it would be too difficult to go from house to house and look for those people whom I wanted to ask about it, you know?"

    At Kivamus'' nod, the ex-mercenary continued, "So I searched for those villagers who were cutting the trees - since they are the ones who are working the farthest from the village, and if there was anything suspicious in the forest around us, they would be the first ones to know about it." He added, "There were a lot of people who work as woodcutters away from the village, but for each direction of the village, I made sure to find someone who has been working in that direction, and then asked them if they had seen anything unusual."

    "Alright," Kivamus nodded. "So did you find anything?"

    "I think so, but there isn''t anything I can say for sure, you know?" Feroy explained.

    "That''s okay," Kivamus reassured him. "Just tell us what you found."

    Feroy nodded. "In the evening, one of the villagers who was in the group which is working to build the village walls in the north, had gone further away in that direction to relieve himself, and he thought that he saw someone further ahead in the forests. But it was just him at the time, so he wasn''t very sure about it."

    Hudan frowned on hearing that. "Then why didn''t he report it to a guard? I would have sent a few men to check it out immediately if he had told us. It''s already been a few hours since then, so we wouldn''t find anything even if I did send guards now."

    "I asked him that as well," Feroy replied. "But he told me that it was already getting dark by that time, so he thought it might be just shadows of a branch moving from the wind, or maybe it was just some other laborer who had gone further ahead. So he didn''t think it was worth mentioning it to anyone."

    "But he still should have gone further ahead and taken a look himself," Gorsazo said. "At least he could have made sure that it wasn''t someone he didn''t recognize."

    Feroy nodded. "He probably should have, but like I told you, he was alone at that time. And people in the village don''t like to go too far into the forest alone, especially in the dark."

    Kivamus wasn''t sure what it meant, and if it was something to be really concerned about, so he gestured to Feroy to keep speaking. "Carry on."

    The ex-mercenary nodded. "Having said that, it wouldn''t normally be much cause for concern, since it could just have been some wild animals there. Or like that laborer thought, it might be another villager who had gone further ahead, or maybe it was just some branches moving from the wind. We simply can''t be sure about it."

    Feroy continued, "However, I have just been back from three separate journeys with the caravan and travelled through those same forests. While Hudan said earlier that it was just my nerves which were making me too paranoid, but I don''t think so. Not anymore." S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Could it be possible that the news about the caravan got out while you were in Cinran?" Kivamus asked.

 Chapter 123 - 121. Precautions

    Feroy shrugged. "Can''t say, milord. I had taken all the precautions that I could think of while I was on the road with the caravan." He added, "Pydaso and I made sure to buy everything from a few different vendors and shopkeepers in Cinran, instead of buying everything in bulk from a single merchant, so that the quantity of our purchases wouldn''t be noticeable easily. We also staggered the arrival and departure of the wagons in the caravan when entering and exiting the town, in a way that at most only two of our wagons would pass the gates at one time, with the rest of the wagons in the caravan continuing through only after some time."

    He continued, "This was to ensure that any observers would think that those wagons were led by different people, and would likely be going in different directions, instead of them realizing that it was a single caravan which would be traveling through these treacherous forests. But even then," Feroy added with a shrug, "those town merchants like to talk, you know? It''s one of their favorite pastimes in the bigger towns and cities. So any news of a big purchase still gets around, which means that despite all our precautions, someone might still have realized that it was a single person making those purchases. And that would make the caravan and probably even the village a target for bandits."

    "That''s very concerning..." Duvas muttered with a frown.

    Feroy nodded. "That''s why I was expecting an ambush on every return journey of ours, but as you know, nothing like that happened." He added, "However, in our last journey, while we were on the road when returning from Cinran, I thought I saw the glint of a sword in the east, a few hours after we entered the forest in the light of the setting sun. Although I''m not very sure about it..."

    "Oh..." Gorsazo whispered. "You mean the caravan might really have been ambushed in the forests?"

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "Possibly. But still, we weren''t ambushed there, or anywhere else, for that matter." He continued, "The reason might simply be that those bandits - assuming they really were there - were simply unwilling to attack such a big caravan."

    He explained, "While it would have seemed like a very juicy target for them, they would also have seen that we had fifteen well-armed swordsmen and archers protecting it. That would mean that our ruse had worked and the caravan did appear very well defended from the outside, and that is why those bandits didn''t attack us at that time. Or maybe... It was just my usual paranoia and I was imagining things. That means it could have been just something shiny on the forest floor which caught my eye, and not the sword of a bandit." He shrugged. "We can''t be sure about it either way."

    Kivamus gave a slow nod. "That''s true. Either of these things are possible..." He muttered, "Now I can''t help but be worried about this."

    "Exactly, milord," Feroy continued. "Since that time I''ve always felt that something wasn''t right, but I didn''t have any real reason for it, you know? That is why I didn''t mention it until now. However, when I combine my suspicions with the fact that that laborer might have seen someone in the northern forests, it might just be that there really is a group of bandits hiding there, just waiting for a good opportunity to raid the village." He added, "Now whether they got the news from a Cinran merchant with a loose tongue, or whether they just heard that the village was already raided successfully a month ago, and that''s why they want to raid Tiranat too, we can only make guesses..."

    The ex mercenary continued, "But this still leaves open the possibility of a bandit raid in the near future. And if it is going to happen, I''d say it''ll happen soon - maybe even in the next couple of days, since winter is here now, and those bandits would like to raid as soon as possible to stock up on food grains and maybe even slaves, before the snow slows down travel everywhere."

    Kivamus frowned after hearing Feroy explain it so well. "That does make a lot of sense, but how do you even know that much about the thought process of bandits?"

    Feroy hesitated for a moment. "I''d rather not talk about it, milord..."

    However, he gave a sigh soon after that. "But you already know about my past, so I guess it''s okay." He added in a voice barely above a whisper, "Let''s just say that my time with the mercenaries came to an end because they had forgotten that they were sellswords, and not raiders and looters. But it still took a while for me to make the decision to quit that group, you know? And during that time, I found out a lot about how a bandit group operates..."

    Duvas looked repulsed on hearing that, especially with his usual hesitation in trusting the ex-mercenary, but Kivamus realized how difficult it was to survive in this brutal world, especially for commoners. So instead of thinking that Feroy was still not trustworthy, he thought it was courageous that he made the decision to leave that group after that. And if Hudan - someone who had been training to be an honorable knight - trusted the ex-mercenary with his life, then so could he. So he just gave a nod to Feroy, and decided not to ask too much about his past. For now anyway.

    Coming back to the present, it still meant that there might be a bandit group waiting to raid the village. But without more information, there wasn''t much he could do about it other than to try their best to boost their defenses.

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, while we don''t know anything for sure, there is still a serious risk of a bandit raid in the near future. So we still have to take some precautions. For the next few days, I want you to utilize all our guards for the defense of the village. Take all the on-duty and off-duty guards and after properly arming them, put them to patrol around the village. Give them the horns - the ones which we were planning to use on the watchtowers - so that if any of them comes in contact with any bandits, they should blow the horn immediately, and that should be the signal for the rest of the guards to become ready for an imminent attack."

    Seeing Hudan''s nod, he continued, "According to Feroy, such a raid would be less likely after snow starts to gather on the ground, which means the guards would not have to pull double shifts for long. Just tell them that the next few days will be critical for us, so we need everyone to pull more than their weight if we want the village to come through this unscathed."

    "Of course, milord," Hudan said while standing up. "I will alert every single guard immediately," he added, and left the manor hall.

    Feroy stood up as well. "I''ll be leaving too, milord. I''ll try to see if I can find some more information from the other laborers who have worked in the north. The feast is still ongoing, so some of them might be eating outside even now."

    "That''s a good idea," Kivamus said to the ex-mercenary, and then Feroy exited the hall as well.

    Duvas said, "While it shouldn''t be more than an hour or so until the feast is over, I should also go and keep an eye there until then." He stood up, and started walking towards the door, but then paused and looked back at Kivamus. "Should I also alert the servants and maids about the threat of a bandit raid?"

    "No, not until we have definite information about it," Kivamus replied after a moment. "It would only cause unnecessary panic at this time - especially with the villagers already gathered in a crowd outside. I don''t want to start a stampede there."

    He added, "Truthfully, we don''t even know yet when that raid will happen - or if there is going to be a raid at all. And being on edge for days would only exhaust everyone. Hudan has already gone to tell the guards to increase the patrols and to be more alert, so let''s wait to tell other people about it for now."

    "Of course, my lord," Duvas said. "Then I''ll just go and take a look at where the feast is happening." And with that, the majordomo also exited the manor hall.

    That just left Gorsazo and Kivamus inside for now. He asked, "Should I also go out there, to keep an eye on the villagers and the feast?"

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea, my lord," Gorsazo replied immediately. "Your safety is the most important thing for the village right now, and with Hudan and Feroy busy with other things, it might be very unsafe for you if you exit the manor gates right now. Let''s not give a third chance for any assassin to succeed where they failed the first two times, alright?"

    Kivamus took a deep breath and nodded. "That''s true enough, Gorsazo."

    He gave a sigh before adding, "We can only hope that everything goes well in the coming days, otherwise it really might be the end of this village, since we can neither send any more caravans to Cinran for food, nor can we afford to buy more of it now."

    "Don''t worry, my Lord," Gorsazo tried to reassure him. "We have to trust that Hudan and Feroy are competent enough for this. Otherwise, may the Goddess save us..."

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    It must have been around an hour or so since the fatso and the other bandit had started their watch duty, although the passage of time was very hard to tell in the night, especially with the moon hidden behind the clouds.

    The other bandit''s tale about the village feast had ended a while ago, but the fatso had started getting sleepy after that, so he had asked the other bandit to keep speaking about something else. That had led to nearly an hour of the other bandit regaling them with bawdy tales of the time he lived in Cinran and when he used to go to a particular inn there, which was famous for its pretty serving-maids.

    Calubo couldn''t believe how easily they could talk about such things, when they were going to loot and even kill people soon after this. Perhaps that''s how people became after living a bandit''s life for a long time, but it didn''t change the fact that many people in Tiranat were going to die in the next few hours. And if the bandits were successful in looting enough grain from the village, most of the people here wouldn''t survive the winter.

    As he looked at the rope tying his hands, he was reminded that it was his own mistake which had led to Nokozal coming here to raid Tiranat. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    So once again, he prayed to the Goddess that somehow she would give him a chance to do something to redeem himself, and to thwart the plans of these bastards. If only he could find a way to warn the village...

 Chapter 124 - 122. Brave Attempts

    Maybe half an hour later, the other bandit''s bawdy tales ended and it became quiet for a while. Based on how long Nokozal had told these bandits to keep watch, most likely not even an hour was left before they began the raid. While it was probably an enjoyable time for the fatso and the other bandit - where they must be looking forward to how good a haul they would get tonight - Calubo was getting more and more worried as the time for the raid came closer.

    He had closed his eyes a while ago while lying down to think if there was a way for him to do something to help the village. But even though thoughts about the impending raid on Tiranat were the only thing swirling in Calubo''s mind, so far he hadn''t found any way to warn the village. The bandits had camped far enough from the village that even if he started to shout as loud as he could to send a warning to Tiranat - knowing that it would lead to his immediate demise - they likely wouldn''t even hear it. Even so, Calubo wished the fatso would go to sleep, so that he might get a chance to escape, although the other bandit who was wide awake wouldn''t waste any time in cutting him down. He sighed again. He still couldn''t see any way for him to remedy his mistake and help the village.

    After it had been quiet for some time, he heard the sound of the fatso beginning to yawn again.

    "Oh, man..." the fatso muttered while taking a big yawn again. "Why did... Why did the chief select me to keep watch, huh?"

    The other bandit chuckled. "Are you getting sleepy again?"

    "It''s the middle of the night, for Goddess'' sake..." the fatso drawled lazily. "Why wouldn''t I be sleepy? And it doesn''t help that I am starving now..."

    The other bandit laughed quietly. "Only you would be hungry right before we are going on a raid!"

    Right at that moment, Calubo heard the sound of clothes rustling from nearby. Being curious about it, he started to open his eyes, but stopped when he heard the other bandit mention him - as insulting as always.

    "This idiot has also fallen asleep now..." the other bandit muttered with a yawn. "You know what, after seeing the both of you sleeping, now I am starting to get sleepy as well..."

    However, Calubo was very much awake, even though his eyes had been closed for a while. It seemed like closing his eyes to think about the situation had somehow worked in his favor anyway. So for now, it would be better for him if he kept pretending that he was sleeping, and not eavesdropping on the bandits. So he decided not to open his eyes at all and tried to keep his breathing even, while listening to them carefully.

    "I wasn''t sleeping..." the fatso answered lazily.

    "Of course you weren''t..." the other bandit chuckled. "But anyway, I''ve been sitting for too long, so I gotta stretch my legs and take a leak. It''ll wake up my mind as well. I don''t wanna find out what would happen if the chief found both of us asleep on watch duty."

    "Yeah, but who''ll keep an eye on the idiot?" the fatso drawled in a sleepy voice.

    "This idiot is already sleeping," the other bandit replied, "so you can easily keep an eye on him since you are still awake, aren''t you?"

    "Yup, I''m awake..." the fatso mumbled. "But don''t take too long..."

    "Yeah, yeah..." the other bandit grumbled. "Like the Count''s knights are coming to attack us right now!"

    Both of the bandits laughed, probably while looking at Calubo, but he made sure not to make any sound at all, so they would keep thinking that he was still sleeping.

    There were more sounds of clothes rustling, probably from the other bandit standing up, but Calubo made sure to keep his eyes firmly shut and his breathing even. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Eh... don''t worry, man, I''ll be back soon enough," the bandit muttered, and Calubo heard the sound of him walking away.

    For a while, Calubo stayed just like that, pretending to sleep while listening carefully. After some time, when he was sure that the sound of the other bandit''s feet were not close anymore, Calubo dared to slowly open his eyes a little to take a glimpse of his surroundings. While the light from the moon hiding behind the clouds was barely enough to see much, closing his eyes for a while had worked in his favor, since his eyes had completely adjusted to the dark and he could see more clearly now. Opening his eyes wider, he looked around himself without moving his body even an inch, and he saw that while the fatso was wriggling around with closed eyes, probably trying to get more comfortable, the other bandit was nowhere in sight.

    Before long, he saw from the corner of his eyes that the fatso had slouched further, with his back supported by a tree, and his eyes still closed. His sword was kept next to him, although half of his hand was still kept above the scabbard.

    Calubo kept watching him carefully, and soon enough, sounds of snoring began coming from the fatso.

    After giving it some more time for the other bandit to move away further - just to be on the safer side - and for the fatso to completely fall asleep, Calubo sat up slowly while making sure that he didn''t make any sounds.

    After sitting up, he carefully looked all around him to ensure that no other bandits were nearby, and thankfully, he saw no one else in sight anywhere. Looking back at the fatso, Calubo didn''t know for certain whether he was really sleeping, or if he had just closed his eyes to rest a little and those snoring sounds were that of the fatso just breathing normally. But for Calubo, it was good enough. It had to be.

    He took a deep breath to calm his mind. This was it. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. He looked at the rope tying his hands to those of the fatso. If he could somehow free himself, he could escape from these bandits and warn the village. But he knew that it wasn''t going to be easy.

    He had no idea how long the other bandit would be gone, and even if he didn''t return too soon, the fatso might still wake up and kill him right here. And if any of the other bandits had woken up by now, and they wandered here by chance and found out about what he was trying to do before he escaped, Calubo knew that he wouldn''t see another day for certain. There were countless risks to his plan to escape.

    Regardless, he knew that he wouldn''t get a better opportunity than this. He still felt guilty about how he had let slip to Nokozal that the guards wouldn''t come out of the manor, and he didn''t want his mistake to be the cause of the bandits killing the villagers, or looting their houses and kidnapping their children as slaves.

    In the corner of his mind, there was a voice screaming at him to just stay put right here, and let the bandits do what they wanted - since that option had the biggest possibility of him staying alive and seeing Hyola again.

    But... but, he couldn''t do that, not really. Although he had been a slave for more than two months by now, he still saw himself as a guard of the manor, which meant that it was his duty to protect the villagers, whether he was currently employed as a guard or not. So he had to use this opportunity to warn the village, no matter what. And if he was successful in this... who knows, maybe the guards of the manor might very well be able to take care of these bandits completely! That would also mean freedom for him, and possibly... hopefully... for Hyola as well.

    Taking another deep breath, he nodded to himself. He had to do this.

    He stood up slowly, trying not to make any sound, and with careful steps, walked closer to the still sleeping fatso. Reaching on the other side of the bandit - since that''s where his sword was kept - he paused for a moment, and carefully looked all around him again. There still wasn''t anyone else in sight.

    Kneeling down, he held the sword - which was still inside its scabbard - with both of his hands, and gently pulled it sideways, trying to get it away from under the hands of the fatso. It didn''t budge at all. The fatso hands were much heavier than he had expected.

    Taking a deep breath again, he put more force into pulling the sword away, and slowly, it began to move away from under the hands of the sleeping bandit.

    Suddenly, the fatso lifted that hand up, and Calubo''s heart nearly stopped beating, assuming he was already caught. At that moment, Calubo felt like a deer caught in front of a knight charging on a warhorse in plate armor. So he just held his breath and didn''t dare to make any sound at all.

    But the fatso hadn''t lifted the sword with his hand. His eyes were still completely closed, and that hand had only gone up to scratch at his cheek. Calubo just thanked the Goddess that the fatso hadn''t woken up.

    After scratching his beard and cheek for a while, the fatso started to put his hand on the ground again. Thinking quickly, Calubo pulled the sword a few inches towards himself, and the fatso''s hand fell on the ground this time, instead of above the sword.

    And finally Calubo was able to breathe again. The scabbard with the sword inside it was free now, though his hands were still tied to the fatso. He lifted the scabbard, and after standing up carefully, he slowly moved a few steps away to the other side of the wide fedarus tree, so that the fatso wouldn''t hear any sounds of him cutting his rope. Thankfully, the rope tying their hands together had more than enough slack for this.

    Slowly and very carefully, he removed the scabbard from the sword, and put it gently on the ground, trying to make sure there wouldn''t be any unnecessary noises which might wake up the sleeping bandit. Now he just had to cut the rope tying his hands together, but both of his hands were tied very close to each other, so it wasn''t possible for him to hold the sword in one hand while cutting the rope in another. Thinking quickly, he sat down, and put the sword on the ground horizontally. With the sharp side of its blade upwards, he clamped the sword between his feet, and began moving both of his hands above the blade to cut the rope.

    It was slow going, since the rope was quite strong, and before long, he began to get frustrated after not seeing enough progress in it. The fatso might realize at any moment that his sword was missing, or the other bandit might return back and see what was happening. With his hands still tied together with the rope, it would only take a moment for the bandits to separate his head from his body.

    However, he had accepted the risk before he began doing this. He knew he might die any moment if he was found out, but he still had to try. This was exactly the time to be brave. Mr Duvas had depended on him to bring grain from Cinran with the last of their gold crowns, and he had already failed in that. But he won''t fail now. Not when there was a new baron in Tiranat, who was doing his best to help the villagers. He had to do his best to help the village - just like a manor guard would do - and hope that the goddess would take care of him and Hyola.

    Before long, he noticed that the rope was starting to become frayed where he was cutting it. Freedom was not far away now!

    But suddenly, he heard a rustling sound from the direction that the other bandit had gone.

 Chapter 125 - 123. Escape

    Calubo froze for a moment, and slowly turned his head towards the sound, and with a huge amount of relief, he saw that it was only a rabbit grazing nearby. But it was still making sounds which could wake up the fatso. He tried to shoo away the rabbit, and for a moment the rabbit just paused and looked at him. Then he tried again, with the sword clumsily held between his still-tied hands, and perhaps realizing that it didn''t want to become a late night snack for him, the rabbit quickly scurried away.

    He breathed a sigh of relief, and clamping the sword between his feet again, he continued cutting the rope. It seemed like a very long time to him - although it was probably only a short while - and suddenly, the rope tying his left hand was cut through completely. Giving a rare smile of victory, he held the sword properly in his left hand, and began to cut the other loop of the rope which was still tied around his right hand. And this time, it barely took any time before his other hand was free as well.

    Grinning in victory, he slowly stood up, and holding the sword carefully in his left hand, he began to walk to the other side of the fedarus tree again. The fatso was still snoring, and right now, the bandit was as well defended as a newborn puppy. Calubo could just leave him there, and start running towards the village immediately, but if the fatso woke up and raised an alarm for the other bandits before he had gotten far enough, they''d catch him and kill him before he ever reached the village to warn them. That would mean all his efforts and his suffering for more than two months would be a waste, so he just couldn''t leave him alive. Calubo looked around him again, and seeing nobody nearby, he began to move in a position to quickly kill the sleeping bandit in a single strike, but he hesitated.

    While he was no stranger to combat, he had only fought against well-armed opponents before, and not someone who was sleeping helplessly... He also hadn''t taken a life before today - not for sure anyway, since he didn''t know whether the bandit he had fought off a few years ago while traveling to Cinran had survived or not.

    But he clenched his jaw when he remembered that the fatso wasn''t some honest citizen of the Reslinor Kingdom. He was a bandit. Just like the other bandits sleeping nearby, the fatso was an outlaw, and had likely done much worse things than Calubo was thinking about doing right now.

    He didn''t think that he could kill someone innocent in cold blood, but this was a bandit - someone who was going to kill people within an hour, and after looting their homes, he was going to take their women and children as slaves. The fatso didn''t deserve his mercy.

    Steeling himself, he crouched close to the fatso, and quickly clamped his hand above the bandit''s mouth so he wouldn''t make any sound. Immediately, the fatso''s eyes opened up with surprise, but before he could realize what was happening, Calubo cut open the bandit''s throat with the sword. The fatso struggled for a few moments while making wheezing sounds, and tried to pry open Calubo hands from his mouth, but it didn''t take long for him to slump over, the life leaving his eyes.

    Exhaling once, Calubo slowly put down the body of the now-dead bandit on the ground, so he wouldn''t fall over loudly, waking up other bandits in the process. Standing up straight, he couldn''t help but be satisfied for a moment. This was one bandit down, and he wouldn''t be able to kill anyone in Tiranat tonight.

    Looking up at the night sky, he thanked the goddess for this opportunity to help the village and redeem himself. He didn''t have any possessions with him right now, so he began to move slowly in the direction of the village, not knowing when the other bandit would be back to raise an alarm.

    He kept moving slowly towards the village, trying not to make too much sound, but then he remembered the other bandits sleeping nearby. He hesitated about whether he should run away and warn the village, or try to take down more bandits himself. Right now he was armed with a sword, and he would be able to take down one, if not two bandits before they realized what was happening. He might even be able to kill Nokozal if the bastard was asleep! He nearly turned his feet towards them but stopped.

    He wasn''t the same burly manor guard of a few months ago. While he had been able to kill a bandit who was already sleeping, he was in no condition to fight even one man in a proper sword-fight after nearly two months of barely getting anything to eat. And if he still tried it anyway, there was no doubt that he wouldn''t survive the fight with the bandits - who still outnumbered him nine to one - and that would mean the village would still be unwarned and undefended - which would defeat the whole point of escaping.

    He shook his head, no matter how much he wanted to take revenge against these bandits for taking him hostage and making him a slave, he had to think about the bigger picture. And that meant giving a warning to Tiranat, not to indulge in his personal revenge fantasies.

    His decision made, he turned back towards the village and began walking with faster steps. And soon, he decided that he was far enough from the bandits, and started running full-tilt towards Tiranat. As he reached closer, he began to hear the sounds of a crowd gathered together - probably those in the feast - and he began salivating at the thought of so much food. He hadn''t eaten anything for nearly two days now, and his brain was screaming at him to go towards the feast and eat something there. But he realized how it would seem to the guards - someone they had probably taken for dead was running towards them, covered with fresh blood and with a sword in his hands. They might just shoot him down first, and ask questions later.

    Still, he had to go towards the manor anyway, hoping that the new baron would believe his story - assuming there really was a new baron in the village, and it wasn''t just his imagination. It was far from certain that the other guards would let him meet the new baron immediately, especially since he had been away from the manor for more than two months without any news about him, and since he was returning without the gold and the horse Sir Duvas had given to him. And he was also bringing the news that there were bandits waiting outside the village... But would they really trust the words coming from someone who might have changed his side to the bandits after all? Would they not think that he was just a distraction sent by the bandits themselves?

    He shook his head. He still had to try! Nurobo would vouch for him for sure, and hopefully Sir Duvas would believe his story that the bandits had taken him captive, and it wasn''t just him returning back after wasting away their precious money in the brothels of Cinran.

    Even so, he didn''t know what would happen to him, and if his story would be believed, but he had to try! And he had to trust in the goddess. She had helped him this far, so he had to trust that the people in the manor would believe his story and prepare their defenses, instead of just locking him in a barn as a possible traitor. He had to try!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~ S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus was sitting with others in the manor hall, listening to what Feroy had found out from the remaining villagers who had worked as laborers in the north, and it wasn''t much. There was one more villager who had claimed that he had probably seen someone at nearly the same time, but other than that, there was nothing. Yet, two villagers claiming to see people in the north meant that there might really be something in that news.

    Hudan was still out, telling the other guards about the threat of a bandit attack, and giving them horns to blow if they got attacked.

    Suddenly, the outer doors of the hall opened, and Kerel walked inside. "Milord, someone who had been missing for over two months has returned. And he says that he somehow managed to run away from the bandits that had captured him.

    Kivamus straightened up in his armchair and held its armrests with surprise. "What?"

    "You can hear from him yourself if you want," Kerel answered. "A guard is holding him just outside the door."

    Kivamus looked at Feroy, who gave him a nod of acceptance, and stood up to stand right next to him with his hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case.

    "Bring him in," Kivamus ordered.

    Kerel, with his iron gray mane of hair, exited the door, and before long, he came back while holding a gaunt looking young man with threadbare clothes and a mud-spattered appearance. The man''s hands seemed to be tied with a rope behind him, with the other end of the rope held by Kerel. On a closer look, his tunic sleeves looked reddish, as if they were covered in blood. Is that really what it was?

    Hudan followed them inside as well. Looking at Kerel, the guard captain said, "I''ll take it from here, you go and keep an eye outside."

    Kerel nodded and after handing over the rope to Hudan, he returned back.

    "Where did he come from?" Kivamus asked curiously.

    "We found him running towards the manor like this with a sword in his hands," the guard captain replied.

    "What?" Gorsazo exclaimed. "Is he a bandit then?"

    "I don''t think so," Hudan replied. "When the guards at the manor gates stopped him, he gave up his sword without any protest, and since then, he has been urging to see the new baron. I wasn''t sure whether to bring him here, but Kerel and a few other guards vouched for him, so..."

    "And why would the guards vouch for someone like him?" Feroy interrupted with raised eyebrows. "I can''t be completely sure about it, but I don''t think I''ve seen him in the village before."

    Before Hudan could say anything in reply, Duvas - who had been squinting at the newcomer - exclaimed with disbelief. "Is that... is that you, Calubo?"

    Calubo nodded with a tired smile. "Indeed, Sir Duvas. It is me."

    "What happened to you?" the majordomo asked with surprise. "I thought you were dead!"

    "You know him, Duvas?" Kivamus asked.

    "I do, milord!" the majordomo replied. "He used to be one of our guards. The last time I''d seen him was around a month before you arrived here, when I sent him to Cinran on a horse to buy even a single sack of grain for us, but he never returned after that. I thought bandits had killed him for the gold and the horse."

    "Right... I remember you telling me about this." Kivamus looked back at Calubo. "So, where have you been for the past two months?"

 Chapter 126 - 124. Truth Or Lie

    "Sir Duvas is mostly right, milord," Calubo replied. "A day after I had left Tiranat for Cinran through the northern road, a group of bandits surrounded me in the forest and..."

    And then the former guard launched into a tale explaining everything that had happened to him for the past two months, including his life as a slave in a limestone quarry somewhere in the forests, along with another two dozen slaves there who barely got anything to eat these days. The limestone quarry was run by someone called Nokozal, who saw himself as a minor lord, but was most likely only a bandit who had contacts in high places in Cinran. And that was the one thing in that tale which concerned Kivamus more than anything else - that the quarry was owned by a baron in Cinran. Calubo hadn''t been able to find out who that baron was, but that a noble was supporting banditry like this was very concerning.

    Another thing that stood out to him was that it was a limestone quarry! And limestone was a very important ingredient of cement, using which he could make concrete! Concrete meant much stronger walls to defend the village. It meant much better insulated houses than the wooden shacks that most of the villagers now lived in. Concrete would also allow him to make taller buildings, which could house a lot more people. And not just that, it meant... No, stop! This wasn''t the time to get lost in daydreams!

    He had to focus on the present. But the fact that there was a limestone quarry located only a few days'' journey by horse was something that was making him giddy with excitement! A few days'' horse journey meant that it would only be a few hundred kilometers away at most, but there was also the fact that they didn''t have any modern transportation methods here. If they had a rail line connecting the quarry with a cement factory here, they could get a steady supply of limestone to make concrete, but this wasn''t modern earth.

    Here, the best they could do was to haul it through the treacherous terrain of the dense forests using horse drawn wagons... but in the beginning, their demands of limestone wouldn''t be that high, would they? Just a dozen wagon loads of limestone per month might be more than enough for their needs. That meant... No, stop! He chided himself for getting lost in his thoughts again. He had to focus on the bandits hiding outside the village right now!

    He took a deep breath to calm his racing mind. The most pressing thing was that Calubo had told them that he had escaped after slashing the throat of a bandit, and that there were nearly a dozen bandits hiding in the forests to raid the village tonight.

    He looked back at Calubo. "You said there are less than a dozen bandits?"

    The ex-guard nodded. "There are fourteen bandits in total in that group, but four of them had stayed back at the quarry to keep an eye on the stonecutters. And out of the ten bandits who came along with me, I''ve already killed one. That means there should be nine of them outside the village now."

    As Kivamus thought about it for a moment, Calubo seemed to get impatient. "We have to do something about it, milord," the ex-guard pleaded, "or those bandits will kill a lot of the villagers! It won''t be long before they find out that I''ve escaped, and once they do find it out, they won''t waste another moment before attacking us!"

    He continued agitatedly, "They are ruthless bastards, and they wouldn''t hesitate for a moment in killing even a defenseless woman, or running away with them and their children as slaves. We have to send the guards to ambush them before that happens!"

    Gorsazo said, "But if there are just nine of those bandits, would they even be able to storm the manor walls? We could just pick them off as they try to climb the walls."

    "No, we can''t!" Calubo shook his head vigorously. "We won''t be able to do that since they aren''t going to attack the manor at all! They believe that in case of an attack, the manor guards will stay inside the manor instead of going after them, just like it happened in the previous bandit raid on Tiranat."

    Duvas grimaced on hearing about the previous raid, but didn''t say anything.

    Calubo continued, "That means they are only going to attack the houses of villagers, hoping to steal grain and capture a few slaves, while staying clear of the manor." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan looked at Kivamus for his decision. "What should we do with this story, milord?"

    Before Kivamus could reply, Calubo interrupted him angrily. "It''s not a story, milord! I''m not lying about any of it! Nokozal might be running towards the village right now!" Seeing the frown on Duvas'' face, Calubo took a deep breath, and continued, "I apologize for shouting, milord. But we have to do something about the bandits before they attack, or they might set the village on fire when escaping, and we won''t be able to do anything about them at that time!"

    Kivamus nodded. "I hear you, Calubo. And I don''t think you are lying, but you''ve been out of the manor for months, so I still can''t trust you completely either." He looked at the guard captain. "For now, hand him over to another guard outside, and come back here so we can discuss this."

    Hudan nodded, and took the ex-guard outside of the manor hall. And before long, he returned back and closed the outer door.

    Kivamus looked at the majordomo. "Among all of us here, you are the person who seems to know Calubo the best. So, do you trust him, Duvas?"

    "Without any doubt, milord," Duvas replied with a nod. "He used to be a guard here, for Goddess'' sake!"

    "Yeah... but it''s been more than two months since then, so how do you know he hasn''t changed his loyalties by now?" Feroy asked.

    "We can''t know anything for sure," Duvas replied, "but I''ve known him for more than a decade, and I know his character. One of our other guards, Nurobo, is his cousin - which means he has family here. And I don''t think he can ever take up arms against his cousin or the other guards."

    Feroy nodded. "But I''ll still prefer to lock him up for now. Just in case, you know?" He explained, "I don''t think he''s lying either, and I have a knack for catching lies, but we still can''t be completely sure that he won''t just open the back-door of the manor for that Nokozal, while we are out chasing shadows in the forests. We just can''t take that risk."

    "It won''t work, Feroy," the guard captain remarked. "If he''s telling the truth, and we decide to go after the bandits, we''ll need him with us to show where they are hiding, otherwise we''d never find them in the night just by ourselves. And since he''ll be right next to us, he can''t open the eastern door of the manor either. So that''ll take care of your concern as well."

    "That''s true enough," Feroy shrugged, "but how do you know he''ll not just lead us into an ambush there?"

    Hudan grimaced. "You are right, and we won''t know if there is an ambush until we are already there, but I still say that this is a good opportunity to get rid of those bandits. If we wait too long and allow them to attack the village, who knows how many people they''ll kill, and Goddess forbid, if they put the new longhouse block on fire... we simply wouldn''t be able to house all the villagers properly for the winter."

    The guard captain exhaled loudly before adding, "And yet, I certainly don''t want to lead the guards into an ambush, not to mention it will leave the manor and the village nearly defenseless while most of the trained guards are out..."

    "If you just give me some time with Calubo alone," Feroy suggested with a shrug, "I''ll make sure to find out every single thing he knows."

    "We just don''t have time for you to interrogate him," Hudan replied with a frown. "Those bandits would have found out by now that one of them is dead, which means they could attack at any moment. We have to take care of defending the village first. And if it turns out that it was all a lie, you can interrogate Calubo tomorrow."

    Kivamus was also thinking about the situation, and he still wasn''t sure whether to trust Calubo or not. On one hand, the ex-guard might be lying completely and simply wanted to take the guards into an ambush - in which case it would be better to stay put here and focus on defending the manor. But on the other hand, and he was leaning towards this option by now, Calubo might be speaking the truth, which meant that it would be a good idea to go and attack the bandits without any civilians nearby, before they raided the village. But before he made up his mind, his former teacher Gorsazo interrupted them.

    "Weren''t you all hearing Calubo properly?" Gorsazo asked.

    "What do you mean by that?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

 Chapter 127 - 125. Torhans Group

    "He was using the words us and we when referring to the villagers and guards, instead of they and them." Gorsazo continued, "So I think that unless it''s all a very elaborate act by Calubo - which isn''t very likely - it means that Calubo still considers himself a part of the village, and maybe he even thinks of himself as a guard of the manor." He added with a shrug, "This is certainly not a definite proof, but I too think that he can be trusted."

    Kivamus thought about it for a moment, and nodded to himself. "Alright then. There is certainly a risk of leaving the village nearly defenseless if our guards go out to attack those bandits in the forest, but like Hudan said earlier, we just can''t take the risk of the bandits putting the villagers'' houses or even the new longhouse block on fire." He continued, "And most of us are already thinking that Calubo is not lying, so let''s trust him for now. That means we have to send the guards to get rid of those bandits. We can''t allow them to steal our precious grain stores right before the winter."

    Hudan nodded confidently. "I support this decision, my lord. I will gather the guards immediately."

    "No, wait," Kivamus interrupted him. "Now that we have decided to trust Calubo for now, bring him back inside." He explained, "Since you''ll have to take him with you anyway, we should ask him more about the bandits before we go to attack them. It would be much better than going in blindly without knowing what to expect."

    "That''s a good idea, milord," Hudan said, and exited the hall through the outer door. Before long, he was back with Calubo again.

    Looking at the ex-guard, Feroy said, "We have decided to trust you for now, but in case we find even a single lie in your story, be sure that you wouldn''t live to see another day."

    "That''s enough, Feroy," Kivamus reprimanded him.

    Feroy shrugged. "Just speaking the truth, milord."

    "You can untie his hands now," Kivamus gestured to Hudan. It was true that there was a small risk in untying the hands of the ex-guard, but they had to do that anyway later on, apart from giving him a sword when they took him to attack the bandits. So this was a good opportunity for him to gauge Calubo, and in case his intentions were not pure, Hudan and Feroy wouldn''t waste a moment in cutting him down, especially since the ex guard was still unarmed.

    The guard captain nodded, and began to undo the ropes.

    Kivamus looked back at Calubo. "I have decided to send our guards to attack the bandits, but we need more information from you. What can you tell us about them?"

    Once Hudan had untied the ropes, Calubo rubbed his now-reddish looking wrists for a moment, before he started speaking. "Like I told you milord, there were ten bandits which came here, but one of them is dead now." He added, "While two of them were archers, the rest of them seemed to be good with swords. At this point, I believe they would have found out that I''ve escaped and killed one of them, so they must be fully alert by now. That means we wouldn''t get an element of surprise when attacking them."

    On Kivamus'' nod, Calubo continued while gesturing towards the guard captain, "Their leader, Nokozal, is a huge man of the same size as him. Before coming here, his plan was to ambush the caravan on its return journey from Cinran, but he was only expecting half the number of guards that the caravan had." He frowned for a moment. "I''m not sure if I should say this openly, but I''m pretty sure that I saw a few coal miners who were posing as swordsmen in that caravan..."

    Kivamus was surprised for a moment, before he realized that Calubo had worked as a guard here for many years, so he would obviously have seen the coal miners enough times to recognize them easily. He looked at Gorsazo, who gave him a knowing smile. Kivamus chuckled as well. "So you were right after all," he said to his former mentor. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Looking back at the confused ex-guard, he explained, "Since you had already found out that the caravan looking so well defended was only a ruse to prevent an ambush on it, that means you had a good chance to tell the bandits about the reality of the caravan''s defense, if you had decided to betray us and changed your side to them."

    "I would never betray the village!" Calubo exclaimed. "This is my home!"

    Kivamus smiled. "Yes, but we couldn''t be sure about this earlier. However, the caravan has returned safely, which means you had kept your mouth shut for the safety of the village. That gives us another reason to trust you now."

    Calubo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, milord."

    "Alright, carry on then."

    Calubo nodded. "When Nokozal saw that he couldn''t attack the caravan successfully - without losing most of his men anyway - he kept saying that he wouldn''t leave empty-handed. That''s why he decided to raid the village in the night. And that attack can begin at any moment!"

    "We shouldn''t waste any more time, milord," Hudan said urgently. "We need to attack those bandits before they raid the village."

    "That''s true," Kivamus agreed. "You go and select your best men for this, and report back as soon as you can."

    Hudan nodded and exited the outer doors of the manor hall.

    Kivamus asked the former guard, "You mentioned the previous raid on the village. Are these the same bandits who attacked the village that time?"

    Calubo shook his head reluctantly. "No. I''ve heard that there are a lot of bandits and outlaws hiding in those forests apart from Nokozal''s group, even though most of them are just common people who are hunting and gathering in the forest to survive after they couldn''t find work anywhere, or those who are running away from their debts. However, there is at least one other sizable bandit group that I know of, which is said to be organized quite well."

    He continued, "I''ve only heard them mentioned as Torhan''s group, and Nokozal said that they were the ones who raided the village earlier. From what I know, that is a much bigger and better armed group, compared to barely a dozen men of Nokozal. From what I''ve heard, there might easily be two or three dozen bandits in that group, if not more. However, they usually operate far away from this area, so we only have to worry about Nokozal''s group for now."

    "It is still alarming to hear that they might have three dozen bandits..." Gorsazo muttered with a frown. "I know the Count of Cinran doesn''t focus too much on these lands, but still, how did a bandit group even grow to that big a size without anybody finding out about them."

    Calubo hesitated for a moment, before he said, "Actually... I don''t think it''s right to say that nobody knows about them."

    "What do you mean by that?" Kivamus asked.

    "Like I said earlier, they operate quite far away from here," Calubo replied, "near the western coast of Cilaria, somewhere north of the Kirnos village. And from what I heard, they run a clay mine there using slaves..."

    "Right..." Kivamus muttered, "and they have to sell that clay somewhere. And the only obvious place seems to be Kirnos, which means the Baron of Kirnos must certainly know about them, assuming he''s not outright supporting them."

    Gorsazo nodded. "He might even have known about the raid on Tiranat by that group of bandits in advance. And maybe... I probably shouldn''t say this, but although Kirnos would have all year access to fishing - being located on the coast - these days food is hard to come by anywhere... That means, he might even have supported or helped the raid on Tiranat for a share of the spoils."

    Kivamus shook his head slowly in exasperation. The medieval politics of this world was as dirty and cutthroat as he had expected it to be. Some baron in Cinran was supporting Nokozal''s group of bandits to get limestone at dirt cheap rates using slave labour, and most likely, the Baron of Kirnos was also supporting a group of bandits to get clay for cheap - and of course, he was also using slave labour for that, even if indirectly. He knew that profits reigned supreme nearly everywhere, but this was on top of some noble who was already trying to assassinate him. He exhaled loudly. This world was certainly not going to be easy to survive in.

    He was probably lucky that he came into this world - however that had happened - not long before winter. And since the winter would slow down travel everywhere, he would get a short respite from the ruthless medieval politics, but once spring came, and the snow melted from the roads... he didn''t even want to think about it.

    Wait, wait, it''s a clay mine! And Nokozal ran a limestone quarry! Along with the coal available abundantly here, he had most of the materials to make cement! How did he not make the connection earlier?

 Chapter 128 - 126. Final Preparations

    Kivamus was starting to become excited just thinking about it, but then he remembered their current situation. And, truthfully he didn''t really have access to any of it other than coal, did he?

    Even if there were no bandits operating that quarry, that land was still owned by some other baron, and he wouldn''t have access to any of that limestone unless he bought that land from the Count of Cinran - assuming that was even allowed in this kingdom. The same went for the clay mine. That land was likely owned by the Baron of Kirnos, which meant that without buying that land from the baron, he wouldn''t get a constant supply of clay either. There was certainly an option to just buy the limestone and clay directly from those bandits, but he didn''t know if he would be able to do that, especially knowing that they were using slave labor for it.

    There was also the fundamental problem of transporting such bulky raw materials on this rough terrain without any modern transportation methods. Not to mention that those barons had a pretty good thing going for them - using slave labor to get those materials for dirt cheap prices, only to sell them in the bigger cities for a lot of profit - so it wasn''t very likely that they would sell that land - not for a reasonable price anyway. And at this moment, he couldn''t afford even a reasonable price for that land...

    Well, there was always the option to really go the medieval way... and try to conquer that land - assuming the Count forgave the petty skirmishes between the barons under him. But that idea was laughable at best. He barely had enough men to defend his village from a small group of bandits right now... And he was thinking of conquering the surrounding lands for resources...

    He sighed. As much as he hated those barons using slave labor and bandits, he would still have to think of some way to get those raw materials if he ever wanted to make concrete here. But that problem was for the future. For now, he had to focus on their immediate concerns, and that included keeping the villagers safe and fed for the coming winter.

    Feroy''s question made him come back to the present.

    "I hardly know anything about the rules of nobles, but if we know that the Baron of Kirnos was also involved in the previous raid, couldn''t we do something like... trying to complain against him?" the ex-mercenary asked. "Maybe to the Count of Cinran, and ask for reparations for the raid? The barony of Kirnos does come under him, right?"

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo, since probably he was the one with the most experience dealing with nobility.

    Gorsazo shook his head. "It won''t work, since it''s all a conjecture at best. We have no definite proof to tie the Baron of Kirnos to the previous raid. So it will be Lord Kivamus'' word against his, and the Count has no reason to take our word over the Baron of Kirnos''."

    Kivamus nodded, but Feroy spoke up thoughtfully. "But what if we got that Torhan guy to support our claim?"

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean by that? Why would he ever do that?"

    Feroy snorted. "Well... he certainly won''t do it willingly..."

    "You mean..." Kivamus blurted out. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy nodded. "I could try joining his clay mine as a slave. It will take some time to become close to him, you know? But once I get a good opportunity, I could snatch him from there. And if there is another trusty guy ready with a horse nearby, we could bring him here and then take him to Cinran to present to the count."

    While Duvas grimaced after listening about the underhanded method, Kivamus wasn''t sure what to say for a moment. Was the ex-mercenary really contemplating kidnapping a person openly? Then he remembered what kind of a guy Torhan must be if he was running a mine with slave labor. Having listened a little about the ways of Nokozal and how he treated his slaves, that Torhan guy likely wasn''t any better, not to mention he had already raided Tiranat in the past and left the village to starve and freeze to death after putting their houses on fire. So did he really care that Feroy was willing to kidnap such a person?

    But he was still surprised to hear that the ex-mercenary would risk his life for this, since Feroy''s life would be far from safe if he was discovered. However, with his knack for blending in anywhere, and his plethora of experience dealing with all kinds of lowlifes, Feroy might just be able to pull it off as well. But could he really give his approval to such a task?

    Before he could think of a reply, Gorsazo spoke again. "That isn''t likely to work. Even ignoring the risk to your life if you do that - and we already have too much of a shortage of trained guards to send you away for weeks, if not months - we still have no way to ensure that Torhan would speak against the Baron of Kirnos in the Count''s court."

    Feroy began saying something to oppose that, but Gorsazo spoke over him. "I know what you are going to say, but you can''t really use your methods to ensure Torhan supports us right in front of the count, can you? And anyway, dealing with nobles is not the same, Feroy."

    He added, "The count would still have to hear the opinion of the Baron of Kirnos, who will certainly deny it. And a known bandit isn''t likely to sway over the opinion of the nobles in the court of Count Cinran - assuming the Count even allows us to present a bandit in his court to show our side of the story - not to mention our only advocate being a bandit isn''t going to help us much anyway."

    Kivamus thought about it some more, then said, "Let''s leave it for now, Feroy. The politics of nobles work very differently from what you are used to. And while I have no doubt in your abilities, it is far from certain that you will succeed in your task or even return alive from Torhan''s mine."

    Feroy gave a reluctant nod. "I can''t deny that, milord. But I just wanted to help the village, you know?"

    "I understand that, Feroy," Kivamus said, "but you are already helping us as one of our few trained guards."

    At that moment, the outer door of the manor hall opened, and Hudan walked back inside.

    The guard captain reported, "All our guards are now alert and ready." He glanced at Calubo, who had been quiet for some time, before speaking, "Since we know for sure that there are only nine bandits out there, I know we can take them out with our numbers. It still won''t be easy, since I''ll have to leave at least half of our guards back here - just in case the bandits have already left their hideout in the forests - but I''ll have most of our trained guards with me, so we should still be able to finish them off."

    Hudan continued, "From what Calubo has told us, Nokozal thinks that most of our grain would be kept outside the manor walls with the merchants, which is not the case. Apart from that, we only give weekly rations to the villagers, and it has already been six days since the last one, which means the villagers would barely have any grain in their houses right now. So in case we are late in reaching their hideout and aren''t able to eliminate them right there, it will mean that Nokozal is still going to try to attack the manor walls once he sees that the villagers don''t have any grain for them to steal, since he doesn''t want to return empty handed."

    "Then why don''t you just keep all our guards here to defend the manor, since you don''t know for sure that you''ll find them in their hideout?" Duvas asked, "That will allow you to keep fighting at full strength against those bandits, especially if they are going to attack here anyway."

    Hudan shook his head. "That would mean they might already have killed some villagers by then before they turn to the manor." He added, "It''s certainly possible that the bandits might have left their hideout by the time we reach there, but if there is even a small chance that they are still there, we have to take it, since our best option to eliminate them with minimal losses is to fight them within the forests - without any villagers nearby or any houses for the bandits to put to fire."

    "That does make sense," Duvas said.

    Hudan continued, "Other than saving the villagers'' lives, our most important task is to defend our grain stores, so we have to do our best to protect the manor." He looked at Feroy. "So you''ll stay here to lead our guards in case the bandits attack the manor while we are still out."

    The guard captain added, "Apart from some of our trained guards, I will also leave all our archers here, since they will be completely useless with us in the darkness of the forests. While they still won''t be of much help in the night even here, at least they have a chance of hitting the bandits in the light of the burning torches outside, which won''t be possible in the forests."

    Feroy nodded. "I''ll put the archers on top of the servants hall and the manor house, and I''ll give a horn to them. From that height they can watch our surroundings as well and warn us if they see any bandits. And Yufim is a good enough archer that he might just be able to take out a couple of bandits by himself even in the night."

    Kivamus said, "That horn is a good idea." He looked at Hudan, "If the archers blow the horn here, that means they are already here and you should return to help us immediately."

    "Of course, my Lord," Hudan said.

    "That being said," Kivamus continued, "you should also take a couple of horns with you, just in case you have to divide the guards into different groups and one of those groups gets outnumbered or needs help." At Hudan''s nod, he asked, "But can our new guards fight well by now?"

 Chapter 129 - 127. Is It An Ambush

    Hudan snorted. "I''ll never call them ready for battle until they can fight equally against me! And without a doubt, they will break at the first cavalry charge of a knight against them."

    "I have plans for the future in case it does come to that," Kivamus interrupted, "But let''s leave that for later." S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The guard captain nodded. "Thankfully these bandits aren''t going to be anything like that. Anyway, I''ve tried my best to train them in the limited time we''ve had since recruiting them, so hopefully, they should still be able to hold their own in a one-on-one battle. But I don''t want to take any chances here, so I''ll be leaving all our new guards here in the manor, where they will have the advantage of home ground in case the bandits manage to reach here, although I''ll try my best to prevent that. And I''ll still take Tesyb - who''s one of the new recruits - with me, since he''s already a good fighter."

    For a moment, Kivamus thought of joining the guards as well, since he had been getting regular sword training from Hudan as well, but he knew that he had no real experience in fighting, and even if he did go with them, he would be a liability at best, since some of the guards would try to protect him instead of putting an end to the bandits.

    And now that he knew what kind of medicine they had available in this world, he just couldn''t find the courage in him to volunteer for this, knowing that even if he got through the coming battle alive with just a few cuts to show for it, he still might not survive long enough - since even a infection through a small wound could easily kill people here. So he didn''t mention it at all. He wasn''t sure whether that decision was cowardly or he was just being cautious. But this way, at least the few remaining leaves in the losuvil vine they had found, could be used for the other guards in case any of them got injured, which others wouldn''t allow to happen if he was injured as well.

    After a moment, Hudan continued, "Including Calubo and me, I''m taking a total of fourteen guards with me. That should be enough for us to take on the nine bandits without too much difficulty. That will leave thirteen guards here to defend the manor - since I have alerted all the off-duty guards as well - although most of them are the new recruits. Apart from them, we do have two women guards with us now, but without any crossbows, Isomi and Savomi wouldn''t be of any help to us in a sword fight. So I''ll leave them here in the manor, so they can stand guard outside the door of the servants hall to protect the other maids, just in case the bandits manage to breach the manor gates."

    At Duvas'' worried expression, the guard captain added, "Don''t worry about it, Sir Duvas. It''s not likely to happen. I''ll make sure of it."

    "I know you will," the old majordomo said with a forced smile. "May the goddess help you succeed and rid our world of those lowlifes."

    "Go on then," Kivamus added as well. "Good hunting!"

    Others looked confused at that unfamiliar phrase, but Kivamus just grinned, knowing they would get the meaning.

    After a moment, Hudan gave a confident smile, and nodded. And with that, the guard captain exited the manor hall with Calubo in tow.

    Feroy stood up as well. "I''ll also go and organize our remaining guards to defend the manor."

    "That reminds me," Duvas asked, "what do we tell the villagers who are still outside? The feast is nearly over now, but there are still a few dozen people outside keeping an eye on their children."

    "I think it''d be a good idea to end the feast now and send the villagers to their homes," Feroy suggested, "since all of them have already eaten at least once and it''s not safe for them to stay there anymore. Those people, and especially the children, would easily become the targets of bandits and it would make it difficult for us to defend the gates. Not to mention, the wooden tables and carts outside would give a good hiding place to bandits, and our archers wouldn''t be able to target them easily."

    Duvas nodded. "Do it then."

    "No, wait!" Kivamus interrupted. "You''ll have to give them a reason to send them back suddenly, and if you tell them that there is a bandit attack, it would easily cause panic amongst the crowd. And that could lead to a stampede which could mean many people including children might die."

    "Then what do you suggest, milord?" Feroy asked with a frown. "I don''t want our archers to try to shoot bandits if they get mixed in that crowd."

    Kivamus thought for a moment, and said, "I think there is a better idea than just telling them to leave. You should go there and calmly inform one of the maids to tell the villagers that there is no more food now, so they have to take back the carts and food buckets inside. If the maids ask for a reason, you can tell them that there is an imminent threat of a bandit raid - but let them know that they shouldn''t say anything about it to the villagers. And to act normally until they are inside the gates."

    Feroy gave a slow nod. "That would work."

    Duvas asked, "Isn''t this a good time to bring back those villagers who are good with a machete? They could help us in defending the manor."

    "It would be too difficult now," Feroy answered. "Going door to door to bring those villagers back here could also cause panic amongst them. Also, I think it''s a good idea to just leave them in the village, since that way there would be at least some people there who have some basic training, in case the bandits do reach there."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said with a nod. "So, let''s leave them where they are, to defend their homes. But we still have a lot of machetes and axes here, so you can give them to our servants within the manor and tell them to be ready to support the guards. It''s better than leaving them undefended and the machetes unutilized."

    As Feroy started to object, Kivamus added, "I know that they aren''t trained swordsmen. But if nothing else, you should tell them to stand near the manor walls in every direction and be ready to shout or blow a horn immediately if they see someone climbing the walls."

    Feroy nodded. "Of course, and I''ll also give them the machetes, just in case." And then he exited the hall as well.

    "Let''s hope that the goddess takes care of us and the village," Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    Kivamus and Gorsazo gave silent nods as well.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Calubo was leading the guards of the manor towards the place where the bandits had been hiding earlier. He didn''t know if they would still be there, but he had to try to find them, otherwise the guards might start to doubt his whole story. Although he was still grateful that at least they had trusted him enough to give a sword in his hands.

    Earlier, when he had met the new baron - and he was glad to see that there really was a new baron in the village - he was surprised to see that he looked so young, and nearly the same age as him. Although his unusual silver colored hair made him stand out easily, but he didn''t behave anything like the nobles were supposed to. It was a good thing though, since it seemed like the baron really cared for the villagers instead of just considering them a tool to earn more money for him.

    He had also seen Nurobo when going there, and they had both been glad to see that the other was okay, but he had still not gotten a chance to talk to him. He really wanted to know everything that had happened in the village since he had left, but he would have to wait to ask that until the bandits had been dealt with - assuming he survived the coming battle, of course. But he had faith in the Goddess. He knew she would help him survive this night, and one day he would be able to see Hyola again.

    For now, he kept leading the guards - including the huge man who was the guard captain - towards the northwest of the village, hoping he could find the bandits'' hiding place even in this darkness. For a while, he stumbled around, looking for that particular grove of trees where the bandits were sleeping, but everything looked the same in the dark. After some time, he started to hear a few guards whispering about him, talking about whether he was lying or if he was taking them into an ambush. He was going to retort back, but he took a deep breath to calm himself and decided that instead of wasting more time in bickering - which could easily be heard by the bandits - he should keep trying to find their hideout.

    He kept leading others, looking carefully at each fedarus tree he saw, and searching for the one with a low branch, where he was sitting with other bandits, but he still couldn''t find anything. He was starting to become disappointed, when he turned his head to the left and saw that branch.

    "There!" He whispered to the other guards. "That''s where I was sitting with two other bandits who were on watch duty."

    Immediately, the rest of the guards became alert, and at Hudan''s gesture, they started to spread around, and began walking even more slowly with their swords ready in their hands.

    As they came closer to that tree, he didn''t see any bandits there - which wasn''t really unexpected though. Then he slowly started to circle around the really broad tree along with the others, and in the faint light of the full moon which was still hiding behind the clouds, he saw a leg sticking out on one side of the tree. He pointed silently towards it, and the rest of the guards came closer and saw the dead body of the fatso lying there.

    "So you weren''t lying after all..." one of the guards muttered.

    "Of course I wasn''t!" Calubo finally snapped back with his confidence high again - now that he had proven his story. "This isn''t something to joke about."

    "Be quiet!" Hudan admonished them. "The rest of them might still be nearby."

    "It doesn''t seem like that though," a guard muttered, "or they would have already tried to attack us."

    Then Hudan bent down closer to the body - likely to confirm that the man was dead - and suddenly they heard the whistling sound of an arrow passing right next to them.

 Chapter 130 - 128. Enemy At The Gates

    "What was that?" one of the guards asked with alarm, as they all stood up and started looking around carefully with their swords ready.

    "It was an arrow, dammit!" another guard whispered. "What else would it be?"

    "I thought all the bandits had already gone away from this place..." the first guard muttered.

    "There''s still an archer here though..." another guard spoke in a hushed voice, "and he must have been waiting for us to look at the dead body before shooting - when we wouldn''t be too careful."

    Right at that moment, another arrow whistled towards them, hitting a guard somewhere with a thwack.

    "Ahh..." the guard cried out.

    Immediately, all of the guards crouched even lower to give a smaller target to the archer, while looking all around them hoping to see the archer, but to no avail.

    "Damn that archer, hitting us from the dark like a coward!" Looking towards the general direction where the arrow had come from, the injured yelled, "Come fight with me face-to-face if you can, you bastard!"

    "Is it bad?" one of the guards asked the man who had been hit.

    "Nah, I''ll live," that guard replied. "The arrow just glanced off my shoulder. If it was just a few inches off, it would have taken my head off!"

    ''''Shut up, all of you,'''' Hudan scolded them again from his crouched position, where he had still been looking at the body of the dead bandit. Then he stood up quickly, and jogged to take cover behind a tree. ''''There might still be more than one man here. And move around, you idiots! Don''t stick together and make it easier for the archer to send you to the goddess!"

    Immediately, the guards spread around in groups of two or three, and took cover behind other trees.

    Earlier in the manor, Calubo had heard the guard captain saying that he had been training others, but while the guards might do well enough in an actual sword fight against a bandit - just like himself - how to act in case of a sudden attack on them was not something they had any experience in.

    He remembered that until the time he lived here, usually the manor guards just had to escort the previous baron''s carriage to Cinran and back, apart from their regular watch duties at the manor gates - which rarely involved any kind of bloodshed. They really didn''t have any experience of going out on an offensive to strike at a bandit hideout in the night, and that inexperience was easily apparent here. But at least it seemed like the guard captain knew what to do in this situation.

    One of the two other guards with whom he had taken cover behind a fedarus tree, whispered in a low voice, "It seems like the bandits were waiting here to ambush us!"

    "Does that mean they have given up on raiding the village tonight?" the other guard asked.

    And right at that moment, they heard the sound of a horn being blown loudly from the direction of the village.

    "Shit! They are already at the village!" the first guard yelled to the others. "Let''s return back."

    And just as he stepped to the side of the tree, an arrow whistled sharply from nearby, making him jump back behind the tree to hide.

    "Damn it!" Another guard cursed from behind a nearby tree. "What are we supposed to do now?"

    "Listen to me," Hudan said to all of them. "The bandits seem to have divided their forces and they have left at least one man here - since they anticipated that we''d come for them. But that archer is only to keep us bogged down here, while the rest of them go to attack the village."

    "What should we do now?" the guard next to Calubo asked. "We can''t leave without taking care of that archer."

    "Here is what we''ll do," Hudan replied. "We will divide as well. Four of us will stay back here - just in case there is more than one bandit here - and the rest of us will immediately return back to the village. That''s where most of the bandits are going to be, and the other guards will need our help there."

    He pointed at some of the guards including Calubo and ordered, "You four will remain here." He added, "Two of you should stay here behind different trees, and you''ll keep changing your positions to other trees while making enough sound - or just keep taunting him - to make the archer think that we all are still here."

    "Isn''t that dangerous?" one of the guards asked doubtfully.

    "That archer wouldn''t be able to see in this darkness any better than we can," Hudan replied, "so most likely he''s got a perch at a branch of one of the trees ahead. While he might still be able to hear us, he''d barely be able to see anything, and certainly not well enough to target accurately. So he''s likely just shooting arrows blindly to where the body of the dead bandit is, since he knows we would be nearby."

    He continued, "So while two of you will stay here, two others will circle around the area towards the archer''s direction - one from each side - and it will be your task to take him down. Once you''ve found him, you should call the two guards who will be staying back here." He added, "Most archers aren''t good with a sword anyway, but you''ll still have numbers on your side - even assuming there are two or even three bandits there. And we know that there are nine bandits in total, so it''s not likely that they would leave more than one or two of them here when they are going to attack the village."

    Calubo and the three guards who were staying back nodded in reply.

    "Follow me," Hudan ordered. "Try to move while crouching low for a few dozen yards so that even a stray arrow would be less likely to hit you, and then we will be free of that archer." And with that, the rest of the guards including the guard captain crouched low and started moving back slowly towards the village, and once they were a little distance away, they started running towards the village under raid.

    Immediately, the archer - who must have heard the sound of their running footsteps - started shooting in their direction, but while most of the arrows must have missed, Calubo heard one of the running guards shout in pain - likely because he was stuck. He had no way to know if it was a light wound or a fatal one, but he had to trust that Hudan and others would do their task - including taking care of the injured guard.

    For now, he had to take down the bandit archer. He opened his mouth to give orders to the still remaining guards, but then he paused, being uncertain if they would even listen to him now.

    But he shook his head. This wasn''t the time to have self doubts. He knew these men. He had worked as a guard right next to them for many years. He had to make this work.

    Looking at the guard who was standing next to him, Calubo said, "I''ll go towards the archer from the left." Pointing at the other two guards who were hiding behind another nearby tree, he said, "One of you will go towards him from the right."

    At the guards'' nod, he added, "The newbies back at the manor don''t have any fighting experience, so we have to do our best to hurry up, since they will need our help in the village."

    The other guards nodded in acceptance.

    Although he wasn''t feeling confident inside, when Calubo looked at the determined faces of the other guards, he knew that he was back with his brothers. He was back at his home. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He gave a confident smile to them. "Let''s go! We have a bandit to kill!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Barons'' Manor ~

    It had been a while since Hudan had left with the guards, and although Kivamus wasn''t expecting him to return back and say that all the bandits had already been dealt with, he was still getting more and more worried with each passing minute. Growing up in a world where people were accustomed to getting minute by minute updates of everything - including wars taking place on the other side of the planet - it felt very difficult for him to do nothing except to just... wait.

    If only Hudan had a modern helmet providing a live camera feed to him... He snorted. They were a long, long, way away from that, if they ever reached such a level of technology in this world at all.

    Earlier, he had told Madam Helga and her kids to stay inside of the manor house for now - along with Clarisa, who already spent more time in the kitchen here, than in the servants'' hall outside. So for now, Duvas, Gorsazo and he were sitting in the manor hall along with them, while waiting for someone to bring news. Any news.

    Suddenly, the outer door of the hall opened, and a guard came running inside, his face white with fear.

    "Milord... there is... there is..." he tried to speak, but he looked so out of breath that he struggled to form words. After a moment, he took a deep breath, and reported, "Milord! There is a bandit raid in the village! They are already here!"

    "How?" Madam Helga asked while standing up from her chair in surprise. "Hadn''t Hudan gone to deal with them?"

    Gorsazo, whose face rarely showed any expression, also had a tinge of fear on his face now. "It means Hudan is out chasing shadows now, while we just have the new guards to protect the manor right now."

    "May the Goddess protect us..." Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    Thinking quickly, Kivamus ordered the guard, "Tell someone to blow the horn immediately. We need to let Hudan know that the bandits are already here."

    The guard nodded, and just as he was going to speak, they heard the sound of a horn blowing from somewhere in the manor. Well, at least that was taken care of. As he thought about what to do now, Lucem''s fearful voice interrupted his thoughts.

    "Will the bandits kill us, ma?" Lucem asked with wide eyes, while Clarisa was clutching Syryne in fear.

    Kivamus didn''t know what to say for a moment, then he tried to reassure the kids, all of whom were looking scared now. "Don''t worry, Lucem. Feroy is still here, and so are Kerel and the other guards. We even have three archers on top of the manor house to protect us. Don''t worry, nothing will happen to us."

    Lucem looked reluctant to accept it, while Clarisa still hadn''t spoken a word.

    Kivamus was also quite worried now, and while the manor hall had always felt safe to him, he felt confined within the room right now. He knew that if he left the safety of the manor house, many of the guards wouldn''t be able to fight the bandits properly - in case they really did breach the walls of the manor - since they would only try to protect him after that. But he still didn''t want to keep sitting here without any idea of what was happening outside. It was making him even more agitated than he already was.

    Suddenly, he was craving to breathe the fresh albeit cold air of the roof. Thinking about it for a moment, he said to Lucem who was still looking scared, "Tell you what, do you want to see the archers on the roof?"

    Taking their mind away from the thoughts of impending death should be helpful for both of them. He knew that it would still leave him exposed, but it was still much safer than going outside of the manor house. And this way he would still be able to see what was happening.

    Lucem hesitated, but after looking at his mother for a moment, he gave a slow nod.

    "Good." Kivamus looked at the guard who had given the report. "Go outside now and help the other guards to defend the manor."

    The guard nodded and immediately ran outside with his hands on the sheath of his sword.

    Kivamus followed him to the outer door, and after locking it, he barred it with an iron rod from the inside. Before going towards the stairs, he asked others in the room to see if anyone else wanted to follow him to the roof, but most of them didn''t want to leave the safety of the hall. Duvas didn''t want to come since he did not like to climb stairs at his age unless he really had to, while Madam Helga wanted to keep an eye on Syryne and Clarisa. That meant it would be just Gorsazo and Lucem along with him.

    He tilted his head towards the stairs while looking at them. "Let''s go then."

 Chapter 131 - 129. Fear

    Soon, they reached the roof of the manor house, and seeing that there were three archers standing on three sides of the roof with their bows ready in their hands, he walked towards the man who was facing the western gates of the manor, which was also the location of the feast. While it was completely dark in most places, the area outside the gates was still well lit by a few burning braziers. It was also quite cold here, but at least it wasn''t windy right now.

    As he reached closer to the man, he realized that it was Yufim - one of the new guards with a very accurate aim - who had tied his long blonde hair in a knot behind him.

    "Do you see that man?" he whispered to Lucem.

    Lucem nodded, while Yufim gazed back towards them after hearing their voices.

    "He is one of our best archers," Kivamus said to Lucem in a low voice, "and he can even shoot a flying raven accurately from two hundred yards away!"

    "Really?" Lucem asked with huge eyes. "He can do that?"

    Yufim started to say something in response, but Kivamus gestured to him not to say anything with a wink.

    "Yes, he really can!"

    "I wish I could do that as well!" Lucem spoke in a wistful voice.

    "You can do it too," Kivamus replied, "but only if you practice a lot."

    Lucem looked delighted to hear that, with his eyes looking somewhere in the distance - perhaps daydreaming about the time when he would be able to do that as well.

    Kivamus smiled after seeing that. At least the kid didn''t look so scared anymore. He gently guided Lucem towards one of the nearby railings at the edge of the roof, and spoke in a whisper as if he was sharing a secret. "You can start practicing for it right now. Just keep an eye outside in this direction, and if you see any bandits, just let one of the guards here know about it. Can you do that?"

    Lucem nodded excitedly. "Leave it to me! Nobody will be able to hide from my eyes!"

    "Perfect!" Kivamus patted his back with a smile, and walked back towards Yufim, where Gorsazo was also waiting.

    Before he could say anything, Yufim protested, "I never claimed that I could shoot a raven from that far, milord! Nobody can do that!"

    "I know," Kivamus said with a laugh. "But I needed to give a purpose to Lucem to take his mind away from the thoughts of bandits coming to kill him and his family."

    Yufim gave a sober nod at the mention of bandits.

    "How is it going?" Kivamus asked the young archer.

    "Can''t really tell from here, milord," Yufim replied while looking back toward the manor gates where a few people were still keeping an eye on the children. "Feroy had just told us to be ready to shoot down any bandits if we see them nearby." He turned back towards Kivamus, "But shouldn''t you be inside now, milord?"

    Kivamus exhaled. "I didn''t want to stay cooped up inside when you all are doing your best to defeat the bandits."

    Yufim looked surprised to hear that, but he nodded with a smile, and turned back to keep an eye outwards.

    For a moment, Kivamus wasn''t sure what to do now, since he didn''t want to keep talking with the archer and distract him from his duty. But he certainly didn''t want to return back to the manor hall so soon. So after telling Gorsazo about it, he walked to an unoccupied side of the roof and took a position there to keep watch for any bandits rushing towards the manor. It was the least he could do to help the guards.

    It had been a while since the horn was blown, which meant that Hudan would already know about the attack on the village. For now, he just hoped that the guard captain would return back along with the other guards soon to take care of the bandits before they did too much damage.

    *******

    ~ Kigeir ~

    ~ Outside the gates of the Baron''s Manor ~

    ~ A short time before the blowing of the horn ~

    The feast was nearly over now, and Kigeir was glad that he had gotten to eat so many fancy things. And for free! That was the thing which mattered the most for a merchant like him.

    He looked at the kids who were still eating, probably on their third or fourth helpings - since the baron had allowed them to eat as much as they wanted. He had thought about taking his family back home after the children had gotten to eat a third time so they wouldn''t get a stomach ache, but when the kids - especially the youngest two - begged him with their overjoyed expressions to remain there for another helping of food, he hadn''t been able to stop them. He snorted. It wasn''t like he was paying for it himself, and if the baron wanted to feed the children so much, who was he to stop him?

    The rest of them had been waiting for the children to finish eating, and by now it seemed like they were mostly done. He was thinking about telling them again that they had to leave now, when the gates of the manor opened and a guard with a small beard and a serious expression came outside.

    Kigeir kept looking at the guard with curiosity, and saw that the guard went to one of the maids and whispered something in her ear. The maid looked shocked for a moment, before she controlled her expression and put a smile again for the children who were waiting in line to get food once again. But Kigeir could easily see that it was a forced smile.

    And soon, he saw that the same guard muttered something in the ears of the other maids and servants as well, and he saw the same shocked expression on their faces as well. Or was it a panicked expression? After hearing whatever the guard was saying to them, they all had become tense for a moment, before they forcefully relaxed their faces.

    Kigeir had no idea what could cause that, but then he saw that the maids who were serving the food until now, started to cover the wooden buckets, and began telling something to the children who were waiting in line. Although the maids were speaking to the children with a smiling face, he could easily see that the smile didn''t have any joy in it. Not anymore.

    Before long, he saw Elsie, Maisy and the two boys returning back towards him with a dejected expression. He thought of asking them what was wrong, when Elsie spoke for the group.

    "There is no more food, papa..." she said in a depressed voice.

    "The maids told us that we had eaten all the food - so they had to take back the buckets now," Maisy added as well. "But..." she hesitated as she spoke, "but I''m sure I saw that some of the soup was still remaining."

    Kigeir frowned after hearing that. Why would the maids close down the stalls so abruptly, especially when there was food still remaining? It wasn''t likely that the baron suddenly decided to be a miser after he had spent so much to feed all the village for free. Something wasn''t right here.

    "Didn''t you all already eat enough though?" His older son Leif asked the kids with a laugh. "It''s good that they stopped you, or all of you would be complaining about a tummy ache later."

    "But I wanted to eat more..." Elsie whined. "I''m still hungry..."

    "If the maids still have some soup remaining with them," his wife said, "should I ask them if we can take some of it to our home? Otherwise that food would probably get wasted anyway."

    Kigeir thought about it for a moment, then addressed everyone in his family, including Maisy and Timmy. "No, forget about the food," he replied. "Something doesn''t feel right. Let''s return back to our home now." S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "But papa..." Elsie whined again, while Leif frowned but didn''t say anything.

    "No, Elsie," Kigeir said to his daughter. "You have eaten enough for tonight. Let''s go now," he said to everyone in his family.

    And with that, all of them started trudging back towards their home, some of them happily - since they had gotten to eat a feast for the first time in their lives, and some of them reluctantly - since they hadn''t gotten to eat even more.

    Just before exiting the mostly empty area of the feast, he noticed that while the servants and guards had already started hauling the buckets and tables back inside the gates of the manor, most of the remaining people had also started taking their children back towards their homes now. That worried him even more, since it wasn''t just him who was getting a bad feeling about this.

    They kept walking through the dark streets with quick steps, and reached the market square of the village - where a single burning brazier was still lit - bathing the wooden houses surrounding the square in a flickering yellow light. A few stragglers had stopped there to warm their hands before they returned to their homes, but other than that, the market square was nearly empty at this time. Kigeir''s home was located in a side street nearby, but as his family walked through the market square, he heard a commotion on the opposite side of the square.

    Looking there, he was startled to see two men in fur coats entering the square from a side street there. For a moment, he thought that they were the manor guards on their nightly patrol - which was a new, but very welcome thing for the villagers - but then he remembered that the guards didn''t wear fur coats, unless the baron had somehow gotten enough coin to buy such fur coats for all his guards?

    While his brain was still thinking about it, he saw those men raise their naked swords in the air, and with a roar, they started running towards the men who were standing near the braziers.

    And suddenly, he realized with a tremble that those weren''t guards at all. They were bandits! The village was being raided by bandits again! His eyes widened in fear as the horrific images of the last time a raid had happened flashed in his mind. The burning houses, the sobbing children, and a grave fear for his life...

    Immediately he screamed at his family, "Run! Run back to our home!"

 Chapter 132 - 130. Playing Soyent Without Any Cards?

    Then Kigeir picked up the two youngest children in his arms - who had started to cry by now - and ignoring the pain in his bad knee, he started trotting towards his home as fast as he could, his wife following just behind him. Looking back, he confirmed that his older son had understood the situation as well, and after holding the girls'' hands in his own, Leif had started running as well, the three of them quickly overtaking him.

    Although his heart was beating so fast he feared it would jump out of his chest, Kigeir was still glad that he had found out about this attack sooner than most people, so hopefully he''d be able to reach his home soon and keep his family safe.

    While it was supposed to be nearly freezing right now, somehow he didn''t feel the cold at all. At some point, he even heard the sound of horns being played from somewhere - probably as a warning of the bandit raid to the rest of the village.

    As he turned into the side street towards his home, he noticed that the light of the brazier - which had been shining on the blonde hairs of Leif and Elsie - suddenly got extinguished. He wanted to look back into the market square to see what had happened, but he knew he didn''t have the time to stop running.

    Before long, in the light of the moon which was still hiding behind the now ever-present clouds, he was able to see his home just a few dozen yards ahead of them. He was going to thank the Goddess that they had gotten away from the bandits, when two huge men in fur coats emerged from a side alley right in front of them - preventing them from reaching their home. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It didn''t take more than a moment for Kigeir to realize that they were bandits - with unsheathed swords held high in their hands. With the two youngest children bawling loudly in his arms, along with the whimper of the girls hiding behind his wife and Leif, he shivered in fear of their lives. May the Goddess save his family now, because he certainly had no way to fight those bandits.

    *******

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Somewhere near Tiranat ~

    They all had been running towards the village as fast as they could, hoping they reached the village before the bandits killed someone. Although one of them had even gotten an arrow in his arm when leaving the other guards near the bandit archer, but thankfully the wound was not in the guard''s leg, so after putting a piece of cloth to tie his arm to stop the blood, the guard had been told to go directly to the manor, since he wouldn''t be of any use in a fight for a while.

    Soon, they reached the edge of the village - where the longhouses were being constructed, and Hudan gestured all of them to stop for a moment. Although it wasn''t windy anyway, all that running had easily warmed up his body, making the nearly freezing weather seem irrelevant.

    "Now listen to me carefully," the guard captain began. "We''ve left four guards back there and one of us already got injured and had to leave - that means only nine of us are here now. But one bandit is already dead and at least one of their archers is also back there, which means there would be at most eight bandits in the village right now. So while it won''t be easy for us anymore, we can still take them down!"

    The other guards gave confident nods in reply to that, but Tesyb wasn''t feeling confident at all. The rest of them were veteran guards, and they had been doing this for years by now, but he used to be just a coal miner a couple of months ago! While he knew by now from his regular practices with other guards that he was good with a sword, would he really be able to go against a real bandit? Would he really be able to take a man''s life? He was also getting worried about his parents, who lived at the western edge of the village. What if the bandits attacked that part of Tiranat?

    But Hudan''s next words brought his mind back to the present. The guard captain was looking directly at Tesyb. "Don''t worry, lad, I know you have it in you. Just do what you''ve been doing in the training and the Goddess will take care of the rest."

    Tesyb gave a hesitant nod. "I''ll do my best."

    "That''s what I like to hear!" Hudan added, "Now we don''t know where all the bandits are, but they want to loot as much as possible, so they will certainly be spread out. So here''s what we''ll do. We are going to break into four groups - each of two men - while I''ll go alone."

    He pointed at four guards before speaking. "The first group will circle around the village from our left - which is the east - and the second group will go around from our right - that''s towards the west. Your target is to look for any bandits who are trying to loot the houses at the edge of the village - and that''s where they are most likely to be, since that would make it easier for them to run away at the end. That''s why I am giving both of our horns to these two groups, so you can blow the horn to call for help from the other guards in case you find more than two men against you."

    Once the selected four guards had nodded, Hudan pointed at four other guards including Tesyb. "The last two groups of two men, as well as I, will run straight into the village. Since it''s unlikely that the bandits would have gone into the middle of the village in bigger numbers, your task is to quickly look for any lone bandits - and to move on as soon as you can after taking care of them. And of course, if a horn is blown from the edge of the village, the closest group will go to help them, while the rest of us will continue taking care of these pests."

    "Now do you all understand what you have to do?" the guard captain asked. Once the rest of the guards nodded, he gave a savage grin. "Then let''s go and send these bastards to the Goddess for daring to attack our homes!"

    "For Lord Kivamus!" one of the guards shouted a rallying call.

    For a moment, Tesyb and the others were surprised, but then they looked at each other''s faces for a moment, and grinned. It was the new baron who had given faith to the villagers that they''d be able to survive the winter - even after they had lost all hope in the recent months. Lord Kivamus was the one who treated the commoners as humans - instead of like nodor dung stuck to his boots - completely opposite to what the other nobles did. He was the one who had made everything possible and given them hope for a bright future. So of course, they were fighting to protect him and his ideals. They were fighting for him!

    "For Lord Kivamus!" he and the others shouted their new war cry as well. And with that, they divided into five groups, and each of them ran towards their allotted areas to eliminate the bandits.

    As Tesyb entered the village along with another guard and started running between the houses, he wished that he was the one allotted to go towards the western edge of the village, so he could go towards his home and protect his parents from the bandits. Could he do that even now? Hudan wouldn''t really find out anyway, as long as he told the other guard some make-believe reason, right?

    But then he forcefully put that thought away from his mind. Just like Hudan was trusting him to do his job, he also had to trust the rest of the guards that they would do their jobs properly - including those who were going towards the west side of the village.

    Glancing at the guard running next to him for a moment, he nodded to himself. He trusted the other guards. They were his brothers now. And his parents will be safe. They would make sure of it. And then, he kept running between the houses, hoping to test his newfound sword fighting skills soon.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

    Calubo had been moving slowly and silently towards the left of the location where the archer was supposed to be hiding - trusting the other guard to be moving towards him from the right. The two guards back near the body of the fatso had been told to move around and make lots of sounds there, to hopefully make the archer keep thinking that all the guards were still there.

    Before leaving, for a while he was thinking that there were more than one archers here, since he had felt that some of the arrows were coming from a different direction. But after thinking about it, he had realized that it was likely just a single archer who was changing his position again and again, to make them think that there were more bandits here than there actually were.

    It made sense too, since the bandits would have wanted to take most of their men to the village to loot even more grain. That meant they might be able to take care of the lone archer sooner than they thought.

    Truthfully, he didn''t even know if he would be the one to find the archer, or the other guard. But he prayed to the goddess that it was him, since it would give him a chance to get even with these bastards for nearly starving him and others at the quarry while making them work them to the bone.

    As he came closer to the location that he had last seen the arrows coming from - assuming he really was coming closer, since it was hard to tell in the night - he saw a wide fedarus tree. So he crouched even lower, and very slowly, moved behind the tree, trying not to make any sound. He did hope that the archer hadn''t seen him on his way here, but he couldn''t be sure about anything now.

    After giving a moment to catch his breath, he slowly bent his neck around the tree to see if he could observe the archer from there, but there was nothing ahead of him - apart from even more trees and a few small shrubs further ahead.

    Did that mean the archer had changed his position again? Dammit! How was he going to find him again from here?

    He was thinking about leaving his current position and circling around once again from the north, but just to satisfy his curiosity, he decided to stick his neck around the fedarus tree again. And right at that moment, he jerked back as an arrow whistled very close to his ear, making him fall down in surprise. But he quickly got on all fours, and scrambled to get his whole body behind the cover of the tree again.

    The archer was still here!

    Even though he tried to breathe deeply a few times to calm his wildly beating heart, it took a while for him to start thinking properly again. He realized that his sword had also fallen down from his hands in that terrifying moment, but thankfully, its hilt was still within the cover of the wide fedarus tree, so he swiftly pulled his sword back and held it close to his body, like it was the only thing standing between him and a raging adzee.

    This meant that he wasn''t wrong in gauging the bandit''s position, after all. But now that the archer had seen him for sure, it would be stupid to stay in the same place for long.

    He stood up again with his sword in his hand, and once he had located a nearby tree with a good cover, he quickly jumped ahead and rolled to a position behind that tree. Immediately, an arrow passed right through the position he had been just a moment ago.

    Dammit! Just how many arrows did the archer have?

    He exhaled again, and once he was ready, he repeated the same thing, and got cover behind another tree. Thank the goddess for the forests! He didn''t know how else he could have moved closer to the archer if there was just empty ground between them.

    And then, again and again, he did the same thing, and kept moving closer to the archer, with an arrow passing close to him nearly every time. It was risky, and it felt scary, but there was no other way to get closer to the archer. And as long as there was a good distance between them, it would be like the archer holding all the Soyent cards in his hands. And nobody wanted to play Soyent without any cards, did they?

    This time, he had gotten cover behind a relatively narrow tree, so after thinking about it for a moment, he stuck his sword to the left side of the tree, and quickly moved his neck to see from the other side. As expected, the archer shot an arrow towards the side where his sword was, narrowly missing it, but his head remained safe.

    And within that single moment, he glimpsed movement behind those shrubs he had seen earlier. He had found the archer!

 Chapter 133 - 131. Revenge

    For a while, Calubo couldn''t stop himself from grinning. The bandits liked to beat up the stonecutters after surrounding them in much higher numbers. That was why he had been beaten so badly the first time he tried to run away from the quarry. But this time, it would be a one on one fight. Let''s see who comes out on top this time!

    At this point, both he and the archer knew exactly where the other was, but Calubo was still confident about his chances.

    When he had seen the shrubs at that moment, he had gauged that those were perhaps little more than a dozen yards away from him. While that was quite a lot closer to the archer compared to his initial position, he was still not at a sword-fighting range. So he needed to get even closer to the archer, somehow. He nodded to himself. Just two short sprints, and he would reach the archer.

    However, since he was so close now, he couldn''t easily risk running from cover to cover this time, since the archer would be able to see him much more clearly now, and could shoot him down easily. Thinking about what to do, he looked around the tree where he was hiding, and he saw just more trees around him.

    No, that wasn''t right. Looking at the ground, he saw many small fallen branches, apart from clumps of dirt and even a few small stones scattered around the area. He nodded to himself. He could take advantage of the fact that the archer knew that there were many guards who had come to see the body of fatso.

    Since he didn''t want to risk leaving the cover of the tree - especially since it was a narrow tree this time - he carefully gripped his sword from its blade and used its cross-guard to pull a few stones and some small wooden sticks towards him. It would have been much easier if he had a scabbard with him right now, but Hudan had given him the same sword with which he had been running towards the village - and when he had looted that sword from the fatso, he hadn''t thought of taking the scabbard with him in his hurry of getting away from the bandits.

    Before long, he had a small collection of stones and branches ahead of him. After discarding the smaller ones, he found a few stones and branches of just the right size for what he wanted to do. Now he just had to make the bandit think that there was another guard drawing closer to his position.

    Picking up one of the stones, he threw it a little distance away from the left side of the tree. Right after he heard the sound of the stone hitting something, he knew that the archer would be looking towards that direction now - thinking that Calubo was running to another tree there - so he immediately threw a stick from the right side of the tree, this time with a lot more force.

    That stick flew to some distance, before it thwacked loudly on a tree there. This should make the archer think that there was someone else reaching close to him for certain, but he would still be confused about the direction of the approaching guard.

    So, Calubo stood up slowly with his sword in his hand, getting ready to run, and after picking up another wooden stick, he threw it again towards the right, and luckily, the stick broke on contact with a tree - sounding exactly like how it would if someone had stepped on that stick. That should give the archer more reason to think that there was someone approaching him from the right, while he would believe that it was only a wild animal on the left.

    And just as he expected, he heard the sound of an arrow hitting a tree to the right, and since he was ready to run, he used that moment to sprint to a new cover on the left behind another fedarus tree, reaching much closer to the archer. Being much closer now, Calubo knew that the archer would have heard the sound of his feet for sure, but this time, the bandit wouldn''t be certain of his exact position - since he would have been looking in the opposite direction, thinking there was another guard there.

    Calubo had seen the shrubs again while running, and while he expected that now he was only half a dozen yards away from the archer, this time he simply couldn''t risk sticking his neck out to one side to confirm it, or he would immediately get an arrow in his head.

    Keeping his ears open to make sure that the archer wasn''t running away, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself and to get ready for the coming battle. Then he held his sword tightly in his left hand, and picked up another two sticks from the ground. Then he threw those sticks one by one from the left side of the tree, and while one of them simply hit the ground, the second one loudly hit a tree - hopefully making the archer think that the other guard was circling around him now.

    Since he was quite close to the archer this time, he heard the twang of the string just as an arrow left the bow - wherever the archer had shot it. And even before the arrow made a sound of hitting something, he sprinted from the right of the tree with his sword held in front of him, and immediately saw the archer nocking another arrow on the bow just a few yards away from him. It was hard to tell the archer''s expression in the night, but it had to be of surprise - after suddenly seeing a guard so close to him.

    However, Calubo immediately recognized who the archer was. This was the bastard who kept trying to make moves on Hyola again and again even though she kept telling him no.

    The bandits ogling the women from far away was one thing, but a few times Calubo and the other stonecutters even had to pull the archer away from Hyola forcefully, when he was too drunk on Nokozal''s cheap ale and didn''t want to take no for an answer.

    Seething in anger inside, Calubo didn''t waste another moment and immediately struck his sword down on the bandit, who had to hold his bow in front of him with both hands to defend himself. As Calubo pulled his sword back for another strike, the bandit used one of his hands to draw a dagger from behind him, holding the bow in only a single hand as a makeshift shield.

    Calubo barely paused for a moment, knowing he had the advantage of longer reach over the bandit, and exchanged a few more slashes and strikes from his sword, but the bandit somehow defended all of them with his bow. And the moment Calubo took a step back to catch his breath, the bandit thrust fast towards his neck with the dagger, but he barely reached close to Calubo.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Calubo quickly held the wrist holding the dagger from his right hand, and stabbed again towards the bandit''s chest, who used his bow once again to defend himself. But this time Calubo had jabbed his sword forward, instead of slashing it horizontally like earlier, so the bandit wouldn''t be able to stop it easily. And just as he had thought, after grazing slightly across the bow, his sword pierced the archer''s chest, making the bandit cry out in shock.

    It felt like a very long time, but it was probably only a few moments as Calubo felt the bandit''s hand slowly grow limp and saw his life leaving from his eyes. As he pulled his sword back with a grimace, the dagger and the bow fell from the hands of the archer, before he fell to the ground, clutching at his bleeding chest futilely.

    Although he knew that the bandit couldn''t survive this wound for long, he stabbed once again at the bandit''s chest exactly where his heart would be, to be sure of it.

    And just before the bandit died, Calubo spat towards him, "This is for Hyola, you bastard! I hope you rot forever in the stomach of a bakkore."

    ******* S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Hiding behind Elsie''s older brother ~

    Maisy was feeling scared. Very scared. For herself, for Timmy, and for all of Mr Kigeir''s family. She didn''t know how everything had turned bad so fast. Just a short while ago, she had been happily enjoying a feast along with her best friend Elsie, but when Mr Kigeir had told them all to return home, she had been a little sad that she wouldn''t be able to eat more, but she had also been happy, because she had still been able to eat a lot, after all. But before they had reached their home, scary looking bandits had stopped them from going further in that dark alley.

    Since then, she and Elsie had been hiding behind Leif, while Mr Kigeir was still holding their younger brothers - both of whom were bawling loudly now. Even Elsie had begun to weep silently, but Maisy wasn''t crying. This wasn''t the first time she had to face bandits, and she knew that it wouldn''t be the last time either. Good times rarely lasted for orphans like her, after all.

    But she still didn''t know what would happen tonight. She had been able to dive into a garbage heap along with Timmy to hide when bandits had come to the village last time, but she couldn''t do that now. Would the bandits take Timmy away from her? Would they take both of them to sell them as slaves somewhere? She didn''t know, and so she was feeling very scared now.

    Earlier, one of the bandits - who was really huge - had been demanding Mr Kigeir to give up all his grain and coin, but after trying to fool the bandits that they didn''t have any grain, Mr Kigeir had given up when the bandits had threatened to kill his wife. Then he had taken them towards his home, and after putting down the boys, he had opened up his shop and showed the bandits the little amount of grain he had.

    When the bandits had begun to load it in a sack, Mr Kigeir and his wife had begged them to leave some grain for their family, but the huge bandit had simply told the other man to keep loading up everything.

    By now, Mr Kigeir''s wife had also started crying, while Leif was still trying to hide the girls behind himself. When the bandits had taken everything there, the huge man gazed at all of them for a moment, then demanded them to give up all their coin. Mr Kigeir quickly showed them an empty box, saying this is where he kept the coins, and there was nothing left anymore.

    However, Maisy knew that there was a small pouch of coin buried under the ground behind their house - when she had seen Mr Kigeir putting more coins into it a few days ago - but she certainly wasn''t going to say anything about it to the bandits!

    It didn''t seem like the bandits believed him at first. But then the huge and scary bandit looked at all of them again, his eyes stopping longer on the girls. Maisy didn''t like the look in his eyes at that moment, while Elsie began to cry loudly now, clutching Leif''s tunic from behind.

    After a moment, the huge bandit shrugged his wide shoulders. "In that case, I''ll have to take your girls with me instead of the coins. Fair''s fair, after all. And I do have to make up my quota of slaves this winter."

    Immediately, Mr Kigeir and Leif ran in front to shield the rest of them with their bodies. "You can''t do that!" Leif shouted at the huge bandit, while Mr Kigeir began praying to the Goddess to help them. But the huge bandit just scoffed, and gave a backhanded slap to Leif, which threw him away to the ground. Immediately, Elsie clutched Maisy while bawling loudly.

    Then Mr Kigeir tried to run at the huge bandit to attack him with his bare hands - even though he barely reached the huge bandit''s shoulders in height - but after giving a laugh for a moment, the bandit punched him on his face, making him fall down on the ground with a thump. All this time the other bandit was just watching everything with amusement, while holding the sack full of grain on his back.

    Maisy could only watch everything that was happening with teary eyes, and she hated that she couldn''t do anything.

    As she saw the end of the happy times with her best friend, her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would fly away from her chest. She clutched back Elsie in fear, while glancing at Timmy - who looked terrified as he gazed back at her with teary eyes - but Maisy still tried to smile at him, hoping he wouldn''t lose courage after the bandits took her away.

    She also looked at Mr Kigeir and his family for a moment. She had really enjoyed living with them for so long, but she knew good times didn''t last for people like her, after all.

    This was it, then. This was probably the last time she was seeing her brother - her only family in this world. She didn''t know what would happen to her and her best friend if the bandits took them away, but she just hoped that they would leave Timmy alone - so that at least one of them would survive in this cruel world.

    As the huge bandit took a step towards them - probably to pick them up - Leif weakly stood up once again. After reaching in front of her and Elsie, he spread his hands wide, trying to shield them from the huge bandit. Was Leif really willing to give his life to save her and Elsie?

    The huge bandit just tilted his head a little. "You don''t learn your lesson easily, do you?" he taunted Leif, and drew his gleaming sword from his back. "Move!" he roared loudly.

    But even then, Leif kept standing in front of them, although Maisy could see his arms shaking in fear. Leif''s mother was screaming in fear now, telling them to stop, while Mr Kigeir was still on the ground - probably because he was still passed out after that blow to his head.

    As Leif still didn''t move, the huge bandit just shook his head slowly, and raised his sword high in the air, ready to cut him down.

 Chapter 134 - 132. Confidence

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Somewhere in the village of Tiranat ~

    Tesyb had been running for a while now, but he didn''t feel tired at all. If anything, he had never felt more alive in his life. This was the first time he had been able to use his newfound sword fighting skills and he loved every moment of it! He grinned thinking about Yufim, who must be grumbling that he was stuck within the manor, and hadn''t been able to fight any bandits. Well, that''s what he got for becoming an archer instead of a great swordsman like him!

    After separating from the others, he and the other guard had already killed one bandit. While the other guard had been the one to deal the finishing blow, Tesyb had given more than his fair share in the fight. And truthfully, that fight had been easy. Perhaps, too easy. But it was also true that the bandit had been alone, so they had the advantage of numbers on their side, and even then, they had been able to surprise the bandit who had been holding a woman hostage while her husband brought all their grain and coin to him. That had led to the other guard being able to injure the bandit heavily in his arm - his sword fighting arm - in the first strike, and it hadn''t taken long to finish him up after that.

    And now, they were running again to see if there was another bandit nearby. And Tesyb couldn''t wait for it! He had never thought he would be saying something like this before he became a guard, but as it turned out, he loved fighting! Before he was recruited, all he ever did which could be counted as fighting was to break up a few brawls between other coal miners in the alehouse. He had always been bigger than most of the other miners, and that had helped him a lot in his life. But as it turned out, he also had a knack for fighting with a sword, and he had even defeated a few guards in their mock fights! That proved that he was already very good with a sword!

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of a woman screaming in fear from somewhere nearby. The other guard looked at him, and he quickly nodded in reply, before they changed their direction and started to run as fast as they could towards the sound.

    While he knew that this was far from a good time for the villagers - like the one whose voice he''d heard - Tesyb couldn''t wait to fight again! He couldn''t help but grin, since he knew the coming fight wouldn''t be too difficult anyway, since he was an expert swordsman now. The earlier victory over that bandit had even proved it!

    Before long, they turned a corner and it didn''t take more than a moment for Tesyb to understand was happening. There were two bandits here - one of them being a really huge guy - who were threatening a big family, and he had reached there just at the moment when that bandit was going to strike down a young guy - who was probably still a boy, since he looked only around sixteen years old or so - while he was bravely trying to protect two little girls hiding behind him.

    Seeing that scene enraged him thoroughly, and with a roar, he ran towards that bandit, and tried to jab him with his sword. The bandit was surprised for a moment, but he recovered easily, and he turned his sword away from trying to kill that kid to defend himself, and both of their swords struck with a loud clang. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Tesyb took advantage of the fact that he had surprised the huge bandit, and quickly slashed his sword towards him again. Once again, the bandit had to scramble to defend himself, moving back a step in the process. He grinned once again. This was going to be just as easy as he had thought!

    He took a moment to quickly look around him, and he saw that the other guard had already engaged the second bandit - who had dropped a sack he was carrying - and they were also striking each other rapidly, the sound of their swords ringing loudly in the night. The rest of the people had gathered together on one side, next to some villager''s shack - where an older man had fallen on the ground. Hopefully, he wasn''t dead, but he couldn''t really tell for sure.

    Apart from the boy who was protecting the girls, there were two other much younger boys who were crying loudly in fear, while an older woman - probably their mother - was holding them close. For a moment, he thought that he should recognize the man who had fallen on the ground, but then he blinked and looked towards the towering bandit. Right now, the most important thing was for him to kill this bastard.

    With more than enough confidence, he pulled his sword back and jabbed towards the huge bandit again, but this time the bandit was more than ready for him, and easily deflected his sword away, and struck back towards him swiftly.

    Tesyb barely managed to prevent that sword from taking his head off by holding his sword in the way, but that strike shook his arms so much that his sword nearly fell from his hands - such was the power behind the bandit''s strike. Taking a quick breath, he held his sword in front of him once again, and slowly circled around the bandit, who was also ready with his sword, but looked far more confident now.

    That made him frown. Why was the bandit looking so confident now? Wasn''t he able to glean Tesyb''s sword fighting prowess from those few strikes? He had to know that he wouldn''t survive for long, right?

    Or was the bandit an even better fighter than him? No, that wasn''t possible. Tesyb snorted. This was a bandit - who lived in the forest like an animal! It''s not like the bandit would have gotten training as a Count''s knight! He was worrying for nothing.

    Shaking his head quickly to remove those weird thoughts from his head, he focused again on the huge bandit in front of him. And right at the moment when both of them took the next step while circling each other, Tesyb quickly lunged forward with his sword pointing at the bandit''s neck, hoping to end his life quickly.

    But the bandit scoffed, and easily struck his sword to the side with his own blade, and slashed back towards his chest. Tesyb immediately bent backwards to protect himself - with the bandit''s sword just scraping his well-used leather armor - but he lost his balance, and fell backwards on the ground.

    Instantly, the bandit grinned and taking a quick step towards him, he jabbed his sword directly towards Tesyb''s chest.

    For a moment, Tesyb was so surprised about the fact that he was on the defense now, that he didn''t know what to do. But the recent training with Hudan and other guards came in handy, and his body rolled to the side just before the sword hit him.

    He quickly jumped back to his feet and found that thankfully, his sword was still in his hand. But why was this happening? Why did he even have to defend? The bandit should be dead by now! How was it that his skills seemed useless in front of this huge bastard?

    He exhaled once, and tried to focus on the moment. Once again, both of them started circling each other, with the bandit looking quite confident now, while Tesyb grimaced thinking about what was happening.

    He took the initiative once more, and taking a quick step to the right to feint a strike from that side, he quickly pivoted back towards the left and jabbed his sword ahead. But once again, the bandit easily slashed his strike sidewards with his sword, and kicked him directly in his chest with his huge boots, making him fall down again, while losing his sword in the process.

    Now his mind was in full panic, and he didn''t know what to do. The bandit took a step forward, and instead of ending his life immediately, he gloated, "So this is your best, huh? I''m disappointed. For a moment, I''d thought that I''d get a real fight after years! But you are just as useless as everyone else!"

    Wishing that he still had his sword in his hands, Tesyb looked to his right where it had fallen barely a yard away from him. He slowly inched his hand towards his sword, hoping he''d be able to grab it again while the bandit was talking. Further ahead in that direction, the children had become quiet, probably exhausted after crying so much, but they were still looking towards the fight with wide eyes. The rest of that family was also looking in their direction with fear, knowing what would happen to them if he died here.

    Tesyb didn''t know how the other fight was going, but from the bandit''s grin, it couldn''t be too good for the village.

    The bandit bragged again instead of dealing the finishing blow. "But you know, there is no shame in losing to me. You still did good. And before I send you to the goddess, you should be glad to know that you were defeated by the mighty Lord Nokozal."

    And then the huge bandit held that sword vertically in both of his hands, ready to pierce his chest in a single strike.

    Tesyb''s whole life flashed in front of him at that moment. His parents would lose their only son tonight. He would never be able to show Isuha that he worked as a manor guard now. He would never be able to prove to the new baron that he was really good with his skills. That he could be trusted to hold his own in a fight...

    Was this it then? Was this the end of his life as a manor guard? But why? He thought he was really good at sword fighting! He had even been able to disarm other guards when fighting with a wooden sword! Or had the euphoria of that earlier victory with that outnumbered bandit simply distorted his perspective? Had he become just too confident in his skills, even though he didn''t have any experience to back it up?

    He gave a resigned sigh. Well, it didn''t matter anymore, since he didn''t see how he could survive this. He just hoped that the bandits would spare his parents and the baron would take care of them just as he had promised when recruiting him as a guard. He also hoped that this bastard called Nokozal ended his life in a single strike instead of making it too painful for him.

    But as he saw the end of his life right in front of him, he knew that he still had regrets. If only he had another chance to prove himself... If only he had practiced more with his sword before coming here tonight... If only he hadn''t been overconfident about his completely untested sword-fighting skills...

    And then the moment of contemplation had passed, and he saw Nokozal''s sword descending towards him, with only moments remaining before he left this world with so many regrets.

 Chapter 135 - 133. Uncertainty

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Approaching Tiranat ~

    After taking care of the archer, Calubo was running towards the village with the other guards in tow. It had taken him a while to look for the others in the darkness - since he couldn''t make too much sound, just in case there was another bandit still there - but after they had reunited, they had decided to run to the village as fast as they could to help others there.

    He couldn''t help but remember the face of the dead archer with satisfaction. Hyola would have been overjoyed if she knew about this. But would it ever happen now? Would he even be able to see Hyola again?

    Now that he was free from the bandits, they couldn''t force him to go back to that quarry, and he also couldn''t desert the village alone, if he ever wanted to work as a guard in the manor again. Maybe... maybe, if he requested the new baron to allow him to go and see Hyola again, would it be possible for him to see her again? He could ask the baron to grant him this boon as a reward for his help in giving them the warning about bandits'' attack.

    And if the baron really allowed this, he would even be able to take some food with him for her and the other stonecutters! But how much food could he even carry by himself? Maybe the baron would also allow him to use a horse? That way he could take much more grain than he could carry by himself. Of course, it''s not like he had any coin with him to buy even a single meal at the alehouse.

    But he could still ask the other guards to lend him some money. Perhaps he could even ask the baron for an advance on his wages? That should hopefully give him enough coin to buy a full sack of grain. That grain would go a long way in helping the stonecutters to survive the winter. He nodded to himself. Yes, that was the solution. And he had to do this.

    As he started to become happy imagining the day when he would see Hyola''s overjoyed face again at the good news, he realized that he had forgotten something. What would he do about the other bandits who were still there? That easily put a chill on his mood. Even if he gave all that grain to those bandits so they would feed the slaves more, it''s not like they would give much of it to Hyola and the stonecutters.

    As he approached the first houses of the village, he kept thinking about it. What if he approached the quarry secretly, and asked the stonecutters to overthrow those bandits'' rule? But would those poorly fed people even be able to fight with those bandits, even with the advantage of numbers on their side? S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Then... What if he asked Lord Kivamus for help in this? For him to send more guards with him to take some grain to the stonecutters and to kill the remaining bandits there. But... Why would the baron ever risk his guards for this? And Calubo was even hoping that the baron would give up his precious grain right before winter? He scoffed. No noble was that generous.

    He shook his head. It didn''t matter. Even if he had to go to the quarry alone, somehow he would make it work. He had to, or Hyola would be stuck with those bandits for all her life. But then he thought of another problem. Even if the stonecutters could somehow win against the bandits with his help, where would they even go after that? Especially in this winter, which would make it very difficult to travel anywhere - not to mention most of them had brands on their bodies clearly marking them as slaves, so escaping to a distant city and making a new life there wasn''t really feasible either. And that was assuming they could even reach there through those dense forests full of dangerous wild beasts.

    He sighed again. What other option did they even have? They certainly wouldn''t be able to survive there in the snow, would they? With no nearby shrubs providing edible berries in the winter - and same for the fruit giving trees - what would they even eat there? Even his single sack of grain was unlikely to be enough to feed all the stonecutters for the winter.

    But... What if there were even more bandits there now? Nokozal had been worried that Torhan''s group might steal his slaves if he found out that the quarry was nearly undefended. What if that group had already taken Hyola and the others to Goddess knows where? What if...

    He forcefully stopped his mind from racing further and thinking of even more problems. He couldn''t afford to think about it right now. There were too many holes in his plan to take grain to the quarry. He would think about it when the current problems were dealt with. For now, he had to focus on the present.

    As they reached the alley between the first two houses of the village, he spoke to the other guards, somehow trying to take his mind away from the image of Hyola hungry and freezing in the snow.

    "There are four of us," he said, "so let''s divide in two groups, and search for the other bandits." At the others'' nod, he spoke to the first group, "You two will go towards the manor to help them - in case the bandits are already attacking there." He pointed to the remaining guard and himself. "The two of us will go into the village to search for them. We can''t allow them to steal any grain or kill any villagers!"

    Once others nodded in acceptance, he forced a grin on his face, even though he was certainly not feeling happy, "Let''s kill those bastards!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ On the roof of the manor house ~

    Kivamus had been waiting on the roof for a while, but there still wasn''t any news. He had started pacing from one side of the roof to the other, hoping someone just told him what was happening outside, but there was nothing. Such moments were the ones when he really missed his life on earth.

    As he reached towards the side where Yufim was waiting with a bow, he saw a servant running towards the manor house from the direction of the main gates in the west. As the servant reached towards the door, he called out to him, knowing that the door was barred from the inside.

    "Up here! Is there any news?" he asked. Hearing his voice, Gorsazo also came to stand next to him.

    The panting servant looked upwards, searching for the source of the voice, and then quickly found him. "Milord, Hudan and the other guards are back from the forests."

    "Oh, that''s really good to hear. But how do you know that?"

    "I just saw one of them running in front of the manor gates," the servant reported. "Feroy asked them about it and then told me to give the news to you."

    "Well, did they find the bandits there?" Gorsazo asked worriedly.

    "Not really, milord." The servant added, "There was only one of the archers of the bandits there, keeping an eye on the body of the dead bandit. So Hudan left four guards there to take care of him, and then entered the village with the rest of the guards to find the rest of the bandits."

    "So that means four of the guards are still outside?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

    "I think so, milord," the servant replied with an uncertain voice.

    Kivamus nodded. "Well, you should go back to the gates now. And let me know if there is any other news."

    "Of course, milord," the servant said and jogged back towards the gates.

    Turning around, Kivamus walked towards a brazier which a servant had brought to the roof some time ago. It wouldn''t do too much to protect them from the cold in the open, but at least they had a way to warm up their hands. He had even told the other guards to carry the brazier to their positions in turns for heating.

    As he put his hands next to the smoldering fire, he looked at Gorsazo. "What do you think about this? I don''t like it that our guards had to divide again."

    "Well, at least it wasn''t an ambush there," Gorsazo observed with a relieved voice. "We didn''t know for sure where Calubo would have taken our guards."

    "No, Duvas said that he trusted him, so I wasn''t too worried about it." Kivamus added, "But now that Hudan is already here, let''s hope for the best results."

    Gorsazo nodded. "I just hope that the bandits don''t find a way to put fire to the houses in frustration, if they find out that they can''t steal any grain outside the manor."

    Kivamus gave a nod but didn''t say anything. He didn''t even want to think about such a thing happening in the village. Before long, he returned back to his pacing, hoping he got some good news soon.

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Hiding behind Leif ~

    ~ A short while ago ~

    Maisy had been clutching Elsie with fear for a while, but she still had no idea if they would survive for long, or if they would be taken away by the bandits to be sold as slaves. Their younger brothers had been holding Mr Kigeir''s wife for some time, while she was trying to wake up the still passed out merchant. Leif still hadn''t left his place standing watchfully in front of them, and for Elsie and her, he seemed like the only one protecting them from the huge and scary bandits.

    When the two guards had come right at the moment the bandit was going to kill Leif, she had been overjoyed for a while, thinking that everything would be fine now. Their younger brother had even started cheering for the guard, but it hadn''t taken long for the huge bandit to start winning the sword fight. The young guard had even looked very scared after falling down on the ground. The other guard wasn''t doing too well either in his fight with the other bandit.

    That worried Maisy a lot. If even this guard died, what would happen to them? There wasn''t anybody else to protect her and others here. Would the bandits really take her and Elsie away tonight?

    Then she saw the guard stand up, and start to fight with the bandit again. She became really excited for a moment, hoping the guard would kill the bandit, but before long, the bandit managed to make him fall again with a huge kick, and the guard also lost his sword! But instead of killing him immediately, the bandit began to speak about something, but Maisy wasn''t listening to him.

    She was looking intensely at the guard, who was trying to get a hold of his sword which had fallen a little away from him. She really hoped he got it, even though the huge bandit had kept his boot on the guard''s chest. For a moment she thought of going there and helping him to get the sword. But would the guard be able to win even with his sword in his hands? And she was still too scared to go near that huge bandit!

    But before she made up her mind, the bandit held his sword in both of his hands, and began to bring it downwards, trying to kill the guard! Was this it, then? Would she and Elsie be taken by the bandits after all? Would the bandits win even though two guards had come to fight with them?

 Chapter 136 - 134. Retreat

    And right at the moment when that huge bandit was going to kill the guard who had fallen down, someone else ran towards the bandit and tackled him with full force! And that man was also a guard! And he was huge too!

    Maisy couldn''t hide her happiness as she saw the two huge men wrestle with each other, which gave enough time for the fallen guard to get up and pick up his sword. She couldn''t help but cheer in support of him, and soon Elsie joined her as well. And before long, their younger brothers also started cheering for the guards.

    The huge bandit - who was even bigger than the guard who had arrived, somehow threw over the guard, and quickly stood back up. But this time, there were two guards standing ready in front of him - and both of them had their swords in their hands now!

    Slowly, the two guards walked around to both sides of the bandit, and then they started fighting again! Their swords were flashing this way and that way - making ringing sounds again and again, but she couldn''t really understand what was happening in that fight - especially in the darkness, with only the moon''s faint light there. But then, one of them cried out with pain, and stumbled a few steps back, and she saw that it was the huge bandit, who was holding his left arm while looking really angry.

    In that moment when they had stopped fighting, she also saw that the other guard was still fighting with the second bandit some distance ahead. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Soon, the two guards and the huge bandit started fighting again and their swords started making clanging sounds - but that bandit was still not defeated! How?

    And then she heard someone howl in pain, and when they stepped back away from each other, she saw that it was the earlier guard this time and he was holding his thigh with pain! Oh no! But the huge bandit was still outnumbered. That should mean they would win, right?

    At that moment their younger brothers started to cheer for the guards again, but a single glare from the huge bandit was enough to make them all shut up.

    Then she saw that the bandit lunged forward towards that injured guard. However, the bigger guard managed to slash his sword away, but instead of attacking again, that huge bandit looked around him for a moment, and after saying some things she really shouldn''t repeat, he ran away towards a nearby alley!

    "I''ll go after him," the huge guard said to the other one, "you go and help him." And then he ran towards that alley, and soon he was out of their sights. And only now did she recognize who that huge guard was. He was the one who had helped her and Timmy to get to the children''s line, when they were going to get the free meal for the first time.

    Slowly, the injured guard - who was still clutching his thigh in pain - looked towards them for a moment, and slowly ran towards the other guard who was still fighting with the second bandit.

    "Ahh... What happened here?" She heard someone''s tired voice from behind him, and looking there, she saw that Mr Kigeir was awake!

    His wife started explaining everything to him, while Leif was still standing in front of them protectively. Mr Kigeir slowly stood up, and after looking towards the guards who were fighting some distance away, he walked towards them with heavy steps. "Are you all okay?" he asked them.

    Elsie just nodded, while Maisy replied, "We are. Are you okay too?"

    Mr Kigeir smiled, and before he said something, Timmy shouted, "Look! The guards are going to win!"

    But as Maisy turned her head towards the guards - seeing that the bandit had fallen down on the ground - and one of the guards had his sword held high in the air, Mr Kigeir put his hands on her and Elsie''s eyes to cover them. He told Leif to do the same for their younger brothers, and said, "This isn''t something you children should see yet."

    Maisy was still curious about the guards, and she really wanted to see them win! But she also didn''t want to go against Mr Kigeir''s orders. So she kept listening carefully, and then she heard someone cry out in pain from that direction.

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    Then Mr Kigeir removed his hands, and she saw that one of the guards was jogging towards them. He looked really tired and exhausted now, and when he reached here, he said, "You all should go to your home now. It is still not safe outside." Then he looked at Mr Kigeir and asked, "Can you walk?" Seeing his nod, he added, "Good! Now I have to go to find the other bandits. Keep your home locked for the night."

    And then without waiting for any reply, that injured guard jogged towards the other guard, and both of them ran into a nearby alley.

    After Mr Kigeir thanked the guard and the Goddess - even though neither of them could really hear him, right? - he and his wife held the hands of all the children and started walking towards their home, while Leif walked ahead of them.

    So they had won, after all! She looked at Elsie for a moment, but she still looked lost in thoughts and wasn''t saying anything - quite unlike her - so she also didn''t say anything to her for now. However, their younger brothers seemed really excited now. But weren''t they crying just a while ago? How did children even change their mood so quickly!

    As they all walked towards their home while feeling tired, exhausted, and yet with a full belly - even though the feast seemed to have happened a lifetime ago - nearly all of them were quiet, lost in their thoughts, except for the two younger boys.

    "Did you see that last move by the bigger guard?" Timmy asked. "Wasn''t he amazing?"

    "He was!" Elsie''s younger brother replied with enthusiasm. "But the other guard was better! He rolled out so quickly from under the sword of the bandit! I wish I could do that too!"

    "Yeah, me too!" Timmy added. "But I want to be like that huge guard! He was better!"

    "No he wasn''t! The other guard was better! He was very brave!"

    Maisy tuned them out after that. How were the kids so excited after they all barely survived? Couldn''t they be a little more mature? She scoffed. Children!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor ~

    It was quite late in the night now, but Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall again along with the others - all of whom had a smile on their faces.

    Just a few minutes ago when he was still on the roof, a servant had come running towards the manor house, and told him that the guards had killed most of the bandits. He also said that Hudan was already back at the gates organizing the guards there, and he would be coming to talk to him soon.

    Once that servant had returned, Lucem and the archers at the top of the roof had given a whoop of joy, and he and Gorsazo hadn''t been able to hide their happiness either. That sound had led to the door to the stairs opening, and Syryne had asked them about what had happened. But before he replied anything, Lucem quickly started explaining it to her, and he had left the siblings alone after that.

    After that, he had sent all the archers to meet with Feroy or Hudan to take new orders from them. They all knew that the servant had said that the guards had killed most of the bandits - but not all of them. That meant the other bandits might still be out there, so they still had to stay vigilant. The archers had nodded, and quickly jogged to the stairs and then to outside of the manor house, while the rest of them had returned to the manor hall.

    Since then, he had been waiting for the guard captain to arrive. Madam Helga had left for the kitchen a while ago to cook up something quick for them - since Lucem had been saying that he had gotten hungry by now. Kivamus couldn''t deny that it had been a while since he had to stay awake till so late, so he had also added his name to those who wanted a late night bite to eat. Syryne and Clarisa had followed Madam Helga to the kitchen as well to help her, along with Lucem - who just wanted to be closer to the kitchen so he would be the first to get something to eat when the food was ready.

    And now, it was just him along with Gorsazo and Duvas in the manor hall.

    Soon, the outer door of the manor hall opened, and Hudan walked inside. In the light of the fireplace - which was still burning brightly - Kivamus saw that his clothes were muddied, his leather armor looked torn in some places, and exhaustion was easily visible on the guard captain''s face.

    Taking a place on an empty armchair near the fire, Hudan picked up the waiting jug of water and drank directly from it for a while. Once he was done, he exhaled loudly.

    "Madam Helga is making a quick meal for us," Kivamus said, "and I gave yours and Feroy''s name as well, since I knew you both would be hungry."

    Hudan gave a grateful nod. "Now that you have mentioned it, I really am feeling hungry. I don''t know when Feroy will be back, but thank you for that, milord."

    Kivamus gave a smile in response. "So how did it go?" he asked the guard captain. "A servant told me that most of the bandits were dead, but not all of them. What did he mean by that?"

    Hudan sighed for a moment, and then he began to explain.

 Chapter 137 - 135. The Aftermath - Part I

    The guard captain began, "As you know, milord, there were ten bandits in total." S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Gorsazo interrupted, "But are you really sure that there were only ten bandits? What if there are more of them still waiting to attack us?"

    Hudan shrugged. "Everything Calubo had told us has been true so far and I have found no holes in his story, so I have no reason to doubt his claim about there being only ten bandits in total. Even so, all the guards are still alert and ready to defend the manor if there is a need."

    He continued, "Now, amongst those ten bandits, one of them was already killed by Calubo when he escaped - which I have confirmed myself - and then he also killed the bandit archer who was hiding near that body to keep us occupied there. The other three guards there have confirmed that. Apart from those two, the guards have reported that they''ve found five other bodies of bandits. These are the ones who came inside the village to loot grain and take slaves. Although I wish that one of them had survived for us to interrogate."

    "I guess we can''t help it now." Kivamus remarked. "But why didn''t any of you try to keep one of them alive?"

    Hudan shrugged again. "The usual procedure for any outlaws which have been caught is to hand them over to the Count, and he is the one who gives them a suitable punishment - which often includes maiming them and selling them into slavery somewhere far away - usually away from Cilaria, so they wouldn''t have a way to escape to their old hidey-holes. The bandits would have known about that for sure, so I think that''s why most of them were willing to fight to the death. The few who might have been willing to surrender were probably the ones who died of injuries. Even so, I did try to capture one of them without killing him, but I couldn''t really do anything about it, my Lord, not when he simply didn''t want to surrender."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas for confirmation.

    The majordomo gave a nod. "It''s true, my lord. That''s what we did as well. Whenever we caught any bandits or other wrongdoers in the past, we used to hand them over to the Count. I can''t say what happened to them after that, but Hudan seems to have the right idea in general."

    Kivamus nodded with a grimace. So that''s what went as the criminal rehabilitation system in this world. If the caught thieves or outlaws didn''t have hands anymore, they wouldn''t be able to steal anything or kill anyone, would they?

    He shook his head to get his mind away from the barbaric thoughts, and looked at the guard captain. "But that only adds up to a total of seven dead bandits. It still leaves three bandits who are unaccounted for."

    Hudan grimaced. "One of those is my fault in a way. There was a bandit - a huge one - whom Tesyb and I were fighting earlier, when he was trying to kidnap the children of a village merchant. I found out later that he was the leader of the bandits, called Nokozal. That bastard was so big that it wouldn''t have been easy to defeat him even without Tesyb''s injury, and we also had to make sure that he didn''t take one of those children hostage, which prevented us from fighting at our best."

    "What happened to him then?" Duvas asked with worry.

    "He managed to run away from us during that fight after he got injured in his arm," Hudan replied, "although I still went after him. But on the way I saw another bandit threatening a woman, so I had to stop to help her, and I am not proud to admit it, but during that time, that huge bastard slipped away from me. Thankfully that woman is safe now, and the other bandit wouldn''t see the light of the day again."

    He continued, "Since none of the other guards saw Nokozal again, we have to assume that he ran away from the village. There are two more bandits whose location we have no idea about. They must have run away as well when they realized that the raid had failed."

    "But the raid did fail, right?" Duvas asked.

    "It''s safe to say that it did," Hudan replied with a tired smile. "It will take a while to gather up those bodies and ask about everything from the villagers, but only three of the bandits managed to survive, so they couldn''t have taken much with them, even if they managed to loot something."

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    "Thank Goddess that they weren''t able to loot much!" Duvas said while looking upwards.

    "And what are the injuries on our side?" Kivamus asked, not knowing what to expect about it.

    "We didn''t come out unscathed for sure," Hudan answered, "but it could have been much worse. One of our guards got an arrow in his arm, so he won''t be of use in a sword fight any time soon, but he can still keep watch where needed. Other than him there were two more guards including Tesyb who''ve got some light injuries, but they should be fine after a week or two of taking it easy."

    "That''s better than I thought," Gorsazo observed.

    Hudan nodded. "It really helped that the villagers had a high morale because of the feast earlier. That meant they were more willing to defend their homes and fight for the village than they would have been a few months ago. While the reports are still coming in from the guards who are out on patrol now, I have already heard two instances where the villagers who had some training with a machete helped to defend their neighbors. They couldn''t really fight with a bandit equally, but when a couple of villagers are ready with machetes to defend their families, the bandits - who were roaming either alone or in pairs of two, since they had to spread out throughout the village to loot as much as they could - just moved on to find easier targets elsewhere."

    He continued, "Of course, the villagers outnumbered the bandits even in the previous raid, but it''s all a question of morale. The last time the locals were hungry, weak and dejected after losing their coal mining jobs. So when the bandits came riding on their horses - with the guards only staying inside the manor instead of protecting them - most of the people just gave up after that. At that time even if some of the villagers had a few machetes with them, they still wouldn''t have been able to stand their ground in front of the bandits."

    Then he added with a satisfied smile, "But this time, the villagers know that there is a baron who looks out for them - with most of the villagers having seen a guard running here or there to fight with a bandit - not to mention that they were just coming from a feast, which most of them wouldn''t have seen in their lives. That kind of treatment makes the people want to fight to protect their privileges and lifestyles. There is also the fact that even the little amount of training that we were able to give to those villagers gave them the confidence to stand their ground in front of the bandits, instead of just running away in fear."

    Duvas gave a slow nod and looked at Kivamus. "I wasn''t sure earlier if splurging so much of our food stores on a feast right before the winter would be a good idea, but after hearing about what happened tonight, I am glad that you suggested this feast, milord."

    Kivamus smiled. "There is an old saying I''ve heard before - An army marches on its stomach. While the villagers are far from an organized army, having the satisfaction of eating a good meal regularly really helps the morale of people." He shrugged before adding, "I certainly didn''t know that there was going to be a bandit attack when I announced the feast, but I do know that keeping your people well fed is much better than keeping them hungry - even at our own expense."

    After a moment, he continued, "That reminds me, I thought all the iron tools were returned to the manor in the evening after the day''s work was done. So how did those villagers still have those machetes with them? You certainly couldn''t have searched for them in the night to provide them with those makeshift weapons after we got to know about the imminent bandit raid."

    "That was Feroy''s idea," Hudan replied with a proud smile. "While all of our tools are indeed returned to the manor for safekeeping in the nights, he suggested that it would be a good idea to give those machetes permanently to those villagers whom we were giving some basic training, since it would allow them to familiarize themselves even more with their blade."

    He continued, "This way, they could even practice whenever they wanted - since many of them are those people who wanted to become manor guards, but weren''t selected in the recruitment - so they still would like to become a guard in the future. And it doesn''t really eat up our stocks of tools, since there are barely half a dozen villagers to whom we gave the machetes, and they report to work with those same machetes every day."

    "It was indeed a good idea," Kivamus remarked with a nod. "I am glad that Feroy thought of it."

    Changing the subject, he spoke to the guard captain again. "Make sure to give a few days off to the injured guards. The man with an arm injury must be in enough pain that he wouldn''t be too useful in keeping a watch anyway, even if he doesn''t have to move around for it."

    Hudan nodded. "Of course. And I have already requested Syryne to bring the few Losuvil leaves she had brought in the morning for your experiment to preserve them - but she didn''t get a chance to do anything with them because everyone had to help to prepare for the feast. Those leaves would be very helpful for those guards tonight."

    "That''s certainly true enough. But where is Feroy?" Kivamus asked. "I thought he would be back by now."

    Hudan looked towards the outer doors of the manor hall with a frown. "I''m not sure milord. He was talking with other guards near the gates when I came here. Let me check."

 Chapter 138 - 136. The Aftermath - Part II

    But right after he stood up, the outer door opened, and Feroy walked inside. Unlike the guard captain who had actually fought a battle and had more than a few scratches on his body and clothes, the ex-mercenary didn''t look any worse for wear, likely because he had only been waiting to defend the manor from an attack. Lucem also wandered to the manor hall to listen to them, perhaps because he had gotten bored waiting in the kitchen for a late night snack.

    "Speak of the vesorion..." Hudan muttered looking at the ex-mercenary as he took his seat again, "and it shall appear."

    "I''m hardly the size of a vesorion, you know?" Feroy snorted as he took a seat in an empty armchair.

    "Uh... You''re hardly the size of what?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    "Oh... he meant a vesorion," Duvas replied. "You might not have heard of it up north in Ulriga, but it''s a dangerous creature found in the wastelands south of the Nisador mountain range." He explained, "It is huge - nearly as tall as a fully grown human - and perhaps twice as wide as that, not to mention that it has huge pincers as well."

    Duvas added, "There is probably no truth to these sayings, but legends say that when you are traveling in that region and you talk about a vesorion, it will appear soon after that to kill you and eat your corpse."

    Lucem looked scared after hearing that, and immediately ran away towards the kitchen.

    Seeing the worried look on Kivamus'' face, the majordomo waved his hand, and added with a smirk, "I''m sure there is nothing to it, milord. Old people like me just remember a lot of myths and legends."

    So it was like a car-sized crab preying on travelers in that wasteland, Kivamus thought. Just how many dangerous beasts did this world even have? He shook his head in exasperation. He wasn''t supposed to have been transported to the Jurassic era of this planet, was he?

    "Yeah, let''s not talk about that... vesorion, shall we?" Kivamus muttered. He looked at the ex-mercenary. "And where have you been?" S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I am actually here with an important piece of news, Milord," Feroy replied with a serious face, although somehow it seemed like he had recently been laughing a lot.

    "I was just talking with the other guards to set them up on a new watch schedule for tonight," Feroy added, "just to make sure those bandits who have escaped don''t return again in the night, you know? Then a guard who was out patrolling in the village came running to tell me that one of the bandits we had thought to have escaped is still here, and alive." He snorted before adding, "Well... mostly alive."

    "What do you even mean by that?" Kivamus asked with confusion.

    "Well, I''m still waiting for the guards to bring that bandit here so I can interrogate him," Feroy replied with a snort, "but from what I think it shouldn''t be too difficult now, especially after what that bandit has gone through." He added, "Earlier, I was wondering how a bandit is still alive and why he didn''t try to run away, but the story that the guard told me is as intriguing as it is funny."

    "Come on!" Hudan grumbled. "Just tell us about it already!"

    Feroy gave a quick laugh, then he began to explain. "You should have heard that story directly from that guard who reported it to me, I couldn''t stop laughing for a long time after it!"

    He continued, "So it happened like this. Earlier during the raid, when the bandits were spread throughout the village to loot grain and coin, one of them somehow stumbled on to the village blacksmith''s shop." Feroy snorted before adding, "He must have thought that he got access to the Duke''s treasury after seeing so many iron weapons and tools just ready for taking, you know? Since all he saw was that there was just a frail young woman there in the shop to defend it."

    Feroy continued the story, "So the bandit didn''t take long to gather up all the ready-to-use tools and weapons in a sack, and when he was done, he took another look at the young woman - who was described to me as prettier than most women - and he thought why not take her with him as well, since Nokozal - the leader of the bandits - did want to take some new slaves from Tiranat. So he began to drag her away from the shop, but obviously the woman didn''t go quietly."

    Then Feroy''s gaze went to the waiting jug of water kept on the table, and he quickly picked it up and began to drink from it.

    Being engrossed in the tale now, Kivamus asked, "And what happened after that?"

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    Feroy gave a contented sigh and put the now-empty wooden jug back on the table. He gave a grin as he added, "The blacksmith who owns that shop, Cedoron - the same guy who''s built like a Goddess damned adzee - heard her cries of help, and immediately came running back from where he had gone to help other villagers nearby. And when he saw the scene of the bandit dragging away the young woman - he got so mad with rage that even though the bandit was holding a naked sword, the blacksmith just picked up a wooden stick from the ground and began to beat up the bandit - badly."

    "But didn''t the bandit still have a sword?" Gorsazo asked with a frown.

    Feroy snorted. "He surely did, not that it helped him even a little bit." He continued after a quick laugh, "I can''t deny that other than Hudan there isn''t anyone to rival the blacksmith in his build, but even then, the bandit had a sword! How could he lose so easily!"

    The ex-mercenary laughed and clapped his thigh loudly as he added, "I mean... I mean... the blacksmith just had a stick in his hand, while the bandit had a sword on him! But man, the way that Cedoron beat him up with just a stick..." And immediately, Feroy began to guffaw at his own story.

    Others couldn''t help but laugh as well after hearing the story.

    "That poor bandit..." Hudan chuckled. "I bet he wouldn''t be able to look anyone in the eye for a while."

    After some time, when Feroy had calmed down from his repeated bouts of laughter, he continued, "A few other villagers had also come there after hearing the woman''s shouts for help, but as you can guess, they didn''t really need to help the blacksmith at all."

    He added with a snort, "And the fight ended when seeing the man''s rage, the bandit just gave up and dropped his sword aside, but it didn''t stop Cedoron at all! No, milord. He was so mad with rage that someone threatened that girl that he just kept beating up the bandit with that stick until it broke in two pieces! Then he tied up that bandit, and was going to start punching him with rage - and that guy''s punches carry a lot of power, I can assure you of that - but the rest of the villagers somehow stopped him, and convinced him to hand over the bandit to us."

    Hudan gave a laugh again. "Now I see why you looked like you were enjoying yourself so much when you came in. I mean... beating up a bandit who had a sword with just a wooden stick!" The guard captain started laughing again, and then all of them couldn''t help but join him once more.

    As Kivamus wiped his eyes, which had started to tear because of laughing so much, he realized that it felt really good to laugh, since he didn''t even remember when was the last time he had done that in this world. It was also a good thing to take away the mind of everyone from the bandit raid for a few minutes at least.

    Suddenly, he remembered who that young woman must be. "Wasn''t Leah the name of that young woman - who''s also one of our maids?"

    Feroy nodded. "I believe so, but I was just so surprised by the story of the fight when that guard was describing it to me, that I forgot to ask about it." After a moment, he added, "There is some good news as well. We have gotten three more horses now. The bandits had tied them up close to where they were hiding, so they could escape on them after the raid. So Calubo and a few other guards went back for them and found those horses nearby and brought them to us."

    "Oh, that''s wonderful!" Duvas exclaimed. "It''s going to help us a lot when we start farming after winter."

    Kivamus gave a nod as well. While those horses certainly wouldn''t be as useful as modern tractors for farming, every little bit would help them in making sure the village had enough to eat in the coming year.

    Eventually, Feroy stood up from his chair. "The guards should have brought that bandit back by now. I should go and interrogate him."

    "Alright," Kivamus said. "But don''t forget that Madam Helga is preparing something to eat for us."

    "I don''t really have an appetite right now after laughing so much," Feroy replied with a snort, "but maybe later. Anyway, I''ll be back soon with everything the bandit knows. It will also help to confirm what Calubo had told us." Then he gave a nod, and left the hall.

    *******

    After some time, when Kivamus had finished off the stew that Helga had made for them, along with some leftover bread from the feast earlier, he wanted to know what the time was. He knew that it was certainly after midnight, but there wasn''t any way to tell time more accurately here, not in the night anyway.

    Father Edric and his followers... or were they called acolytes? He wasn''t sure, but either way, the local temple of the Goddess rang hourly bells in the daytime which were easily audible throughout the village, and that worked well enough to tell time during the day. But it would certainly be helpful if there was a way to tell time accurately - or nearly so - even in the night. Could he do something about that?

    Or perhaps there was already a way to tell time in the night in the temple, but the old priest didn''t ring the bells in the night so he wouldn''t disturb the villagers'' sleep? He would have to visit the temple soon to find out.

    As he was contemplating about medieval timekeeping, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Feroy walked back inside.

    The ex-mercenary looked at the plates of those who were still eating and immediately spoke up, "Madam Helga, I would love some of that stew now if it''s still left."

    "Of course it''s left," Helga gave a laugh. "Just give me a moment and I will warm it up for you."

    Feroy nodded gratefully and took a seat as well.

    "So what did you find out?" Kivamus asked.

 Chapter 139 - 137. Sejkil

    Feroy began, "Before anything else, I asked a few things from that bandit while I was alone with him, and it confirmed everything Calubo had told us about the quarry. So it does seem like our previously lost guard is a trustworthy man."

    "Didn''t I..." Duvas took a tired yawn, before he quipped, "Didn''t I already tell you that?"

    "Sure you did, Sir Duvas," the ex-mercenary replied. "But it''s always better to confirm a person''s story from another source before believing him."

    Duvas gave a slow nod. "I can''t deny the usefulness of that, but you are still more paranoid than anyone else I''ve met."

    Feroy shrugged. "Being paranoid has saved my life countless times." He looked back at Kivamus. "Anyway, once I had confirmed Calubo''s story, I called him up as well so I could ask the bandit about those things which Calubo would know more about, since he''s already been at that quarry, you know?"

    Kivamus nodded and gestured to him to keep speaking.

    Feroy continued, "So the bandit is called Sejkil and he is in his late twenties. He is a small guy and doesn''t have any other family. Anyway, he used to be a work-hand for a shopkeeper in Yanzuri a few years ago, until one day he got too greedy and stole some gold from the merchant''s strongbox in the night." He snorted. "Of course, Sejkil thought he''d never be caught, like every first time thief believes."

    "Uh... in Yanzuri?" Kivamus asked, then remembered from the original Kivamus'' memories that it was a logging town located a few days'' journey away from Ulriga towards the northeast.

    Feroy nodded. "Aye, milord, he''s from that far." He gave a chuckle. "And of course, the merchant found out the very next day. So after booting him out from the job, he reported the guy to the Count of Yanzuri, but before the knights could seize him, Sejkil ran away from there and ended up in Cinran. Once he''d spent all that gold, he was drifting around, surviving on petty theft here and there, when Nokozal found him and recruited him to keep an eye on the stonecutters in that limestone quarry."

    "Truthfully, he didn''t seem to have any real experience in sword fighting," Feroy added, "apart from his time with the bandits."

    Hudan observed, "It makes sense." He chuckled before adding, "That must be why he gave up so easily when he saw a huge guy starting to beat him up, even if it was with just a stick."

    "Well, did you find out anything about Nokozal''s arrangement at the quarry?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary. "I am still curious about that."

    Feroy gave a quick laugh before he added, "Of course I did. Sejkil was singing like a canary so he wouldn''t get executed by us." He continued, "From what I understand, in return for getting to manage that quarry, Nokozal had to pay a fixed quota of coins every month to a baron called Zoricus, up in Cinran - somewhere around thirty gold or so - even though that was most of the revenue that the bandits got from selling the limestone."

    He added, "Zoricus does seem like a greedy bastard, from what I can tell. The land on which that quarry is located is also owned by him, and he still took most of what Nokozal earned from that quarry."

    "Again that Baron Zoricus..." Gorsazo muttered. "He seems to have his fingers in every pie."

    "It does seem so," Kivamus commented. He looked at Feroy. "And the demand for limestone must also have been bad in the past year, because of the high grain prices in the region, isn''t it?"

    "It''s just like you said," Feroy replied with a nod, "so Nokozal had started turning to banditry and looting to meet up his monthly quota, otherwise the baron would have easily replaced him and found another man to run the quarry."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Didn''t you once say that Baron Zoricus owns huge tracts of land in the west of Cinran?"

    "He does, my Lord," Duvas replied, "which is why it''s surprising that he is even using those bandits. I think he must already have enough coin that he didn''t really need to hire bandits for cheap to run that quarry."

    "He must be an ambitious man, that''s for sure," Gorsazo remarked. "He doesn''t seem to be satisfied with what he has, since he had already sent that farm kid Levalo to try to kill Lord Kivamus - most likely to try and capture the barony of Tiranat - and who knows what he''ll do in the future to achieve that."

    Kivamus took a deep breath remembering that night. "We''ll simply have to be more careful in the future. He''s just one of the many enemies I seem to have in the duchy." He asked Feroy, "Was there anything else the bandit told you?"

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    "Nothing else of importance," the ex-mercenary replied. "So what should we do with him? My suggestion is to execute him tonight."

    Kivamus shook his head. The barbaric justice of this world...

    "From what I understand," he said, "Sejkil didn''t kill anyone in the raid, and peacefully surrendered later - even if only to save his own life from the blacksmith. So I don''t think we should execute him. Keep him locked up in the barn for now, and we''ll decide what to do with him later."

    "There is still an option to send him to the Count," Duvas suggested, "like we used to do in the past."

    "That may be true," Kivamus spoke after thinking about it for a moment, "but I am in no mood to do Count Ebirtas any favors if he can''t even keep a check on the barons under him. Giving the bandit to him would be like rewarding him for that - since Sejkil would be a free slave whom he can sell for profit after the... punishment."

    He continued, "Baron Zoricus - who''s also under the Count''s rule - has already sent an assassin to kill me, and these bandits were also under his control, even if indirectly, so sending the captured bandit there might just be the same as setting him free, since that baron seems to have a lot of influence in Cinran."

    "You may be right, milord," Hudan commented. "And there''s another reason not to hand him over. While two of the bandits have escaped for sure, they still might not go back to Cinran any time soon, if only for a fear of punishment by that baron. Most likely they''d go back to that quarry. But if we give Sejkil to the Count, it might be the same as giving that Baron all the information about our defenses. Who knows what he''ll try the next time if he knows how unprepared we really are to defend against any serious attack - with our walls still incomplete and half of our guards with barely any training."

    Feroy added with a shrug, "That''s why I still think that executing him is the best idea. One less problem to worry about."

    "Perhaps," Kivamus said, "but I don''t want to set the precedent of executing even those men who have surrendered to us. If he hadn''t laid down his sword then it would be a completely different matter, and you would be justified in killing him - just like with the other bandits. But if someone surrenders to us, it is with the hope of mercy. And he didn''t kill anyone either. So I don''t believe that executing him would be fair." He commented, "While I certainly don''t believe in giving a third chance to anyone, I think that most people deserve a second chance in their lives."

    He continued after a moment of thought, "Actually, there is a lot of construction work to finish in the village and we already have a shortage of labour for that, even though the coal mines are still closed. And once those are opened again, we will need as many workers as we can get." He looked at the ex-mercenary. "You are a good judge of character. What do you think about that... Sejkil? If we keep him here, is he going to try to steal things from other villagers? Or do something even worse?"

    Feroy took a moment before replying. "You can never be sure about a person, but I don''t think he has it in him - and Calubo told me the same as well, based on his experience with the bandits there. It seems to me that Sejkil and the other bandits did a lot of things under the pressure of Nokozal - their chief."

    The ex-mercenary continued, "He used to be a decent worker in the past, but lost his way after a single moment of greed. And I know from personal experience that drifting around from here to there teaches a man a lot about the importance of having a regular wage and a place to call home. So, I don''t think there would be any such risk - at least in the short term, since he is already quite scared because of the beat down from the blacksmith." He added with a shrug, "But after a while, nobody knows."

    Kivamus thought about it and nodded. "That will have to be good enough for now. Let him stay locked up inside a barn for a week. That will give him enough time to contemplate on his life, then go and make him an offer to work as a laborer here in exchange for food and lodging - but no coin. He''ll have to work without any wages for at least a few years. We will reconsider what to do with him after that based on his conduct during this time."

    He added, "Even if he accepts, although I believe he will - since his only other option is for him to be maimed by the Count and being sold into slavery - there is always a possibility of him trying to steal something before escaping. But he won''t be able to go far in the winter, especially with his tracks visible in the snow which will start falling soon enough, and in that case you can show him what punishment really means."

    Feroy gave a nod. "I''ll do as you say. I still don''t like it, but I''ll keep an eye on him."

    "Good." Kivamus continued, "That reminds me that we still need a jail in Tiranat. It seems to be a basic requirement here with the rate we regularly need to lock people up."

    Feroy snorted but didn''t say anything.

    Hudan suggested, "Once the carpenter is free, we can tell him to make a small isolated room - with very strong walls - within the manor grounds to act as a jail. That will allow us to keep an eye on anyone we need to lock up in the future without worrying about them escaping, since our barns certainly weren''t designed with that purpose in mind."

    Kivamus nodded. "I''ll add that to the ever-growing list of things I need to get built here."

    His gaze fell at the scratches on the leather armor of Hudan. "Before I forget, let me say that you and the other guards have done their jobs very well in defending the village. Tiranat came out nearly unscathed, and we didn''t lose anything from our precious grain stores. Well done!"

    Hudan smiled at the praise. "I am only doing my duty, my lord."

    "And you are doing it excellently," Kivamus commended him.

    He asked after a moment, "What about the bodies of the bandits who have died? What are you going to do with them?" sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 140 - 138. Spoils Of War

    "For now we are only gathering them up outside the manor in the east", the guard captain replied. "Once we have stripped the bodies of anything useful - including their weapons, and any usable leather armor or fur coats - we will bury them next to the hills in the east. Of course, if any of the bandits had any coins, they would go to the one who finds them."

    "That''s..." Kivamus was going to reprimand him for allowing the guards to openly rob the bandits, but exhaled loudly when he remembered that all this must be the standard in this era in this world. Looting the bodies of the dead after a battle was something that had happened for most of history even on earth. But it was also true that in their current situation, they couldn''t let anything go to waste, whether it was the bandits'' fur coats, or their weapons - if only to get the iron, even if those weapons weren''t in good condition.

    However, looting the bodies to steal any coin from them was something which would be completely unprofessional if he ever wanted these guards to have the mental fortitude to defend against a serious attack. Discipline was one of the most important things in all of the successful armies on Earth, and even if he wasn''t building an army here, he wanted his guards to be professional instead of acting like part-time bandits themselves.

    He looked at the guard captain. "I can''t deny that we need all those things, so you can tell the guard to strip the bodies of anything useful, including any coins, but tell them very strictly that they are not to loot anything from those bodies for themselves - including coins."

    Hudan began to say something in protest but Kivamus spoke over him. "Listen to me! We can''t have our guards act the same as those bandits... like they are plunderers as well! Tell them very strictly that anything and everything they confiscate from the dead bandits will go to the manor stores - and not to themselves! Whether it is armor, sword or coin. None of it! I will not tolerate it."

    Hudan looked reluctant now, but gave a nod and kept listening.

    Kivamus continued, "The guards have done well in defending the village - but they are doing their duty - something for which they are already being paid. However, to encourage those guards who have discharged their duties well, I will reward them personally from my own treasury. If any of them deserve it, they will even get a medal from me. But I will not have them act as looters! Make sure to tell them about this very clearly. And tell them that anyone who goes against these orders will be severely punished."

    "But..." Hudan asked with confusion, "if you take those coins from those bandits for your treasury, and then give it back to them, then isn''t it the same thing anyway? What''s the point of making it so complicated?"

    "The point is discipline!" Kivamus exclaimed while slamming his hands on the armrests. "If there is a bigger attack on the village in the future, and their focus is only on trying to select the most juicy target so they can loot it for themselves, then a professional army will crush them in a moment! There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things. And for my guards... my soldiers... to act the same as any bandits would - that is simply not acceptable."

    He continued, "There is a lot of work for them to do tonight, but by tomorrow, you and Feroy will tell me if any of them have done exceedingly well - those who have gone above and beyond their... call of duty. And once you have verified their stories from any villagers who were nearby - then in the evening I will reward them personally. Is that understood?"

    Hudan sighed. "I can see your reasons for this, but the guards still won''t like it." He took a deep breath. "But an order is an order. I will make sure that every single one of them follows it, no matter what."

    Kivamus smiled. "Good!"

    Gorsazo commented, "This is the first time that the guards have fought under you, so it would also help their morale to reward the best amongst them. I support this idea."

    "I think that giving them medals is fine," Duvas said, "but to give them some money as reward too? I''m not sure if we can really afford it right now."

    "It will be fine, Duvas," Kivamus reassured him. "We need them to stop their habit of acting as looters - since it will be very beneficial in the long term, and it still won''t even cost us that much anyway. We can afford to give a reward to those who are risking their lives for us."

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    Duvas nodded after a moment. "As you wish then."

    Hudan stood up from his chair. "By your permission, milord, I should leave now to keep an eye on those guards. I also have to make sure that there are regular patrols around the village throughout the night."

    "Alright then, you can leave," Kivamus replied.

    Feroy glanced at the guard captain. "I''ll be there soon after I get something to eat, and I''ll join the guards on one of those patrols. You are the one who saw all the action, and I was only waiting here in the manor." He smirked while putting his hand on the scabbard of his sword. "And who knows? Maybe I''ll get lucky and one of those bandits will decide to return here."

    Hudan just shook his head and laughed. "So you are a bloodthirsty vesorion, after all. Or perhaps an ale-thirsty vesorion?"

    Feroy just laughed loudly in reply. "Oh, don''t even remind me... How I miss my ale! But alas, we can''t allow any guard to drink until the threat of the bandits has passed completely." He shrugged. "That means I can''t drink either."

    Duvas snorted. "That time will come, don''t you worry. You are the one who made us spend our limited coin on a full barrel of ale."

    Feroy laughed. "What can I say, Sir Duvas, us guards live on ale as much as we live on food."

    Everyone laughed at that image for a while, and then with a nod, the guard captain exited the hall.

    Kivamus stood up while looking at the others. "Well, it''s been a long night. Let''s get some rest now."

    Duvas stood up as well and nodded. "I''ll leave too. My old bones need some sleep before I start managing the laborers in the morning."

    And with that, the fateful day of the first feast organized in the village and of the successfully repelled bandit raid was over.

    *******

    It was early morning now, and Kivamus had come down near the gates of the manor to see off the traveling merchant. Although there was no wind, the skies were completely cloudy, and it was nearly freezing. He tied his fur coat tighter around him, and warmed his hands above a brazier burning near the gate.

    Earlier, the two guards who were on duty at the gates had thanked him for those braziers once again. In their opinion, the previous baron had never even thought of doing something like that for them, but Kivamus had assured them that there was more than enough coal for it. Tiranat was a coal mining village after all. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As he looked around him, a small caravan of four wagons was standing there, getting ready for its final departure from Tiranat before the winter. Pydaso was checking up on something in their leading wagon, while his own guard as well as two other guards that Hudan had provided him for the journey, were making sure that all the knots were tight and the wagon beds were fully covered with oilcloth for the journey. He had also provided two extra horses to the leaving caravan, so that the guards would be able to ride back on them. The three horses which they had gotten from the bandits had certainly made it much easier to do it, without slowing down the construction work here because of the absence of those horses.

    Nearby, the guard captain was talking with those guards who were leaving with the merchant, while Duvas was managing the allotting of laborers to both the foremen - Yeden in the north, and Pinoto in the south. Gorsazo and Feroy were also standing next to him near the same brazier.

    "As much as I like traveling, I''m glad that I don''t have to leave for Cinran once again," Feroy commented while rubbing his hands together after warming them above the brazier. "It gets tiring, you know? Not to mention that it''d be so cold on the journey this time, since it had already started snowing there when we arrived."

    Kivamus nodded. "At least there shouldn''t be any serious danger of bandits on this journey. Only two of them have escaped from Nokozal''s group, and it''s unlikely that another big group is waiting for an ambush on the road to Cinran."

    He added, "That reminds me, did you find out who was the other bandit who escaped?"

    Feroy nodded. "Yeah, I asked the guards about that. Calubo told me that they hadn''t found the body of a small guy he only knew as the runt. So he must be the one who survived along with Nokozal." He snorted, "Of course, there is also Sejkil - the bandit who surrendered yesterday - but he isn''t going anywhere else for a while." He continued, "Also, Calubo wanted to talk with you about something yesterday. It seemed important to him."

    "Alright. Where is he?" Kivamus asked.

    "Must still be sleeping I think," Feroy answered. "The poor guy had barely eaten anything in the past few weeks, and he seemed as tired as a deer running away from an adzee all night. So after he had eaten yesterday''s meal, I''d told the other guards not to wake him up for now, so he could get some rest in the servants'' hall."

    "That was a good idea," Kivamus said. "You can bring him to me whenever he is ready to talk."

    Soon, Hudan and Pydaso came walking towards them.

 Chapter 141 - 139. Barons Medal of Sacrifice

    "We are ready to leave, milord," the merchant said. He added with a smile, "It''s been really good doing business with you. I hope to come back right after the snow melts on the road after winter."

    Kivamus smiled as well. "I will wait for your return. And don''t forget to buy the maps!"

    "I''ll certainly try, milord, but no promises about it," Pydaso replied. "By your leave, we should depart now. And thank you, once again, for providing me with those guards for the journey."

    Kivamus waved it off. "It''s nothing."

    Pydaso smiled. "Even so, having another two well armed men next to me on that road certainly reassures my mind. I''ll make sure to reward them well for their help."

    And with that, the merchant returned to the leading wagon, and with a quick whip on the horses, the small caravan lurched into motion. The creaking of wagon axles was the only sound they heard for a while as the wagons exited the manor gates one by one, and before long, all of them had turned into a nearby alley, moving away from their sights.

    "So there goes the last caravan..." Gorsazo commented. "At least we were able to buy enough grain for the village to survive through the winter."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus nodded, "but we''ll still be short on wheat to complete the sowing in the full area that we are planning to farm. But yes, it''s certainly a start." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked at the guard captain. "Did you find out about any guards who did their duties well enough to reward them with a medal?"

    Hudan thought about it for a moment. "I think so. Calubo has to be one of them for sure, since he was the one who risked his life to escape from the bandits and gave us early warning about the raid. I don''t know what would be the result if we hadn''t gotten that warning in time. He also killed two of the bandits as well, just by himself. So if anyone should get a medal for bravery, it should be him."

    "Alright," Kivamus said. "Who else?"

    "Other than him," Hudan continued, "most of the other guards worked in pairs to kill the bandits, so I''m not sure if they would qualify for bravery if they had an advantage of two against one. However, having fought against Nokozal myself, I know how tough it would be for anyone to even survive against that huge bastard - not to mention defeating him. So, Tesyb can also be given a medal, since he managed to hold on against Nokozal by himself while protecting the merchant''s family at the same time, until I reached there to help him."

    "Okay, I think Tesyb deserves it for protecting the merchant''s family. That makes two of them." Kivamus asked, "Didn''t you mention that another two guards had gotten injured?"

    "They did," Hudan replied, "although neither of their injuries are that serious. The losuvil paste was a lot of help for them yesterday, although I think there aren''t many more leaves left now. But should even those men get rewarded?"

    "We can certainly choose not to give them anything," Kivamus replied, "but I think it''s a good idea to show some form of appreciation for those who have risked their lives for others and gotten injured in the process. See it like this, most likely they wouldn''t have gotten wounded if they weren''t working as a guard, would they?"

    Hudan nodded slowly. "I can see the logic in that." He added, "Alright, that''s two more guards then. Then should we give the same medal to them? Although, we don''t even have any medals right now anyway. From what I know, the previous baron never gave any such thing to anyone here. Only those of a higher station than him, like the Count or even the Duke are the ones who usually give any kind of reward to their people."

    "Well, I have no intention of following in the path of the previous baron, that''s for sure." Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "But before we decide on that, do you know if I am even allowed to give medals?"

    "There are no rules against that from what I know," Gorsazo replied, "and I have read most of the books in the library in Ulriga Palace about the regulations for nobles. So there is nothing stopping you from rewarding someone who works for you. What you choose to call those rewards or medals is completely your choice, as long as you don''t try to give the same name to those rewards as something which can only be awarded by the Duke or maybe the King."

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    "That makes sense. Then it should be fine if I call them baron''s medals." Kivamus added, "I think two types of medals would be good for now. We can give the Baron''s Medal of Courage to those who have risked their lives in their service to the village and shown extraordinary bravery. Tesyb and Calubo would qualify for that." He continued, "Other than that, I will also make a Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice for those who were injured while carrying out their duty. That can be given to the two other guards who were injured yesterday."

    Planning to give a vague excuse, he looked at Gorsazo - who just gave a short nod, knowing that he was giving an excuse - and added, "This is the first time that I''m going to be giving any medals. But from what I have read in some obscure books, there is also another medal which is given to the families of those who have died in combat while on duty. But thankfully, we don''t have to give that medal for now. And of course, there will also be a monetary reward in the form of coins to anyone who gets a medal."

    Hudan seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before he replied. "I''m still not completely sure if preventing the guards from looting the bodies was a good idea or not, since it was difficult to explain it to them last night and most of them are still disgruntled about it. But if we are still going to give some reward - at least to those guards who have performed very well in their duties - I think that should mostly satisfy them."

    He looked at Feroy with a smirk. "But based on the above three classifications, our resident vesorion wouldn''t get any medal, would he?"

    The ex-mercenary laughed. "I hardly got to do anything yesterday since you made me stay in the manor to defend, so I don''t need any medals. But I would certainly love a mug of ale in the evening to compensate for that."

    Kivamus laughed at that. "Of course, I think we will be fairly sure by tonight that the two bandits aren''t going to attack again. And even if they do, the guards are ready for it by now, and they can take on the two bandits easily enough. So I think you should give the guards some good rest in turns, and that also includes both you and Hudan. And those who aren''t on duty can certainly be allowed a mug of ale. But just a single mug for now, since we can''t allow them to get completely wasted - just in case."

    "Usually a single mug is good enough for most of us, you know?" Feroy commented. "Well, I''ll go and see if Calubo is awake now." And with that, he walked back towards the servants'' hall.

    Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "We still need to get those medals made by evening. Of course, we can only afford to give medals made of iron for now. So let''s return to the manor hall and draw up a few simple designs on a piece of parchment. Then we''ll send a servant to Cedoron and tell him to make a few of them by evening. That''s when I''ll distribute the medals too."

    "Drawing has never been my strong suit," Gorsazo remarked with a laugh, "but I''m willing to give it a try."

    At that moment, Duvas came walking towards them, likely because he was done with his tasks.

    "By the way," Kivamus asked the guard captain, "what loot did we get from the bandits'' bodies yesterday?"

    "It was a decent haul," Hudan replied with a grin. "Including Sejkil''s stuff, we got eight damaged fur coats and the same number of leather armors from the bandits - of course, most of them also have a few holes in them. Apart from that, we got six swords, two daggers and two heavy warbows - which can also work as hunting bows. Amongst the weapons, the warbows seem to be in a good enough condition to be put to use immediately, but most of the swords will need a good repair, while a couple of them might not be of any other use than scrap iron." He added, "And we already got three horses from them yesterday."

    "So those lowlifes were good for something, after all..." Duvas muttered with a scoff. "Although most of that stuff seems to be already damaged."

    "Even so," Kivamus asked with a frown, "how do those bandits have that many weapons anyway, especially those made from iron? Even our manor barely has more iron weapons than them." He added, "Iron doesn''t come cheap at all, so I thought that most of them would be using sharpened sticks or repurposed tools as their makeshift weapons."

    "I can''t be completely sure about it, of course," Gorsazo replied, "but by now we have gotten enough hints that these bandits are in some way affiliated to Baron Zoricus, who is easily the richest baron in Count Cinran''s domain. He might just be sponsoring them, possibly by giving them the damaged weapons from his own armory."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "It certainly could be. Anyway, those warbows would be very helpful for us to start hunting."

    Looking at the guard captain, he said, "As for the swords and daggers, it''s up to you to decide which of them are still usable - in which case you should still take them to Cedoron so he can repair them if possible. And just give him the ones which are too damaged, so he can reforge them into other tools."

    He looked at Duvas. "But do we have anyone here who can repair the leather armor? It will need some decent stitching and some spare leather to make them usable again."

 Chapter 142 - 140. Barracks

    "Well, we don''t have a tanner in the village," the majordomo replied, "since there was never enough animal hide for them to tan into leather - mainly because the previous baron never allowed hunting at a large scale here. But Leah has some experience in repairing our armors when they got damaged in the past. While there wouldn''t be much spare leather here, I think she might still be able to stitch together five or six decent armors from the eight damaged ones that we have." He added, "Repairing the fur coats would be easier, since even patching them would allow them to keep a person warm enough."

    Kivamus nodded. "Okay, that''s good. Tell Madam Nerida not to give her the usual sewing or repairing tasks for now, so she can focus on repairing the armors fully. Even with six new leather armors we still won''t have enough of them to properly equip all the new guards, but they will still help a lot."

    He looked at Hudan and continued, "As for the fur coats, we already have a few of them in the manor house for our use, so two of the repaired ones can be used by you and Feroy, and you can give the rest of them to those guards who go on patrols in the village, since they will have to stay in the open for hours at a time, and they won''t even be able to use the braziers during that time - unlike our guards on gate duties."

    "The guards and I will certainly be very thankful for that," Hudan commented, "but are you sure you don''t want to keep them for yourself? Perhaps as spares?"

    Kivamus laughed. "What will I even do with them? I already have a fur coat for my own use, and just hanging more of them in my room isn''t going to make me any warmer. You can keep them in the servants hall and every night you should allot them to those guards who are going on patrols."

    Hudan gave a grateful nod.

    "That reminds me," Kivamus continued, "when I visited the servants'' hall yesterday, I noticed that there just weren''t enough sleeping places for all the servants and the guards now."

    "It''s not really a problem," Hudan said with a shrug, "since at least half of them are on duty somewhere at any particular moment, so there isn''t usually any shortage of sleeping space there."

    "Perhaps," Kivamus commented. "But we have already started trying to recruit women as guards who will need even more sleeping spaces - even if they are staying on the upper floor with the maids for now. And regardless of that, I believe it would be a good idea in the future to accommodate the guards separately from the servants, since they need to have a lot of camaraderie in each other to be able to trust another guard enough that they would allow them to watch their backs in the middle of a battle."

    "Is there really a need to spend our limited coin on making another building though?" Duvas asked.

    "Actually, I can see the point in that," Hudan observed. "When I was training with other squires in Cinran to become a knight, our living quarters were also separate from the other manual servants of the knights." He nodded. "So I think it would be a good idea. It would also allow Feroy and I to stay with the other guards all the time to keep an eye on them and to keep them on their toes for any sudden attack on the village."

    "Exactly. So in the future," Kivamus continued, "we will make a new barracks in the manor where only the guards will stay. Of course, we will have to make it a two story building, unlike the longhouses, so the male guards can stay on the ground floor, while the female guards can stay on the upper floor."

    "But it would cost us a lot to hire the carpenter for that," Duvas observed, "not to mention the cost of the materials for a two story building. And it might take even longer than building a longhouse if you want to make it a two floor building."

    "That''s true," Kivamus replied, "but like Hudan said, all our guards are still able to stay in the servant hall for now, so it''s not like we have any hurry to complete the barracks."

    He didn''t say it openly, but Kivamus knew that apart from the Baron who had already tried to kill him, his brothers still might not be satisfied after sending him to a remote village in the middle of nowhere. And if they decide to do something to rectify their error, the two dozen guards he had would stand no chance against the Duke''s army. But hopefully, they wouldn''t think of doing anything like that until the time came closer for succession to the Duke''s position by one of the three brothers.

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    Their father - who was also his own father in this world - was getting old and got sick occasionally, but he didn''t think that the Duke was going to die in the next few years. But when it did happen eventually... only his brothers themselves would know what they must surely be planning to capture the Duke''s seat.

    Thinking about his brothers made him wonder how his newfound sister was doing. Astela was the only one who supported him against their older brothers, and it had been months since he had heard from her. But it was also true that without any modern communication methods in this world, that was likely a normal duration to talk with people who didn''t live in the same city. But hopefully, she was doing okay these days.

    Coming back to the present, he looked at others and tried to present the future threats to himself without openly giving his own reasons behind this. He began, "In the future, keeping in mind all the threats against the village, who knows, maybe we''ll need to recruit even more guards, so we can just make another two story building after that, and then we could shift the male guards to one building and women to the other, which will double our capacity of housing in the barracks."

    Duvas raised his eyebrows. "I don''t see how we could afford to recruit any more guards, or why we would even need dozens of guards, but yes, we can leave that decision for the future."

    "Of course, I''m not planning to hire more guards any time soon." Kivamus added, "We have already designated the location in the east of the manor between the manor walls and the new village walls as a dedicated training area for the guards. So when the village walls are complete, we can start building a barracks at the same location."

    Hudan nodded. "Keeping the barracks within the training ground would be a good idea as well." He added with a smirk, "None of the guards would be able to slack off after that."

    Kivamus laughed. "Of course, that''s for sure."

    He looked around the manor for a moment, and smiled when he saw the servants and maids going about their daily tasks with enthusiasm even in this near freezing weather. With their food stores in the barn having more wheat and vegetables than they have had in months, if not years, they seemed reassured that they weren''t going to starve any time soon, and that had worked wonders for their morale.

    But it was only a small start. There was still a lot he could do, and would do, to make their lives better.

    He looked back at the others, while clutching his fur coat tighter around him. "Well, let''s return back to the manor hall. I miss the warmth of the fireplace, and we still need to design those medals."

    With a nod, Gorsazo and Duvas started following him towards the manor house, while Hudan walked over to the guards to talk about something.

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    Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall near the fireplace while waiting for Feroy and Calubo to discuss whatever the previously lost guard wanted to talk about. The fire was cracking on one end of the hall, while Madam Helga and Syryne were clearing up the cutlery and utensils from the long dining table on the other side.

    Earlier, they had taken a simple breakfast of freshly baked bread and some leftover stew from yesterday, apart from a couple of fried eggs for them. Then he and Gorsazo had drawn up a few designs for the two types of medals with some inputs from Duvas as well, and eventually they had settled on a simple design which would be easy enough for the blacksmith to make and yet something which would look unique and make the guards proud when they received them.

    After that, they had sent a servant to Cedoron along with those designs on a parchment, and told him to let the blacksmith know that he needed to make half a dozen of each type of medal in total - just to have some more of them handy for the future, since it would barely use up any iron - although two of each type of medals were needed by evening.

    Before long, the servant had returned back and reported that the blacksmith had looked confused in the beginning that the baron wanted him to waste some iron and his precious time which could be used to forge more hinges, hammers and iron nails. But Cedoron had agreed nonetheless, and promised to send a worker back with those medals by evening.

    Soon, the door of the manor hall opened and Feroy walked inside while accompanied by Calubo. The ex-mercenary took a seat while the former guard remained standing.

    "What did you want to talk about?" Kivamus asked the former guard.

    Calubo hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and began speaking. "Milord, I want to thank you for freeing me from those bandits and for getting rid of them - or at least, most of them, since that huge bastard Nokozal and the runt are still alive. The time I spent as their slave was very difficult for me, and I''m glad that those dead bandits would never be able to kidnap anyone again."

    Kivamus shrugged. "There is no need to thank me. I am only doing what I need to do to protect the village. And you are the one who escaped and freed yourself from those bandits. I did nothing to help you in that, so you don''t need to thank me for that either."

    Calubo gazed at him carefully for a moment, then gave a nod. "As you want, milord. But..." he hesitated again. "But I would like to ask a favor from you."

 Chapter 143 - 141. A Heartfelt Plea

    Kivamus gave a smile. "Of course, you have earned more than a favor by giving us the information about the raid on time and helping us to kill the bandits. Tell me, what do you want? Is it coins? Or maybe good food? I will try to fulfill your demand as long as it is reasonable."

    "It''s... not that," Calubo muttered. "I don''t want coins or any other reward for myself. But..." he took a deep breath again. "The stonecutters - the other slaves who worked at that quarry along with me, are not in a good condition. The bandits barely gave us anything to eat, since Nokozal said that he couldn''t afford to buy any more grain at the high prices now, and the rare small game which they hunted there went mostly to the bandits, and the stonecutters only got the scraps."

    Kivamus gave an understanding nod. In the frantic hours after the raid yesterday, he had forgotten about that quarry and the people who still lived there. With the winter already here, and with barely anything to eat... he shook his head slowly. He already knew that this world was a cruel place, and it was very difficult for commoners to survive here, not to mention those who were slaves. But what could he even do about it?

    Calubo continued, "A thunderstorm a couple of months ago had caused flooding in the quarry, and since then everyone had been living in temporary huts there - which were far from enough to protect them from even the mild weather of late autumn." He had a far away look in his eyes, which had started to look a little wet by now. "And when the snow starts falling there, most of them won''t survive the winter..."

    Calubo looked directly at Kivamus, and gave a deep bow. "Milord, I beg you to save those people by giving them some food. I have friends there, people who cared for me when the bandits beat me up again and again. If they don''t get something to eat soon, I will never be able to see them again." He added with his voice full of emotion, "Please don''t let them die..."

    Kivamus took a deep breath as he thought about this. "Calubo, you have been out of the village for a while, but you already know the current situation of the village. Tiranat barely has enough food stored for us to survive the winter. I''m not sure if we can afford to feed any more people."

    Calubo bowed even lower, and spoke with tears falling from his eyes. "But they are also people, milord! They don''t deserve to die of starvation and cold in that desolate quarry. Just allow me to take two sacks of wheat to the quarry. No, even a single sack of wheat would be enough! I know Tiranat can barely afford it, but I saw the caravans full of grain coming from Cinran."

    He stood straight with his eyes still tearful, and continued, "I beg you, milord. Just provide me with a single sack, and I will be in your debt for life. And I will... I will even pay for it. I will borrow money from the other guards and some friends in the village, and I''ll pay you for that sack of wheat. So please grant me this boon!" He spoke in a loud voice, with his tears flowing freely now, "I beg you, milord! I beg you..." and then he openly broke into sobs and bowed again.

    Kivamus was already feeling uncomfortable after knowing what was happening to the people in that quarry, but seeing the scene in front of him with Calubo begging him to save their lives... it was tugging at his heartstrings. This guard, who had already gone through so much, was willing to borrow money to feed that many people, even though he couldn''t afford it, and Kivamus was going to just keep watching?

    And the guard wasn''t even asking anything for himself. He only wanted him to save the lives of others. Although... it couldn''t be that Calubo was lying about everything and he just wanted to ride away with that sack of wheat for himself, could it?

    As he looked in the eyes of the former guard, he realized that no, it wasn''t like that. Calubo''s eyes only held the truth in them. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus took a deep breath, thinking about the quarry. Could he really do nothing about the stonecutters, knowing what their fate would be in the harsh winter days? Would be able to look himself in the eye if those stonecutters died from hunger, if he knew that he could have saved those people?

    He exhaled and looked at the former guard. "You can stand up now, Calubo. I need to discuss this with others. I''ll let you know about my decision soon. For now, you should go and get something to eat from the kitchen in the servants'' hall. You need that food."

    Calubo stood up straighter and wiped his eyes with his still dirty and torn sleeves. He looked Kivamus in the eyes. "How can I eat anything, Milord, when I know that Hyola and others are starving there?"

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    That proved it. Now Kivamus didn''t have any doubt about Calubo or any of his story. This was not someone who would try to take advantage of the village or anyone else.

    "You can only save them if you have enough energy to save yourself, right?" Kivamus asked. "Even if I give you a sack of grain, what if you just pass out from hunger on the way, because you didn''t eat anything? So go on and get something to eat first."

    He looked at the ex-mercenary. "Feroy, take him to the servants hall and make sure he eats something."

    Feroy gave an understanding nod, and held Calubo with one of his arms and slowly began to walk with him towards the outer door.

    *******

    "You can''t save everyone, milord!" Duvas said agitatedly, "You just can''t! This kingdom is way too big for that, and you are only a baron, with all due respect. And your treasury is already empty, even without any more people to feed!"

    "I know that money is important, but human lives are even more important!" Kivamus retorted back. "And anyway, I''m not trying to save everyone. They are just a couple of dozen slaves who don''t have anyone to look after them."

    Duvas snorted. "Yeah, they are slaves - but not your slaves. Whoever bought them is the only one responsible for them."

    "Right," Kivamus scoffed. "So we should wait for their slave-master Nokozal to reach the quarry then. After his raid failed, he must have bought a few sacks of grain from Cinran to give a feast to the stonecutters, right?"

    Duvas raised both of his hands up in frustration. "No, but those aren''t even your people! They live on the land of Baron Zoricus! I know that Nokozal isn''t going to feed them, but even then the responsibility lies on Baron Zoricus, not you! We can barely afford to feed the village, and you want to bring even more mouths to feed?"

    "Yeah, the slaves do live on the land of that Zoricus," Kivamus countered, "but tell me, how many of them live there by choice? None of them! They were taken there by the bandits who feed them scraps and plan to use them as work animals until they die, and then they would buy more slaves for cheap."

    He continued, "And the bandits feeding them scraps would only have been the case if they had been successful in raiding our village and taken back some grain with them, but the raid certainly didn''t go Nokozal''s way, did it? So what do you think would happen to the slaves in the winter with barely any food? And that''s assuming they survive the cold of winter, which is far from likely."

    Before Duvas replied anything, Gorsazo gave his opinion as well. "Feroy had told me earlier that it is common for the bandits and mercenaries to steal slaves from others. And we know that Nokozal''s group is not big enough now to prevent the stealing of their slaves by another group."

    "Hear that?" Kivamus asked the majordomo. "And if a bigger bandit gang like the Torhan''s group takes those slaves away, they might never see the light of day again. Many of them would die on that journey itself, while others wouldn''t even last the whole winter."

    Feroy, who had returned after taking Calubo to the servants'' hall, had been sitting quietly during their discussion until now, but he spoke up too. "It is also possible that when Nokozal sees that he can''t keep his slaves for himself, he will just kill them instead of letting someone else take them from him."

    That immediately shut up everyone else, including Duvas who was going to say something again.

    After taking a moment to digest that news, Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary. "That''s... inhuman. Does that really happen though? Would Nokozal really kill those slaves in cold blood just because he can''t keep them himself?"

    Feroy gave a nod. "I have even seen that happen myself. In the past, when I was with a group of mercenaries, they had gone to raid another group''s hideout, and when the leader of that group saw that he wasn''t going to win, he immediately killed the two slaves he had - including a woman - so that no one else could own those slaves other than him."

    The ex-mercenary added, "Of course, I don''t know Nokozal personally, but from what I''ve heard about him from Calubo and Sejkil, the bandit chief wouldn''t hesitate for a moment in doing something like that."

    Everyone was quiet for a while after that.

    After some time, Kivamus looked at everyone in the face, and began speaking. "I''ve made my decision, and it is final."

    At the same time, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Hudan walked inside with Calubo following him.

    The guard captain jerked a thumb at the former guard, "I found him waiting outside the door. He told me that he had eaten enough so he wanted to hear your decision now." Hudan asked curiously, "What is that about?"

    Kivamus gestured to them to take seats as well. "It''s good that you all are here now. I was going to call the two of you anyway."

 Chapter 144 - 142. An eye for an eye

    Kivamus looked at Calubo and began, "After a lot of discussion with my advisors, I have come to a decision." He added with a smile, "I have decided to support you."

    Immediately, Calubo''s eyes widened in surprise like he couldn''t believe what was happening.

    Gorsazo looked at him and gave a nod in support, while Feroy remained silent with his usual inscrutable expression.

    Kivamus continued speaking to the former guard. "But before I explain further, you should know that it wasn''t easy to come to this decision. The village''s food situation is precarious at best, but I can''t leave those stonecutters to starve after knowing that there isn''t anyone else to look after them anymore - not after our guards have already killed most of the bandits."

    "I..." Calubo faltered as he tried to speak. "I... I can''t thank you enough for this! I will forever be in your debt, milord!" He continued with happiness etched on his face, "So will I get a full sack of grain?"

    He carried on without waiting for Kivamus to respond. "But can I also get a horse to carry that sack to the quarry? That would make it much easier, but I''ll even carry it on my back if you can''t spare a horse right now. Although the snow is going to start falling soon, but..."

    "Slow down, Calubo," Kivamus interrupted him. "Take a deep breath and let me speak first."

    Calubo nodded quickly while holding his knees with his hands to stop them from shaking in nervous excitement. "I''m sorry, milord. Please carry on."

    Kivamus nodded. ''I am not going to give you a sack of grain to carry to the quarry. Looking at you right now, even if you travel on a horse, you might just keel over on the way."

    "But... but..." Calubo stammered with surprise.

    "Let me finish first," Kivamus stopped him again. "Knowing how Nokozal is going to treat those slaves when he reaches there - especially since his raid has failed and he wouldn''t have enough food even for himself - I have decided to rescue those stonecutters. Or you can say, we''ll liberate them from the bandits."

    Calubo seemed lost for words. "But... how?"

    Hudan, who hadn''t been present for the earlier discussion, also looked surprised by his decision, but he had a habit of following the orders of his superiors even if he didn''t support them, and remained quiet.

    However, Duvas interrupted them and said, "Are you really sure about this, my Lord? There is still an option to just send them a sack of grain."

    "We talked about this, Duvas." Kivamus added, "You already know that even if we handed over a sackful of wheat to the bandits - and I''m not sure if I''m willing to do that - most likely they will just keep that grain for themselves, and the stonecutters will continue to starve."

    "But... I still don''t think that you need to do this..." Duvas said with a shake of his head.

    Kivamus took a deep breath. "Do you really prefer the alternative then?" He asked the majordomo again, "Do you really want them to be killed in cold blood by the bandits if they can''t afford to feed them, or if another bandit group tries to steal the slaves? Even when we could have saved their lives so easily?"

    Duvas just sighed and shook his head slowly.

    "Just think of them as getting more laborers for the village," he tried to persuade the majordomo. "They are trained workers, and once they get some good meals in them, they will help us a lot to finish all the construction on time."

    He continued, "And luckily, the caravan was able to go on a third trip - which means we still have enough grain to feed everyone throughout the winter, even after including those stonecutters. That will certainly mean that we will be short on seeds for sowing in the next spring, but we can still buy more seeds after the winter." He added, "It will cost us for sure, but I think that''s a small price to pay for saving so many lives. And all our guards are already back from the caravan trips, so we can also start sending hunting parties soon. That will give us an extra source of food, and it''ll reduce our consumption of wheat. It''s certainly not going to be easy, but I believe it''s doable."

    "I understand, my lord," Duvas said with a reluctant nod. "It''s your decision after all, and I''ll do my best to follow it. But I still had to give my opinions against that."

    "Of course you should," Kivamus replied to him. "I always want all of you to be completely free in speaking to me and in giving your opinions - even if they go against mine in every respect."

    "Alright." He looked at Calubo again. "Here''s what we are going to do. We will send a squad of guards to that quarry, accompanied by you to show them the way, and their task will be to kill any bandits they find there and to bring back the slaves to Tiranat. Now that we have decided to rescue those slaves, we just can''t allow that bandit camp to continue to exist." He snorted. "So far it has only been Zoricus trying to harm me and my village, but let''s see how he likes the taste of his own medicine..." At everyone''s blank expressions, he added, "Uh... a bitter herbal remedy."

    As Gorsazo began to say something, Kivamus spoke over him. "I know what you are going to say, but it''s not like I''m trying to go against him openly. I know very well how influential he is in the court of Count Cinran. But he has already tried to assassinate me, while his bandits have tried to raid and loot my village. So for us to retaliate in kind by killing every bandit in that quarry is only fair."

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    Calubo looked stunned. "But... that''s... I didn''t expect this, but those bandits certainly deserve it. Thank you so much, milord!"

    Feroy gave a fierce grin after that, while Hudan nodded as well.

    Kivamus continued, "Doing this will give us one less bandit camp to worry about in this region and it will also deprive Zoricus of any income from that quarry for a while - since those slaves are basically free labor for him and they are giving him a regular profit from that quarry - profit which he is using to hire assassins against me!" He shrugged. "So why should we let Zoricus continue to profit from those bandits? Clearing that quarry of those lowlifes in retaliation is the least we can do."

    Gorsazo thought about it for a moment, and said, "I agree with your reasons, but what if someone tells the Count about it? That won''t end well for us."

    Kivamus smirked and just looked at Feroy, expecting his reaction in advance.

    The ex-mercenary grinned from ear to ear. "The bandits won''t know what hit them before we send them to meet the Goddess!"

    Kivamus laughed. "Exactly! Since none of the bandits would be alive to tell the story of who attacked that quarry, and the stonecutters will already be in Tiranat and are unlikely to say anything against us, Zoricus would never even know what happened in that quarry. So we don''t need to worry about him trying to complain to the Count against us, as long as none of the bandits remain alive after our attack."

    Hudan grinned. "I''ll make sure of it, milord. Those lowlifes deserve that."

    Calubo - who was still looking a little surprised at Kivamus'' decision to assault the quarry and liberate the slaves - began to speak finally. "I like this plan. I don''t see any reason why you should let Nokozal keep those slaves anymore - not after he has already attacked the village once." Then he gave a nod. "I think it''s a good idea for you to take over those slaves for yourself. You will easily gain more than two dozen new slaves this way - for free - and I know that those people will do anything to get out from under the thumb of those bandits. I''ll do my best to support you in this!"

    Kivamus was going to interrupt him in the middle to tell him that he didn''t want the stonecutters as slaves, but he waited to let the former guard finish his sentence. But before he said anything to refute it, the guard captain spoke up.

    "You''ve missed a lot in the time you''ve been away from Tiranat," Hudan said while grinning and patting the back of Calubo. "There are no slaves here. Not anymore."

    Calubo looked confused. "What do you mean by that? I know there were nearly half a dozen slaves under the previous baron!" Then he looked at Kivamus with horror. "Did you... did you kill them all? Because you couldn''t afford to feed them anymore?"

    "What?" Kivamus was the one to be surprised now. The things which people took as normal behavior for nobles in this world scared him a little. "Of course not! Why would I ever kill innocent people?"

    "But then... how?" Calubo asked.

    Duvas gave the answer with a tired smile. "Lord Kivamus has made a decree here that there will be no slavery in his domain. And he has freed the slaves which the previous baron used to own."

    "You mean... they aren''t slaves anymore?" Calubo asked with wonder. Then it seemed like something suddenly clicked in his mind, and he looked straight at Kivamus. "Does that mean... does that mean that those slaves at the quarry... no, those stonecutters... they won''t be slaves anymore? They will be free men and women, like us?"

    Kivamus smiled. "Yes, they will be just as free as I am."

    "But that... that means..." Calubo looked lost for words once again, but then gave a huge smile. "How can I ever thank you for this, milord?" He stood up immediately, and gave a deep bow. "I will be in your debt for my life! Anything you need done, even if I have to risk or even sacrifice my life for that, I will do it on your command."

    Kivamus was surprised that the former guard would be willing to give his own life for some stonecutters whom he had barely known for a couple of months. But then he remembered that Calubo had taken the name of someone earlier - a woman. He gave a small laugh. Of course, some things never change.

    He looked at the former guard. "There is no need for that. And you can sit down now. We have a lot to discuss for this rescue mission." sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *******

    Hudan asked, "But how will we even transport that many people through the forest? They wouldn''t be able to walk the whole way back in their conditions, especially in this freezing weather."

    "We can just use our wagons for that," Kivamus replied, "now that they are back from the trip to Cinran."

    Calubo interrupted him, "Actually, the bandits already have two wagons there, along with two nodors. They used to have three wagons in the past, but one of them was damaged recently, so they had used its planks to make a temporary hut for themselves, although its axles and wheels should still be there."

    "That''s... good news." Kivamus continued, "Those small nodors might not be able to pull enough men, but if we send our horses for that, they should be able to pull those wagons easily." He added, "Including the horses we got from the bandits, now we have enough of them that we can easily spare some of them for this rescue mission. Of course, you should bring those nodors back as well, even if they won''t be pulling the wagons."

    After Hudan nodded in reply, he continued, "Once those wagons are back, it will help us a lot in the construction. Even those spare axles and wheels would be useful for us if Taniok is able to build a third wagon with them, since he doesn''t have to build the axles."

    "I''m just glad to know that we are getting something from this trip," Duvas commented, "and it''s not a complete waste of money."

    Kivamus smiled at the thrifty majordomo and gave a nod.

    Hudan began, "From what I know, there should be four bandits back at the quarry, not including the two who have escaped." Once Calubo gave a nod in confirmation, he continued, "If we leave on horses from Tiranat, there is no way that the escaped bandits would be able to reach the quarry before us, but we''ll still need at least five or six men to take down the four bandits there with ease."

    Calubo interrupted, "You might not even need that many guards, since those four bandits have to keep a watch on the stone cutters for all day and night - which means there should be at most two of them awake and ready at any particular time. Even then, they would already be exhausted with barely any rest in the previous week, since Nokozal left the quarry with most of the bandits. And of course, you will have the support of the stonecutters as well, so even four of us in total would be able to kill those bastards."

    Hudan gave a slow nod. "That might be true, but there is still a possibility that some bandits from another group might have reached there before us to steal those slaves, and in that case it will be better to have more men to support us."

    "Don''t worry about it," Kivamus commented. "Now that all the guards are back from the caravan, we have enough men to spare for this rescue mission." He looked at Calubo, "You said there were around two dozen slaves there?"

 Chapter 145 - 143. Rescue Plans

    The former guard nodded. "There were twenty-six stonecutters in total, not including me or any bandits."

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Will two wagons be enough to carry that many people?"

    "They should be," the majordomo replied after thinking about it. "Pydaso''s wagons carried ten sacks of grain in each wagon, apart from the weight of the driver and a guard. And each of those sacks weigh nearly double that of an average man here, so two horses pulling a single wagon might be able to carry up to twenty-two average weighing men or women in each."

    He added, "While there certainly wouldn''t be enough space in a single wagon bed for that many people, they should easily be able to seat around half of the stonecutters, that is, thirteen men or women in each wagon bed, apart from the guards who can sit in the driver''s seat. And keeping just around thirteen or fourteen men in each wagon instead of up to its full capacity would be helpful for the horses to pull those wagons even through uneven terrain."

    "Okay, that''s good to hear." Kivamus looked at Hudan. "We will need those wagons to move as fast as possible, and there wouldn''t be enough time to rest the horses in the middle of the journey. So you should take spare horses with you as well." After a moment of thought, he added, "While four horses should be enough to pull those two wagons, you should take eight horses with you. That will still leave us with seven horses here including those we got from the bandit, which will be enough for us until you return."

    He continued, "To take those eight horses, you will need eight guards as well, and that should be more than enough to take on the bandits easily, even if there are a few more of them there than what we expect. And on the return journey, four guards can ride on four of the horses at a time, which will allow you to hitch the remaining four horses to those wagons. That will give the beasts at least some rest if you alternate between them when you hitch them to the wagons every morning after a night of rest."

    Hudan thought about it and nodded. "I agree, milord. Eight men will be more than enough, and having spare horses will also give us something to fall back on in case any of them get injured on the way."

    He looked at Feroy. "I''ll have to go with the guards as well, since there is a possibility, no matter how small, of Nokozal having reached there before us. And I don''t think anyone else can go one on one against that huge bastard. So it''ll have to be me. That means you will be in charge of the guards and the security of the village until I return."

    Feroy nodded. "Leave it to me."

    Hudan looked back at Kivamus, and continued, "This time we will have surprise on our side when we reach the quarry, so even the new guards should be able to hold their own. I''ll take four experienced guards including me and Calubo. While we should be able to take on those four bandits by ourselves - the four new recruits in the squad will also be there to support us. This will give them some real experience as well."

    Gorsazo asked, "But the merchant told us that snowfall has already started on the northern road, so how will these wagons even travel in that snow?"

    Hudan gave the answer. "That''s because the snowfall always starts from the east here, since that''s where the Arakin mountains are. So we certainly can''t go through the northern road this time, since there is a risk of getting stuck there even with the small amount of snow that would have gathered on that road by now. but we should be fine if we go northwest - directly through the forest - since it will take a while for snowfall to start there. And just a week without snowfall there - which is still reasonable - would be enough for us to return."

    He explained further, "What I am planning to do is this. Since we are not taking any wagons with us from here, our horses can easily travel through the forest, so we will go along with Calubo to the quarry. It still won''t be easy to find a path there, but since we are only on horses we should still be able to reach there on time. And once we have taken care of those bandits, we will load up the stonecutters on the wagons they have, and then we''ll travel directly towards the south with them - through whichever wide path we find - since it would be impossible to look for a direct path to Tiranat from there, especially with those wagons which will need enough space between the trees of the forest to move."

    The guard captain added, "Our target will be to reach the road connecting Kirnos to Tiranat, and once we''ve found it, we''ll only need to travel east on that road to return here, and that part of the journey will be much faster compared to traveling through the forests. Although, I''m not sure how long it will take us for the whole journey."

    Calubo said, "I think that''s a good plan, and I can give an estimate of the time we''ll need. It had taken around two days for me and the other bandits to reach the location of the ambush on the northern road from that quarry on foot, and that place is around a two days wagon journey from our village. But we''ll only be riding on those horses which won''t be pulling any wagons on the first part of the journey, so that should make it faster for us to reach the quarry, especially since we''ll be going straight through the forests instead of going a long way through the northern road and then turning towards the west. But on the other hand, traveling through the forest is much slower than riding on a road, so I think we''ll need at least three or four days to reach there."

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    Hudan nodded. "Then we''ll also need a day to scout the location and kill the bandits. That day as well as the night should give some rest to the horses too."

    Calubo gazed into the distance to think about it before speaking, "After that, I''d say another three or four days to reach the southern road from there - since we''ll know in advance which direction we have to travel instead of looking for our destination. And finally, it''ll only be around a day of journey from there to Tiranat, since Kirnos is less than two days of a wagon journey from here, and we will be joining that road somewhere in the middle of that road."

    Duvas gave a nod. "That means you will need at least a week to return." He added, "Although you will certainly see snowfall on the journey, the snow won''t get that deep within the forest by that time. So most likely you wouldn''t get stuck in the snow, although you''ll still be cutting it quite close.

    "However," the majordomo asked, "I''m worried about how you will even find that quarry in those huge forests?"

    Calubo shrugged. "It won''t be easy but I''ve lived there for more than two months, so I''ll be able to recognize the terrain around that area. I already have a general idea of its location, and that huge quarry isn''t something we are going to miss even in the middle of those forests."

    He stood up and looked at Kivamus. "Milord, I can never thank you enough for this. Please make sure to have enough warm beds and food available for everyone when we return. Those people there... they''ll really need that food after what they''ve been through in the past few months."

    "Don''t worry, I will tell Madam Nerida about this," Kivamus replied, "and she will make sure to prepare a warm meal for them. By that time the first longhouse will also be completed, and I will leave sufficient bunks for the stonecutters when I start shifting the villagers there."

    Calubo gave a grateful nod.

    "However," Kivamus added, "you will also need some food for the journey. I think around ten days'' rations for eight guards, and around a week''s rations for twenty six stonecutters should be sufficient." He thought about it for a moment then looked at Duvas. "Send a servant to tell Madam Nerida to prepare enough bread for them, as well as to pack a sack of crushed wheat so they can easily cook porridge on the journey. Also, tell a maid to pack some butter, hardtack and dried meat as well. We can''t let them starve on the way after we are going through this much trouble to bring them here."

    "That should be more than enough, milord," Hudan said. "We will still try to hunt some small animals on the way to try to reduce our food consumption."

    Duvas exited the hall to give the orders, while Hudan stood up as well and said, "It is already late afternoon by now so there is no point in leaving today, since we would hardly be able to travel much in the remaining sunlight. And there is no point in making a camp just a few hours away from the village and wasting a day''s rations."

    He continued, "But I''ll go and select the guards who''ll be leaving with me, so they can check their stuff today and get them ready. We will leave at daybreak tomorrow. This will also give another night of rest to our horses, since they have travelled a lot in the past month with the caravan." sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As they began to leave, Kivamus remembered something and called them back.

    He looked at Calubo. "You have been missing for months now, so I can''t send you with Hudan like this. So before you leave, I formally reinstate you as a guard from today itself. You''ll get the same wages and benefits as the others."

    Calubo looked surprised for a moment, then gave a bow again, "Thank you for this, milord, and for all your help. I will do my best to protect you and the village."

    Kivamus smiled. "I know you will."

    Hudan and Calubo gave nods again, and exited the hall.

    *******

    It was evening now, and Kivamus was standing outside the gates of the manor where a crowd had gathered for their evening meals.

    Earlier, the blacksmith had provided them the medals he had ordered to make, and when he was going to call the guards to give them the medals, Gorsazo suggested him to wait for the night so he could do it in front of the crowd waiting for their meal, since that would make the guards feel proud of doing their duty.

    It had also taken a long discussion with Duvas to decide on the amount of coin they needed to provide the guards as a reward, but finally they had settled on a month of pay for those who had gotten injured and were getting the Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice, and three months pay for those who were getting the Baron''s Medal of Courage for extraordinary bravery.

    Soon, it was time to distribute the medals, so with a deep breath he started walking towards the makeshift stage in front of the crowd which the guards had hastily built with a few wooden benches.

 Chapter 146 - 144. A reward For Courage

    ~ Tesyb ~

    ~ Outside the baron''s manor ~

    Tesyb was standing near the makeshift stage outside the gates of the baron''s manor while listening to Lord Kivamus give a speech about the bravery of the guards in the defense of the village. It was also quite chilly here, although the burning braziers around the crowd and the gathering of so many people together had meant that the place wasn''t as cold as it would be otherwise.

    Even so, that cold was increasing the pain in his leg where that huge bastard Nokozal had slashed him with a sword. But at least the cut wasn''t too deep, so he would be fine in a few weeks. Still, he felt that even today wasn''t a good day for him, since after running around so much to find and kill the bandits yesterday where he barely survived that fight, today he had to stand here for so long in the cold, and that made his leg hurt even more. Damn the bandits! And that bastard Sejkil who was still alive. He should have been executed! What was the baron even thinking?

    Well, there was nothing he could do about it. Orders were orders, and he was going to follow his orders, even if he didn''t like them. As he felt a sudden pang of pain in his leg, he wondered how long he would have to endure the pain. Hopefully his injury would heal soon.

    Coming back to the present, He had recently found out that the baron was even going to give medals to some of the guards after this. Tesyb wondered who would be those lucky guards. In the past, he had heard from his father that once he had been in a ceremony where the Count of Cinran was giving a reward to a knight who had saved someone''s life - and it was said to be made of pure silver! - so Tesyb knew what it meant to get a medal - even though he hadn''t even seen one yet.

    For now, he was keeping an eye on the crowd which had grown to nearly as large as that in the feast yesterday. The news had gotten out about the reward ceremony, so a lot of villagers had gathered here in curiosity. Nearly all of the guards, as well as the servants and maids from the manor were standing close to the stage to see the ceremony, and this was where Tesyb was standing as well.

    He even saw his parents standing in the back of the crowd, listening to the baron. Giving a smile at his father''s newfound confidence after he began working as a foreman, he looked at Lord Kivamus as well. He listened as the baron praised the hard work of the guards - which was certainly a new experience for them, since he had heard that the previous baron had never treated the guard this well. And then, the baron even promised to give the medal receivers cold hard coins as part of the reward!

    Of course, Lord Kivamus told them that their majordomo would only note their pending reward amount in a ledger for now, and they will receive that coin once they start selling coal again after the winter. It was the same thing though, since Tesyb had no doubt that the baron would come through on his promises.

    Before long, it was time to give the medals, and the baron took the name of the first guard who would get the Baron''s Medal of Sacrifice - for getting injured in the line of duty. The guard whose name had been taken looked thoroughly surprised as if he couldn''t believe what was happening, but when the other guards who were standing nearby started congratulating him and patting him on his back, he gave a huge grin.

    Then the guard confidently walked to the stage and Tesyb watched as the baron put a medal around his neck. Immediately, the crowd started cheering for the guard, but the loudest cheers were from Tesyb and the other guards. He was one of their own, after all!

    Before long, the guard who had got the medal returned back while grinning from ear to ear, and immediately, the other guards crowded around him to congratulate him again and to see the medal for themselves. Although the medal was only made of iron, and didn''t cost too much by itself, it still meant that the man had done something special, and it was seen and recognized in front of everyone in the village. That medal would easily assure him a mug of ale for free in the village alehouse - assuming they were even allowed to visit there anytime soon. As Tesyb thought about how long it had been since he had drunk some ale, he wondered how it would have felt if he had gotten a medal too.

    Soon, the baron took the name of another guard who was going to get the same medal, and the same thing repeated again with everyone cheering loudly for him. Even the two new female guards - Isomi and Savomi - were cheering loudly for the guard. Looking at their frail bodies compared to the male guards, Tesyb still felt uncertain about how the women were going to fight against a bandit, but he trusted the baron now, and knew that he must have a plan in his mind.

    Before long, it was time for the Baron''s Medal of Courage - which Lord Kivamus had described to the crowd as the second best medal that could be awarded, but it was still above the first type of medal. Tesyb wondered which was the highest kind of medal, although the baron had told them earlier that that medal wouldn''t be given today.

    Soon, the baron took the name of Calubo - the guard thought to have been killed by the bandits in the past, but who had surprisingly come back from the dead and helped them a lot in so many ways. Calubo looked like he didn''t believe that his name had been taken, so another guard had to give him a nudge on his back towards the stage. And then Calubo went and took that medal as well, and returned back grinning like an adzee which had spotted an isolated deer.

    Then, the baron gazed at the crowd, and said this would be the final medal for tonight. Tesyb tried to guess who would be the one to get this medal, and his best guess was Hudan, since he had been the one to scare away Nokozal. And then the baron''s eyes found his own and he took Tesyb''s name as the person who''d get the last medal, and his mind went completely blank.

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    What was happening? Did the baron really say his name? No, it couldn''t be! He had barely done anything in the fight! And it was his overconfidence which had nearly led to the merchant''s children getting kidnapped by the bandits. How could he be getting a medal? Perhaps he had started taking a nap while standing, and he was daydreaming now. Yes, that had to be the reason!

    Then the guards who were standing next to him started congratulating him and patted him on his back repeatedly. But he still couldn''t believe it. Was he really going to get a medal tonight? Along with the coin reward as well? Could it really happen to someone like him?

    He had been rooted to his spot for a while now, so Yufim, who had been standing next to him, gave him a gentle push towards the stage, and then someone else did the same, and before long Tesyb was climbing the stairs and walking towards Lord Kivamus, who was still smiling at him. And then as his mind tried to process what was happening, the baron congratulated him, and put the Baron''s Medal of Courage around his neck.

    Tesyb could hear in the back of his mind that there was a loud cheer from the crowd, as well as from the guards, but he was still struggling to comprehend this. Then he looked at the crowd and found his parents'' faces grinning at him. Tesyb blinked. No, this wasn''t a dream. It was real.

    Just a few months ago he would never have imagined that such a day would come where the villagers would be cheering for him. Even more than the villagers, it was the vaunted manor guards who were cheering for him!

    But now, he was also a manor guard, wasn''t he? He grinned and after turning towards the crowd, he raised his hands high, and gave a loud whoop of joy, and the crowd responded back with an even louder cheer! The baron patted him on his back, and he walked back towards Yufim and the other waiting guards, who surrounded him and began asking to see the medal for themselves. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    As he gazed around, he noticed that even Isomi and Savomi were clapping for him! Truthfully, he had known the two sisters for years now from the time they used to work outside the coal mines to transfer the coal in small baskets from the coal piles to the wagons, but he had barely ever talked to them, since he was deep inside the mines most of the time. But now they were colleagues - they were comrades, and hearing the two pretty young women clapping for him, he could barely stop a blush from creeping on his face. Immediately he looked at others to distract his mind, and started to thank them for congratulating him.

    And then the reward ceremony ended, and the crowd started to disperse. Apart from those villagers who were staying back for their free meal, others began to return to their homes, after a rare day of entertainment for them.

    As he looked at his medal closely, he saw that it was a circular shaped piece of iron connected to two thin bars of metal, with some space between them for a ribbon - which was only a thicker thread in his case - to pass through it. On one side there were a few words written in the common tongue - although he couldn''t read any of it - and on the other side there were two symbols engraved on it. One of them was a sword, but he wasn''t sure about the other thing, which looked mostly like a long stick which was a little wider on one end. He was curious about it for sure, but he shrugged for now. He would ask someone about it later.

    He turned back towards the manor gates and thought that although he hadn''t gotten the coin reward for now, he couldn''t wait for that day! Three months wages as bonus? And now that his father was also getting a good wage after he became a foreman, he didn''t need to support his parents anymore. What would he even do with that much money? Three months wages would be... more than ten gold coins! That was... a lot of money!

    Then he thought of his only sister who was living in Cinran. Yes, he should buy something good for Isuha the next time he visits her. She had mentioned the last time that the food situation was getting worse there, so maybe, for a change, he could even take her to one of the fancy restaurants in the town where they served various meat dishes and sweet tasting pies everyday! Maybe a place where the rich merchants and even some of the minor nobles ate. It certainly wouldn''t be cheap, but he could splurge for a single meal, right?

    He snorted. There he went getting daydreams again. Even with the much improved situation of the village, his family was still in no situation to waste money like that, since all their savings had been stolen by the bandits in the previous raid. So he couldn''t waste the reward money like that.

    He nodded to himself, while thanking another guard who was congratulating him. Apart from keeping a small portion of the reward to foot the bill when the guards eventually asked him to pay for their ale in celebration - whenever it would be - he would give the rest of that money to Isuha when he visited Cinran, so at least it would be helpful to her to buy food in case the shop owner couldn''t pay her any wages for a while.

    He thought about the amount of gold he would get in the future. It was three months pay for a manor guard - which was even higher than that of a manual laborer - so even with the higher prices of everything in the bigger towns and cities, she should still be able to afford at least a month of living expenses in Cinran with that money, and perhaps for even two months.

    Yes, that was a much better idea than eating a noble''s meal for a single day, and then not being able to afford food later. He didn''t even want to imagine what many people, and especially women, must have had to do to earn even a single meal in the bigger towns like Cinran these days. So he was immensely thankful to the Goddess that at least Isuha had found an honest job there.

    Yes, that hardened his resolve to give her the reward money, so she wouldn''t even have to think about such things to buy food in case things got tough there. But he still wished that she would just come to Tiranat so he wouldn''t have to constantly worry about her. Although that was out of his hands, he would still try to convince her of it again when he met her next time.

    However, all that was for after the winter, since he would only get that coin after the winter ended and they started selling coal again, and he couldn''t travel to Cinran before that anyway. But for now, he was going to enjoy this rare occasion. And maybe, if the guard captain allowed it, tonight he''d even buy a mug of ale for the others to celebrate!

    Suddenly, he realized that In the hustle and bustle of the reward ceremony, he had forgotten about the pain in his leg. Hah! He didn''t think that he would be able to get rid of that pain for weeks, but it had still happened - even if only for a short time - and he had gotten a medal as well. And he was also going to get bonus wages as a reward! So as it turned out, today was a good day, after all!

 Chapter 147 - 145. Satisfaction And Surprise

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor, Tiranat ~

    As he entered inside the gates of the manor, Kivamus was feeling quite satisfied now, since everything was going so well after a long time. The bandit raid had been repelled successfully, and apart from a few injuries, nobody had died in that raid either. All their grain stores were intact as well - apart from a small pack of grain that Nokozal had robbed from a villager when running away - but it was only a small amount, and would barely make a dent in their remaining food stores for the winter months.

    The enthusiasm and happiness of the villagers during the award ceremony had affected him as well, and he was feeling just as happy as the guards who had gotten the medals. Who knows, maybe Hudan would be able to get rid of that bandit camp completely, and then he would even get two dozen trained workers for free! He couldn''t wait to bring those workers here to increase the construction speed of everything!

    Right now, he was leisurely walking back towards the manor house with others - all of whom looked satisfied and had smiles on their faces - except for Duvas who was still grumbling about the unnecessary expenses of paying rewards and feeding the stonecutters. But that was fine. Kivamus knew that the old man would come around to his point of view eventually.

    And now that there was no imminent threat of a bandit attack, they could focus fully on completing everything that they were building.

    "What is the progress of our first longhouse?" he asked Duvas.

    "It is nearly ready, milord," the majordomo replied. "All the walls and its roof had already been completed a few days ago, and since then the carpenter has been putting up the wooden floor and the bunks inside the longhouse. He also had to cut up new planks for those bunks, apart from making the smaller gate which Hudan wanted as a second exit, so the completion would be a little later than what we expected. But, as of today around half of the bunks are already fixed in place, so assuming no other problems crop up there, I think the longhouse should be ready to live in a few more days."

    "That''s wonderful news!" Kivamus praised. "And what about the other things?"

    Duvas continued, "A few days ago, Pinoto had told the workers to start digging up the pond in the South so that there would be at least a small ditch where the water from the melting snow can gather after the winter." He added, "Of course, he will have to stop the digging once the snowfall starts, but that will still allow the new drainage system in the village to start working after the winter. And when the digging work is stopped because of snow, he will put those laborers to clear more of the forest in the South. The women are already picking up the small stones and the fallen branches from the cleared area, so that we can start plowing them for sowing seeds in those fields right after the snow melts."

    Kivamus nodded. "We will still have to try to save as much wheat as we can, so that we can at least begin planting after winter, since it will take a while to buy all the wheat we need to complete the sowing. And what about the north?"

    "Well, they are also clearing the forests," Duvas replied, "although many of the laborers in the north are busy sharpening and putting up the stakes for the new village walls. That will take quite a bit of time though, since those walls are going to be quite long including all four sides of the village."

    "At least the construction of the walls is progressing now," Hudan commented. "If we already had walls here, those bandits wouldn''t have been able to enter the village at all. But at least they will provide us good protection from any future raids."

    "That''s true." Kivamus thought about the new order he had given the blacksmith to make. "What about the wheelbarrows?"

    Duvas replied again, "We did get one more wheelbarrow earlier today, and another one should be ready by tomorrow evening. That will give us a total of three wheelbarrows, although having even a single one has been very helpful to move things around in the manor." He added, "But before making more of them, Cedoron wanted me to ask you again if you still wanted to spend that much iron on them."

    "I think three iron wheelbarrows should be enough for now," Kivamus replied after a moment.

    "I''ll let him know," Duvas nodded. "That being said, I''m still curious about why you wanted to use iron to make the wheelbarrows?" S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We needed a few of them as soon as possible to speed up the construction of the longhouses, and Taniok didn''t have any free time to make them from wood since he''s already way too busy in cutting up the planks and building the longhouse." Kivamus continued with a shrug, "So the only way I saw to make them quickly was to order the blacksmith to make them from iron, even though I knew it would make them quite costly."

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    "Those wheelbarrows are costly enough, that''s for sure," Feroy remarked with a snort.

    "I realize that," Kivamus said, "but most of our order for new tools was already completed by the blacksmith, so he could easily spare the time to make the wheelbarrows, unlike the carpenter. And Cedoron could hardly have made them using wood!"

    "That''s true enough," Duvas observed. "He''s not a carpenter anyway."

    Feroy said, "Still, I''d say it was a good idea to only allow the manor servants to use them, since if you had given them to the laborers, they might have just stolen them for their iron."

    "Perhaps," Duvas commented. "But anyway, now that everyone has seen how useful it is, they all are claiming that they should be the ones to get the next wheelbarrow."

    Kivamus chuckled. "That''s good to know." The log-mover and the wheelbarrow were such simple things, and yet he was glad to see that they were helpful to the villagers already.

    Duvas explained further, "I have already allocated the first wheelbarrow for Taniok''s use during the day for any work in the longhouse construction, while the manor servants use it in the nights after they get it back to transport coal to the braziers." He continued, "However, Pinoto wanted the second wheelbarrow since he claimed that they would allow the laborers in the South to move the stones and small branches from the fields much more easily and quickly, while Yeden wanted it in the north for help in transporting the tools to build the village walls."

    "You just said there are two new wheelbarrows which will be made by tomorrow, right?" Kivamus asked. "So just give one to each of them."

    Duvas nodded. "That''s a simple enough solution for now, and I was already going to do that, but I just don''t think that just three wheelbarrows would be enough for the whole village. We need a lot more of them, especially in the south and the north."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "Yes, we do. But we can''t afford to make them from iron anymore. So everyone will have to wait until Taniok and his apprentice get some free time - however long it would take - and then you can tell him to make more of them using wood. Those will still need a small amount of iron, but it would be a lot less than what was used in the first three wheelbarrows, since we made their whole trays from iron. And those wooden wheelbarrows wouldn''t be very costly anyway, so we can even allow the villagers to keep them wherever they are needed, instead of bringing all of them inside the manor every night."

    "I''m not sure when Taniok is going to get enough free time for that," Duvas commented, "since he has to start working on the second longhouse after this, and then he will have to make the gates for the walls, as well as the new watchtowers we plan to make. And you have also mentioned some other things as well. Having more carpenters here would have helped us a lot."

    Kivamus snorted. "Well it''s not like I can produce a new carpenter out of thin air! But those workers who are helping Taniok in making the longhouses would still be getting a lot of experience in woodworking. And I have already told Taniok to keep an eye out for those of them who show good talent for it, so that he can take them on as permanent apprentices later on."

    "It will take some time for sure," he continued, "but by the time all that work you mentioned is over, we should have more people who are capable of doing some basic woodworking. And at that time we can tell Taniok to teach them how to make a wheelbarrow from wood, so that they can keep making more of them on an ongoing basis. And once we have enough for our construction tasks, we can even start selling them to the village merchants or whoever wants to buy them from us."

    "Well, we can only hope that that time will come soon," Duvas muttered.

    Kivamus nodded. "Once the wooden wheelbarrows are available in good numbers, we can reuse the metal in the three iron wheelbarrows to make something else from them. We can even do that for the iron stands of the braziers, since we had to get everything built from iron to produce them quickly."

    "That''s... actually an excellent idea," Duvas said with a rare grin.

    "Well... it''s good to know that saving money still makes you happy," Kivamus muttered. "At least I don''t have to worry about you emptying my treasury with unnecessary spending any time soon."

    Everyone laughed at that statement, while Duvas just looked proud of his money management.

    Still chuckling about it in his mind, Kivamus kept walking towards the manor house along with others, with satisfaction in everyone''s hearts that everything was finally going so smoothly.

    As he reached closer to the manor house, suddenly, he heard a huge commotion from the storage barn on the left side of the manor, near the stables and the cattle shed. In the light of a brazier which was burning there, he saw that many servants and maids had gathered there. But why? There wasn''t even anything precious kept in that barn, except for some feed for the horses and their cattle.

    He looked at Hudan, who was walking next to him as well. "What''s happening there?"

    "Give me a moment and I''ll find out." Hudan started walking faster towards that barn, but before he went too far, a servant came running towards them with panic on his face.

    Immediately, Kivamus and others jogged towards that servant as well, who had stopped to catch his breath for a moment.

    The young servant looked completely shocked, and he glanced at Kivamus for a moment with fearful eyes, then looked back at Hudan, then eventually settled back to looking at Kivamus'' face again.

    "What is it?" Hudan bellowed. "Tell me!"

    The servant pointed towards that barn with a shaking hand, and spoke in a stuttering voice. "He''s... he''s dead..."

    "What?" Kivamus asked with shock. "Who''s dead?"

 Chapter 148 - 146. Gut Instincts

    The servant swallowed hard. "The... the bandit. He''s dead!"

    "You mean Sejkil?" Hudan asked with surprise.

    The servant quickly nodded. "Yes, I was going to get some hay for the horses from that barn, but... but the door was already open, and Sejkil looked to be in a bad way. And when I went to check on him, I saw that he wasn''t even breathing!" The young servant''s eyes were wide with fear as he continued, "There was nobody else inside the barn at the time, but... but the bandit had a lot of bruises, like he had been beaten up. I think... someone killed him..."

    Within a moment, Hudan looked at Kivamus. "Milord, you need to get inside the manor house, right now! It''s not safe for you here until we find out everything." Then he looked at the ex-mercenary. "You go and take a look at the body, and find out what happened. There might be more people who might have gotten injured or Goddess forbid, dead. I will get the guards ready in case there is another attack on the village happening."

    Feroy nodded, and immediately started jogging towards that barn with that servant in tow.

    "I''ll go and take a look as well," Duvas said, and started walking towards the barn.

    Gorsazo looked around them for a moment, then held one of Kivamus'' arms, and spoke to Hudan. "I''ll take him to the manor house."

    Hudan held up his hand. "No, wait a moment. You also need someone trustworthy who can fight." The guard captain looked around, and seeing someone, he called him up.

    Kivamus saw that it was Kerel - one of the experienced guards who had long iron grey hair - who came jogging towards them.

    Hudan quickly explained the situation to the guard, who immediately gave a nod and put a hand on the hilt of his sword, looking around them with alertness.

    The guard captain looked back at him. "I''ll be back to update you about the situation once I find out more." After he gestured to Kerel to take him towards the manor house, the guard captain jogged towards the gates of the manor.

    Kivamus was still so surprised by everything, that he didn''t think of protesting when Gorsazo and Kerel surrounded him from both sides to shield him with their own bodies, and started walking with him to the manor house. And before long, he was inside the manor hall, with the door firmly shut and barred.

    Gorsazo gently guided him towards a chair to sit, while Kerel had taken a position right next to the door, just in case. But Kivamus didn''t feel like he could sit calmly right now. So he removed Gorsazo''s hand from his arm, and started to pace inside the manor hall.

    What had happened here? Everything was going so well until now, but then this happens. His mind was still reeling with the news that a man had been murdered by someone within the manor. Could it be that the village was under another bandit attack? Or had the two escaped bandits returned again and got inside the manor while most of the guards were watching the award ceremony? Or was it another assassin sent by someone to kill him?

    He didn''t know anything at the moment. But the fact remained that once again, he had to hide inside the manor hall because someone dangerous had managed to infiltrate the manor. Again.

    He didn''t like it. He didn''t like this feeling at all.

    *******

    After some time, which was probably only half an hour in reality, but felt more like an eternity to him, there was a knock on the outer door. Once Kerel confirmed who it was, he opened the door and Hudan walked inside, looking angry as a raging bull. Duvas followed him inside as well, his tired face showing all his years.

    "Did you find out anything?" Kivamus asked.

    The guard captain took a deep breath and gave a nod. "Kerel, you go and keep an eye on everything outside." Then he looked at Kivamus. "It was just one death - of Sejkil, the bandit who had surrendered. Nobody else is dead or even injured." He took another breath and added, "The good news is that the village is not under attack, and there are no other bandits in sight."

    "And what''s the bad news? Gorsazo asked with worry.

    "We still have no idea who killed him," Hudan replied.

    "But why wasn''t someone watching him?" Kivamus asked with frustration. "This wouldn''t have happened if there was a guard keeping an eye on him."

    "We only wanted to prevent him from running away," Hudan replied, "and with the way Feroy had tied him up, there was no chance of him escaping. We just couldn''t afford to keep a guard there in all three shifts of the day. We simply don''t have enough guards for that."

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    The outer door opened again and Feroy entered the hall.

    Hudan looked at the ex-mercenary. "Did you find anything new?"

    Feroy gave a nod. "At first glance, it looks like an act of revenge to me. While I don''t yet know who did it, what I can tell you is that the bandit didn''t die an easy death, that''s for sure."

    Kivamus shuddered thinking about what that usually meant in this medieval world. He shook his head to get rid of that imagery. "Anything else you can tell about how he died?"

    Feroy thought for a moment. "I wouldn''t exactly say that Sejkil was tortured, but the bruises on his body told me that whoever did this certainly wanted to hurt him and make him feel pain. However, my best guess is that it was an amateur, or maybe a small group of amateurs who did this, and I believe that they only wanted to make the bandit suffer instead of killing him."

    "Why is that?" Kivamus asked.

    Feroy pointed his hand to the back of his head and explained, "The cause of death seems to be an injury to the back of the head, around here, and I think it happened when someone pushed Sejkil, making him fall backwards. But since his hands were still tied, Sejkil was unable to control his fall, and he shattered his skull when it hit a sharp corner on the base of the wooden post, on which he had been tied earlier." He added, "It was still fairly dark inside the barn when I looked at it in the light of a few burning torches, but I saw enough blood and bits of brain on that post to make me confident that I was right."

    He explained, "Before I had noticed the blood on the wooden post, I was thinking that someone had hit the back of his head with something hard, but I know that''s not the case, since whoever was hitting Sejkil, wanted him to feel that pain while looking at his face, since most of the injuries on Sejkil''s body are in the front part of his body. It was like someone was trying to interrogate him, although I can''t say why."

    Feroy continued after a moment, "So my best guess is that while the culprit certainly wanted to hurt him, the actual death was only a mistake, or rather, an accident." He shrugged. "Of course, all of this is only a speculation, because it''s not like we can go into the past and watch what happened."

    That immediately reminded Kivamus of the ever-present CCTVs on modern earth. If they had such a thing here, they could have easily found out everything. But there was no point in wishful thinking.

    He asked, "But if the culprits didn''t go there just to kill Sejkil immediately, then it must have taken time while they were hitting him. So why didn''t anyone see or hear anything?" S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy shook his head reluctantly. "You already know that apart from the few guards at both our gates, nearly all of the servants and guards were outside to watch the award ceremony. And nobody thought Sejkil would be able to run away, so there wasn''t anyone to keep an eye on him, not that we can afford to put a guard there all the time."

    "Hudan told me about that. But still, do you have any idea who could have done this?" Kivamus asked. He hesitated for a moment, but then asked, "You said that it looked like an act of revenge... and our guards were the ones whom the bandits had tried to kill. They are the only ones who got injured in the raid on the village. So could it be one of our guards who did this in revenge?"

    Duvas immediately shook his head. "That''s not possible, milord. Apart from Hudan and Feroy, I have known all of our guards for at least a decade. None of them could murder someone in cold blood, or even do something like this."

    Kivamus gave a nod, but he knew that Duvas had a soft spot for the residents of the manor. So he asked Feroy, "Do you think so as well?"

    Feroy shrugged. "I know that many of the guards were grumbling about your decision to keep Sejkil alive, but I''m fairly sure that it wasn''t done by any of our guards."

    "You are only fairly sure?" Kivamus asked with a frown.

    Hudan snorted. "That usually means he is completely sure, since he is never going to trust anyone completely. And I think so as well. It wasn''t one of our guards."

    Kivamus nodded. "Alright. Then who else could have done this? If it wasn''t a guard, then I am assuming that none of our servants or maids could have done this either."

    Duvas nodded. "I trust all of them. It wasn''t one of them."

    "Then the only possibility which remains is that it was someone from outside the manor," Feroy replied.

    "But that means they would have had to climb over the manor walls," Hudan said with a frown, "and while it''s not impossible, it certainly wouldn''t be an easy task, especially if they didn''t know what they are going to find inside and where they are going to land - assuming they tried to jump over the walls using a ladder."

    Feroy snorted at the guard captain. "You are leaving the possibility that they might have just walked through the gates."

    "What? But both of our gates have at least two guards at all times," Hudan countered.

    "There are certainly supposed to be," Feroy muttered. "But that''s what my gut tells me."

    Right at that moment, the outer door opened again and Kerel walked inside. "Milord, you need to hear this."

    "What is it now?" Hudan growled.

    Kerel jerked his thumb towards the doors. "I found out that two of our guards who were supposed to be on watch duty at the eastern gates earlier, had left their posts without telling anyone. So I''ve brought them outside."

    Hudan looked at Feroy with surprise, who just grinned and gave a shrug.

    Kivamus shook his head at the ex-mercenary''s gut instincts which had been spot-on once again, and then walked towards the doors with others.

    Outside, there were two guards - both of them new recruits - who were standing there while gazing downwards in resignation, while there were around half a dozen other guards gathered around as well.

    "What made you think you could leave your post in the middle of your shift?" Hudan growled at them.

 Chapter 149 - 147. Incompetence

    The guards uneasily looked at each other. The taller one gazed at Kivamus and spoke in a low voice, "We also wanted to see the medal ceremony, milord!"

    Hudan glared at him. "Then you should have asked someone else to take your place!" Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The other guard protested, "But we weren''t even supposed to be on duty at this time. The senior guards who were on duty called us over and told us to watch the gates while they went to watch the award ceremony."

    Hudan gazed at Kerel. "Find out who it was and bring them here. I''ll deal with them after this."

    Kerel nodded, and jogged away from them.

    Hudan asked the guards again. "But why did you just leave the gates open?"

    "No, sir!" The shorter guard gave a reluctant answer, "We barred the eastern manor gates from inside, and then we went to watch the ceremony as well. This was the first time that medals were being given to someone in the village, and we really didn''t want to miss it."

    The tall guard added, "We thought it wouldn''t do any harm. Those gates are hardly used these days since the coal mining has stopped. But we did bar them from the inside!"

    "No you didn''t," Feroy remarked. "If you had really barred those gates then whoever killed Sejkil would never have gotten inside the manor."

    "But we did!" Then the taller guard hesitated and looked at the other one, "You did lock them, right?"

    Feroy tilted his head. "And why are you asking him? Weren''t you there as well?"

    "I really had to take a leak at that time..." the tall guard mumbled, "so I left first, and told him to lock the gates."

    Hudan frowned at them. "Shouldn''t you both have closed it together? The hinges of those gates are old, and it takes two men to close and bar those heavy gates."

    The taller guard looked surprised. After a moment, he muttered, "I didn''t know that it couldn''t be locked by one person... Those gates are only barred by the guards who get the night shifts, and we have never gotten that duty since we were recruited." He looked at the other guard. "Did you know about this?"

    The shorter guard just shook his head and sighed. "You know that I''d have stopped you from leaving if I had known."

    "So were you really able to bar the gates from inside just by yourself?" Feroy asked the shorter guard.

    "I did close the gates, but when I tried to bar them from inside," the guard mumbled, "it got stuck in a position and I couldn''t put the iron bar in place. I also heard the sound of cheering from the ceremony at that time, and I really didn''t want to be the only one to miss it! And when I still couldn''t do it after trying many times, I just put the bar on the side and went to see the medal ceremony..." He added in a low voice, "I thought nobody would even find out from outside the gates that it wasn''t barred, since the gates would still seem locked from the outside."

    "You are an idiot!" Hudan growled at them after hearing their stories. "Both of you! You left your post in the middle of duty, and then went to watch the ceremony for your entertainment without even locking the gates properly!" He angrily looked at the other guards who had been watching quietly. "Didn''t any of you think of reporting to me that the gates were already open, when we found out that Sejkil had been murdered?"

    Most of the guards just gazed downwards, while one of them protested, "But the gates are supposed to be open at this time!" He pointed at the two guards who were being questioned until now. "And those two were already back at the gates when I found them to be open, so I didn''t think it was anything odd that the gates were still open at this time."

    Hudan stared back at the two earlier guards and growled, "I''ll show you what it means to leave your post! I''m going to..."

    As Kivamus listened to the guard captain berate the guards while threatening to train them until they fell down from exhaustion, he realized that these guards were not really corrupt or even complicit in the death of Sejkil - just like Duvas was telling him earlier - but their actions certainly showed gross incompetence by them. Hopefully some serious disciplinary training in the future should instill in them the importance of following their orders and not leaving their posts in the middle of their watch duties.

    Then he remembered something and looked at the guards. "I was told that Sejkil didn''t die an easy death, which means he must have screamed a lot. Didn''t any of you hear anything?"

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    Most of the guards just shook their heads, while a few muttered that they hadn''t heard anything, since there was a lot of sound because of the crowd for the medal giving ceremony.

    However, one of the guards, whom Kivamus had given a medal for getting injured in the line of duty, was looking to the side hesitantly.

    Hudan barked at him. "What is it that you are hiding?"

    The guard looked towards them with indecision. Then he muttered in a low voice, "After I had gotten my medal, I was feeling thirsty so I came to the well to get some water to drink, and I did hear some sounds from that barn."

    Hudan took a step towards the guard in anger, but Kivamus put a hand on his arm to hold him back. The guard captain - who resembled a raging bull more than a human right now - took a deep breath to calm himself and stopped. Then he growled at that guard in a voice seething with fury. "You didn''t think of trying to take a look and see what was happening? What if it was something even worse? What if someone was trying to harm or kill one of our maids? "

    The guard looked down with shame. "I didn''t think about that... But I knew that Sejkil had been tied up inside that barn, so I just thought it must be one of the guards roughing him up a little. But I never thought he would die! And I didn''t even do anything myself! I didn''t even go inside that barn!"

    "Even if you thought it was Sejkil," Feroy asked him, "you still should have gone to take a look. Or at least you should have reported it to someone!"

    "But I thought..." The guard''s face showed anger for a moment before he controlled his expression. "That bastard Sejkil and the other bandits had tried to kill us! I thought it was only fair to rough him up in return. And I didn''t even do anything to him myself! I just didn''t think it was worth reporting."

    That response surprised Kivamus. Did the guards really hold that much fury against the bandits? But then he immediately realized that he was being foolish. Of course they would be furious at the bandits! He had been sitting safe inside the manor, but the guards had risked their lives against the lowlifes. Some of them had gotten injured and had barely returned alive, so of course they would want to take revenge against the bandits.

    He sighed. His modern mindset was habitual of a fair justice system and he just hadn''t been able to execute either Sejkil or Levalo without a proper trial and judgement, so he had given a second chance to them after giving them some time to contemplate on their life choices - hoping they would change their habits and try to live a good life. But since there was no permanent prison here, his order had basically meant forgiving the bandits for raiding the village and trying to kill people of Tiranat. His people.

    He looked in the eyes of the guards standing there, and he thought he saw resentment there, as if they had felt betrayed by his decision to essentially forgive Sejkil without any punishment, but perhaps it was only his imagination.

    He shook his head. Maybe... just maybe, he had been too forgiving. And perhaps it was a mistake for him to give a second chance to Sejkil to work as a laborer here, without even giving him any serious punishment. He did have his reasons for that - since they didn''t have a proper prison at the time - but more importantly, he was just happy that an extra worker would help to get the longhouses and other buildings made even faster, which would mean that the villagers wouldn''t have to live in cramped conditions with their neighbors for too long. But perhaps it was a mistake for him to not consider the other aspects of that decision.

    More importantly, could he really have ordered someone to be executed? He knew that the bandit deserved to be punished as severely as possible, but that was the task of trained judges who knew the law, but he was just an engineer dammit! How was he supposed to give an order to end someone''s life? Did he even have the right to do something like that?

    He took a deep breath. Despite everything that had happened, he still believed that a human life was precious - no matter what the standards were in this cut-throat medieval world - and shouldn''t be extinguished without being completely sure that the person didn''t deserve to live anymore.

    No matter what the nobles used as a form of justice in this world, and even if the majority of villagers would have supported him executing someone immediately - either for entertainment or revenge - he would try his best to stick to his principles of morality. But still, this incident had made him realize that he couldn''t continue to behave like he was living in twenty-first century Earth. Just like others were adapting to his views and ideals, he would also have to try to adapt to this world as well.

    That meant while he still wasn''t going to order his guards to execute someone without a due process - something which wasn''t feasible here without a well-written book of law as well as trained judges who were experienced in diligently carrying out that law - something still had to be done to punish criminals and lawbreakers.

    Earlier, he had thought of postponing making the jail for the future, after the more important construction projects were completed. But it seemed like he couldn''t do that anymore. This was still a harsh medieval world, and while he would do his best to stick to his values and ideals of justice, the people needed a way to see that the wrongdoers would be punished, even if it was just locking them up for a long time. Despite the fact that feeding a prisoner for a long time without them working for it would be an extra load on their food stores which they didn''t really need, it was a price he had to pay if he didn''t want something like this to repeat again.

    Of course, there was always the option of immediate execution if such a thing happened again in the future, but he''d keep that as the very last resort, and it would be done only after he had consulted with all his advisors on what the best punishment would be. A life would only be taken if and only if there really was no better way left, but he did have to keep that option open in the future, despite all his qualms against it.

    He nodded to himself, his resolve strengthened. Then he looked at the small crowd gathered around him and began to speak.

 Chapter 150 - 148. Discipline and Departure

    "Listen everyone," he began. "I had good reasons for keeping Sejkil alive, but I also understand your concerns. I know you all had risked your life to fight with the bandits, so I realize that you may have felt that I was too lenient in giving out punishments. But the fact remains that we simply do not have a jail in the village right now, nor do we have a permanent prison here."

    In the light of the brazier burning nearby, he saw that many servants and maids had also started to gather there, and they began listening to him as well. Someone being murdered inside the manor had rattled all of them, and they looked very eager to know what he was going to do about it. It hardened his resolve to do his best to protect these people.

    Everyone listened carefully as he continued, "That''s why I have made a decision to build a jail here as soon as we can. Once the first longhouse is completed in a few days, I will tell the carpenter to start working on it immediately. This will be an isolated room within the manor where we can lock up someone who needs to be punished for anything which he has done wrong - up to and including life imprisonment for the most heinous crimes."

    The guards looked a little surprised by now, either by the fact that their baron was even talking to them about such a thing, or perhaps because he had not mentioned killing by execution in response to a crime. Kivamus exhaled. He wasn''t going to start executing people unless he had a very, very good reason for it, but at the same time, as much as he hated it, he knew that it was probably a necessary evil in this world.

    He swallowed before steeling himself and added, "Of course, there is still an option to simply execute someone who has done something unforgivable like murder or treason. But that will be considered on a case by case basis, and will only be decided once we are completely sure that that person is irredeemable."

    Immediately, many of the guards including Feroy and Hudan gave nods in reply, while Gorsazo gazed at him with understanding, perhaps knowing that he was unused to saying such a thing.

    Kivamus continued, "But that is for the future. Now, about Sejkil''s death, Feroy has told me that the actual death was most likely an accident, but the fact remains that some unknown person still did something like this. So our immediate concern is to find out who did this and to give him a fitting punishment. It''s not going to be easy to identify that person, but Feroy will be in charge of that, and he will do his best to find the criminal."

    The gathered crowd looked a little relieved to hear that something was being done about it, but many of them were still glancing left and right, probably worried that the murderer was amongst them.

    To assuage those concerns, he added further, "Also, let me assure you that after investigating it, we have come to the conclusion that it wasn''t a resident of the manor who did this, but rather someone else from the village. So you can still trust everyone here completely."

    Immediately, the small crowd gave sighs of relief, like a heavy weight had been removed from their shoulders.

    "Now to address the reason why something like this had happened in the first place." He looked at the two guards who had left their posts. "While the two of you were not directly involved with the death of Sejkil, it was still your fault that you left your posts at the gates without telling anyone else, and without even locking the gates properly. We can only be glad that it was a bandit who died, because it could very well have been one of us instead of Sejkil."

    The two guards immediately looked down with shame.

    "Please forgive us, milord!" The taller one bowed low and begged. "We just thought that the bandit raid had already been repelled, so there would be no harm in just watching the reward ceremony for a while. Please don''t lay us off!"

    The shorter guard appealed to him as well with a bow. "We won''t let anything like this happen ever again! We promise!"

    Kivamus gazed at their expressions which looked genuine enough to him. However, if the village''s situation was any better, he might really have fired them, but as of now they needed as many guards as they could. And while this was still a grievous error by those guards, they were still new recruits, and they weren''t corrupt or disloyal. So getting them more disciplined should take care that such a thing would never be repeated in the future.

    "Stand straight." As the two guards looked up, he continued, "Don''t worry, I am not going to discharge you two from the manor. For now." He stared at them for a moment, making them squirm, then gazed at all the guards present there. "But I never want to see such a mistake being made by anyone else in the future. You can rest assured that next time I won''t be so forgiving."

    Immediately the two guards gave deep bows again, while saying, "Thank you milord! Thank you so much!" They repeated it again and again, until he put up a hand to stop them.

    However, even though he had gone easy on them for their mistakes, Kivamus had also learned his lesson to be strict when needed.

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    "That being said," he continued, "I still can''t let you go without punishment. So the both of you will be docked one month''s wages for indiscipline and dereliction of duty. We are not paying you in coins for now, but Duvas will note it down and will deduct it from your wages when we do start it in the future."

    The guards looked miserable on hearing that, but reluctantly, they gave nods of acceptance. "We understand, milord," the shorter one mumbled.

    Kivamus looked at the other guards now. "Also, the experienced guards who left their posts and put you two at the gates - even though it was your rest time - will also lose a month''s wages for this."

    He continued, "You simply cannot leave your post in the middle of duty. That is the lesson you all need to learn. And that''s why there are always at least two men at each gate. If there is an emergency and you really do need to leave, one of you should go and tell your superior first, so he can send a replacement for you. And only then can you leave your post."

    He added with a firm voice, "Such a thing can never be allowed to take place again, or the results might be much worse. So I won''t tolerate any lack of discipline in the future."

    The guards gave nods of understanding.

    Then Kivamus looked at the anxious maids and servants and smiled. "Don''t worry. Something like this won''t ever happen again. I''ll make sure of it."

    *******

    After they all had returned inside the manor hall, Feroy began, "Hudan will only leave tomorrow morning, so for now, I''ll go and try to see if I can find something about this in the village square or the alehouse. Maybe someone will blab something about this, you know?"

    "I''ll leave it to you," Kivamus said.

    He looked at the guard captain. "Hudan, it is up to you to instill discipline in our new recruits as well as the experienced guards. Although not getting a month''s wages should remind them of the consequences if any of them thinks of doing something like this again, you''ll need to do more so they won''t forget this lesson." He added, "For today, just make those four guards keep running laps around the manor until they can''t walk anymore, and tell Kerel to continue this for them for at least a few weeks. This will also serve as a punishment for them, but at the same time their levels of fitness and endurance will keep increasing by this."

    Hudan nodded with a serious expression. "Don''t worry, I''ll make them train so hard that those guards won''t forget about their mistake for years."

    Kivamus gave a nod and asked, "Have you already selected the guards whom you are taking with you tomorrow?"

    "I have," the guard captain replied. "As much as I wanted to give some rest to Calubo after everything he''s been through, I still need to take him with me to show the way, as well as to show a familiar face to the stone cutters, otherwise they might just consider us as new slave-masters and refuse to come with us even if we do kill the bandits. I''ve also notified the other guards who''ll be coming with me and they are sharpening their weapons and preparing their armors right now."

    "That''s good." Kivamus added, "Let''s just hope those two escaped bandits don''t reach the quarry before you."

    He looked at Duvas. "Had you told Leah to start working on the fur coats we had gotten from the bandits?"

    "Of course," the majordomo replied. "I had also told Madam Nerida not to give her any other tasks for now, and then I ordered Leah to prioritize the fur coats. She''s been working on them continuously, and she''d already repaired a few of them during the day, but I told her to work on them as late as she could for tonight, even using the light of the braziers and the fireplace to repair more of them."

    Kivamus nodded. "Hopefully we will have enough of them by tomorrow morning."

    ******* Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    It was early morning right now, and the sun had barely started rising. Kivamus and the others were standing near the gates of the manor watching the guards get ready to leave. Although there was a brazier kept near the gates which he was using to warm his hands a little, it didn''t really help much, even in the absence of any wind. The weather seemed to be at freezing temperature right now, and the heavy cloud cover hadn''t reduced even a little bit.

    Earlier in the morning, he had been told that Leah had managed to sew seven usable fur coats from the eight damaged ones they had taken from the bandits, with the last one being sacrificed to make patches for the less damaged fur coats. But they were sending eight guards on this rescue mission, so he had added one fur coat from the manor house so that all the guards would be able to wear one of them.

    As he saw one of the guards load a small pack of food on one of the horses, suddenly he noticed that snowflakes were falling down. He looked up with surprise, and soon, he saw snow start to fall gently all around him.

    He held one of his hands ahead of him, and saw some of the snow start to gather in his palms. This was the first snow he was seeing in this world, and it marked the start of the harsh winters near the region of the Arakin mountains. He looked around, and saw that he wasn''t alone in gazing at the snow. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were looking at the first snowfall of the season.

    But soon, the guards continued loading up the horses with many different packs of food and waterskins which had been divided on multiple horses, so they wouldn''t lose all their food supply in case they lost one of the packs for some reason.

    Madam Nerida had come through as well, and she had provided enough bread, hardtack and dried meat, along with some butter for the guards to sustain the journey with ease. They were also taking half a sack of crushed wheat with them to feed the stonecutters on the return journey, which was divided into multiple packs as well for safekeeping.

    Before long, Hudan walked towards him while tightening his newly received fur coat around him.

 Chapter 151 - 149. Food And Clothing

    "We are ready to leave, milord," Hudan reported. "Also, the guards told me to thank you for the fur coats you have given all of them. They will be invaluable for us on this trip, especially since the snowfall has already started now."

    Kivamus waved it off, looking at the guards. "It''s nothing. Although we were able to provide proper winter outfits for these guards, we still need to do something about the rest of them." He looked back at Hudan. "I hope you kill the remaining bandits and return successfully with more workers for the village."

    Hudan nodded, and began to jog towards the rest of the guards - most of whom had already hopped on their horses. The guard captain gave a gesture to all the mounted guards, and with a flick of the reins, the horses began to slowly walk towards the gates.

    "May the Goddess help them," Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

    And under the gently falling snowflakes, the horses and the guards exited the manor gates one by one. And with that, the plan to rescue the stonecutters was afoot.

    *******

    "How many guards do we have in total now?" Kivamus asked Duvas.

    They had returned back inside and were sitting inside the manor hall after their breakfast. With the snowfall having already started, everyone preferred to stay indoors unless it was necessary to stay outside. Even Lucem, who usually ran away here and there in his curiosity, was calmly sitting near the long dining table while Syryne tried to explain something to him and Clarisa.

    "We had twelve guards before you arrived, and then you recruited twelve more," the majordomo replied. "And now that Calubo has returned, we have twenty-five guards. That doesn''t include Hudan, Feroy and the two women we''ve hired as guards.

    "So excluding those who have left for the rescue mission, that leaves us with eighteen male guards here." Kivamus nodded. "That''s still a good enough number that now we can afford to send some more of them out from the village."

    "What do you have in mind, milord?" Feroy asked curiously.

    "I''ve been thinking about our food situation when Hudan returns with those stonecutters." Kivamus put his hand closer to the fire to heat them more. "I think we should start sending hunting parties now. Although it''s already snowing out there, any meat that they return with will only help us."

    He added, "Something also has to be done to provide better clothing for the villagers. While they might still survive the winter while wearing what they have on them, especially with the coal we are providing them for heating, this year I don''t want them to keep shivering in the cold like the previous winters. I''ve wanted to send a few scouts to look for losuvil vines in the eastern hills for some time now, and hopefully they will find some sheep there, which we can bring to the manor and use their wool to make some warm clothing."

    "While it would be a good idea to try to gather some sheep," Gorsazo commented, "usually their fleeces are sheared only after the winter, when they are at their thickest. So it wouldn''t be a good idea to shear their wool at this time even if we did manage to find some of them."

    "That does make sense," Kivamus muttered, not having thought about that.

    "While I''m no expert in that," Gorsazo continued, "I also believe it''s a complex process, which involves many steps to make woolen clothing." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus tried to remember the process of making clothing from what he had read somewhere on the internet in the past. "You are right. From what I remember, there are indeed multiple steps involved in the process - from getting their wool, carding and spinning it into yarn, then weaving them into fabric, and eventually cutting and sewing it into clothing."

    Suddenly, he noticed that everyone was looking at him in surprise, except for Gorsazo who had a knowing grin on his face. "What?" He asked uncertainly.

    "I''m just surprised you know that much about sewing and uh... spinning, you know?" Feroy commented with a chuckle. "I never thought a noble would know that much about something which is usually only left to commoners like us, and mostly to women at that."

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Although Kivamus had indeed spent a lot of his time reading about random things, it was on the internet and not in any library here, but that explanation would suffice for them, once again. He also wondered if there was a reason why he had been transported into the mind and body of someone who had spent a lot of his time alone, even though the original Kivamus'' reasons for spending time in the library was only to hide from his brothers.

    He laughed. "Well, you already know I spent most of my time in the libraries back in Ulriga palace. And one benefit of that is that I know a lot of obscure knowledge about well... commoners'' things."

    Duvas chuckled as well. "Yeah, you have told us about that before, but it was still surprising. Usually even those nobles who like to read often spend their time reading books about military strategies or such manly things." He added, "It''s not that I mind it, of course, since my old bones would certainly prefer to have warmer clothing - especially if we make them ourselves - which would mean they would be very cheap, instead of buying it from a place like Cinran, which costs a lot. Leah should be able to sew them too."

    "Well, let''s not get ahead of ourselves here," Kivamus reminded them. "We don''t even know if we will be able to find any sheep there. But yes, if we are indeed able to start sheep farming in Tiranat, and assuming we are able to make good quality woolen clothing from them, we can even start selling them to merchants who visit here, which will add another source of revenue to our coffers."

    "I like that plan," Duvas said with an excited nod. "More revenue is always welcome! Especially since our expenses will go through the roof after the winter, when the Count sends someone to ask for taxes from us, not to mention the extra wheat we will need to buy to complete the sowing, since their prices will also be quite high at that time."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus said.

    He knew that it would be a long and complex process to make woolen clothing, or basically any kind of clothing from the raw materials like wool or cotton, and he wasn''t sure if they even had the knowhow for that here. He didn''t think that they could grow cotton here in this climate, but if he could buy it from somewhere else for cheap, that would have a much bigger scope for manufacturing and exporting clothes, compared to things made from wool.

    He had already bought more than enough parchment and ink from Pydaso, and he had the full winter to design and get those machines built here. He didn''t remember the exact design of the machines, but he had still read enough on the internet about how new machines began to be invented on earth that his background in mechanical engineering would allow him to design them from scratch here. And if he really could get the local carpenter and blacksmith to make such machines - like a power loom, a cotton gin and so on... the possibilities were endless.

    In fact, that was how the first industrial revolution had started on earth! And who knows, if they were really able to produce such machines here, they would multiply the productivity of workers by a big enough factor that it might just kick off an industrial revolution in this world as well! He was already getting excited thinking about it, and he couldn''t wait to start drawing the designs for those machines.

    He looked at the majordomo. "That being said, why didn''t anyone search for sheep there, in the past?"

    Duvas shrugged. "The same reason as why we didn''t look for losuvil vines too far from the village. As you know, this area was unexplored and uninhabited before Tiranat was founded, and the previous baron spent more time in Cinran with other nobles than he did here. And there was also the fact that even if we had gotten some sheep here, we wouldn''t be able to make clothing from them anyway, since nearly all of the people who migrated here were coal miners in the past, and we didn''t get many skilled craftsmen here."

    He continued after a moment, "Even then, I had still asked the previous baron''s permission to look for sheep here, since I knew having those hills and the mountains in the east meant that there certainly should be many sheep there, and we could at least sell the wool to the visiting merchants. But he had denied me immediately, saying that he didn''t want to make his manor look even more like a shanty town, so he didn''t allow us to keep any more animals here than what we strictly needed."

    He added, "That''s the same reason why he used much costlier double-planked walls in the manor instead of making them directly from logs, since he didn''t want other nobles or any visitors from Cinran to think like he was living in a hovel - those were his own words."

    Kivamus sighed. "You did tell me that he didn''t really want to become the baron of Tiranat, and he only came here because it was an order from the count. Well, let the past stay in the past." He added, "Whatever the previous baron''s priorities might have been, I don''t want to leave any good opportunity unexplored here."

    "And I am thankful for that, my lord," Duvas added with a grin. "I can already see our strongbox overflowing with gold in the future... Maybe we would even have to buy another strongbox in the future!"

    Everyone laughed at that golden vision for a while.

    Once they had calmed down, Kivamus looked at them seriously. "Okay. So I think we should start with two hunting parties from today, and when Hudan returns with other guards we can send more of them to hunt."

    He looked at Feroy. "You have quite a lot of experience living in the wild, so what do you think the makeup of the hunting parties should be?"

 Chapter 152 - Announcement

    Hear ye, hear ye!

    Lord Kivamus has good news for you all. From now on you can read five chapters a week on Patreon! That means a new chapter every day from Monday to Friday!

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    He, and more importantly the majordomo Duvas, eagerly await your arrival to the growing village of Tiranat as a new patron. With the harsh winter upon us, we will need all the support you can provide to keep the residents fed and warm.

    On a more serious note, this schedule of five chapters a week will continue at least until Patreon reaches 50 chapters ahead, which means at least for five more months from now! Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Once again, thank you for giving this story so much love. I hope you all keep enjoying it as much as you have.

    With warmest regards,

    Kuzunalis

 Chapter 153 - 150. Hunting Parties

    Feroy thought about it for a while before replying, "Since the hunters would already be armed with bows and arrows, I think we should add two swordsmen in each group. And with four men in each hunting party, they should be able to take on most of the animals there."

    "Alright, four it is then." Kivamus looked at Duvas. "You mentioned that there were a couple of hunters in the village. Send a servant to them so they can get ready to leave within an hour."

    "We''ve already hired Yufim - who used to be a hunter - as a guard," the majordomo replied, "but I''ll send a servant to the other one. There aren''t any more hunters in the village though. No one had the money to buy too much meat anyway, so even those hunters only brought in barely more than what was necessary to feed their family, not that they wanted to venture into the forests alone any more than necessary."

    "But that''s still only two archers." Kivamus added, "We need two more to form a second group."

    "Well, Nurobo is our other archer," Feroy commented, "so we can send him as well. Apart from him, there are a few more guards who are decent shots with bows in their hands, so I''ll add the best ones amongst them to the other hunting party. The warbows we got from the bandits would be very helpful for us here. And I''ll also provide a few spears to each group as well."

    "Good idea," Kivamus said. "While one group can choose which direction to go, the other group should always go to the east for now, so that they can also keep an eye on the local plants and see if they can find any losuvil vines there. They should also be on the lookout for any sheep, which are likely to be found only in the east, between the hills, or maybe even further in that direction." S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Feroy nodded. "I''ll let them know about it."

    "But how will they carry the animals back to the village," Kivamus asked, "especially if they get lucky and catch something big like a deer? What did they do about it in the past?"

    "Usually they only caught rabbits, squirrels and such small game," Duvas replied with a shrug, "since there wasn''t much of a demand for meat here. And those can easily be put inside a small burlap backpack."

    Feroy suggested, "We could make some simple stretchers here which would allow the hunters to carry back a lot of meat, especially since there will be four men in each group. It''ll just need two straight pieces of strong wood, and some sturdy pieces of ropes to tie between them. I''ll go and tell a few servants to find some suitable ropes for this, and to bring in some straight pieces of wood from the north of the village."

    "That''s a good idea, you should do that immediately after this meeting," Kivamus said. He continued, "When Taniok gets some free time, we''ll tell him to make the stretchers properly, by cutting straight pieces of wood, and with proper handles. Later on, we will even get a few sledges made for bringing in even bigger animals after some snow has gathered on the ground. But for now, those wooden sticks should do the task well enough. Also, make sure to give some rope to the hunters to tie those animals to the stretchers."

    "Of course," Feroy nodded. "Every hunter takes some rope with them anyway, even if only to use as a snare."

    "That reminds me," Kivamus said, "why aren''t we setting up such traps here?"

    "The hunters are already doing that," Duvas replied, "and that''s how they get most of their meat - including what we ate earlier in the feast. I did tell you earlier that they don''t go too deep in the forest, but they do put some traps and snaps just inside the tree line. Although, now that we are clearing the forest all around the village, that tree line keeps shifting away, so they have to keep searching for new places to put those traps, which has reduced the amount of meat the village is getting."

    "Alright, we can''t stop clearing the forests, but we can certainly try to make it more sustainable," Kivamus suggested. "For example, we can capture some wild rabbits and create an enclosure to raise them here. Even putting half a dozen of them inside a rabbit pen would mean we would start to get a lot more of them after they start breeding. And after the rabbits in the first litter have grown up in a few more months, we will regularly be getting meat and fur from them."

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    He added with a shrug, "I''m certainly not an expert in this, so I''m just giving some rough estimates. But I am sure one of the hunters would know a lot more about this than I do, and he can help us in raising the animals. Still, it''s very much doable and the rabbits could become quite productive for us within a few months."

    Then he noticed that Gorsazo was smirking at him.

    "What?" Kivamus asked him with a frown.

    Gorsazo tilted his head and grinned. "Nothing. I am just surprised to hear that there is something you are not claiming to be an expert in."

    Kivamus knew that Gorsazo was saying this even after knowing about his origin and the reason behind most of his knowledge. He had even told him many more things about life on earth in some free time, and Gorsazo had seemed completely fascinated with everything about life on modern Earth - including the internet and the kind of information that was available there, so he realized that the jibe was only meant as a joke.

    He laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Even I don''t know everything, no matter how much I enjoyed reading in the past."

    Others gave good natured chuckles as well at his reply, even though they had no idea about the thing called internet.

    "Anyway," he continued, "I''ll add making a small rabbit pen inside the manor to the ever-growing list of things we need Taniok to build. He will need to add wooden bars on all sides including the floor, so they don''t just dig their way out. Once we have it ready along with a few rabbits inside it, one of our maids can take care of them with the help of a hunter - perhaps even Yufim." He added, "And later on, we could even make a dedicated barn or a warehouse to raise the rabbits at a much larger scale, but that''s far in the future."

    "I can already see the benefits in that - not to mention it might become another small source of revenue for us," Duvas replied. "I''ll tell the hunters not to butcher any rabbits they catch from now on. And we can just keep them inside our cattle feed storage barn or maybe within the cattle shed itself until that pen is made."

    "That''ll work," Kivamus agreed, "although I think that the enclosure should be made inside one of the barns or maybe as a covered extension of the cattle shed, since it would be too cold for them outside in the snow. "

    Duvas nodded. "We''ll ask the hunters for their suggestions before we build it, but either way, we will have to keep the rabbits indoors."

    Kivamus gave a nod, but then he remembered something. "Actually, now that we will be regularly sending all our hunters out of the village, who will take care of the traps from now on?"

    Duvas shrugged. "It''s not really a problem, my Lord. Once the hunters have found a good place to put the snares, putting up any new trap barely takes any time. And then they only have to check the traps once in a while to see if something has been caught. So I''ll tell the hunters to put traps every time before they leave for hunting with the other guards, and then someone else from their families, or maybe their wives can check the traps occasionally."

    "Alright, that should work," Kivamus replied. But there was something he was getting curious about. He asked, "I know the previous baron wouldn''t have allowed you to raise rabbits when he was here - for the same reasons he didn''t allow you to keep too many animals here - but why didn''t you do it in the past few months? At that time, you already knew that he was dead and couldn''t stop you from keeping more animals here."

    Duvas sighed. "We just couldn''t afford to keep any hunted animals alive for too long when most of the people were already starving here. Anything the hunters caught was usually consumed on the very same day, and it simply wasn''t feasible to keep them for the future when everyone was close to starvation."

    "Right... Well, that''s in the past now," Kivamus replied, trying not to think about those dark times in the village. "Now that everyone is getting proper meals every day, we can easily afford to do this."

    After a moment, Feroy said, "Milord, I have a suggestion. I think we shouldn''t send the hunters too deep into the forest for now. They don''t have much experience in going too far inside the forests - which will be much more dangerous compared to the edges they go to put the traps in."

    He continued, "Also, it has started snowing here now, and even though we got many new fur coats from the bandits, we have already given them to Hudan and the other guards who left for the quarry. And without such fur coats it would be difficult for the hunters to brave the freezing nights inside the forests, you know?"

 Chapter 154 - 151. Sketching

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "That makes sense. Let them know that until Hudan and the others return, they should keep the hunting trips short and target to return by evening or early night every day. That will also allow them to properly warm up their bodies indoors after enduring the cold throughout the day, since they would get a proper fireplace burning with coal here, unlike in the forest where they might not even be able to light a fire for various reasons."

    He continued, "And once we are able to provide them with fur coats - by which time we''ll also try to get some sledges made - they can go deeper into the forest on longer trips, along with the sledges to try to hunt and bring back bigger game." S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I''ll tell them about this," Feroy replied with a nod. "By that time they would also have some experience of hunting in coordination with the guards, and hopefully, by then they should be able to start catching bigger animals like any isolated wolves or moose. At that time, once they''ve found a sizable prey, the archers can try to shoot down the beasts from afar, and then the swordsmen would move in up close to make the kill on the already wounded animals."

    "That''s a good plan," Kivamus commented. He looked at others. "Once we are able to send more hunting parties in the coming weeks, along with raising a good number of rabbits by the summer months, we should regularly start getting a good amount of meat from them. And at that point, we should get enough fur from them that we might be able to provide proper winter clothing to everyone by the next winter. Maybe we could even sell the best quality furs to any visiting merchants or directly to the Cinran''s market to get some extra gold."

    "I always like hearing about a new source of revenue," Duvas remarked with a grin. "And since the process of making winter coats from fur is much less complicated than making new clothing from wool, Leah should be able to sew up that fur by herself."

    "That''s true enough," Kivamus observed, "but when it comes to making new clothing, getting that much wool is a much bigger problem. Even If we don''t have the proper tools or knowhow to make woolen fabric from it, we can just put that wool directly between two layers of cotton or linen clothing and sew them up to make a decent woolen coat. That would still be much better than the clothing villagers wear these days."

    "I understand that," Duvas replied. "But either way, hopefully we will be able to get some extra gold in the future from these projects."

    Kivamus nodded. "That being said, with eight guards out on the rescue mission, as well as those who''ll go on the hunting trips, we will be a little short on guards again until Hudan and the others return. So getting a few more women to join up as guards soon would be very helpful for us. So I wanted to ask if there is any progress in recruiting any more women, apart from the two we''ve already hired?"

    Duvas gave a reluctant shake of his head. "Not really, my lord. I have already made a few announcements in the village square about this, but they are still reluctant to join us."

    Kivamus nodded as he watched Madam Helga take away the cutlery from the long dining table. And that gave him an idea. "You know what, so far only men have made the announcement to recruit women, whether it was done by the guards or you. But that''s not likely to work - as we have already seen, since you can''t give the perspective of women. So I want you to take a few women with you when you go to the market square to make the announcement next time. And they should give their views about this."

    He continued, "Madam Helga can tell about the risks and hazards of living in a dangerous place from her own experience, while Madam Nerida can tell them about the perks and benefits of living inside the manor. Whatever our current financial insufficiencies might be, life inside the manor would still be much more comfortable and safer for the women of the village - especially those who are living alone. And another time, you should take a couple of younger women from the manor to speak at the market square. Even the sisters whom we have already recruited can tell about the training they are going through, the kind of meals they regularly get here and how they are treated in the manor, as well as what they like and dislike about working as the only female guards."

    Finally, he added, "Hopefully that should give some motivation to the other woman to join us as guards."

    Duvas nodded. "I still say that recruiting female guards might just be a pointless undertaking at best, but I''ll do as you say."

    "Don''t worry about that," Kivamus said with a smile, "you will come around to my viewpoint when we start making crossbows here, which are going to make women just as effective guards as men."

    Duvas snorted. "I''ll believe it when I see it."

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    *******

    It had been four days since Hudan and the other guards had left for the quarry, and so far there was no news from them. But Kivamus had expected that it would easily take more than a week for them to return, so hopefully, there was no need to worry about them for now.

    The snow had been falling continuously since then, and by now small patches of snow had started to gather on the ground as well. While it wasn''t quite a winter wonderland outside, it did mean that it was biting cold all the time. But so far the light amount of snow gathered on the ground wasn''t enough to stop any of the construction process or the clearing of forests.

    This was Kivamus'' first winter in Tiranat, but from what he had learned from the others, it was rare for more than a few inches of snow to gather in this village, except for the years with particularly harsh winters which deposited a lot more snow than usual. Hopefully, this won''t be one of those years.

    Being motivated by the personal viewpoints of their female guards and the older women from the manor, they had also gotten two more women as recruits. They had also been allotted to live in the upper floor of the servants'' hall along with the other maids, where Isomi and Savomi were living as well, and Kerel had slowly started to include them in running and other basic physical exercises and stretches.

    The hunting parties had been going out every day, but so far they hadn''t been very successful in catching anything sizable. But the small game which they had been bringing in was still a noticeable improvement over the past. Apart from a small amount of meat which they kept for their own use in the manor, most of it was now being added to the stew which was provided to the elderly villagers and the children as free meals every evening.

    By now, the hunters had also brought two rabbits which they had been able to catch alive, and they had given it to the maids to keep safely within the manor. It was only a start, but if they were able to catch more of them, they should hopefully be able to start raising rabbits here.

    That was the good news. The bad news was that Feroy still hadn''t heard anything about who had entered the manor in the dark and killed Sejkil - even if by accident. Whoever the culprits were, they were keeping completely silent instead of bragging about how they had taken revenge against the bandit. But hopefully, Feroy would be able to get some hints in the future from the ample time he spent in the market square and the alehouse of the village.

    Apart from that, another undesirable news was that the hunters who had been going to the east of the village hadn''t sighted any losuvil vines or any sheep in that region so far. But there was still hope for the future, since they had barely covered a small area, and there was a lot of ground to cover in that direction.

    Kivamus regularly joined the guards in the mornings for some running and light training as well, though he didn''t stay there nearly as long as the guards themselves. He had also noticed that the four guards whose blunders had caused Sejkil''s death to happen were being run ragged every day in the training.

    Right now, it was approaching evening but there was still some time before it got fully dark. And for the past few hours Kivamus had been alone inside the manor hall, which had become his makeshift office in recent weeks. He was leaning over the long dining table, which also doubled as a workbench for him, while sketching on a piece of parchment. Along with the fireplace burning on one side of the hall, a few more braziers had been kept in the corners of the large room, to make it warmer, as well as to give some more light inside for him to work.

    Today, he was working on another iteration of a blueprint for the seed drills he wanted to get built here. Once he was done with the sketch, he stood up straight, and gazed at the diagram again, but he still didn''t feel satisfied with it. It was only a rudimentary design, which he had sketched keeping in mind the capabilities of the local craftsmen, and it should be able to do the task it was meant for.

    But after gazing at the diagram for a few minutes, he shook his head. Something still felt missing to him in the sketch. Giving a loud exhale, he dragged the used parchment to one side to a slowly growing pile, and pulled up a new one to start from scratch.

    Right at that moment, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Duvas walked inside with a huge grin.

    "There is good news, my lord," the majordomo reported. "The construction of the first longhouse block is finished."

    "What?" Kivamus said with surprise. "That''s wonderful!"

    "It certainly is," Duvas agreed with a smile. "A laborer had just come running to the manor to report it. He told me that Taniok has nailed the last of the bunks to the walls, and with the other things already completed there, the longhouse block is now ready to move in."

    "This is certainly good news!" Kivamus echoed. "We should go and take a look at it."

    "As you wish," Duvas said with a nod. "I''ll tell Feroy to gather a few guards to accompany us."

    Kivamus nodded. "Tell Gorsazo to come with us as well. I think he had gone to talk with Madam Helga again."

    The majordomo nodded. "I''ll send a servant to fetch him."

    "Okay, then. I''ll meet you at the gates soon," Kivamus said before Duvas exited the outer door.

    Kivamus took another look at the parchment where he had just started sketching another design for the seed drill. Eh, it could wait. The longhouse block was the first major project they had embarked on after his arrival in the village, so he was very excited to see it.

    He picked up his fur coat where he had draped it above a chair, and tightened it firmly around him. And with that, he exited the outer door as well. The longhouse block awaited him.

 Chapter 155 - 152. The First Longhouse Block

    The setting sun cast long shadows across the clearing as Baron Kivamus Ralokaar approached the newly constructed longhouse block. The air was thick with the smell of burning coal and damp earth, while the rhythmic thud of hammers somewhere in the area punctuated the silence. Smoke curled lazily from a couple of braziers kept in front of the building, where a group of villagers were warming up their hands.

    Although the snowfall seemed to have stopped for now, small patches of snow gathered on the ground here and there told him that the temperature still remained below freezing. He believed that most likely it was only a short respite from the snowfall, until the time it would undoubtedly start again later on.

    Further ahead in the north, he could see that the new village walls seemed to be standing tall in that direction - along with a gap in the middle for the new gatehouse which would be built there - though he didn''t know how far those walls extended yet. It would still take quite a bit of time to complete them.

    As he reached closer and stepped over the newly dug drainage ditch using a couple of planks which had been kept there for that purpose, a hush fell over the laborers who had been working nearby. His two guards, faces grim and alert, flanked him, their eyes scanning the small crowd for any signs of trouble.

    Kivamus, however, was more interested in the longhouse block itself. It was a sturdy structure, its walls built from rough-hewn logs with their barks removed, and the gaps between them patched over with a blend of mud and straw to prevent the icy winds from entering the building. Its slanted roof built with planks sloped steeply on both sides, and was designed to shed the heavy snowfalls that would inevitably come.

    The laborers, a combination of men and women, watched him with awe and apprehension as he scrutinized the construction. He also noticed a small group of children huddled near the entrance, their eyes wide with wonder as they watched the baron approach. He smiled at them, offering a gentle wave. The children, emboldened by his gesture, shyly waved back. It was a small gesture, but Kivamus knew its importance. These children were the future of Tiranat, and it was his duty to ensure that they had a safe and prosperous future.

    "Let''s look at it from the inside as well," he said to the others who had accompanied him from the manor. They gave nods, and walked along with him as he moved towards the entrance.

    As he passed through the heavy wooden gates, he found himself in a square courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, a gnarled Bilona tree stood stark against the twilight sky, its thick branches reaching out widely, devoid of leaves in the winter months. There were some small clumps of snow gathered on the ground here as well, but once spring arrived, there was enough space here for the residents to easily cultivate some vegetable patches to add a variety to their diets. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    A few laborers were still busy loading some tools - hammers, saws, and chisels - into a waiting wheelbarrow, while Taniok gave orders to some other men and women on one side. When the carpenter noticed them, he said something to the laborers and immediately started walking towards him.

    "You are here already, milord!" Taniok exclaimed. "I thought you''d only visit tomorrow. We still have to do some cleaning up here..."

    Kivamus chuckled. "I couldn''t wait to see the result of your hard work."

    The carpenter seemed a little embarrassed at the praise, and rubbed the back of his balding head. He did have a thick wooly hat to cover his pate - unlike most of the laborers - but he was holding it in his other hand for now.

    Taniok gestured towards one of the doors there. "Let me show you the insides as well."

    Kivamus nodded and followed behind him along with Gorsazo and Feroy, while Duvas stayed behind to talk with some villagers. As he reached closer, he noticed the intricate details - the carefully crafted wooden doors, the small windows, with planks of the wooden floor meticulously attached together like a jigsaw puzzle. There was a series of wooden bunks attached to each side of the building - one above the other - while each pair of bunks was separated from the next two by a vertical section built of planks as well.

    As he looked to the other side, these bunks extended to the end of that section - which would have been the first longhouse before he had decided to convert them into a single longhouse block. This single block should still be able to house the majority of the villagers who had been homeless before he arrived here.

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    A few laborers had also followed them inside curiously, and they followed behind him as he walked around. He asked a few simple questions to them as well, to make them feel included. The laborers, keen to impress their lord, eagerly answered all his questions, their voices filled with a newfound sense of pride. He was glad to see the people of the previously scared and hungry village coming together and feeling the accomplishment of completing this building.

    Soon, he returned outside to the courtyard, and noticed that there was a small crowd gathered near the outer gates, with Duvas standing in the middle of them.

    Curiously, he began walking towards them, followed by Feroy and Gorsazo. Once the villagers noticed him, they parted aside, and he saw that a laborer was typing a thin rope to the two sides of the open gate.

    Once he reached there, Duvas began with a grin, "My lord, I thought this would be a good time to get this building inaugurated by you. I couldn''t find anything like a ribbon here, but you should still cut the rope in front of all the villagers. It''s tradition, my Lord."

    So that''s what the crowd was doing! He wondered how the same tradition had been preserved in this world as that on earth. But he would likely never know the answer to that.

    Despite everything, Kivamus was still not habitual of being treated like a big celebrity or politician, and considered himself a normal person like he used to be on earth. But, the fact remained that he was the Baron of Tiranat now, and for the villagers here, he constituted the only real figure of authority in this region. And that meant any events like cutting ribbons to inaugurate the longhouse block fell to him. He was still not sure whether he liked it, but he knew that he didn''t dislike it anymore.

    He looked at Gorsazo and whispered, "Does this really need to be done by me?"

    Gorsazo shrugged. "It will barely take a moment, but it will boost the morale of the villagers to see even a simple event like this. It will make them feel like they have really accomplished something, since it is being inaugurated by their baron - a noble."

    Giving an uncertain nod, Kivamus bent down below the rope and walked to the outside of the building, followed by others. This was the first construction project which had been finished under him, and its completion signified that no one would have to sleep in the open anymore. Perhaps it was a good idea to make an event of its inauguration after all.

    He looked around him, and saw that one of the villagers here must have told about his visit to others working in the north, and by now there was a sizable crowd gathered outside the longhouse block. But the immediate area around the gates had been cleared of people by his guards, and only Duvas and Gorsazo were standing next to him, with Feroy keeping an eye on the crowd. A murmur of approval rippled through the crowd as he took a pair of slightly rusty iron scissors from Duvas.

    As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the clearing in a warm, golden light, Kivamus turned to the villagers. "It is a fine structure," he declared, his voice carrying across the gathering. "You have all worked tirelessly, and the results are truly impressive. Well done!"

    The villagers, their faces illuminated by the fading light, beamed with pride. They had built this longhouse, log by log, plank by plank - a symbol of their resilience and their unwavering hope for a better future. And they couldn''t be happier to be praised by their baron.

    Once Kivamus saw the villagers were all looking at him with cheery anticipation, he grinned as well, and deciding not to make them wait anymore, he walked a step further and cut that thin rope joining the two ends of the open gates, and immediately, the crowd erupted in cheers of joy.

    Some of them were clapping in happiness, while others were pumping their fists in the air - likely those laborers who were part of the construction team for this block. The few children who were standing at the front of the crowd had also started jumping in happiness, even though they might not understand too much about the event - but such a rare day of happiness was easily infectious.

    Slowly, the cheers started to die down, and the crowd started milling around, hoping to be the first to enter the longhouse block after its formal inauguration. Immediately, his guards surrounded him and cleared the way to a side for him. He and the others moved a little further back from the crowd, letting them enjoy the moment.

    Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Although we tried our best, we were still late in completing this before the start of snowfall. So it was a good idea to house the homeless people temporarily with other villagers."

    Duvas nodded. "We have to start shifting villagers here from tomorrow, so we have to decide who will move here first, since there still aren''t enough bunks for everyone here."

    Kivamus agreed with a nod. "My calculation was that there would be one hundred and twenty-four bunks in each longhouse block." He looked at Taniok who had also followed them. "Is that still accurate?"

 Chapter 156 - 153. Additions

    The carpenter nodded. "It is, milord." He added, "And there should be no problem cooking meals for that many people here, since the kitchen and storage room of the longhouse block are also ready."

    "That''s good to hear." Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "Calubo told us that there were twenty-six stonecutters at the quarry, so we have to keep that many bunks empty for them. That leaves us with ninety-eight bunks. So we should prioritize shifting those people here first who have been living in the most congested houses, and the other villagers who have only taken in one or two homeless people can keep them for a while longer."

    Duvas nodded. "I''ll refer to my notes where I had written down the name of every villager who had been housing someone else. I''ll sort them according to what you said, and I''ll send someone to let those people know that they can start shifting here from the morning." He added, "Also, now we won''t have to pay grain and coal to those people who had been housing the homeless until now, so it will ease up the spending of our grain stores on them."

    "That''s true," Kivamus said, "but make sure to keep providing it to those people who are unable to shift their temporary tenants to the longhouse block for now."

    The majordomo gave a nod. "And what should we do about the free meals we distribute after shifting people to the longhouse?"

    Kivamus thought about it for a moment. "It''s just a small amount, since the laborers are already earning their meals. The only difference will be that their food will now be cooked together in the common kitchen of the longhouse block, instead of them cooking it separately at their homes. But I still think the time is right for us to start scaling down the free meals now."

    He continued, "Here is what we''ll do. Instead of providing cooked meals directly, we will provide an equivalent amount of wheat and vegetables free of cost to the longhouse block - enough to feed all the elderly and children who are going to live in it. This way that free grain we provide will be added to the stores of each longhouse block, so that they can cook the regular meals in their kitchen for everyone who is living there."

    Kivamus added, "Making the elderly and the children walk everyday in such cold weather from the longhouse block to the manor isn''t a good idea anyway. So this will help to prevent that as well. This will also ease the pressure on our maids to cook that much food, which will free more of their time for other tasks. However, there will still be some of the elderly and children who are going to be living with other villagers even now, because of a shortage of space in the first longhouse block, so we will still keep cooking a small amount of extra food to provide to them regularly."

    "I''ll do as you say," Duvas said with a nod. "I''ll tell the servants to transfer a few sacks of grain and coal to the longhouse block in the morning. The wheelbarrows would be quite helpful in this."

    He added, "I''ll also designate a reliable person as the storekeeper for the longhouse''s storage room like we discussed earlier - preferably one of the elderly villagers since they don''t have to work as a laborer - so they can stay at the block for most of the day. Only he will have the key for that room, so that he can ensure that the grain storeroom of the block will be safe, and he''ll also keep a track of what is remaining there, so that they can ask the manor to provide more grain or coal in case the storeroom is getting empty."

    "Good!" Kivamus asked, "What about the new braziers I had asked to be made for the block?"

    "Cedoron had sent someone to tell me that they''ll be ready by tomorrow," Duvas answered. "And as we discussed, these will only use an iron tray with wooden supports, to save on some iron."

    Kivamus nodded. At that moment, he saw the old priest of the village with his patched robe ambling slowly towards them. He had put the cowl of his robe on his head to prevent the cold from seeping in, but his long white beard made him recognize the priest easily. Others immediately gave bows of respect to him.

    "Bless you all," Father Edric spoke with a raised hand. Reaching closer, he looked at Kivamus and pointed to the inside of the longhouse block which was visible from where they were standing. "You have done a good thing for the villagers. It will ensure everyone has a roof this winter." He added with a grandfatherly smile, "May the Goddess bless you and give you the strength to keep providing for the villagers."

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    Kivamus gave a short bow as well in respect. "Thank you, Father Edric. I''ll keep trying to do my best for them."

    "I know you will, milord, I know you will." Father Edric continued, "Well, I should meet with the other villagers too. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the old priest slowly walked towards the gates of the longhouse block, with other villagers immediately surrounding him to ask for blessings.

    As Kivamus turned around to leave, he saw that standing quite apart from the small crowd gathered around the priest, there was one little girl - probably no older than five - reaching out a hesitant hand to touch the rough bark of the Bilona tree. She might have been homeless in the past, Kivamus thought, with the way she gazed with wonder at the newly constructed building. But then he smiled, knowing that it was now a thing of the past for her.

    This was the future of Tiranat - these children, full of hope and promise. He had a responsibility to ensure that they had a bright future, a future free from want and despair. Then he got an idea while looking at a worker who was pulling down a rope which had been put on a branch of the bilona tree.

    He looked at the carpenter. "You must have a few extra planks remaining with you, right?"

    Taniok hesitated. "I had only cut enough planks to complete all the bunks, but there might be a couple of them still lying around. Why, though?" S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I want you to make something else tomorrow," Kivamus replied. "Don''t worry, it will barely take any time. Just take a sturdy plank, and after making sure it''s smooth and in a good condition, make two holes at each end of it."

    He pointed inside the longhouse block. "Then loop two strong ropes around a horizontal branch of the tree, and attach the end of those ropes with that plank to make it a seat. This way children can play with it as a swing." He added, "Most of their parents go to work during the day, so they might get bored otherwise. But this way they will have something to distract them, and it will be a safe play area where the children can be left to their own devices without their parents worrying too much about them."

    Taniok nodded slowly. "It''s simple enough. I''ll build it tomorrow."

    Kivamus looked around for a moment, and finding the middle aged foreman for the north, he called him closer.

    Yeden jogged towards them slowly, and asked, "What is it, milord?"

    Kivamus said, "There is something I want you to do. Tell a few workers to gather some dirt in a wheelbarrow tomorrow morning, then put it around the trunk of the Bilona tree at its base. You should gather enough dirt that it is around two feet high from the ground, and perhaps three feet wide. You can use some smooth stones at its edges to give it strength if needed. This will become a place for the older residents of the longhouse block to sit in the winter and soak in the sun - whenever it does come out."

    He added, "And in the summer, when the leaves come back on the tree, this will be a place for them to sit around in the shade, while keeping an eye on the children who will have to stay at home while their parents are out working."

    Yeden gave an immediate nod. "I''ll do it in the morning, milord. It''s easy."

    Then Kivamus looked back at the carpenter. "Your next task is to build an isolated jail room in the manor. Duvas will give you the details, but in short, while it only needs to be big enough to hold five or six people at a time, it should be sturdy enough that escaping from it shouldn''t be feasible. And you can simply use the logs for this, instead of planks, to finish it quickly."

    Taniok frowned. "Are you sure about that, milord? The previous baron wanted everything built only from planks in the manor."

    Kivamus chuckled. "Yeah, I am very sure. I don''t care about the aesthetics as long as something does what it is meant to do."

    Taniok nodded. "While the planks have to be cut either by me or my apprentice, the cutting of logs by other workers hasn''t stopped at all. We already have gathered a big pile of them ready to use as the walls for the second longhouse block. So it should be easy enough to move some of them to the manor using the log-mover." He added after a moment of thought, "I think I can build the jail by tomorrow evening, and if not, then certainly by some time next day."

    "Good." Kivamus continued, "After that, you have to start working on the second longhouse block. There is no point in building the gatehouses until most of the village wall is already complete."

    He looked at the foreman of the north. "How long is that going to take from now?"

 Chapter 157 - 154. Recon

    Yeden thought about it for a moment. "Give or take a month, I''d say. By then the wall should be fully completed, apart from the gatehouses."

    Kivamus nodded, and continued speaking to the carpenter, "We will postpone the gatehouses until after the wall is finished. For now, you should work on the second longhouse block only. And make sure to keep training a few apprentices along with you, so they can take over building simple things to free up more of your time."

    Taniok nodded. "I''ve already selected one of them and described to him how to build a wheelbarrow tray and its wheels from wood. Assuming he does well - and I believe he will, since he is a talented lad - he should be able to regularly build new wheelbarrows from scratch just by himself, as long as the blacksmith provides him with the few iron parts he will need."

    "That''s excellent!" Kivamus praised. "And of course, Duvas will let the blacksmith know about it. Getting many more wheelbarrows built cheaply during the winter is going to help us a lot when we start sowing seeds in the spring." S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked around him again, feeling glad by the villagers'' enthusiasm for the new longhouse block, which was also going to be the new home for many of them.

    "Let''s return then," he said to the others, and started walking back towards the manor.

    *******

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Somewhere in the forests southwest of Cinran ~

    Calubo pulled up the reins of his horse to stop it from moving. They had been traveling continuously for four days now, and they still hadn''t caught any sight of the quarry. It had been much more difficult than he had thought it would be.

    He was the one leading the group of guards, so others stopped behind him as well once he slowed down. He looked around him for a moment trying to see if he recognized anything here. But it wasn''t easy in this forest where all the trees without leaves looked similar to him, even though he had come many times to hunt outside the quarry with some other bandits. But even though it was quite cold, at least it wasn''t snowing yet, or it would be nearly impossible to find their path if everything looked the same around them after being covered with white snow everywhere.

    The fur coats that Lord Kivamus had given to all of them had been very helpful to them, and because of them the guards had been able to keep moving for longer, instead of stopping regularly to light a fire and heat up their bodies. Truthfully, he was still surprised that the baron had given it to them instead of keeping it for himself. Maybe the rumor he had heard from other guards about the baron treating even the commoners under him like humans really was true.

    "Do you see anything you recognize?" one of the guards asked in a tired voice.

    Calubo just shook his head reluctantly, and prodded the horse to start moving again, with others following behind him after a moment.

    It was nearly dark already, so they would have to stop for the night soon. While he knew for sure that they were going in the general direction of the quarry, he still hadn''t been able to find something which would give him a reference of the locations.

    As they kept moving for a while, he saw something further ahead of them which he thought he recognized. He slowed down, and looked at that small bluff carefully, while turning his horse towards it. As he came closer, he spurred his horse to move around the bluff, and right after he reached behind it, he saw the fedarus tree with a broken branch that he had expected to find there.

    Grinning with happiness, he turned to the other guards and pointed at it. "We are very close now. The bandits and I had rested right there a few times when we had come to hunt." He looked around him for a moment, and suddenly the location started to make sense to him. He recognized a clump of trees maybe a hundred feet away from them which they always passed when coming or going from the quarry to this place.

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    "We should reach the quarry by the time it gets dark," Calubo told the others. "It''s not far away now."

    Hudan nodded. "Let''s move then." He looked at the other guards. "And be careful from now on, and keep an eye on your surroundings. It''s possible that one of the bandits might have come here to hunt again."

    The guards nodded in reply, and Calubo turned his horse towards that clump of trees, with others following close behind him.

    Before long, he passed around another small bluff, and pulled the reins of his horse again when he saw one side of the quarry just around fifty feet away from him. By this time it was nearly dark, and they were lucky that they had reached here by now, or it would be difficult for them to keep going in the night.

    Not making any noise, he held up his hands to stop others behind him, and pointed at it.

    Hudan nodded, and gestured to all of them to get off from their horses and to gather closer. All of them had a hand on the hilt of their swords now - just in case.

    The guard captain spoke in a hushed voice, "Calubo and I are going to take a look first. You all wait here until then and try not to make any unnecessary sounds."

    The other guards nodded, and on Hudan''s gesture, Calubo started walking towards the edge of the forest ground surrounding the pit. Soon, he saw the dense thicket of trees at the edge which he was looking for, and pointed towards it to Hudan. The guard captain nodded and both of them dropped down to the ground and started to crawl towards that thicket.

    Once they had reached near the edge, they hesitantly put their heads ahead of the edge, and finally saw the bandit camp on the sloping path going to the pit of the quarry.

    And the situation didn''t look good at all. Although it hadn''t snowed here yet, he saw that there was only a small, single fire around which the stonecutters were huddled together on one side, with the bandits sitting on the other side. That was quite unlike the time he used to live here, when they used to burn two big fires to keep the people warm from both sides. It was probably because now there were so few bandits here that they couldn''t afford to send someone to bring much firewood because of a fear of the slaves running away, as well as Nokozal''s certain punishment if that happened.

    As he looked closer, he noticed with relief that there were only four people wearing the fur coats, which meant that Nokozal and the runt hadn''t reached here yet. And that was very good news for them, since that huge bastard was a very dangerous fighter even alone.

    He also saw that the two nodors were still there, tied to the huts on one side, along with their two limestone carrying wagons kept nearby. But looking at the state of the people sitting hunched up together near the measly fire in their threadbare clothes, it wouldn''t be long before the bandits thought of butchering the poor animals, or burning those wagons as kindling. It seemed the guards had reached there on time, after all.

    He was also carefully trying to look for Hyola, hoping she was okay. But he couldn''t recognize anyone from this far, especially in the darkness, since all of them were using some cloth to cover most of their heads and faces from the cold. But when he counted them, he was relieved to see that there were still twenty-six slaves, which meant that she had to be here! He just hoped that she was still okay, and the bandits hadn''t tried anything.

    Soon, Hudan, who had been observing the bandit camp with keen eyes, poked him on his shoulder, and gestured him to return towards the others.

    Reaching there, the guard captain gathered all of the guards closer, and explained the situation in a hushed voice, including the fact that there were only four bandits here. Hudan continued, "But we still have to keep watch on the quarry for some time. Our plan will be to attack the bandit camp around an hour before sunrise, when they will be the least prepared for a battle."

    One of the guards asked, "But it''s already dark now. Shouldn''t we just rush towards their camp and surprise them? We can take them with our numbers!"

    Hudan grunted. "No, we don''t have enough information yet. It''s possible that there are more bandits who might have gone outside to hunt or relieve themselves. And we cannot take the risk of them flanking us, especially since it''s their home turf. So we need to wait and find out everything about them."

    The guard captain looked back at him. "How many people do we need to keep an eye on the area? And is there any other entrance we couldn''t see?"

 Chapter 158 - 155. A Silent Approach

    Calubo didn''t have to think long before replying. "Two of us should be more than enough. The pit of the quarry is huge, but as you saw, all the huts are located on the path which goes down towards the pit from the surrounding ground of the forest, to prevent them from flooding in case of another thunderstorm. And there is no other entrance to the pit. So we should be fine with just two men."

    Hudan nodded. "Alright. We are going to keep a watch on that entrance of the quarry in turns. Two of us will go closer to the edge of the ground surrounding the pit. That will be Calubo and me in the first shift, since I need to ask more details from him about the terrain of the pit. That leaves six of you here. You all will take our supplies and the horses somewhere nearby and tie them there. But there''ll be no fire for us tonight, as you can guess."

    Some of the guards grunted in displeasure, but everyone knew the importance of staying undetected here, so none of them opposed the order.

    Hudan continued, "You all should eat some dried meat so you will have energy for the battle later. Calubo and I will just eat later on after our shift is over." He added, "And try to take some good rest in turns, with five men sleeping at a time, and one of you awake to keep an eye on the horses as well as your surroundings - just in case there is another bandit who''s already outside and wanders there for some reason."

    After the guards nodded in reply, the guard captain continued, "We will change our watch shifts after every two hours or so. While we don''t have the temple bells to tell time here like in our village, whoever amongst you is going to be awake should just wake up another two men after roughly that time. Then those two of you should come to relieve us so we can get some rest as well." S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The guards gave grunts of acknowledgements. After telling them to move on to their tasks, Hudan beckoned Calubo to follow him towards that thicket again. It was going to be a long night.

    *******

    "Wake up, Calubo."

    "Wake up man! You can''t keep sleeping now. It''s time."

    Calubo blinked open his eyes, and saw that it was another guard who was trying to wake him up. He gave a nod in reply, and sat up slowly while trying to look around him. He noticed that it was still completely dark, but it must be getting close to morning now, since that guard was the one who was selected for the last shift to keep an eye on the bandit camp.

    Taking a deep breath, he remembered that he had gone to sleep a few hours earlier when his shift was over. He looked around him again and in the faint light of the moon which was still hidden behind the clouds, he saw that all of the guards were already up, and they were checking their weapons and tightening their leather armors to get ready for battle. It seemed he was the last one to wake up.

    Rubbing a hand over his cropped black hair, he stood up quickly and looked around for a water skin, since he was already feeling thirsty. Once he had taken a few big gulps, he made the necessary checks for his gear as well. He saw another guard offering pieces of dried meat jerky to others, and with a nod of thanks, he took a few of them as well. Soon he noticed that Hudan was calling up the guards to gather closer, so he walked towards them while chewing on the salted jerky.

    "This is the situation," the guard captain began. "All the guards who were on watch have told me that at most three of the bandits are awake at any time, while the last one seems to be sleeping. They also haven''t been moving much, and around every hour they just go for a cursory check of their camp, and return back near the fire."

    Hudan continued, "The good news is that no other bandit came to the quarry until now, which means we only have to deal with those four bastards. And even if there was another lowlife or Nokozal coming here, they will only start moving after sunrise - which should be around an hour away from now - so we have until then to take the quarry from these lowlifes."

    The huge guard captain gazed at each of them once before he pointed to a new guard. "You will stay here to keep an eye on the horses. Stay alert."

    Once the guard nodded in reply, Hudan gave a savage grin. "Now let''s go and send these bastards to the Goddess!"

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    One of the guards raised a fist upward, and spoke their newfound rallying cry in a low voice, "For Lord Kivamus we fight!"

    Immediately others repeated the same with confident grins, and the rescue plan was in motion.

    Hudan beckoned them to follow him towards the quarry again. Once they were closer, he sent a guard to the edge of the pit to see the current state. The guard nodded and crawled towards the edge to take a look.

    And before long, he returned back and gave his report. "Nothing''s changed so far," the guard described. "One bandit seems to be sleeping near the fire, and most of the stonecutters also seem to be huddled inside those huts for now."

    "Good," Hudan nodded. "Let''s move then. We don''t have time to waste." He looked at Calubo. "Lead us towards the entrance of the pit."

    Calubo gave a quick nod, and with his hand on the hilt of his sword, he turned around, trying to remember the terrain from his time in the quarry. But thankfully, he remembered enough that it didn''t take him long to lead everyone to the start of that path going down into the pit, while making sure to stop at a place where the bandits couldn''t see them yet.

    He whispered to others, "We are here. On the right side of this path, which slopes downwards slowly, is the edge of the quarry, and on the left side is the pit itself. Everyone make sure not to slip over on that side."

    Hudan gave a nod, and after crouching low, he moved a few steps further. Once he had taken a quick look, he returned back.

    "Be mentally ready for an immediate battle," the guard captain ordered, "but keep your sword sheathed for now. The good thing is that we don''t have to worry about any archers or being flanked right now since this is the only path here."

    Hudan jerked his thumb towards the bandit camp. "And those idiots are staring into the fire right now, so they wouldn''t be able to see well in the dark. But even though we outnumber them seven to four, I want to avoid any serious injuries amongst us, so we will crawl on the ground to move undetected as close as we can to them." Then he dropped down to the ground, and after beckoning others to follow him, he started crawling slowly downwards on that path.

    This was the moment of truth, Calubo thought as he also started crawling behind the guard captain, with other guards following as well. He just hoped that Hyola would be okay.

    Before long, they reached the makeshift barricade which had acted like a gate for the quarry when he lived here, mainly to prevent any wild beasts from going down on that path in the night. But he easily noticed that this barricade looked much smaller than earlier, probably because the bandits had taken some of the branches from here to burn them for heat. It seemed that being so low on manpower here was already working against the bandits before the fight had even started.

    He had to wait for a while until Hudan figured out an easy way through that barricade, so they could keep moving without having to move any branches, since that would make unnecessary sounds. But soon, Hudan looked towards them and grinned, while pointing at a gap in the barricade which was big enough for a person to crawl through. Then the guard captain was the first to cross the barricade, and others followed behind him one by one.

    Once Calubo reached the other side, he saw that Hudan had stopped maybe a dozen feet ahead of him. Slowly he and the other guards crawled next to the guard captain, who was looking towards the bandits.

    When Calubo looked towards the fire, which was not far from the dilapidated huts, he saw that a few stonecutters were still sitting around the fire. The fire was probably just around thirty or forty feet away from them at this point by his estimate.

    Hudan looked towards the guards, and gestured to them to stand up, before slowly rising up to a crouch as well and pulling out his sword. But right at that moment, one of the stonecutters who was probably still awake, turned his head and looked directly towards him, making everyone freeze right where they were.

    Calubo thought that the stonecutter was going to shout immediately, but he put a finger on his own lips to indicate to him to stay quiet. It was probably only a short moment, but it felt like an eternity to him as he waited for the stonecutter''s reaction. If the man alerted the bandits, they might just take someone hostage when they realized they were outnumbered, and he wanted to avoid that possibility.

    He didn''t know if the stonecutter recognized him as someone who had lived with them, or if he understood that they had come to kill the bandits and not them, but thankfully he kept quiet and the moment passed.

    Giving a sigh of relief, he stood up into a crouch as well, and formed up in a broken line with the other guards side-by-side, all of them facing the bandits now. The stonecutter was still looking at them with wide eyes, but he hadn''t made any sound so far.

    They kept moving quietly towards the bandits with their swords ready in their hands, but as they came closer to within a dozen feet of the fire, suddenly, one of the bandits sneezed loudly. As the man wiped his face on his sleeves, he turned his head towards the guards, and looked directly at them with his eyes opened wide in surprise.

 Chapter 159 - 156. Wishful Thinking

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Mr Kigeir''s home ~

    It should be early morning around now and ten year old Maisy was sleeping. Or at least she was supposed to be. But for some reason, she hadn''t been able to get even a little amount of sleep until now.

    Yesterday evening, she had been playing outside Mr Kigeir''s home with her new best friend Elsie when she heard a villager running through the street while shouting that the first longhouse block was completed. She didn''t know what it meant at the time and she had forgotten about it until dinner time. Then Mr Kigeir had told all of them that it was the new building which was being made by the baron of the village at the northern edge of the village. And everyone who was homeless would have to live there now. Including her and Timmy.

    She had been so surprised by that news, that she had forgotten to breathe for a moment. She had looked at Elsie who had also been gazing back at her with wet eyes. Would she really have to leave her first and only friend now?

    Timmy had also tugged at her sleeves to confirm it from her, and she had reluctantly nodded at him, making him sniffle as well.

    She gave a deep sigh which didn''t have any place in a ten year old''s life. But she already knew that good times didn''t last for people like her. At least she had made good memories with her new friend. Perhaps she could even visit her in the future to play... Then she had to blink a few times to stop tears from falling from her eyes too.

    Then Elsie had started shouting at her parents that why couldn''t they keep living at their home anymore? But Mr Kigeir had explained to them that it was the baron''s order. When Maisy glanced at him, it seemed like he didn''t want them to go away either. But why would that be? She and Timmy were not his children, and he had already helped them a lot by giving them a roof over their heads. Wouldn''t he want to live with his own family from now on? Wouldn''t he want to send the orphans away from his home, when he didn''t have to keep them there anymore? Then she glanced at Elsie''s mother, but she also seemed to have her eyes wet. But how could that be? Why would she be sad? Maisy didn''t understand it at all.

    Later, when she had gone to sleep in the small room on the upper floor along with her little brother Timmy, she had thought that she would be able to fall asleep easily, just like every day, since she was so tired after playing, and had a belly full of food and a warm place to sleep. But it hadn''t worked at all.

    Since then she had been continuously thinking about the days when she and Timmy lived on the streets, searching for food in the garbage piles. And how their lives had changed since they had started to live in an actual wooden house. Even her aunt''s hut, where they had lived after their parents had died, was only made of mud and sticks, and it wasn''t nearly as warm or comfortable as Mr Kigeir''s house.

    And when the scary bandits had attacked the village a few days ago, Mr Kigeir and his family had tried their best to protect all the children, including Timmy and her. She had been so scared at that time, thinking that the bandits would finally take her away from her home, but it was this family which had tried to protect them, before that huge guard had arrived and chased away the bandits. Couldn''t Timmy and her just keep living here...?

    But good times didn''t last for orphans like them, did they? Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Since then, she had been tossing and turning while trying to sleep, but sleep hadn''t come to her tonight. At all.

    To distract her mind, she had even tried to imagine how it would feel to fly on the unicorn which Elsie now claimed lived in the attic of the house, but it hadn''t worked either. Not that she had ever seen that unicorn till now, even if Elsie was certain that it lived there.

    Timmy had also been having a fitful sleep. He kept waking up again and again, asking if they really had to leave this house. Maisy had tried to console him, but she didn''t really know how to do that. And every time her eight year old brother went to sleep, he had clutched her in fear, probably dreaming of the times when they had to hide from the bandits hoping they wouldn''t kidnap them. Or maybe he was thinking about the time they had to fight with a dog for the same piece of half-rotten bread which all of them had found in the garbage at the same time.

    But she hoped that he would be able to sleep a little, even if she was unable to. He was her only family in the world, and she didn''t want to see him crying when they had to leave. He was the only one who mattered to her in this world. But no, that wasn''t correct anymore, was it?

    Since she had come to live with this family, she had started to enjoy the time playing games with Elsie, or telling about a new word she had learned to Timmy or even to Elsie''s little brother. She had even enjoyed the times when Mr Kigeir''s older son Leif - who was much older than her and Elsie - used to tell them about how he worked as a laborer in the north and the new plants or bugs he had found there.

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    She gazed at the window in the east. It wouldn''t be long before the sky started to brighten. That meant it was only a few more hours before they had to leave their only friends as well as the newfound family who had taken care of them for the past month.

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    She hugged Timmy close again, hoping that the morning would never come again.

    *******

    ~ Hyola ~

    ~ Inside the stonecutters'' hut at the limestone quarry ~

    Hyola was sitting in front of a food stall in the market square of Cinran, while Calubo was standing next to her and talking with the vendor to buy a couple of grilled skewered meat sticks for them. She was looking at him with wonder. How did she ever meet someone caring like him? Once Calubo had paid for the meat, he turned to her with a grin, and offered one of the sticks to her.

    She smiled back at him, and after taking the stick from him, she ate the first cube of meat which was covered with some kind of sauce made by the vendor - and it was so juicy and tasty! She couldn''t even remember when was the last time she had eaten anything which tasted so good. And she loved eating it, and wanted to have even more of it!

    But she simply didn''t have the money to buy it. She didn''t think that as a slave, she had ever been paid for her labor other than by room and board. Maybe Calubo would have some more money to buy a few more meat sticks. But wait. How would he have the money? He was also a slave like her at the quarry now. Then how were they here in Cinran?

    Suddenly she heard the sound of someone shouting in surprise. What was that? She looked around him but only saw the crowd of people with indistinct faces. Who was shouting? And how was she in Cinran? She was supposed to be hungry and cold at the quarry. Right, the quarry!

    Someone shouted again in alarm, and right after that, she heard the sound of steel striking steel, with someone else screaming in pain. What was happening? She was starting to get scared now.

    Why were people fighting at the market? And why couldn''t she see them? She was getting more and more nervous by the moment, but suddenly her eyes opened up. She found herself gazing at the wooden branches and planks from their damaged wagon, which were barely held together by some rope - inside one of the stonecutters hut at the quarry.

    Right. That was a dream. A wonderful dream, certainly, but only a dream. Calubo hadn''t been at the quarry for more than a week now. She didn''t even know if he was still alive or if those bastards had killed him.

    Then she heard the sound of steel striking something followed by the sound of someone screaming in pain again, and she realized that something was very wrong. She looked around and saw that by now the other stonecutters inside the hut had started to wake up as well. They all looked at each other, and it didn''t take long for them to realize that there was some fighting going on outside their hut.

    Immediately, she stood up, and poked her head outside the loose plank which functioned as the door of the hut. And she saw that near the fire burning outside, there were a lot more bandits wearing heavy fur coats now, but for some reason they seemed to be fighting amongst themselves.

    Soon, another woman who was staying in that hut with her, gently pushed her aside, and walked outside the door to see what was happening, with Hyola following behind her.

    It was still dark outside, but she knew that sunrise couldn''t be far away now. But in the faint light of the moon along with the fire, she saw that there were nearly a dozen bandits at the quarry right now. Did that mean Nokozal had returned? Was Calubo back too? But why were they fighting among themselves?

    She tried to look at the bandits'' faces, to see if she recognized any of them, but it was very difficult with how much they were moving around. Although she did see one bandit who was huge. That must be Nokozal. She gave a deep sigh. So they were back after all, and the Goddess hadn''t listened to her prayers to let a bakkore eat that bastard as an evening snack.

    But why were they trying to kill each other? It didn''t make any sense! And for some reason they were only fighting among themselves, while ignoring the stonecutters who had gathered around to watch at a safe distance.

    Now that she had adjusted to the situation a little, she noticed that one of the bandits was already dead near the fire. It seemed like he was killed while sleeping! Who were these new bandits then? Did they just want to take all the stonecutters as their own slaves now? Or would they turn to kill all of them as well, after they were done with the bandits?

    She tried to look carefully to understand what was happening, and saw that three of the bandits - likely the ones who were already at the quarry - were standing right next to each other, while the six other bandits, including the huge guy - who must be the new arrivals - were slowly moving around, probably to surround them. But was that really Nokozal? It was hard to tell in the flickering light of the fire, but the huge guy didn''t look like that bastard for some reason.

    Right at that moment, she saw one of the original bandits of the quarry look towards the stonecutters. Before she realized what was happening, he ran directly towards her, and putting a sword to her neck, he moved behind her. She screamed loudly in fear, thinking she was going to die immediately, but it seemed like the bandit wasn''t interested in killing her, for now anyway.

    "Get back!" the bandit with the sword to her neck shouted at the new arrivals from behind her. "Move back, or I will send her to the Goddess right now!"

    What was happening? Why was this happening to her? Hyola was scared out of her mind by now, and had started crying in fear. She didn''t know what to do or what to even think. Why couldn''t she have been in Cinran along with Calubo? Why was her life always like this...? She couldn''t help but keep crying, while praying to the Goddess to save her life.

 Chapter 160 - 157. Reunited

    ~ Calubo ~

    ~ Hiding behind a limestone block in the quarry ~

    ~ A few moments ago ~

    Calubo wasn''t feeling good to be left out of the fighting. And he really wanted to help in killing those bastards! But Hudan had sent him away just before the attack had begun, saying that the bandits might try to take someone hostage, so there had to be someone to strike from behind the bandits if needed.

    So the guard captain had sent him to circle around the camp and ordered him to stay outside of the fight, so he could intervene if that happened, because the guards still had the numbers on their side even with six against four. Calubo had thought of protesting, before realizing that he was the only one who really knew the terrain of the quarry, so he had the most chances of finding someplace good to hide, instead of just tumbling over into the pit and dying.

    So in the confusion of the start of the battle, when the bandits were disoriented, Calubo had crouched to the side and following the stone walls of the quarry, he had found one of the limestone blocks which had been already cut on the other side of the fire, close to the stonecutters'' hut. Since then, he had been crouching there and biding his time, hoping he got a chance to cut down at least one of these bastards.

    He kept looking towards the huts with worry, not knowing if Hyola was okay now. And he really wished he could see her face once more, but it had to wait until after the bandits had been dealt with.

    Luckily, he had found a place with a good view of the battle, and he had been watching it with nervous anticipation, hoping the stonecutters stayed inside their huts until it was over. And it shouldn''t be long anyway, since the bandit who had been sleeping had barely woken up in surprise before one of the guards had slashed his neck. Now it was six against three, which should be easy enough for Hudan.

    Right at that moment, the stonecutters started streaming out of their two huts, probably after being woken up by the sounds of the fight. He gazed there for only a moment, and although the light of the fire was quite faint here, it only took a moment for him to see that surprisingly, the tall woman who came out of their hut after the older woman was Hyola!

    He couldn''t describe in words how relieved he was to see her. She looked startled by what was happening, but otherwise she seemed okay, if a little gaunt. She also seemed to have chopped off her long reddish hair to a shorter length now, but to him she looked just as beautiful as earlier. His heart had started beating much faster, and he wasn''t sure if it was only because of the fight to the death happening nearby.

    Suddenly he saw that one of the bandits had noticed the stonecutters coming out, and he ran directly towards the women, and then put his sword to the neck of Hyola, who screamed in fear. That bastard! Was he going to kill her?

    Calubo immediately stood up and was going to run towards them, when he heard the bandit shouting at the guards to move back. He paused for a moment, and realized that the bandit only wanted a hostage for now, instead of killing her immediately, just like the guard captain had anticipated. He thanked the goddess that Hyola''s life wasn''t going to end right at this moment, but he was still seething inside. How dare this bastard put a sword to her neck!

    He had been crouching on the side of the huts, so he didn''t have a very clear view, but he still saw that Hyola had started crying in fear now. He wanted to immediately run towards them, but he knew how risky that was if the bandit noticed him rushing towards them.

    He also remembered everything that the guard captain had kept teaching him on the way, including a few simple hand gestures to indicate something when they couldn''t speak openly. Hudan had told him that it was the new baron''s idea, and he had already taught it to the guards when training them, but since Calubo hadn''t been around for it, the guard captain had taught him as well on the journey here.

    Calubo crouched lower and moved in front of that limestone block, trying not to make any sound. Thankfully, Hudan was trying to talk to the bandits in a loud voice to calm down the bandit - who was still shouting at the guards to move back - which helped muffle the sound of his own footsteps. He didn''t know if the guard captain was doing it intentionally, but he would take any advantage he got.

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    He kept moving closer to that bandit, as fast as he could but without making any sound. It also helped that the ground was mostly dry rock, and there were no leaves here for his boots to crunch on. Once he was less than a dozen feet away, he stopped there, ready to spring at that bastard at any moment.

    Earlier, he had put his sword back in his scabbard, and had his dagger ready in his left hand. When Hudan had told him to do that while telling him to circle around, he had been confused by how he was supposed to fight the bandits without a sword, but now he understood. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked closely as finally, Hudan put up an open hand to gesture to the guards to hold back, who gave nods, and took a few steps back with their swords still ready in their hands. The bastard who had taken Hyola hostage, seemed to get more confident at that, and gloated to the guards, while gesturing to the other bandits to move towards him as well. Probably to take more hostages.

    Calubo really didn''t want to wait even a single moment more, but he had been looking carefully at Hudan for his signal. And within a few moments, the guard captain spoke something to the other two bandits who had been moving towards that bastard, making them turn around to face the guards. And at the same time, Hudan started clenching and unclenching his left fist again and again. Right! That was the signal they had agreed on!

    Immediately, he moved forward with silent steps until he was only a few feet behind the bandit, who was using his right hand to hold his sword around the neck of Hyola.

    Calubo took a deep breath, and stood up to his full height. It seemed that being left-handed was going to be helpful to him for once. He then quickly rushed just behind the bandit, and used his right hand to hold the bandit''s sword arm and pulled it away from Hyola, who moved a few steps further in surprise. The bandit immediately turned his head to the right to see who had clutched his arm from that side, but right at that moment, Calubo used the dagger to slash at the bastard''s neck from the left, while the bandit was busy trying to wrestle his sword free from him.

    The bandit screamed in pain, and dropped his sword on the ground to start clutching at his neck which was openly spraying blood now, but Calubo did not allow him to move even a little bit. This bastard didn''t deserve to live anymore. Right at the moment, he heard Hudan shout something, and from the corner of his eye he saw the guards rushing towards the other bandits.

    The dying bandit in his hands slowly grew limp, and within a few moments his body slumped to the ground, while Hyola who looked white with fear seemed to recognize him suddenly, and jumped in his arms while sobbing loudly. He moved his bloody arm with the dagger away from her, before letting the blade fall down and hugged her back.

    He patted her on the back to console her, but it took a while for her to calm down. As he looked around them towards the fire, he saw the guards were finishing up the last bandit, with the others already dead.

    The other stonecutters still seemed to be in a daze about what was happening, but since none of the guards were trying to kill or threaten them, they didn''t seem as edgy as they would have been otherwise. And even in the faint pre-dawn light, it wasn''t difficult to see that the stonecutters looked even more gaunt than they did when he had lived here. It was obvious that the little food they might have been hunting or gathering here was mainly going to the bastards who were dead now.

    Soon, Hyola took a step back and looked at him from up to down with glistening eyes. "How are you here?" She asked, but carried on without waiting for his reply. "I thought the bandits had killed you! And why are you wearing fur coats like them? Did you join another bandit gang? And what happened to Nokozal and the other bandits?"

    "Slow down..." Calubo tried to reassure her with a smile. "I didn''t join a new bandit group. You know me better than that..."

    "Yeah, I do, don''t I..." Hyola looked down for a moment in embarrassment before gazing at him again. "Then how?"

    "It''s a long story, and I''ll tell you everything about it after we are done here," Calubo replied, "but for now, just know that the dark days for you and the other stonecutters are over now. Lord Kivamus, the Baron of Tiranat has sent us to liberate you all from these bandits."

    Hyola looked confused but before she said anything, Hudan, who had been ordering the guards to check out the rest of the quarry to make sure that there weren''t any other bandits or wild beasts left here, called him up. "Calubo, come here and help us! You can talk with her later."

    Calubo gave him a quick nod, and looked at Hyola. "I''ll be back soon, okay? You don''t need to worry about anything now."

    Hyola gave an uncertain nod.

    But after he turned around to go towards the guards, she hugged him from the back again and mumbled, "Don''t leave me again, Calubo..."

    Calubo couldn''t help but beam with happiness as he held her frail hands on his chest. "Never again..."

 Chapter 161 - 158. Unexpected Choices

    ~ Hyola ~

    ~ Sitting near the fire in the quarry, just before sunrise ~

    A short while ago, one of the guards - and not bandits, as Hyola had found out earlier - had sent one of their own to call up the last guard who was supposedly hiding somewhere nearby with all their supplies.

    Since then, all of the slaves had been milling around the area, not knowing what was happening, but Calubo had reassured them that they didn''t need to worry. But it was difficult to believe that anyone had good intentions if they came out of nowhere in the night and killed their slave masters without a warning, although they knew Calubo wouldn''t lie about something like that. He was one of them... or at least, he had been.

    However, some of the stonecutters had still been too scared of these new guards and had tried to run away, but the guards had stopped anyone from leaving, saying that firstly they would have to listen to what their leader had to say, and after that they would be free to go anywhere. And there would be free food just to listen to them. For everyone.

    That last sentence was something which was difficult for anyone to believe, including her, but it was so unexpected that everyone had agreed to give them a chance to explain what they meant by that. Although there were still some whispers about escaping from these new masters later on, after they had gotten their free meal.

    After the battle, the guards had stripped the bandits of everything valuable, before dumping their bodies into the forest outside. As much as she was happy to see those bastards dead, she still didn''t know what to think about these guards, but she had to give them a chance to explain themselves.

    The guards had spent the time looking around to see what was available in the quarry, and had started ordering the slaves to do some simple tasks, while a few guards had even taken some slaves along with them to do some hunting in the area.

    Seeing that the so-called guards had started giving them orders within an hour of taking over the quarry, she didn''t know if these new masters were going to be any better than their old ones, but their promise for a free meal for just listening to them was enticing enough that nobody protested about any tasks. She also kept looking at Calubo once in a while to find out more about how he knew the others, and it seemed like he was quite familiar with the other guards - if they really were guards, and not another group of bandits.

    No! She scolded herself while shaking her head. She had to trust him for now.

    Soon after the first rays of the sun started to shine on the top of the towering trees surrounding the quarry, the guards gathered everyone near the fire, which was burning higher than it had in weeks, since they had used the help of the slaves to bring all the branches from the barricade to burn in the fire. Some of the slaves had protested about that, saying that it would lead to dangerous beasts coming there in the night, but the captain of the guards - Hudan - had assured them with a grin that it wouldn''t be a problem.

    She was still confused about what it meant, and about what Calubo had tried to say earlier about some other baron liberating them. But it seemed like they would be getting all their answers now.

    A big cauldron which the guards had brought with them was sitting in the middle of fire, where some crushed wheat was bubbling in it to make some simple porridge for everyone, even though it had been a while since any of them had eaten even that. And the cauldron was big enough that there should be enough food to feed everyone. That was an unusual thought for her. Enough food for everyone... Was it even possible these days?

    However, the small amount of meat which the hunters had returned with was also being roasted on some sticks above the fire. She realized that it was probably only for the guards themselves. Even so, all the slaves kept looking at that bubbling cauldron again and again, since even getting that porridge would do a lot to calm down their growling bellies. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Before long, one of the guards started handing out some porridge in the wooden bowls they already had, along with a small piece of roasted meat. When the first slave got that meat, he looked at the guard with surprise, and even asked to confirm if he could really take it. But the guard just smiled at the slave, and told him to enjoy it.

    It didn''t take long before everyone was sitting around the fire in the early morning chill, with a bowl of warm porridge in their hands, coupled with some roasted meat. Enough food for everyone... Huh. Maybe it was possible, after all...

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    That''s when the guard captain stood up and looked at all of them. "Listen everyone!" he began. "We are manor guards of Lord Kivamus Ralokaar, the Baron of Tiranat, and he has sent us to liberate all of you."

    "What do you mean by that?" one of the slaves shouted. "You have been ordering us just like the bandits!"

    "Yeah!" another stonecutter supported him. "How do we know you aren''t bandits too?"

    Hudan raised his hand to stop the murmurs. "Let me explain everything first, then you can ask whatever questions you have."

    There were still some grumbles, but everyone calmed down to hear the man for now.

    The huge guard captain continued with a smirk, "Most of the bandits - the ones who lived in this quarry as your masters - are dead now."

    "Is that really true?" one of the older women asked with wonder while looking towards Calubo, since he was the only one they actually knew amongst the guards.

    Calubo gave a savage grin and nodded. "It is, and I killed a couple of those bastards myself! The other guards took care of the rest of them. But two bandits are still alive, including Nokozal. And they must be on their way here."

    Immediately, the slaves glanced at each other with worried looks. Nokozal was still alive? He had to be! That huge bastard wouldn''t die so easily.

    Hudan explained, "You all might know that the bandits had gone to raid a village - my village - but the guards of Tiranat have killed most of them, apart from the two Calubo mentioned. And when he told us about the situation of the people in this quarry, Lord Kivamus sent us here to kill the remaining bandits and free all of you. There were other reasons as well, but those aren''t relevant for you all."

    "You still didn''t explain what you meant by freeing us," one of the stonecutters asked, this time with genuine curiosity.

    "I meant exactly what I said," Hudan replied. "After this meal, you all have two choices - and every single one of you is free to choose either option. The first option is for you to leave this quarry and go wherever you want to. While we can''t afford to escort you to another town where you can make a living, we will still provide you with enough rations for a week''s journey. That will be enough for you to walk to either Cinran or Kirnos - it''s up to you."

    He added with a shrug, "I agree that it won''t be easy to walk through these forests for so long, especially in this cold, but that''s the best I can do if you choose the first option."

    "But most of us are marked slaves!" a stonecutter protested. "Who would employ us even if we did manage to survive that journey?"

    "Yeah, exactly!" another one said with a nod. "There would be bounty hunters sent after us immediately, especially since Nokozal is still alive. That bastard would rather kill us than let us go!"

    Hudan nodded. "That''s why we also have a second option for you." He continued with a grin, "You all can come with us to Tiranat as free people. You will get a roof over your head, and food in your belly at least twice a day."

    "And what do we have to do in return for that?" Hyola asked with a frown. "Nothing comes for free in this world."

    Hudan shrugged. "That''s up to you. There is a lot of work available in Tiranat these days. Most of the villagers work as laborers right now, but after the winter, there will be farming work as well." He continued, "Some of you might have heard that Tiranat is known for its coal mines. That has been paused for now due to some reasons, but once mining starts again, you all can work as coal miners as well. And if any of you have any other skills like carpentry or blacksmithing, you can work as an apprentice to the village craftsmen as well."

    One of the stonecutters looked at Hyola, and spoke loudly, "See? Didn''t I tell you earlier? This new baron just wants more slaves for himself!"

    An older woman nodded with a scowl. "And without even paying to buy us as slaves! How crafty that baron is - just like all other nobles!"

    Hudan grinned. "Weren''t you all hearing me properly? I said you will come there as free people. Not as slaves. And you will also get a wage for working - the same as the other villagers of Tiranat."

    "What?" someone asked in disbelief. "How is that possible? You are lying!"

    "Yeah, it can''t be true!" another stonecutter spoke up.

    Hyola wasn''t sure what to believe either. Those were certainly fantastic claims, and she had no special reason to believe these guards more than the other stonecutters did. But she trusted Calubo. And he wouldn''t be supporting these guards if they were openly lying to the slaves, would he?

    No! She shook her head. She had to trust in him for now.

    One of the older slaves stood up and explained in a raised voice, "The only way a slave gets free in this kingdom is when he pays up all his slave-debt, and it is always so high that none of us can ever pay it even if we spent all our lives working!" He added with a shrug, "Although if we survive long enough to grow too old - which is rare anyway - or maybe if we break our limbs and are unable to work, then our slave-debt might be written off and we would be let go, since nobody wants to feed a slave if they can''t work for their meals. But it would never happen otherwise! So how can you say that we will be free? None of us can afford to pay our slave-debts! We can''t even afford to buy a single meal for ourselves!"

    "Yeah, that baron just wants to take the coins from our pockets!" another slave protested loudly. "He''s just as greedy as other nobles!"

 Chapter 162 - 159. Too Good To Be True

    Another slave scoffed, "Hah! Like we even have any coins to give!"

    Other slaves started to add their opinions as well in a rising tide of anger, their voices soon rising into a clamor, making it difficult to hear anything clearly.

    But Hudan raised both of his hands and spoke loudly. "Calm down, everyone! Nobody is asking you to pay for anything."

    Once the uproar had died down a little, he continued, "The reason for it is that Lord Kivamus has outlawed and prohibited slavery in his domain. That means nobody is allowed to own slaves in Tiranat anymore, not even the baron himself. And he has already freed up all the people there who were slaves before he arrived there."

    Hudan explained, "If you come with us to Tiranat, you will be treated the same as other villagers. And like I said, you will not be slaves there. That means you will have the freedom to choose your occupation and the right to get a proper wage for it, and you''ll always have the choice to just leave Tiranat if you want."

    He shrugged his giant shoulders. "Of course, Lord Kivamus has no control over what will happen to you if you leave Tiranat - including whether bounty hunters chase you, or if another noble claims you as their own slaves because you haven''t paid your slave-debts yet. The point is, you will still be free to leave Tiranat - if and when you want, like any other free person. But as long as you stay in Tiranat, you will be treated like just another free man or woman there, and not a slave."

    The quarry was completely silent for a while as Hyola and others chewed over those absurd sounding words.

    "But it sounds too good to be true!" one of the slaves protested after a moment. "You must be lying about all that to make us come with you!"

    Hudan shrugged. "It might seem like that, but it''s the simple truth. Although I haven''t known Lord Kivamus for that long, he does a lot of things like that. Even to the locals there, some of those things usually feel too good to be true, but he makes them happen anyway."

    He gazed at all of them for a moment. "In Tiranat, he also takes care of those who are unable to feed themselves. Whether they are disabled, or too old or even too young to work, nobody goes hungry in Tiranat anymore, nor does anyone without a house have to spend their nights huddling in the cold outside. Everyone gets food and shelter under him. Of course, those who are capable of working will certainly have to earn their own meals."

    "But still, it''s... that is..." the older woman tried to speak again but lost her words, probably imagining if such a thing was really possible.

    Hyola already knew that many of the stonecutters here were getting long in the tooth now, and they wouldn''t be able to do the back breaking work of lifting limestone blocks for too long. So the prospect of having a roof over their heads, and bellies full of food even when they were unable to work in the future was probably too tempting to give up, since the other option was usually to wander to another town to start begging for a meal when they became old and were thrown out by their slave master.

    "But no noble is like that..." one of the slaves said in wonder. "No commoner is like that either!"

    Hudan gave a genuine smile. "If you do agree to come with us, you will find out for yourself that Lord Kivamus is unlike any other noble you may have known. But don''t take my words for it. Feel free to make your own opinions when you reach there."

    After a moment, the guard captain continued in a grim voice, "There is of course a third option, which is to stay right here at the quarry, just like you have been living until now. But I wouldn''t recommend it. Nokozal would be reaching here any day now, and once he does, he wouldn''t hesitate to take out his anger on you all once he finds out that the rest of his gang is already dead." He added, "But either way, you have to make your decision soon. We plan to leave within an hour with whoever wants to come with us. So you have until then to decide if you want to accompany us or go your own way."

    One of the older stonecutters spoke up after a while, "But even if we chose to come with you, we can''t walk for that long. Most of us barely had anything to eat in the previous weeks, so we just don''t have the strength for that."

    "You don''t have to worry about that," the guard captain assured him. He added with a smirk, "We didn''t come this far from our home village just to return back empty-handed. We have already captured the three horses of the bandits earlier, and from the quarry, we will be taking back both of your nodors, along with your two undamaged wagons, and the axles for the damaged one."

    He jerked his thumb behind him to where one of the guards was tending to their horses. "We have also brought enough horses with us to pull those wagons. So those who are coming with us can just ride on those wagons for the whole journey. It certainly won''t be comfortable, but it''s still better than walking on foot. And you don''t have to worry about gathering berries or hunting for food on the way. We have brought enough wheat with us to feed you all twice a day until we reach Tiranat."

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Finally, Hudan gazed at all of them for a moment and added, "I''ll leave you all for now so you can make your decision. Remember, you only have an hour to make up your mind." Then the guard captain walked back towards the other guards. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hyola took a deep breath to calm her mind after hearing those incredible claims from Hudan. She wasn''t sure if it was even possible for a noble to be so generous, and she had no idea if she should really believe the guards. She looked at others around him to gauge their opinions.

    The stonecutters were looking at each other''s faces, some of them lost in their own thoughts, while a few were still finishing up their meals greedily. Everyone had doubts visible clearly on their faces, and yet, the promise of a safe journey to a village which had such a benevolent lord while being escorted through the dangerous forests by these trained guards who had killed the bandits without much trouble, and while getting regular food on the way... That was probably something too enticing for most people to give up.

    Many of them were discussing with their neighbors about their options, but Hyola wanted to confirm it from someone she could trust. Once she was done eating, she walked towards the fire where Calubo was sitting while warming up his hands.

    "Is that really true," she asked, "what the guard captain was saying? Is that baron really such a kind person? It is hard to believe these days, when most nobles are just thinking of ways to line up their pockets."

    Calubo exhaled into his palms and gave a nod. "I believe he is. I didn''t stay too long in the village before I had to leave for this quarry, but from whoever I asked, including my cousin, they all vouched for the baron. I even met a few maids who had been slaves earlier, but they said that they were living as free people now."

    Hyola gazed into the distance, thinking about it. Could it really be possible? Had the goddess really heard her wishes? Could she really become a free woman in this life, and live like other common people?

    She stared at Calubo, who was looking back at her with an encouraging smile. And within that moment, she made her decision. She already trusted him, and she didn''t think he was lying about anything. But even if it turned out that most of those tall claims were just empty promises made by the guard captain to bring more slaves to that baron, she would at least be right by the side of this man who seemed to care for her so much.

    "Alright, I''m coming with you," she told him with a grin.

    "What?" Calubo asked with surprise as he stood up. "Really?"

    She nodded with a huge smile. "Yes!"

    Calubo seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he shook his head, and hugged her, lifting her from her feet in the process. Immediately, some of the stonecutters started to whoop and whistle towards them, which made both of them grin even more.

    Before long, Calubo had taken off his fur coat, and wrapped it around her, making her feel warm in more ways than one. But she immediately removed it and gave it back to him, assuring him that she was already used to this cold, and she didn''t want him to get into trouble with the guard captain for giving it to a slave. While Calubo seemed to be accepted as a guard again by them, it might not remain so if he went against their orders. Calubo protested about it, but she remained adamant until he reluctantly agreed to take the fur coat back.

    Soon, many of the other slaves walked towards them and asked Calubo about those promises again and again, hoping to reassure themselves before they made the decision. And before long, most of the stonecutters had gathered around them to hear from him.

    One of them asked, "I don''t think you are lying to us, but how do we know for sure that the new baron isn''t just looking for free slaves? You already said that you were there for only a single day, so what if the baron just ordered his slaves to lie to you that they are free now?"

    "Or maybe Calubo is also in on the baron''s plan..." the older woman muttered. "He already seems to have gotten a sword and a horse as a reward! Maybe he got them when he agreed to lie for the baron!"

    As much as Hyola trusted Calubo, and even if she was willing to go with him just by herself, she still cared for these people here. They were her only family in this world, and she didn''t want them to die a cruel death at the quarry, whether at the hands of Nokozal or just the harsh winter.

    She took a deep breath, and began speaking before Calubo replied anything. "It is true that we all have only known Calubo for just a few months, but I trust him and I have already decided to go with the guards. And I don''t think any of you really believe that he would lie to us about this. He was the one who was treated the worst by the bandits, even though he wasn''t even a slave before they brought him here. Do you really think he is lying to us just to make us slaves to a new master?"

    Some of the slaves grumbled in response, but nobody said anything openly.

    Hyola saw the opportunity, and continued, "But more importantly, whether we fully believe him or not, what other choice do any of us have here? Even if we are only going to become slaves to a new master, we might still get some food for working there, since it is a big village with lots of people - which also means lots of food. Because otherwise, we will either freeze or starve to death at this quarry."

    Seeing that most of them seemed to be considering her words, she added, "When Nokozal returns here, do you think he''s coming with a sack of fresh bread and meat for us? Do you think he''s going to give even a single meal to us?"

    When nobody gave any reply, she continued, "And anyway, even if we are only being taken to Tiranat just to become slaves for that baron, don''t you think it''s better to be a noble''s slave with a full stomach and a roof over your head, instead of being a bandit''s slave who doesn''t give a damn about whether we starve to death or not?"

    Immediately, a lot of heads nodded in agreement, while Calubo was looking at her in wonder.

    Hyola finished with a rare grin, "And that''s the worst case scenario. But what if it''s really true? What if we can really become free in Tiranat and start living like normal people? Just think about that before you all make your decisions."

 Chapter 163 - 160. Supervisors

    The morning sun had risen higher in the sky, although the clouds had started hiding it again. It was still just as cold as the night, but having a full meal earlier and sitting in front of a roaring fire for an hour had helped a lot.

    It had taken a while for all the slaves to come around, but thankfully none of them had decided to stay back. Hyola knew it was a risk to agree to go with these unknown people, but anything was better than starving here and being beaten up by Nokozal. Once the slaves had told the guards about their decision, Hudan had ordered the guards to bring up the wagons and start hitching them to the horses.

    And before long, the guards had tied up ropes around the nodors'' necks for the four guards who were riding on their horses to pull the animals alongside them. Two horses had been hitched to each of the wagons, after loading up one axle of the damaged wagon on each of them.

    Once everything was ready, the slaves hadn''t taken long to climb up on the wagon beds, wishing for a future better than the one they had had until now. Hyola was also sitting in one of the two wagons along with a dozen other stonecutters, everyone having anxious looks on their faces, while the guards climbed to their seats to drive the wagons.

    But before they started moving, Calubo ran towards the fire which had mostly burned itself out by now, and after picking up a branch which was still burning, he took it to the makeshift huts, and one by one put all of them on fire.

    Some of the slaves didn''t seem too happy about that, but soon Calubo jogged towards them and said with a smirk, "Captain''s orders. He told us there was no reason to provide Nokozal and the other bandits a ready-made hut in the winter. And there is no risk of a fire spreading to the forests from inside the limestone pit anyway - especially without any wind today - so we wanted to give one last gift to that huge bastard for daring to attack our homes. May he freeze to death here!"

    That vision immediately put a grin to every face, with Hyola trying to visualize Nokozal''s face red with anger when he saw that all his underlings were dead, his slaves and nodors had escaped in his wagons, and there was no place to shelter here anymore. Hyola grinned widely. Perhaps it was a fitting end to their departure from this part of their life. Let all their bad memories from this place burn in that fire. She thanked the goddess once again for taking care of them continuously. Hopefully, at least some of those tall promises of that baron would come true.

    Once the guards whipped the horses to start moving, the small group of two wagons accompanied by the four horsemen lurched into motion towards an unknown, but a hopeful future. And in the light of the early morning sun, as Hyola watched the quarry moving further once the wagons reached outside the pit, she didn''t know what the future held for them, but it certainly had to be better than the part of life she had been forced to spend here.

    As the quarry faded away into the distance, she tried to imagine what it would be like to live as a free woman. Would that dream she had seen of buying meat sticks from a stall along with Calubo in a market square come true, after all? Would she really be able to earn a wage for working? And in that case, would she be able to buy meat sticks for Calubo from her own money, instead of relying on him to feed her? Hyola grinned just thinking about such a day.

    She couldn''t wait to reach Tiranat!

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s Manor ~

    Kivamus was sitting inside the manor hall at the long dining table while waiting for breakfast, with Gorsazo sitting nearby. It was too cold outside, so as usual, he was spending most of his time indoors while drawing a blueprint of one thing or another. Today he planned to finish the design for the seed drills.

    The outer door opened and Duvas walked inside, shivering a little. He walked closer to the fireplace to warm himself, and said, "The villagers have started shifting to the longhouse block now. And I made sure to prioritize those who really needed it first."

    "Good, good," Kivamus praised. "And how are they moving their stuff there?"

    "They don''t really have much to move in the first place," Duvas replied with a shrug, "especially those who were homeless. The rest of them are just carrying what they had on their backs."

    "Hmm..." Kivamus mused. "But having even a single nodor to help in moving their stuff would have helped them a lot."

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    "Well, the only nodor we have in the village is with the miller," Duvas remarked, "but we need him to work for most of the day to continue milling grain into flour, so we can''t take it from him anyway."

    Kivamus remembered thinking earlier about how the milling of grain was done in the village without any windmill or other power source, but that gave the answer. Animal power seemed to be the only source of energy here. But hopefully, not for too long.

    He looked at the majordomo. "Do the villagers have something to use as a mattress on those bunks?"

    Duvas stared at him for a moment, before looking at Gorsazo, who gave a shrug and remarked, "What? You already know he used to spend all his time in the library."

    The majordomo shook his head, and looked back at Kivamus. "Well, most of the villagers are quite used to sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I am not sure what was common in the Ulriga palace, but Tiranat is a really poor village, as you already know by now. And even having a wooden bunk to sleep inside a warm building is more than most of them could have dreamt of just a few months ago." He added, "While I''ve hardly checked this, but from what I know, only a few merchants would have such a mattress outside of the manor."

    Kivamus took a deep breath. Of course. How could he forget the poverty of this village and this region. This was the medieval era, and having a good mattress was probably only a dream for most people. That was another thing to improve in the future then. And at least Gorsazo had covered for him here, knowing he wasn''t really used to life in this world.

    "Can''t anything be done about that?" he asked anyway. "There would certainly be some straw around the village to use as stuffing."

    "That is hardly the problem, my Lord," Duvas replied. "Those people who still have a house or even a shack to live in, certainly put some dry straw on their dirt floors to get some insulation from the cold ground. But to make a mattress from them - like those we have in the servants'' hall - would require a lot of fabric to stuff the straw inside it. And cotton or even linen fabric is not something which comes cheap in our kingdom, so the majority of the villagers can''t dream of buying it when they barely have enough coin to buy food."

    He continued, "I''m not sure how many years it has been since we bought any fabric for use in the manor, other than what the previous baron bought for his personal use. Usually Leah just stitches up any holes in our straw mattresses when needed, otherwise we just make do with what we have."

    Kivamus grimaced, now having a better idea of just how destitute this village was.

    "Still," the majordomo added, "I have already told the villagers that they are allowed to bring whatever they want to use as cushioning on their bunks. Many of them are borrowing some of it from wherever they were living till now or any other neighbors they know in the village. Some of them have even gone into the forest to gather something from there after I assured them many times that the baron wouldn''t punish them for it." He shrugged before adding, "I know it''s hardly ideal, but that''s the usual life of commoners. Food comes before material comforts, always."

    "That being said," Duvas asked, "as we had seen earlier, a lot of other villagers also have their houses damaged or with patched holes in their walls, so, many of them wanted to shift in the longhouse block as well. I even saw a few fights breaking out between some villagers for the right to move there first, even though I have already told who can move there. What do you want to do about it?"

    "We are already building a second longhouse block for them," Gorsazo observed, "but it''s true that it will take a few weeks at least."

    Duvas nodded, "Yeah, and I told them that they would certainly have space in the second longhouse block. But they wanted me to allow them to shift into this one, even if they had to sleep on the floors, since even that would be a lot warmer than where they are living these days."

    Kivamus thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Do it. That''s why we even made a wooden floor inside the block. Give a preference to those who have children or elderly in their families, but make sure that it doesn''t become too overcrowded. The longhouse block will certainly be above capacity after this, but you should still keep a limit on the number of people inside, so it doesn''t become just uninhabitable."

    Duvas nodded. "I''ll take another look inside to see how many people we can easily accommodate on the floors. But I''ll still keep one section of that block completely free, so the stonecutters would be able to stay together in the beginning. Otherwise, it might lead to unnecessary arguments or fights."

    "Yeah, keeping them segregated for now is a good idea." Kivamus added, "And make sure to assign the supervisors today. They will need to cook enough food to feed more than a hundred people, many times a day, so there has to be someone who is in charge of cooking food for everyone in the block. Perhaps one of the older women who doesn''t go to work as a laborer could do it. There should be another person who will be in charge of cleaning the blocks. Once the snow melts, you can also add someone who will take care of organizing and sowing some vegetable patches there - but we can leave that until after the winter."

    Duvas gave a nod in reply.

    Kivamus thought for a while before adding, "Apart from that, we have already talked about making someone in-charge of the storeroom. And since that has to be a reliable person whom you trust not to steal from there, so you can also make him the overall administrator of the block. If anyone living in the longhouse block has a problem with something, they should go to him first, and if he is unable to resolve that problem, then he can come directly to you to ask for help."

    "Is that really needed though?" Duvas asked with a frown. "While I have only supervised the manor until now, wouldn''t it be better if anyone who has a problem can come directly to me?"

 Chapter 164 - 161. Parting of the ways

    Kivamus shook his head. "No, there has to be a chain of command here, otherwise you will just get bogged down with those requests all day and won''t have time left for anything else, especially once we have constructed more longhouse blocks."

    He explained, "The simple reason is that the majority of the complaints from those people are likely to be petty ones, maybe something like a person wanting to change their bunk from the upper one to the lower one for some reason, while someone would prefer the upper bunk only, and these can easily lead to arguments between them. So, this way, the administrator or the supervisor of the block can solve most of the problems himself or herself, and you won''t have to be worried about such things. And if there is something that really needs your attention, then the administrator can come to talk to you once a day."

    Kivamus continued, "The more these blocks run themselves, the easier it will be for us, and by following a proper chain of command, this system of longhouses can be scaled up very easily. This way, even if we have a dozen such longhouse blocks in the future, you''ll still be able to solve their complaints within an hour, since you will only have to meet with their administrators, instead of hundreds of people who want to have their complaints heard." He added, "So basically, these four supervisors will have the task of running the longhouse blocks smoothly by themselves. But tell them that these are unpaid tasks and this is being done just to make the longhouse blocks organize themselves better." He snorted, "And if someone still complains about the absence of wages, just tell them that their compensation for that work is getting to live rent free in that block."

    Duvas laughed and gave a nod. "I think I understand your reasons, so I''ll find people for all those tasks by afternoon. That''s three people in charge for now including the overall administrator, and maybe another one in the future once they start growing vegetable patches. But still, why would we ever build a dozen longhouse blocks? Even if we wanted to shift the whole population of the village into such blocks for some reason, they all can probably be shifted into just three or four such blocks. So why would we need any more of them?"

    Kivamus chuckled, dreaming about the day when a series of factories would be running in Tiranat, giving him an opportunity to help his people by giving them proper employment so they would never have to see their children starving and they wouldn''t have to depend on charity from anyone. And at the same time, he wanted to earn enough profits through it to ensure the proper safety of his village as well as of himself from the growing list of people who wanted to see him dead.

    They had been lucky that they had basically gotten off scot-free from the recent bandit raid because Calubo''s information reached them on time, but he knew very well that it wouldn''t be the last raid. And those were just the outlaws in these forests. What if one of the nearby nobles, or that bastard Zoricus - who had enough resources to probably buy a whole army of mercenaries - decided that they were done with sending assassins in secret or nudging the bandit groups to attack his village, and brought their own guards or that so called army to ransack his village? He had no intention of giving them any chance for that. To prevent that, and perhaps to do anything at all in this world, he needed money. A lot of it.

    And to achieve that, he needed a veritable army of workers to earn those profits for him while making goods for Tiranat to consume and export. He wasn''t going to be a robber baron like those in earth''s past, and he had every intention to provide proper working conditions and good wages to everyone who worked for him. But he also couldn''t sit passively and let those greedy nobles steal what little he and his villagers had here.

    He frowned for a moment. He was thinking more like an expansionist CEO these days instead of like a mid-level mechanical engineer that he used to be. But then he chuckled to himself. It seemed like he was going to get the results of that promotion after all - the one which he had barely gotten on Earth when he was torn from his life as Steven to become Kivamus. But instead of getting just a single promotion, it was like he had been propelled all the way to the very top, where he was in charge of taking care of everyone under him. The only difference was that instead of owning a company on Earth, he owned a barony in the Kingdom of Reslinor.

    He glanced at Gorsazo for a moment and grinned - who must have understood that he had gotten another one of ideas from Earth in his mind - before he looked back at the majordomo. "Never say never, Duvas. Who knows, we might just need to house a lot more people in the future..."

    Duvas gave a slow nod. "As you say, my Lord. Perhaps I''ll understand those reasons in the future. Apart from that, I wanted to tell you that Taniok has already started working on the jail room we wanted to build here."

    Kivamus nodded. "Let''s see how long it takes. We have a lot of stuff we need him to do." He gazed towards the distance and muttered, "I really wish we had more trained carpenters here."

    "We can''t really do anything about that right now," Duvas remarked. "Anyway, I should go to the longhouse block now to see that everything is going properly. And I also need to allot the administrator and the other supervisors there."

    Kivamus gave a nod, and the majordomo exited the manor hall.

    Taking a deep breath, he gazed towards the long dining table where a few parchments were rolled up with half finished drawings. It was time to work.

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Mr Kigeir''s home ~

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    It was afternoon now, and it was finally time for them to leave now. Earlier, Elsie''s mother had plainly told Mr Kigeir that she simply wouldn''t allow them to leave in the cold of the morning. That meant she and Timmy had gotten a few more hours to play with their only friends in this world - Elsie and her little brother - apart from a tasty meal as an early lunch for them. But she had to keep blinking while eating so her tears wouldn''t start falling down.

    But now they really had to go. Mr Kigeir had even closed up his shop - which rarely got any customers these days, from what she had seen - to take her and Timmy to the longhouse block himself, with his family accompanying them. Leif had to go to work as a laborer earlier in the morning, so he had already said his goodbye to them.

    She didn''t have anything to pack anyway, apart from a new pair of clothing that she and Timmy had been given by Elsie''s mother, once she had seen that their old clothes were too damaged. They had also been given a patched up blanket by Elsie'' mom today, which was actually one of the best the family had.

    Stepping outside, she held the hand of Timmy, trying to put on a brave face, even though she really just wanted to hide and cry in a corner. Elsie had also been sobbing earlier, but now she was just quiet, completely unlike her usual bubbly self.

    It was certainly cold outside, but she was mostly used to it from her time living in the streets. But still, she already missed the warmth of the house she was leaving now. There was already some snow gathered on the ground, and in the morning, she had tried to make some snowballs to fight with others, but her heart wasn''t in it, so she had given it up when Elsie had just looked at her with wet eyes instead of throwing a snowball back at her.

    As they started moving through the narrow streets, she tried looking around her to distract her mind, and saw a lot of other villagers moving in the same direction as them. Many of them were carrying some patched up sacks and wooden bowls, and a few of them even had separate clothing on their shoulders, while some of them were holding a big pack over their heads, with a few pieces of dried straw poking outside from the holes. Was that a straw mattress like the ones in Mr Kigeir''s house?

    She kept looking around as they walked, and before long, they were walking over a piece of plank kept over a long ditch, with the huge longhouse block looming in front of them. She stopped to look at it for a moment. Just how big was that building? It could probably hold dozens of houses like the one she was leaving behind!

    Reaching close to the gates, they paused for a moment to let a small crowd of villagers pass through the gates first. And immediately, the thought that she was leaving behind her only friend along with the family who had taken care of her and her brother returned back to her mind, making her blink back her tears.

    She turned around and found Elsie looking directly at her as tears fell from her best friend''s eyes. Would she even be able to talk with Elsie anymore? What would happen to their dreams of becoming maids in the baron''s manor together after they had grown up? Would their little brothers ever be able to do their mock sword fights with sticks from now on?

    Maisy looked down, not wanting to think about it anymore. It hurt too much.

    But suddenly, Elsie ran up to her father and with her hands on her waist, she asked angrily, "Why can''t they stay here? Why are you sending them away!"

    Mr Kigeir looked at Maisy and her brother for a moment, before he replied in a tired voice. "I already told you Elsie, I don''t want to see them go either, but I simply won''t be able to feed everyone if we all stay here."

    "But the baron is providing free meals to all of us children every day!" Elsie retorted.

    Mr Kigeir shook his head slowly. "Not anymore, Elsie. Now that the longhouse block has been built, he will stop providing those free meals. From today the food will be cooked within the longhouse for those who live there. That means there won''t be any more free meals for either you or Maisy, or for your brothers."

    Elsie gazed back at her, but Maisy just looked downwards again, not knowing what to say.

    Her best friend turned back to her father again and glared at him. "Then she can eat half of my food!" She begged again, "Please don''t leave them here, papa..."

    Mr Kigeir looked at them with resignation and spoke in a soft voice, "That won''t work for too long, Elsie, not when our shop barely gets any customers these days. Believe me, I have already thought of eating only half my meals for this, but such a thing isn''t sustainable for our already big family..."

    Maisy looked at him in surprise. Why would he say that? Why would he skip his own meals for orphans like them?

    Maisy glanced towards Timmy who had been crying silently, and it hurt her more than anything else. Not wanting to prolong their suffering any longer, she took a deep breath. It was time.

    Holding her little brother''s hands, she started walking towards the gate of the longhouse block. And as much as she wanted to, she didn''t look back, or everyone would be able to see what a big crybaby she was. Elsie was shouting her name from behind, and she just wanted to turn around and run to her. But she couldn''t.

    Maisy sighed while holding back her tears. She had really enjoyed spending time with her best friend and her family, but she knew it wasn''t going to last. Good things never lasted for people like her, after all...

    Reaching at the tall gates, she wiped her eyes with her sleeves again, and stepped inside the place which was going to be their new home. Or at least, their new shelter, since there was only one home she had known after her parents had passed away, and the residents of that home were now standing outside, and they were probably going to enjoy their own lives without two helpless orphans disturbing them. Elsie would also be able to find a new best friend now soon enough with her cheerful personality and would easily forget about her...

    She blinked her watery eyes, already knowing in her heart that it wasn''t true or that family wouldn''t have taken them into their home anyway. She knew it was just a silly lie she was trying to make up for herself... But she still had to make her heart believe it, or it would hurt too much.

    She forced herself to keep walking further while holding Timmy''s little hand, instead of turning around and running back to the only family they had known in their short lives. Tears kept falling from her eyes as she kept walking. It wouldn''t be long before they all would forget about her and Timmy anyway, right? S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Right...?

 Chapter 165 - 162. A New Home?

    ~ Kigeir ~

    ~ Outside the new longhouse block ~

    With a heavy heart, Kigeir looked at the orphans trudging slowly towards the gates of the newly built longhouse block. Elsie was hugging his side while sniffling, while his youngest had been picked up by his wife to make him stop crying. And he was already getting worried about Maisy and Timmy. Would they even have enough food to eat there? Would there be enough coal to keep the place warm?

    Why had it come to this? Was there really nothing he could have done to prevent this?

    Suddenly, his wife asked with glossy eyes, "What if... what if we asked the baron to give us that grain directly?"

    Kigeir looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

    "I mean," his wife explained in a hurried voice, "the baron is already going to provide the food for the children here, so he''s already using his own grain stores for them. So can''t you ask him to just give that directly to us to feed them? That way we would be able to keep them within our house. It breaks my heart to see them go away from us..."

    Kigeir thought about it for a moment, a sliver of hope blooming in his mind. "I think... it may be possible, but it''s very difficult to get an audience with the baron. I wanted to ask the previous baron for permission for something in the past, but I never even got to meet him. But yes, I will try. I have to try."

    He handed over Elsie to her, and started walking towards the gates to check if the baron had come there as well. He even planned to go to his manor if he couldn''t find the baron here.

    As he looked around, he hugged his arms around himself. Although the snowfall had paused for now, it was still just as cold outside. But at least he didn''t have to worry about a shortage of coal this winter.

    He gazed south towards the village once he couldn''t find the baron or his retinue anywhere, but there he saw the old majordomo walking towards the longhouse slowly, while wearing his fur coat. Right! He could ask Sir Duvas as well.

    Walking quickly to him, even though his bad knee was aching a lot in this weather, he asked that question to the majordomo, who was only accompanied by a single guard of the manor, making it easy to approach him.

    Sir Duvas looked surprised by his question. "I had already sent someone to announce it at the market square. Didn''t you hear? We won''t be able to shift everyone in the first block itself."

    Kigeir was quite surprised by that. "I thought... I thought it was our last day with the children we had taken in, so I didn''t go to hear at the market square yesterday when I heard that there was going to be an announcement there, since my family wanted to spend our last time with them together. And I forgot to ask about it from my neighbors later on, with my mind constantly worried about those children. But it''s such a huge building so I thought every homeless person would have to shift here by today."

    "No, no," Sir Duvas shook his head. "It is certainly huge, but it still won''t be enough. That''s why we''ll start the construction of the second block from tomorrow. We also have some more people arriving here in the coming days who will also need more bunks anyway." At his curious expression, the majordomo waved it off. "You don''t need to worry about it right now."

    Kigeir nodded, thinking what it meant. "So does it mean that there will be at least a few people who have to be left outside of this block until the second longhouse is built?"

    The majordomo gave a nod while looking at him curiously. "Do you want to keep the orphans at your home?"

    "Yes!" Kigeir nodded immediately. "Yes, they are like my family now. And yesterday, my wife was already threatening me to find a way to keep them at home, or she would stop cooking food for everyone."

    Sir Duvas laughed loudly at that. "It''s good to hear that she cares so much about the children."

    Kigeir asked after a moment, "So will the baron allow that?"

    Sir Duvas smiled and gave a nod. "Of course. He would prefer it if the children live with a family who cares for them instead of making them stay in such a crowd here."

    "That''s so nice to hear!" Kigeir said with a rare grin. "Please thank Lord Kivamus for this! But can I request you for something else too?"

    On Duvas'' nod, he added, "These days it''s so cold outside that I don''t want the children - all four of them - to walk in the snow every day to the manor for food. Would it be possible for us to get that grain directly so we can cook meals for all of them at our home?"

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    Sir Duvas gave a satisfied smile. "Of course. The baron had already anticipated that some people would want to keep living in the houses of neighbors instead of moving to the longhouse immediately. So at least for this winter, he will continue to provide free meals to the elderly and children who are still staying outside of the block for now." He added, "But even if we provide you the raw grain instead of providing the cooked meals for the children, now it will have to go to feed them instead of adding it to your winter stores, like it was until now in return of giving them a place to live."

    Kigeir thought about it and nodded. "That is still better than what I expected."

    The majordomo continued, "You''ll still have to send someone to pick it up from the manor every week. I won''t be able to send the grain personally to everyone who wants to let the previously homeless people stay with them from now on."

    "That works just fine for me, Sir Duvas." Kigeir added, "I''ll send my older son Leif to pick it up." He gave a grateful nod. "Please thank the baron for this. My children have been so happy these days to have someone else to play with, unlike the days before the arrival of Lord Kivamus, when they looked worried about the food shortage even at their young ages. And I would like to keep housing those two children with my family as long as I can afford it."

    Then Kigeir thought about how it would feel if he had to let Maisy and Timmy move to another place after these kids had lived with his family for even longer.

    No. He didn''t even want to think about it. He looked at the majordomo and grinned. "Actually, I don''t think I can let them go away from my family ever again. It seems I have five kids now." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Sir Duvas smiled at him in response and patted his shoulder. "You''re a good man, Kigeir."

    Kigeir nodded gratefully. "I''ll take my leave then," he said to the old majordomo. "I have to give the good news to my family now." He smiled and added, "To my newly-expanded family."

    He turned around, and started walking quickly to where his family was waiting. He had to find Maisy and Timmy too. He grinned again, thinking about how happy everyone would be to hear this news.

    *******

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ In the courtyard of the longhouse block ~

    Timmy was gazing downwards while sitting on one of the swings which they had found in the courtyard of the longhouse block, while Maisy had been half-heartedly pushing him from behind, so at least he would be distracted and wouldn''t be scared anymore.

    When they had reached inside that courtyard earlier, she had also been scared by that big crowd inside, while Timmy was clutching her from the side. They had no idea where they were supposed to go, or where they would even get food here. Would it really be a new home for them? Or would it be the same as the time when they lived on the streets? Would they have to look for and steal food from here as well? She didn''t know.

    She had kept moving further without knowing whether to go, but then they had seen that swing after coming inside. Timmy had become happy and had run directly to its empty seat, asking her to help him in swinging, but that happiness hadn''t lasted long. Maisy didn''t even have the heart to sit in it. What would be the point? How would she enjoy it without her only friend by her side?

    Since then, she had been observing everyone around her to see where all the villagers were going. It seemed that in the courtyard, there were three doors on the three sides of the block where people were going with their belongings - that had to be where they would sleep - apart from another two doors on the fourth side of the block on the left of the gate, whose purpose she had no idea of. But earlier, she had seen a woman taking a big cauldron there, likely for cooking. Maybe that''s where she would have to steal food from?

    She gave a dejected sigh completely unsuited for a ten years old, and gazed at the ground with wet eyes, forgetting to keep pushing Timmy from behind. Why did everybody keep leaving her? First their parents died and left her, then their only aunt died, leaving them alone again, and then this family who had been caring for them had also left her and Timmy...

    Why? Why!

    After a moment, her brother turned around in confusion and looked at her face. What''s wrong, Maisy? Why are you crying?

    Maisy shook her head slowly and smiled at him after wiping her eyes with her sleeves. No. She couldn''t keep crying. She had to be strong for him.

    "Don''t worry about it kiddo," she tried to reassure him. "Now let''s look for a place to sleep, ''kay?"

    Timmy gave an uncertain nod in reply and stood up from the seat of the swing. Taking his hand in her own, Maisy steeled herself and looked around them at the crowd milling about in the courtyard. How was she supposed to find where to go?

    Right at that moment, she thought someone was calling her name. She looked around in confusion, but saw nobody she recognized. Right. Who would know about them anyway at this place? She must be hearing things.

    She took her little brother''s hand and started walking towards one of the doors in the courtyard, trying to make space between those giant people. Perhaps they could even find an empty corner inside near the fireplace. But would there even be a fireplace here? At least they had that thin blanket with them now which she had been carrying on her shoulders, which was a lot better than the time they lived on the streets. Hopefully, it would be enough to prevent them from freezing to death like their parents in a past winter.

    Once she reached closer, she thought that someone had called her name once again, making her look around in confusion.

    Timmy stopped as well, looking towards her, but he looked confused too after she heard someone calling his name as well. What was happening? Were they both hearing things now?

    But then Timmy started urgently pulling her arm, and pointed behind her. "Maisy! Look, look!"

    "What is it?" Maisy asked in confusion, as she turned around as well. And then she saw a sight she had never expected to see.

 Chapter 166 - 163. Orphans No More

    She saw that the whole family of Mr Kigeir was quickly walking towards them, looking quite happy, with Elsie and her younger brother in the lead, who started running when they saw her and Timmy.

    But why? Why were they here again? Maisy was confused. They looked happy as well. Didn''t they already forget about her and Timmy? Then why were they coming here?

    But then Elsie reached closer and ran towards her and hugged her tightly, with Maisy barely managing to keep standing from the force.

    "Maisy!" her best friend bawled into her shoulder. "You can come back with us!"

    "What?" Maisy looked around in confusion, and saw that the two younger kids also seemed to be crying while trying to punch each other at the same time... Perhaps it was a way of showing how much they cared about each other?

    Elsie took a step back and looked at her face. "You can live with us now! Papa asked some bigwig and he allowed it!"

    Maisy blinked in surprise, her heart beating loudly. Was that really possible? Could she and Timmy really go back to live with them again? Elsie wouldn''t joke about that, right?

    Then she looked behind Elsie, and saw Mr Kigeir and his wife also reaching there with wet eyes and huge smiles on their faces. Were they crying as well? But why?

    Reaching closer, Elsie''s mom bent down and pulled all four children closer and hugged them, while starting to cry openly.

    After a moment, Elsie''s mom looked at her. "I am sorry, Maisy! I am so sorry that we let you both go away from us! Please forgive us! I will never let that happen again!"

    What was happening? Maisy didn''t know what to think about, although her eyes had also started tearing up without her permission.

    Was it really true? Was this really happening or had she fallen asleep near the swing and started dreaming?

    After a while, Elsie''s mom stood up, while still holding her and Timmy, and looked at them in the same way that she looked at her own children. "You can come live with us now," she said. "Both of you."

    Maisy''s mind had seemed to have stopped working by now and she couldn''t think properly. Her heart had realized what was happening, but her brain still refused to accept it. She tried to say something but her voice had stopped working too. And all the time Elsie had been clutching her from her side, while Timmy was still holding her hand.

    She felt a lump in her throat, but then swallowed to get her voice working again. "Is it," she whispered, "is it really true? You are not leaving us here?"

    Elsie''s mom started crying again, and bent down again to clutch all the children once more. "Yes it''s true! And don''t you worry, I will never let you go away again! You both are also my children from today." She looked at her and Timmy for a moment and grinned with teary eyes. "You both have a mother and father too from today."

    Maisy blinked her eyes, trying to clear them at least a little bit, and looked at Mr Kigeir, who had been standing nearby while rubbing his eyes. When he noticed the question in her eyes, he gave a smile and nodded.

    At this point, Maisy''s brain simply gave up any more protests, and she began crying openly as well while holding Elsie''s mom tightly. And before long, Timmy and other children joined her as well in another group hug.

    She didn''t know how long it took for all of them to calm down, but eventually she wiped her eyes and saw that Elsie''s mom - no! her mom! - was looking at all of them lovingly. Then she looked at Mr Kigeir - no, she looked at papa! - who gave a nod.

    He wiped his eyes as well, and gazed at all four children for a moment with a smile. Then he grinned. "Come on children. Let''s go home!" He held the hands of both boys, while Elsie''s mom - no! her mom! - held the hands of the girls, and they started walking towards the gates of the longhouse block.

    Maisy''s heart was still beating too fast. Even though she had realized by now that it wasn''t a dream, she was still surprised that somebody would even care about orphans like her, whom nobody used to give a second glance in the past, even if they were hungry or homeless. But it seemed like things were finally changing for them now, since they weren''t really orphans anymore, were they? It still felt weird for her to think of that, but perhaps good things could really happen to people like her and Timmy in this village...

    As they exited the gates and turned towards the village to go to their home - to her home - she looked back at the huge building, and couldn''t stop tears from falling from her eyes again. This place had been her home for less than an hour, but it was always going to be one of her most favorite places in the village, no matter where she lived.

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    This was where she had found her new parents, after all.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    ~ Baron''s manor ~

    It was late evening now, and It had been two days since the longhouse block had been completed. Thankfully the shifting of villagers had gone without any major incident yesterday. There were still a few scuffles about the choice of bunks, as well as the decision about who would have to stay on the floor, but Duvas had been able to resolve it by himself. They had also transferred a decent amount of grain and coal to the storeroom of the block, as an advance on the weekly grain quota they were giving the laborers.

    This meant that apart from a few exceptions, they also wouldn''t have to pay any extra grain to those who had been acting as temporary innkeepers by taking in the previously homeless people. The amount of food that the maids had to cook had also gone down significantly, with the meals of the majority of the elderly and children being prepared in the kitchen of the longhouse block from yesterday.

    Earlier today, the jail room had also been completed by Taniok and a few other laborers with the help of the log-mover. It was a simple enough room made of logs, with wooden bars on its only window, and a way to securely lock the doors from the outside, so any prisoners wouldn''t be able to escape this time. Hopefully, Feroy would be able to find the culprit of Sejkil''s death soon, and the jail wouldn''t have to stay empty for too long.

    He took a deep breath. The completion of the longhouse block was a good start for all the construction he wanted to do in the village. But it was only a start. There was still a lot to do.

    As he gazed at the others sitting inside the manor hall with a satisfactory smile on everyone''s faces, he remembered something. He wanted to see a line of factories running in this village in the future, but that simply won''t work if basically every single worker was illiterate. Even if it might not be feasible to make them as knowledgeable as an employable college graduate on Earth, the villagers still needed to know a lot more than what they did currently.

    He looked at others. "Duvas, I have been thinking about something for a while, and I think now we have a good opportunity to act on it."

    "What is it, my Lord?" the majordomo asked.

    Gorsazo and Feroy looked at him curiously as well.

    "How many people would you say are literate in the village?" Kivamus asked.

    Duvas thought about it for a moment. "I haven''t personally asked every villager about this, but I don''t think there are more than a handful of them - mainly the merchants and shopkeepers - who can do some basic reading and writing. Apart from them, the rest of the villagers won''t be able to even write their own name."

    "That''s mostly what I expected," Kivamus muttered. He gazed at everyone. "But this is something that I want to change from now. I want to start a part-time school..." Seeing the confused look on the faces of Feroy and Duvas, he elaborated, "uh, a place where everyone will be taught about reading and writing in the longhouse block. It wasn''t feasible earlier, but now we have a place where a lot of villagers will be gathered together, so this will be a good chance for us to start educating them." He added, "And I don''t mean educating just the children. I also want the adults to get educated, no matter how old they are."

    "But... why?" Duvas asked with a frown. "What would the villagers even do with that knowledge? Shouldn''t they be using that time to work and earn for their families? And only noble''s children get educated anyway. What use would a commoner have for such knowledge anyway? They don''t need to be able to read to cut a tree or do any farming work."

    "I agree with him, milord," Feroy commented. He added with a snort, "I can''t differentiate my own written name from a bear''s scratch marks on a fedarus bark, but that hasn''t stopped me from slitting a bandit''s throat whenever I''ve needed to, you know?" Then he scoffed, "And why would anyone choose to get educated? I wouldn''t want to stare at a Goddess'' damned parchment for hours if my life depended on it!"

    Gorsazo remained quiet, but he was looking at Kivamus with a knowing glance. While his old teacher still barely knew anything about life on earth, he was always curious to learn more from him, and Kivamus kept telling him stories about the kind of wonders which people took for granted on earth. And he had always emphasized to Gorsazo that more and more people getting educated had been one of the major catalysts of all the inventions and improvements on Earth.

    It was certainly true that only a very small percentage of people had been the ones who had invented the majority of things in the very beginning of the Earth''s industrial revolution, but you could never know who would turn out to be that kind of genius. For any of that to happen, they needed at least the very basics of knowledge and education. And that''s what he wanted to provide here. So he knew that he could count on Gorsazo''s support in this for certain.

    He explained, "I don''t want this village to be dependent just on selling coal in the future. It is simply not a very reliable source of income, not to mention it is barely profitable, seeing the state of the village when I arrived here."

    Duvas nodded on hearing about the low profitability of coal mining, but didn''t say anything.

    Kivamus continued, "And I have a lot of plans to change that in the future after we have managed to grow our own grain from next year. But for that, I will need a much better educated workforce, or at least one where the workers are not completely illiterate." sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Seeing that the majordomo still looked unconvinced, he asked, "Tell me Duvas, how did you become the majordomo of this manor?"

 Chapter 167 - 164. Duvas

    "Uh... what do you mean?" Duvas asked with confusion. "How is that relevant here?"

    "Just humor me," Kivamus insisted.

    Duvas took a deep breath. "I didn''t really have a choice in that. I was born as the fifth son of a minor noble in the City of Risalis, in the far north of the kingdom."

    Kivamus thought about it from the memories he had inherited. "Yeah, that''s one of the four major cities of this kingdom including Ulriga and the capital Dorastiz."

    Gorsazo nodded at him, probably feeling proud that he had managed to remember it.

    Duvas continued, "Indeed, the last one being Plumron, which is famous for its luxury soaps made by its soap guilds. But I digress. As you can guess, the oldest son would go on to become the next baron after our father died, while the others wouldn''t get any land or title. We were expected to either join the temple or train to become a knight. But I was never very strong physically, so becoming a knight was never an option for me, and it didn''t interest me anyway." S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He elaborated, "I joined a temple of the Goddess in Risalis as a priest or rather, as a disciple - which I remained for many decades. Later on, I migrated to the south of the kingdom in the process of spreading the Goddess'' words to people, and eventually to Cinran. However, reading the books available in various temples interested me a lot more than providing blessings to the people who visited there."

    Duvas added, "The previous baron of this village used to visit the temple in Cinran, where I got introduced to him. And when coal mines were discovered in the south and he was appointed as the first Baron of Tiranat, he invited me to come with him, since he needed someone educated and trustworthy who could take care of his accounts, while also acting as a conduit to the Goddess for him."

    "Probably to forgive his long list of sins..." Feroy muttered.

    Duvas glared at the ex-mercenary but didn''t say anything to him. Looking back towards Kivamus, he added, "And that''s how I became the majordomo of this manor."

    Kivamus nodded slowly, thinking about it, then asked, "Now tell me, what would have happened if you weren''t educated?"

    Duvas hesitated before replying. "Uh... I am not really sure, my Lord. As a son of a noble - no matter how minor - I was always going to get basic education anyway, just like my brothers."

    "Yeah, that''s one of the privileges of being born in a noble''s family," Kivamus remarked. "But still, try to imagine if you weren''t educated for some reason. Then where would you be today?"

    Duvas gazed into the distance. "If I wasn''t educated... which would probably have meant that I didn''t have any interest in reading books, then I wouldn''t have tried to join a temple of the goddess. In that case, I guess I would have tried to become a knight." But he immediately shook his head, and added, "No, that would never have worked with how frail I used to be as a child. Then..." The majordomo gave a sigh. "I guess I would have wandered here and there, looking for work. Perhaps as a laborer, or maybe even as a coal miner..."

    "Now you must be getting what I mean," Kivamus said. "You couldn''t have known as a child that you would become a majordomo after thirty or forty years in the future, so there was no real reason for you to get educated at that time, was it?"

    Duvas nodded slowly. "If I wasn''t born as a son of a noble, then yes, I might not have chosen to spend my time learning to read and write at that young age. Not that I could have afforded it anyway, since I would have had to work every day just to earn my meals." He exhaled. "Now I see what you mean. Getting educated created an opportunity for a comfortable life for me decades after that decision, and without that, I would probably either be working as a laborer today, or I might have become a slave if I couldn''t have paid the debt that I would certainly have taken to feed myself. Or more likely, since I wouldn''t be able to do any hard work at this age, I might even have starved to death at some point..."

    Kivamus gave an understanding nod, recognizing the harsh realities of this world. "And tell me, when the previous baron chose you as his majordomo, did it matter whether you were born as a noble?"

    "Not really, my Lord, though it certainly didn''t hurt my prospects," Duvas replied. "He just wanted an educated man to keep his books, and someone who would be honest enough, which any disciple of the Goddess'' temple is expected to be. I have known other disciples in the past who were from a commoner''s background but they had still been chosen to become a majordomo or a bookkeeper by other nobles."

    Kivamus smiled. "And that''s exactly the reason why I want to give an opportunity to everyone in this village to become educated."

    Thinking about the writing system of this kingdom, he already knew that while the alphabet used here was quite different from those used for English, it was still a similar language which used only twenty-nine characters and didn''t use any pictures or logos as symbols for its letters. The number system used was also a decimal one with base-ten, which meant that once people had the basics of the language well-understood, it wouldn''t be difficult to build upon it to teach them advanced concepts in the future, just like it was done in English on Earth. However, that would be far in the future. For now, they had to start from the very basics.

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    He began, "I have many plans for the future which will require a better educated workforce. But even if all they can learn is to write their name and do very basic addition and subtraction, it would still allow the villagers to prevent themselves from getting cheated by a swindling merchant. And who knows, maybe one of them would get an opportunity to become a majordomo to another noble in the future."

    At this point even Feroy looked thoughtful.

    Gorsazo nodded. "I support this idea. I was born as a commoner with nearly nothing to my name, but I was able to teach the son of a Duke only because I got a rare opportunity to become educated and I took it."

    Duvas seemed lost in thoughts for a while, then he nodded as well, while looking at Kivamus. "Alright, I agree with you too. Although I don''t know where you even get such weird ideas anyway. I would never have thought of trying to educate commoners when they could be working to feed their families."

    Kivamus glanced at the majordomo and shrugged, trying to deflect the question. "My mind works in different ways from others, you already know that."

    Duvas gave a nod and thankfully, he didn''t pursue it further. The majordomo asked, "While I understand your reasoning now, I still don''t know if the villagers would want to do it in the first place. Like I said, they all would prefer to work more so they can earn more for their families. Nobody would choose to skip a day of work to sit in a... school."

    "That could be a problem..." Kivamus muttered with a frown.

    Gorsazo spoke up again. "Then why don''t we make it conditional?" At everyone''s confused look, he elaborated, "We are providing a place to live to the villagers who are staying in the longhouse block, and we are also providing free meals for most of them. We can just make one of those things conditional on attending those classes regularly."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "That could work. Even so, it would be better if the classes are held at a time when the majority of villagers are already gathered there without it disturbing their work hours. So it can''t be during the day, and they have to leave early in the morning for work. So evening seems to be the only feasible time for this. We can make it such that the condition for getting to live without rent in that longhouse block is attending those classes in the evening. And if they don''t want to attend those classes, they are free to leave the longhouse block." He shrugged. "But nobody is really going to do that, so attending those classes will basically become mandatory for them."

    Duvas nodded. "That should take care of it. But who will even teach there? Even for a single longhouse block it will take at least an hour if we want to meaningfully teach them anything. And I simply don''t have that much time to do it." He added, "Even if I somehow manage to do it for now, but when the second longhouse block is completed, and maybe even more of them as you have planned, then it will simply become unfeasible for me."

    Kivamus thought about it and even considered doing it himself. However, while he was easily the person with the most modern knowledge here, he had absolutely no experience of teaching anyone, not to mention the people would basically be at kindergarten level in terms of education, so he wouldn''t even know where to start teaching them. More importantly, as important as it was to make his villagers literate, his time was likely better used to find practical implementation of his knowledge, to make the village self-reliant, as well as to make it strong enough to defend from any bandits or nefarious plants of other greedy nobles.

    He gazed at the occupants of the room and snorted when he tried to imagine Feroy as a school teacher. The children would run away from him for sure. Or perhaps they won''t... since the guy did know how to blend in. Either way, that only left Gorsazo, who was probably the best option for them anyway with his experience. But before he said anything, his former teacher looked at him.

    "Why don''t I do this?" Gorsazo asked. "I have worked as a teacher for a long time, even if I was only teaching a single person in the past." He added with a smirk, "Also, I don''t have those uh... otherworldly blueprints in my mind to spend my time on - like you keep drawing on those parchments - nor do I have other supervisory responsibilities in the manor like Duvas. So it''s not like there is any other feasible way to teach them other than me, if you really want to do this."

    Kivamus was still trying to calm his rapidly beating heart when he thought that Gorsazo was going to spill the beans a moment ago. He nodded, glaring at his former teacher. "Okay then. You will be the teacher for the long house block in the evenings. Start from the very basics and..." He paused. "Actually, you know far better than me about what to teach and how to do it. So I''ll leave it up to you."

    Gorsazo nodded, still smirking at his play of words earlier. "Of course."

    Duvas asked, "But that''s only a small part of the village living in that block. What about the rest of them?"

    "Let''s take it one step at a time," Kivamus answered. "The news about free education would spread in the village soon enough, and any other children who are curious can join the classes inside the first longhouse block. For the remaining adults, we will have to wait until the second block is constructed. Then we can provide another class there." He added, looking at his former teacher, "And in the future, if it reaches a stage where it is getting difficult for you to manage your time between different blocks, we can think of another solution at that time."

    "That will work for now," Gorsazo agreed. "I''ll start the classes from tomorrow, if Duvas spreads the word by then that getting to live there for free means everyone has to attend the classes."

    Duvas gave a nod. "I''ll do it myself tomorrow morning before the workers leave for work from the block."

    Kivamus looked at the ex-mercenary and smirked. "You wouldn''t be interested in joining as a student too, would you?"

 Chapter 168 - 165. Divine-Stone

    "Not on my life, milord!" Feroy exclaimed with a grin. He seemed to be thinking for a moment before he added, "But you know, maybe I''ll visit that school, after all. Just to keep an eye on everyone there, you know? I want to make sure nobody causes any trouble for our only teacher."

    "Of course," Kivamus smirked, easily guessing the real reason.

    At that moment, the outer door of the hall opened and a guard walked inside. "Milord, the two guards we had sent to escort Pydaso to Cinran have just returned back," he reported.

    "Oh, that''s really good to know," Kivamus said, and waved off the guard so he could return to his duties. He looked at others. "They will ease up the workload on our guards until Hudan and the others are back from the quarry."

    "I wonder how that is going," Gorsazo mused. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "There isn''t any need to worry about Hudan, you know?" Feroy remarked. "He can easily take care of any bandits there, especially since Nokozal wouldn''t have reached there yet while walking on foot. I''d say the guards must be on their way back now."

    "Let''s hope so," Kivamus said. How he wished there was some way for him to contact Hudan immediately, just like on earth. Alas, nothing could be done about that here.

    Thinking about Earth made him remember meat and all kinds of meat dishes which he liked eating. But these days they were barely getting any meat in their meals. He asked the majordomo, "Are the hunters still not able to find enough animals to hunt out there?"

    "For the first few days they were getting successful in catching small game like rabbits and such, since they weren''t going too far," Duvas replied. "But now that they have started going further to hunt for bigger game, it hasn''t been very productive. One of the major reasons which I have heard from them is that they keep getting lost in the forests, since even this light snowfall has been enough to cover the ground there, and with the heavy clouds obscuring the sun most of these days and everything looking white on the ground, it is hard to find any natural markers, so they keep losing track of their location."

    He added, "There is no real shortage of animals out there, but these days the hunting groups spend most of their time just finding their way instead of actually hunting."

    Kivamus thought about it for a moment. It was true that without access to any modern gadgets like a GPS locator, which would also include the function of a compass, it would be quite difficult to find their way inside the forests in winter, especially since there weren''t any roads there either.

    Feroy snorted, "I''d say they are just not used to going into the forests. I''d never lose my way there."

    Duvas shrugged. "Well they haven''t lived in the forest for years, unlike you, and with the previous baron not sending them on any hunting trips, they don''t have any real experience going into the forests. And our few skilled hunters have also barely entered the forests to put some traps there for small animals. Even they barely have any experience of going deep into these forests."

    Kivamus nodded, "It''s not their fault, but the result is the same. We still aren''t getting enough meat to supplement our diets and ease the burden on our grain stores."

    "In that case, I could also go along with them from now," Feroy suggested.

    "It won''t really help much," Kivamus replied, "since you can only be with a single hunting group at a time, and the other groups would still keep getting lost. And we need someone trusted here to oversee the guards. Maybe we can consider sending you with one of the groups later once Hudan is back."

    He thought about whether there was any way for him to make it easier. If only he could make a compass here... He asked, "Do we have any magnets here?"

    "Uh... a magnet?" Feroy asked in a confused voice.

    "Something on which you can stick anything made of iron," Gorsazo replied.

    Duvas muttered while stroking his mostly-white beard, "I think I know what you are talking about, but there is nothing like that here." He added, "I''ve seen some of the nobles keeping something similar as a trophy though. They show to their visitors that their divine-stone can be stuck to their swords or iron shields going against the power of the ground to pull everything down, and according to them, it proves their devotion to the Goddess as well as their rightful place as a noble."

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    The majordomo shrugged, "But even after I saw it myself in Risalis a long time ago, I didn''t believe that the Goddess had anything to do with such a stone, as weird as it was, but I had no better explanation either."

    Kivamus gave a nod. So people here did know about magnets, which was probably obvious, but it wasn''t common enough for him to get access to it easily.

    He explained, "Yeah, that''s exactly what a magnet is, but there are a lot of better uses for it apart from those nobles showing some petty tricks with it. And I can assure you that divine power has nothing to do with the effects of a magnet. It is often found in nature by the name of lodestone." He thought about how to explain the reason in simple words. "As for the reason it can attract iron, I have read in a book that there is a special alignment of iron particles inside it which gives it those powers. It is a little more complex than that, but you can easily recognise it when a piece of iron gets stuck to it."

    Feroy seemed to be gazing into the distance. "I think... I know what you are talking about. I''ve been to a place somewhere in the Southern forests, where I had kept my sword on a small rock when resting, but when I went to lift it, it was very difficult to remove it from that rock. Some of the mercenaries along with me were thinking there was a ghost of someone they had killed hiding in that rock, who didn''t want me to take the sword back from that rock as revenge. Did you mean something like that?"

    Kivamus nodded excitedly. "That sounds exactly like a lodestone embedded in another rock! And there was no ghost there. Do you remember where it was? We could send someone to pick it up."

    Feroy shook his head reluctantly. "It was years ago, milord..." He seemed to be thinking for a moment before he added, "I think we were somewhere near the Nisador mountain range in the South, probably closer to Girnalica. But it was just a small rock. There is no way I could find it again."

    Kivamus sighed. He was getting excited for nothing then. How could he expect someone to remember the location of a piece of rock which couldn''t be more than a foot big, if that. "Never mind then."

    "But what would you have done with it anyway, if you had that... lodestone here?" Feroy asked curiously.

    "I wanted to make a compass with it to help our hunters find the directions easily," Kivamus replied. "Do you know what that is?"

    Feroy shook his head, probably having never heard of it as a commoner, but Gorsazo asked, "You mean like that costly thing sailors use to find direction on sea journeys? I''ve heard that they hang a small piece of a special type of stone on a string, which helps them in finding out the directions. I think it is sold in the markets of Ulriga since it is a major port, but I don''t know any more than that."

    Kivamus nodded. "Yeah, that''s a compass alright, although it sounds quite primitive if they are just hanging a lodestone directly on a string. I was thinking that if we had such a lodestone here, and if I could provide even a simple compass to our hunting groups, it would become much easier for them to find their way in the forests, no matter whether it was covered with snow or not."

    "Well, we can''t help it then," Duvas said with a shrug. "It''s not like we can buy a lodestone from Ulriga right now, and that''s if we even had the coin to afford it, which we certainly don''t."

    Kivamus gave a reluctant nod. It wasn''t like he could create lodestones out of thin air.

    Duvas changed the topic. "I also wanted to tell you that the first wooden wheelbarrow was completed by Taniok''s apprentice today. A few servants have already tried it and it works well enough."

    "That''s really nice," Kivamus praised. "Tell him to keep making more of those, since the more wheelbarrows we have here, the faster the construction of everything will go."

    Duvas nodded. "I''ll let him know. Apart from that, we also received six repaired leather armors from Leah earlier today from the damaged ones which we had salvaged from the bandits. She had to use up two of them to patch up the remaining six armors. So that''s certainly a loss for us."

    Feroy interrupted, "Maybe, but getting even those six extra armors will likely be enough to outfit all of our two dozen guards with them. And we can only thank Nokozal for that."

    Everyone laughed at that, before Feroy continued, "Earlier in the evening, we got three more women who wanted to work as manor guards. So after Sir Duvas verified that they were trustworthy, we hired them as well."

    Duvas began, looking at Kivamus, "Your idea to use the women of the manor to give a speech in the market square seems to have worked, and now we have five women guards in total, though I am still not sure about how effective they will be in a real fight. Either way, I think we might get a few more applicants in the future, since a few more of them looked interested when I gave the speech last time."

    Kivamus nodded in satisfaction. "The bandit attack might also have a hand in their willingness to join us as guards, since without any village walls around Tiranat, we were unable to prevent the bandits from reaching inside the village and everyone felt fearful that night. Also, since most of the women who are joining us are likely to be those who were living alone, the safety of living inside the manor would also have motivated them to join up as guards."

    He continued, "Still, making crossbows is something I want to start as soon as I can, and today I already finished up a basic design of it, but we need Taniok to get more free time before we ask him to do this, since I don''t think his apprentice can craft the intricate parts by himself. Although I think we can start giving orders to make the metal parts of the crossbows to Cedoron."

    He thought for a moment, and looked at the majordomo. "Tomorrow morning, send a servant to him and ask him to come and meet me, so I can talk with him about this."

    Duvas nodded. "I''ll let him know." Then he frowned, "But how do you know that your design will work for sure?"

 Chapter 169 - 166. A Hammer, A Rod and A Nail

    Kivamus snorted, "I don''t know that for sure. It''s not like I have any experience in making real crossbows, even though I know the basic concept of how they are supposed to work. So it will certainly need some trial and error. But the earlier I start discussing it with the blacksmith, the sooner we can begin making them here after figuring out any problems in the design."

    "Of course, that makes sense," Duvas replied before he gave a chuckle. "I can''t wait to see the day when our female recruits will be able to go one on one against a trained guard."

    *******

    The next morning, Kivamus was pacing in the manor hall, still thinking about what could be done to help the hunters. He had been thinking up ideas from Earth and then discarding them one by one, every time because constructing such an advanced thing wouldn''t be feasible here.

    Duvas had already told the blacksmith to come to the manor and now the majordomo was sitting near the fireplace along with Feroy, while Gorsazo had gone to visit the longhouse block, probably to start planning where and how he could teach the villagers. Lucem and Clarisa were sitting on the floor, on the hide of a huge bear near the long dining table, while Lucem tried to build some kind of a miniature house from a few pieces of wood he had gathered from somewhere.

    As Kivamus watched them while walking, Lucem picked up a piece of wood, and probably trying to imitate a carpenter, he struck on one end of it with another piece of wood. And all of a sudden, Kivamus remembered something which could still help them here.

    "That''s it!" he exclaimed, making everyone look at him. Since yesterday, he had felt that he had been forgetting something, and seeing the kid strike a piece of wood with another had reminded him of another way that a piece of iron could be magnetized easily, and with no special equipment needed for it.

    He quickly walked to the outer door, and after calling up a servant who looked to be barely twenty years old, he told him to bring a straight bar or a rod of iron from somewhere - the thinner the better - along with a hammer. He also asked to bring some small pieces of iron, but Lucem interrupted and asked if a few nails he had seen kept somewhere in the manor house would do. Kivamus grinned and sent them both to bring those things in the manor hall.

    By this time Duvas also looked curious, but when he asked about it, Kivamus told him to wait until he was ready with everything here. As they kept waiting, Gorsazo also returned into the manor hall while rubbing his hands together after braving the cold weather outside.

    And soon, the servant had brought a hammer and a short iron rod, which was around a foot long, while Lucem had returned with a bunch of small iron nails. After sending the servant back, he scattered those iron nails on the long table, and picked up the iron rod in one hand and the hammer in another. He looked at the curious audience, which had now grown to also include Madam Helga and Syryne, who had been called up by Lucem earlier, and then he started to explain.

    "You see," he began, "our planet..." and he suddenly stopped before he said Earth. Thinking quickly from his old memories, he remembered that this planet was known as Eranityn. He continued, "I read in a book that our planet Eranityn has something called a magnetic field, which is what allows the compass of a sailor to work. So what I''m gonna try to do here is to make a temporary magnet by hitting one end of this iron rod with the hammer, which will realign the uh... small particles of iron inside the rod into the same direction, due to which this rod will start to act like a magnet."

    Seeing that everyone looked lost by now, he said, "Let me demonstrate first." And just as he was going to hit it, he remembered something else. He couldn''t just hold the iron rod in his hands and hit it to make it a magnet. There was a reason why people didn''t just do it here already, because they didn''t know about another important requirement to do this - the iron rod had to be aligned in parallel with the planet''s magnetic fields when he hit it or it just wouldn''t work.

    While he could guess that the magnetic dipole of this planet would likely be aligned in the north to south direction just like earth - mainly because sailors had already been using a primitive form of compass to navigate in this world - but the magnetic inclination, which was the angle of the planets magnetic field line with the surface of the ground was just as important here. And that depended on their current latitude on this planet, which he wasn''t sure about, since the original Kivamus had probably never really looked at a world map of Eranityn. Although he did know that they were located in the northern hemisphere of this world, he needed more accuracy than that. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He looked at Gorsazo. "You must have seen some kind of map of the world, right?" Once Gorsazo nodded, he asked, "Then can you give me a rough estimate of how far north we are?"

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    "Uh... how am I supposed to do that?" Gorsazo asked with a frown.

    "Hmm..." Thinking quickly, Kivamus clenched his left hand into a fist, and pointing to the top he said, "Imagine this is our planet Eranityn, which means this has to be in the north pole, and the opposite direction would be the south pole, with a circular line in the middle being the equator. So where are we? I need to know how far north Cilaria is located on this planet before I try to do this."

    Gorsazo gave a slow nod. "I''m not sure how it would be helpful, and it''s been many years since I saw a map - not that it was any more than a rough outline of the land masses made by some adventurous sailor in the past."

    "I don''t need the exact location," Kivamus said urgently. "All I need to know is roughly how far north we are in comparison to the equator and the north pole."

    Gorsazo seemed to be thinking about it for a minute. Finally, he replied uncertainly, "If I remember correctly, I think we should be located maybe... somewhere in the middle of the equator and the poles? So uh... perhaps halfway between them?" He sighed. "I apologize, my Lord, but I really can''t remember any better - and that is if those maps were accurate at all, which I don''t believe they were."

    Kivamus sighed. What was he expecting here, a real-time satellite map? But having some idea was still better than nothing. He thought about what it meant about the magnetic inclination.

    The magnetic field lines would be parallel to the ground at the equator... which meant a zero degree angle between them and the ground. And there should be a ninety degree angle between the ground and the field lines at the poles, so if Cilaria was in the middle of it... probably at the latitude of northern Europe, then the magnetic inclination should be around forty-five degrees here. It was far from accurate, but he should be able to do this with some trial and error.

    Taking a deep breath, he held the rod in his left hand and facing towards the west of the manor, so that the rod would be aligned in a north to south direction, he tilted his left hand until it made roughly around a forty-five degree angle with the ground, and started hitting one end of it with the hammer.

    Others kept watching him dubiously, until he decided he was done, and he took that rod near the iron nails expecting them to be attracted by it. And... nothing.

    "Did it work, milord?" Duvas asked dubiously.

    Kivamus sighed and instead of replying, he turned around towards the west again, and this time tilted the rod a little less than the previous time, and repeated the process. And after he was done, he went to the table again to check if the rod had been magnetized. And yet, there was no attraction between the rod and the nails.

    Giving a sigh, he took a seat on an empty chair, putting his arms down to give them a little rest.

    Madam Helga and Syryne still looked uncertain about what he was trying to do, while Feroy had crossed his arms and was sitting comfortably, probably not believing that it was even possible.

    However, Gorsazo tried to console him, without making it obvious to others that he knew Kivamus was trying to use his memories from earth for this. "Perhaps, you aren''t doing the... process correctly? You should try it once again."

    Kivamus nodded with a sigh. Then he took a deep breath and stood up again, facing the west. And this time he tilted the road a little more than the first time, and began hitting it again with the hammer on the higher side.

    His arms were already getting tired, so as soon as he thought he had hit it enough times, he took the rod close to the iron nails again, and this time, the closest iron nail slowly started to roll on the table before it reached closer to the rod and then it gently stuck to it.

    Kivamus pumped his fist with a grin. It was certainly a very weak magnet, but it worked! It really worked!

    "Wooow..." Clarisa whispered with wonder, and began clapping immediately, with Lucem following her with a victorious yell.

    "That''s... frankly amazing, my lord," Duvas exclaimed as he stood up and moved a little closer to look at the rod, with Feroy following him with a frown.

    Gorsazo walked near him and patted him on his back. "I knew you could do it."

    Kivamus wiped his forehead with his sleeves, since he hadn''t noticed that he had started to sweat even in this weather after using the hammer so many times and grinned. "It''s only a start, Gorsazo, but with this, I might just be able to make a compass for our hunters!"

    Duvas took the rod in his own hands, and used it to pick up another iron nail which remained stuck to it even after he moved the rod up from the table. And suddenly, he started to laugh and said, "If only the previous baron had seen this..." He shook his head in amusement. "I''m sure he would have called up the whole court of Count Cinran here to brag about having a magnet in his manor."

    Kivamus chuckled, realizing by now that even such a simple thing seemed so exceptional to everyone here. Oh, the things he could make here to show them...

    "Can I try it too?" Lucem asked uncertainly, while still gazing at the rod with wide eyes.

    Duvas smiled and handed over the rod with a rare grin, "Of course you can."

    Then Lucem pulled the iron nail away from the rod, and kept it on the table before trying to pick them up again with the rod, but this time it didn''t work that well. The closest iron nail still rolled a little in the direction of the rod, before stopping halfway instead of sticking to it, making Lucem drop the rod on the table. He looked at Kivamus nervously. "I didn''t break it, milord! It was already broken!"

 Chapter 170 - 167. Parchment Print

    Kivamus laughed. "Don''t worry, you didn''t break anything. I knew it wasn''t gonna last too long and you dropping it would certainly have removed any magnetism it had left. But we can hit it again with a hammer, and it should start to work once more."

    "Really?" Lucem asked with wonder.

    Kivamus smiled and nodded at him.

    "I didn''t know you could even perform magic, my Lord," Syryne said with a chuckle.

    Kivamus snorted. "It''s hardly magic, but you already know that."

    This time, Feroy, who had been standing a little away from others while frowning, moved closer and took the rod from the table, and picked up the hammer as well.

    Kivamus walked closer and after checking that the same rusted side of the rod was on the top again, he tilted it until it was at roughly the same angle with the ground as earlier. "You have to remember to hit this same side every time you are trying to magnetize it, otherwise it won''t work as well. Now give it a try."

    Feroy nodded, and after repeating the same process of hitting the rod for a while, he took the rod to check its magnetism again, and it was working once more. Lucem and Clarisa were still looking at it in wonder.

    Once the ex-mercenary was satisfied with trying the newly magnetized rod to pick up nails, he handed them to the kids so they could do it themselves.

    Duvas looked at Kivamus with raised eyebrows. "I have to say, I didn''t really believe you could do it. I haven''t ever seen a compass, but I understand what it does. But you really did it, milord, just like a magician on the streets of Ulriga..."

    Kivamus laughed loudly. "Like I said, this is no magic. It''s just... science."

    Before he thought of explaining what that word meant, Feroy interrupted him with a frown, and asked, "But how is it supposed to show us the direction? That''s what a compass is supposed to do, right? Or am I still not getting it right?"

    Kivamus explained, "This is not a compass. All I''ve done is to make a temporary magnet. I will still have to think of how I can use it to magnetize a needle, and how to mount it in a frame so it can work as an actual compass. I only hit it a few times when I did it, which is why it didn''t last very long, but I think it should last up to an hour or maybe even longer by hitting it more. But yes, this was the difficult part. I should be able to do the rest with the help of Cedoron."

    Feroy nodded his head in acceptance. "As much of an expert I am in finding paths through the forest, even I did get lost on occasion in the past. If I had something which could show me where the north is... Oh, how much time I would have saved!"

    "Well, we can''t change what has already happened," Kivamus said, "but if we are able to make even simple compasses, we can still save quite a lot of time of the hunters, who would be able to return back sooner with more and more meat, instead of just trying to find their way through the forests. It would also mean they would be able to go on more trips per week than now."

    *******

    After some time, Feroy had gone to do something about organizing the guards in the manor, while Duvas had again gone to visit the longhouse block to confirm that the supervisors were doing everything properly.

    And soon, Cedoron arrived in the manor hall.

    Kivamus stood up to demonstrate how to magnetize that iron rod to the surprise of the Blacksmith. Then he ordered Cedoron to deliver a dozen iron needles, each around half a centimeter long, on which the compass needles would be supported. Apart from that, he also ordered him to make the same number of needles in an elongated rhombus shape, and these would be flat needles, with a small bump in the centre of them - these would become the actual compass needles. He did have to draw the required shape on a piece of parchment for Cedoron to understand it fully, and then he also gave him that parchment so he could refer to it later on.

    "Apart from those," Kivamus continued, "I think you will also need to make some thin iron rods." He pointed at the rod he had used for the demonstration. "This one is quite thick at nearly an inch in diameter, so it is difficult to magnetize it. I want you to make a dozen rods of similar shape, but around half a centimeter in diameter. Their length should be around, let''s say, thirty centimeters, or around a foot. That should make it easy enough to carry it. Also, make these rods tapered on one end - just the last one inch or so - so that we can easily recognize which side is which. Can you do it?"

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    "Of course," Cedoron replied. "The rods should be easy enough, and I''ll tell my apprentices to make them after I''ve verified that they can do it properly. The needles are the tricky part. But I think I should be able to deliver at least a few of them by evening, since I have other pending orders too. But I''ll work on them myself to make sure they are built correctly."

    "Good!" Kivamus said with a nod.

    Earlier, he had also told Duvas to give an order to Taniok''s apprentice to cut up some small pieces of square shaped wood from a thin part of a plank, which would become the base of the compass, along with an open wooden box in which that square shaped base could be fitted inwardly for safekeeping of the compass. Making it as a circular box would probably be a better idea, but that would take longer, and he wanted to get this built as soon as possible. It was a simple enough task, so he should be getting them by evening. If everything went well, they might just be able to equip a few hunters with primitive compasses from tomorrow.

    Then he showed the blacksmith the blueprints he had made of the crossbow. Cedoron looked surprised on hearing its purpose, having never heard of it, but was curious to understand everything. Once Kivamus had explained how it was supposed to work, he pointed out those parts which needed to be made from iron in each of the designs. These would be small and complex, but they wouldn''t be durable enough if made from wood. He had also made separate blueprints of those parts in larger size so it would be easy enough for the blacksmith to forge them. But he snorted. It might be better to call it a parchment-print rather than an actual blue-print, but it was good enough to explain how it was supposed to be made.

    Cedoron looked uncertain. "These parts are going to take some time, since I also have to work on your other orders, including the needles and the iron parts of the wheelbarrows. The needles would already be tricky enough to make, but I haven''t made something as intricate as the parts for the crossbow in my life." Then he seemed to think about it before he nodded. "It might take a few tries for me to get it right, but it will be a good challenge for me to test my skills. You said you want two sets of each iron part?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Yeah, so that we wouldn''t have to wait for you to make another one when testing them, in case it breaks or doesn''t work as expected. And if those parts don''t work at all, you can just reuse that iron anyway." He explained, "I would like to make at least two crossbows of different designs made at the same time so that we can compare which design would work better. Of course, I still have to get the wooden frame and the other parts made from the carpenter, but that will have to wait until he gets more time."

    He continued, "That means the crossbow parts are only a side project for now. You should do it in your free time but they are not our first priority at the moment. I need you to finish those needles and the rods first, along with your other orders. The crossbow parts won''t be useful until I can get the other wooden parts made as well."

    "I understand, milord," Cedoron replied with a nod. "I''ll try to deliver at least a few needles and the thin rods by evening. As for the crossbow parts, I''ll keep trying to make them in my free time, and hopefully I''ll be able to make them too. Thank you for trusting me with such a complex project."

    "I have seen a sword which you had made for the previous baron along with the intricate carvings it had," Kivamus remarked thinking about a decorative sword which he had found in the manor, which was probably for the previous baron''s personal use. Or more like, it was made for him to show off instead of actually fighting. He continued, "So don''t worry, I know you have the skills for this. Good luck!"

    And with that, the blacksmith gave a quick bow, and exited the manor hall.

    *******

    It was early evening now, and Kivamus and his advisors were sitting inside the manor hall. Gorsazo would have to start teaching in the longhouse block soon, since it was nearly time for the workers to start coming back.

    Earlier in the day, he had asked how was Gorsazo going to make the students practice their writing, since they couldn''t afford to give parchments to everyone, unlike when he taught him in the Ulriga Palace, where there was no shortage of it. After some deliberation, they had settled on giving small charred wooden sticks for everyone to write with, along with small square boards of wood, which would be cut up from a thin plank. It was far from ideal, but at least it would allow the villagers to try to copy the alphabets which Gorsazo would show them on a bigger plank, which they had already fixed to one wall of the longhouse block.

    Making those charcoal sticks and boards would take another day, but Taniok''s apprentice had been told to do that by tomorrow, since it was simple enough. For today, Gorsazo had told him that he was only going to give them an introduction anyway.

    Soon, a servant knocked on the outer door of the manor hall and the huge blacksmith entered inside along with Feroy, who had also brought a spear on Kivamus'' request.

    Cedoron looked at him and held up a small cloth pouch towards him. "Here are the four pieces of both types of needles you had ordered." He reached into one of his pockets on the side of the apron he was wearing, and pulled out a bunch of thin iron rods. "And these are a dozen rods as well. I was done with my tasks for today, and I was really curious to see what you had planned to do with them, so I hope it''s okay that I came as well."

    Kivamus took the pouch and smiled at the curiosity of the blacksmith. "Of course, it''s not a problem at all." S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He stood up and walked towards the long table, where the small wooden boxes were already kept on one side. He frowned for a moment and looked at Cedoron, "We''ll need a smaller hammer for this. Did you bring it by any chance?"

 Chapter 171 - 168. Witchcraft

    Cedoron grinned and reached into another side pocket of his apron. "Of course. What kind of a blacksmith would I be if I reported to the baron without any of my tools on me?"

    Kivamus chuckled and told him to move closer to the long table. Feroy had kept the spear in a corner of the hall, and was watching them from the side, along with others. Madam Helga''s family and Clarisa had also gathered there in curiosity.

    Exhaling once, Kivamus carefully spread the needles from that pouch on the table, in the light of the fireplace burning on one side, and a couple of braziers on the other. The light still didn''t feel sufficient. He looked towards the windows on the west where the last rays of the sunlight were still shining on it. "Feroy, open those windows, will you?"

    The ex-mercenary and the others looked at him like he had gone senile. Feroy asked with a raised eyebrow, "You sure, milord? It''s not snowing right now, but it''s plenty cold outside. Opening the windows would let the freezing air inside."

    "I know that," Kivamus said with a laugh, "but we have to make sacrifices to achieve any kind of success. And we need some more light here. Do it."

    Feroy nodded, and soon the windows were open with the light of the evening sun falling directly on the long dining table. Immediately, a freezing gust of air blew inside, making everyone shiver a little.

    But despite the chill, Kivamus nodded. "This is better." He looked at the blacksmith. "Take a seat, Cedoron. It seems we''ll need more of your help."

    Once the blacksmith was seated, he told him how to fix the smaller needle in the centre of the flat piece of wooden square with the help of a small hammer. Cedoron nodded and without much difficulty, he fixed the needle where needed.

    Then Kivamus picked up one of the rhombus shaped needles which were going to become the real compass needles, and slowly tried to balance it on the fixed needle, making sure to keep that bump of the rhombus needle right above the fixed needle. But as much as he tried to do it, it kept falling down on one side.

    He picked it up, and looked carefully at it in the fading sunlight. "Oh, this one is a little lopsided." He snorted. Of course, these were handmade and such a thing was liable to happen. It''s not like the blacksmith had modern machine tools like a metal punching machine here to make it with high precision.

    Cedoron immediately began to apologise, but Kivamus stopped him with a raise of his hand. "Don''t worry about it, we''ll just try it with another one."

    Then he picked up a second rhombus shaped needle, and this time, he was able to balance it easily on the needle. Then he gave a gentle push to one end of it, and the needle began to rotate slowly on its axis.

    "Good! This will work." He looked at Feroy. "Now the difficult part. Bring that spear here. No, wait. Everyone, move a little back." Then he picked up one of those thin rods, and took it closer to the other side of the hall which had a lot more space, and beckoned Feroy to come there with the spear.

    He looked at the blacksmith. "It''s good you made these rods tapered on one end. That will make it easy to remember which side to hit."

    Kivamus continued, "Feroy, you''ve already tried to magnetize such a rod yesterday with the help of a hammer, but this time I want to see if it can be done with the blade of the spear as well."

    "Why not just use a hammer then?" Duvas asked from where he was sitting near the fireplace.

    "That''s certainly the last option if this doesn''t work," Kivamus replied, "but I don''t want to make the hunters carry any extra weight that they don''t necessarily need to."

    He turned towards the west, and holding the thin rod at a similar angle to what it was yesterday, he handed it over to Feroy. "Now hold it like this, making sure to keep the tapered side on the bottom every time you are trying to hit it in the future, and strike the upper end of the rod with the thicker part of the spear''s blade. You already know how it is supposed to be done, having done it yesterday, but try to do the same thing today with this spear."

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    Feory looked at him dubiously for a moment, but then shrugged. "As you wish, milord."

    And then for a few minutes there were only the sounds of the spear blade striking the thin iron rod, while everyone watched the ex-mercenary in curiosity. Once Kivamus thought it was done, he gestured to Feroy to stop, and took the small iron rod from him. He still didn''t know if striking with the spear was going to work to magnetise the rod, but the concept was the same, so hopefully it would.

    He walked to the long table, and gently brought the thin rod closer to one of the small needles which was lying on top of the table. And to everyone''s surprise, it worked! The needle, which was thinner and lighter than yesterday''s iron nails, easily jumped up and got stuck at one end of the iron rod, making the kids cheer loudly. He looked at everyone, and grinned.

    Then he began to explain while making sure that everyone could see what he was doing properly. "Now this iron rod is already magnetised, just like yesterday. And as you saw, striking with a spear worked just as well as striking it with a hammer - which would probably be quicker than this, but for our purposes it is sufficient. Now, to make an actual compass, we just need to magnetise this rhombus shaped needle."

    "But what''s a rhombus?" Clarisa asked with confusion.

    "That is what we called the shape of this needle," Kivamus explained while holding up that needle in one hand. "This iron rod is too heavy to work as a compass, which is why we need to magnetise this needle using it. And for that, what we are going to do is to rub this already magnetised iron rod on this needle. We need to do it at least forty to fifty times for it to work properly, and the rubbing motion has to be in the same direction every single time. You can''t rub the iron rod in the opposite direction on the needle, or it just won''t work."

    He thought about it. "Actually, we will need to mark one end of this needle in some way, so it will be easier to remember which direction to magnetise it in. Anyway, here it goes." And then holding the iron rod and the needle in front of him, he began to do what he had said, while making sure everyone could see him.

    Madam Helga''s family and Cedoron were looking at him in curiosity, while Gorsazo just looked proud. Feroy had taken the spear back to a corner, and was watching him from nearby.

    Before long, Kivamus was done with fifty counts, and he nodded to himself. "Now let''s check if we really have made a compass here."

    Then he handed over the iron rod to Feroy, and holding that rhombus needle, he carefully put it back on the smaller needle which was already fixed on the small wooden square. When it looked like it was balanced, he gently left it there, and to everyone''s gasp of surprise, the needle immediately began rotating on its axis, without him doing anything to move it. And soon, it started to slow down, and after a few to and fro motions, it settled down in one direction. The north-south direction, to be precise.

    Kivamus immediately began to grin in victory, while others were still staring at the compass in wonder. And in the light of the fading sunset, a new invention was born in the small village of Tiranat. Kivamus knew that it was only a small step, but it would go a long way to help them in so many ways.

    He pointed towards the north direction. "You all already know that is the north, since the sun is setting on our backs. And as you can see, one end of the compass needle is pointing towards the north, with the other obviously pointing towards the south, so it matches accurately with the directions we already know here. That''s how we find the directions with a compass!"

    "What just happened, milord?" Duvas asked with confusion. "I don''t get it. And neither do others, I believe."

    Kivamus took a seat at the chair close to the compass, and pulled up an empty sheet of parchment closer to him. Then he took a quill and after dipping it in ink, he drew a circle on it, and bisected it with a straight line, which was slightly tilted to the side. That was only a guess from him, but it felt right to do that since this world did have seasons.

    Then he explained while drawing a few lines connecting the north pole to the south, "Let''s say this is our planet Eranityn. Now as I had told earlier, it has something called a magnetic field, which is an invisible force generated by magnets."

    "Does that mean our planet is also a huge magnet?" Lucem asked with wonder. "Then why couldn''t you just use the mud as a magnet?"

    Kivamus chuckled. "No, the mud isn''t a magnet, but the planet is. It is a little difficult to explain, but what it means is that the whole planet works as a giant, but weak magnet. And every magnet has two poles, north and south." He picked up the thin iron rod. "Now, what we have made here is also a magnet. But this rod is too heavy to rotate on its own. That''s why I magnetised this rhombus shaped needle - which basically means that I also made it a magnet by rubbing it with the iron rod."

    "Then, can I become a magnet too, if I rub that rod on my hand?" Lucem asked again in confusion.

    Kivamus laughed at the innocent but still genuine question. "No, no, you are never going to become a magnet. Only iron, and a few other metals like that can become a magnet."

    Suddenly, Feroy took a sharp breath and pointed at the needle. "We all can see that it is pointing in the north, but how could the needle possibly know where the north is? That''s, that''s... witchcraft!" Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 172 - 169. Compass

    Kivamus sighed and shook his head. "No, it''s not. Let me explain it fully." He pointed at the compass. "Okay. So what I have done here is to allow the rhombus shaped needle to freely rotate on its stand, which is made from another needle. And since the rhombus shaped needle is magnetised now, it starts to rotate because of the planet''s magnetic field, until it aligns itself in a north-south direction."

    He continued, "Like I had told you all earlier, our planet has two poles - north and south, because it is a magnet. Similarly, every individual magnet also has two poles - again, north and south. And the reason for the compass working to align itself in a north-south direction is that similar poles always repel, while opposite poles attract each other. I could show you that as well if we had some stronger magnets here, but you''ll just have to trust me for now." He added, "And that''s why one end of this needle was attracted towards the north, while the other was attracted towards the south. And since its stand allows it to move freely on any level surface, you can use it anywhere, at any time to find the directions."

    Feroy''s eyes were wide in surprise. "But that''s... It means..." He shook his head and took a breath before speaking again. "That means with this compass, a person would never get lost even in the forests, even in the dark! Ah... if only I had that in the past..."

    Kivamus nodded. "Indeed, and this is what the sailors use at sea to find their directions, especially since they don''t have any natural markers like mountains or rivers to find their orientations. I haven''t seen their compass, but from what Gorsazo told us, they just hang a lodestone on a string. That will work just as well on the ground, but it would certainly make it very difficult if the seas are rough. But this design is something which will work nearly all the time."

    "But all of this still sounds like witchcraft to me..." Duvas said with a frown. "Are you sure this... magnetism has nothing to do with that?"

    Before Kivamus replied anything, Gorsazo stared at the majordomo and said, "You aren''t really setting a good example here, Duvas. You are one of the only three fully educated people in the village, so you aren''t supposed to be believing in such superstitions, are you? You already know that witchcraft doesn''t exist."

    Duvas exhaled loudly. "I know, Gorsazo, I know... But I am also old, much older than anyone else here. It''s difficult for me to accept something so... so... futuristic! The compass works on an invisible power of magnetism for Goddess'' sake!" The majordomo glanced at others in the manor hall, who were looking at him carefully and sighed. "But you are right, I can do better than this." He looked at Kivamus, "I apologise, my lord. I know you have studied a lot of books and you know a lot of things which the rest of us can''t dream of, but sometimes it''s not easy for me to adjust to new things. Forgive me for questioning your methods."

    Kivamus smiled at him. "Don''t worry about it, Duvas. It''s alright. And I can assure you there is no witchcraft involved in anything I do. It''s all just science - which at the very basic, requires you to question every single thing around you, and then after making a hypothesis about why something is happening, you do experiments to either prove or disprove your hypothesis. If you were proved right, you have a new law about the natural world, and if you were wrong, you just try again."

    Most of the people around the table looked confused at that definition, although Syryne seemed to be thinking seriously about it.

    Kivamus sighed. It''s not like he would be able to make everyone understand about the scientific method in a single evening. The fact that they had even accepted that the compass was not working by using the powers of witchcraft was already a good progress for today.

    "Wait a moment..." Syryne asked with a frown. "If the needle''s North Pole is being repelled by our planet''s North Pole, then why is it pointing to the north anyway? Shouldn''t it be the opposite?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Actually, it is indeed the opposite. The geographical north - that is the north direction on the ground - is the opposite of the magnetic north, which is actually located near the South Pole of the planet. What it means is that while the compass'' North Pole is pointing towards the planet''s geographical North Pole - which is what we need - it is actually pointing towards the magnetic South Pole of Eranityn."

    "That is so confusing, milord..." Gorsazo muttered with a frown.

    However, Feroy shrugged. "If the needle always tells us where the north is, who cares how it finds the directions."

    Kivamus chuckled. "Perhaps... And that''s why we need to keep it simple when we explain it to the hunters." He added, "Now I am going to magnetise the rest of the compasses as well, and then we will give it to the hunters so they can familiarize themselves with it tonight before they leave with it tomorrow."

    "I have a question, milord," Cedoron asked. "If you have already uh... magnetised those needles, why did you need so many iron rods?"

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    "The thing is," Kivamus explained, "that all these are temporary magnets. That means they don''t last very long, unlike the lodestones which the sailors take with them - which will basically last forever. That''s why the hunters will need to magnetize the needle again and again after it loses its effect. That''s the reason why I wanted to test if we can magnetise the iron rod with the help of a spear - or even a sword - which the hunters will always be carrying with them. They might even be able to use their daggers to magnetise the compass needle in a pinch."

    He continued, "This way, once the needle stops working - properly after a few hours or so - they will have to magnetise the iron rod again, which will last as a magnet for an even shorter time, and then they will need to magnetise the needle again using the rod, before trying to get a fix on their directions." He added with a sigh, "I know it''s complicated and far from an ideal solution for the field, and in the future if we can get access to a lodestone, I will try to make it simpler, but this will have to do for now."

    "Don''t worry, milord," Feroy commented, "if this works every time just like you have said it would, our hunters are still going to become a lot more efficient than now."

    "Indeed," Gorsazo agreed enthusiastically. "We can even say that it is... revolutionary!"

    Lucem looked at his mother. "What does that word mean?"

    "Uh..." Helga added after a pause, "It means something which didn''t exist earlier."

    Lucem nodded sagely. "So will we get more meat on our plates from now on? Since it didn''t exist earlier?"

    Everyone chuckled at that question. Helga patted his head. "Let''s hope so, Lucem."

    As a sudden gust of cold air made him shiver, Kivamus looked towards the window where the sun had gone under the houses of the village by now, and told Feroy to close the window.

    "Is there anything we need to keep in mind to use this compass?" Feroy asked once he had closed the window. "The conditions aren''t always this stable in the field, and the hunters won''t be able to ask anything from you if they have any question."

    Kivamus thought about it. "Hmm... The first thing is that if you drop either the needle or the iron rod, it will lose most of its magnetism, which means you will have to start over again. Apart from that, we don''t have any glass here to seal the compass inside it, so every time the hunters are done with it, they will have to put the rhombus shaped needle inside the wooden box so that it wouldn''t get lost. And when they need to find the directions again, they will also have to balance it again on the smaller needle after magnetizing it. The good thing is that the rods are small enough that they can easily keep it with their other stuff without it weighing them down unnecessarily, especially since they won''t have to carry a hammer for this."

    He continued, "I will demonstrate everything to the hunters myself later on so they can ask any questions they have." He tried to think if there was anything he was missing. "The process of magnetizing things will still remain the same, but you will need to hold the iron rod in a similar direction every time when you are trying to magnetise it by hitting it with another piece of metal. That means you already need to have an idea of the directions."

    "Then what use is this compass if it only works when we already know the directions?" Feroy asked with a frown.

    Kivamus took a deep breath. "Like I said earlier, this is far from a perfect compass - it is a primitive design at best. But the compass needle will still hold its magnetism for at least a few hours, and if you don''t shake it around too much, it might last for even longer. That means, if you see the sun even once during the day, you can guess the directions at that time and do the process of magnetising the rod and the needle. That way, even if the sun is covered by the clouds later, you will still be able to find your directions accurately throughout the day. Or, if you do it in the evening, you will be able to find directions for most of the night using the compass, in case you really did have to keep travelling at that time."

    He continued, "It will be even more important when they are travelling under the dense canopy of the forest in the summer, since they can climb on a tall tree or a bluff, from where they can guess the rough position of the sun even on a mildly cloudy day and based on those directions, they can magnetise the needle at that time. That will allow them to keep track of the directions for hours - even after they have continued their journey under the dense canopy."

    "I think I understand now..." Feroy muttered. "It will certainly take some effort to use it, but it''s still better than having nothing when you get lost in those forests."

    Kivamus nodded and looked back at the table. "Okay then. Now let''s make a few more compasses! Cedoron, you fix the smaller needles at the centres of the wooden squares. Feroy, we have already checked that a spear will work just as well as a hammer, but using a hammer is still much easier. So put that spear in a corner, and start magnetising the iron rods with a hammer. Once that is done, I will use those rods to magnetise the compass needles, and then after checking that all of them are working properly we will show it to the hunters."

    He looked at the curious faces of others. "Actually the rest of you can try it as well." Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Immediately, Lucem and Clarisa jumped from their seats with matching grins and walked closer to the table. So after handing them a rod each, Kivamus told Feroy to supervise them so they wouldn''t hurt themselves. He picked up another rod and gave it to Gorsazo, who seemed like he wanted to try magnetising the rod as well, with the blacksmith watching curiously. They only had two hammers in the room right now, so others would have to wait for their turns, but everyone looked like they wanted to give it a try.

    Kivamus smiled with satisfaction as everyone got busy either trying to magnetise something, or waiting for their turns while watching others enthusiastically. This was only a beginning, but it was certainly a good start for science in this world.

 Chapter 173 - 170. Discovery

    It had been three days since he had made the compasses, and their two hunting groups had taken it with them the next morning. And this time the hunters'' plan was to keep looking for bigger animals to hunt before they returned, which could take a few days to even a week. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He had also allowed each group to take a horse if needed, based on the path they wanted to follow on their next trip, so that it would be helpful for them to carry their gear more easily, not to mention the horse would make it much easier to drag the hunted animals. The group which had been going towards the eastern hill had chosen not to take the horse, while the group going west into the forest had happily accepted the help. The stretchers they had been carrying with them would also be quite helpful if they really did get lucky and caught something big.

    Gorsazo had just returned after today''s classes. He had already started teaching the villagers in the longhouse block regularly after they returned from work every day. They had also distributed more than enough charcoal sticks and wooden boards for them to practice writing. Based on his mentor''s report, while the adults still seemed hesitant to try such a new thing, mainly because they couldn''t see what use it would be for them, the children had been more than happy to find something interesting to do.

    After the news had spread in the village, nearly all of the children had started joining the classes there in the evening. It would take years until they were ready to do any tasks which required even basic literacy, but at least they were on the right path now.

    Lucem and Clarisa had also been joining the classes everyday, while Syryne - who had grown up in Cinran while her parents worked at an inn there - already knew enough that she didn''t need to join the beginners'' classes. He had asked her about it, and found out that there was a regular patron of that inn - probably the son of a minor noble - who had taken a liking to her in the past, and had started teaching her the very basics of reading and writing. That meant she was already interested in learning more, but she never found the courage to ask Gorsazo to teach a commoner like her, even though she knew about his background as a teacher.

    But once Syryne had found out about Kivamus'' decision for everyone in the village to get educated, she had hesitatingly asked him that she wanted to learn more. But he was no teacher, and he mainly knew about engineering while her interests seemed to be more in studying about trees and nature, probably an effect of living at their isolated inn on the road to Cinran. So he had asked Gorsazo to teach her in his free time, and he had readily agreed so he would have something worthwhile to occupy his free time.

    By today, Kivamus had also made many more compasses by now - even after giving two of them to each hunting group of four men, just in case they had to split up - so they could give it to other hunting groups when they started sending more guards out after Hudan returned with others, not to mention they could give it to any other groups of guards like them going out of Tiranat in the future.

    That made him think how it was going with the guard captain, since they had been expecting them to be back by now. If anything, they should have been back a day or two ago. Hopefully, it was only a temporary delay and they hadn''t run into any serious problems.

    It was nearing evening now, and he was sitting in the manor hall with the others after he was done with today''s diagrams. He had been thinking that once he had made the blueprint for the things which were necessary for them in the near future, he should start trying to draw the blueprint for more advanced things, so that he wouldn''t get out of touch with it. It had been more than two months since he had stopped going to his office in downtown London, after all.

    Soon, the outer door opened and a servant walked inside.

    "Milord, the eastern hunting group is back," the servant reported. "One of them is waiting outside to talk to you."

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. That was unusual. Usually they just gave their hunted animals to the kitchen in the servants hall, to cook or preserve as needed, and then they went to take a rest. He gave a nod to the servant. "Alright, send him inside then."

    The servant exited the door, and soon a guard entered the hall hesitantly. That was Yufim, one of their new recruits. His long blonde hair had made it easy to recognise him even without his warbow. In the light of the fireplace burning on the other end of the hall, the young guard looked more than a little disheveled with bags under his eyes - likely the effect of not getting a proper sleep out there in the forests, with the sounds of who knew what kind of animals howling in the nights there. But the archer was still looking around the hall curiously, this probably being the first time he had entered inside, until his eyes went to Syryne, who was sitting nearby to keep an eye on the kids at this time.

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    The young guard smiled while trying to fix his hair. "Oh, Miss Syryne, you are also here!"

    Syryne looked at Yufim hesitatingly, and just nodded.

    "Focus!" Feroy chided the archer. "What did you want to report?"

    Yufim blinked, as if he had forgotten what he had come here for, and looked at Kivamus. "I uh... I''m sorry milord. I wanted to report that we caught a boar this time, and we''ve brought it with us."

    Kivamus nodded with a frown. "Okay, that''s good to hear, but is that all you came here to tell us?"

    "Oh.. Uh right!" Yufim shook his head, his ponytail moving behind him. "No my lord. There is something else. Around two days ago, when we were somewhere in the middle of the eastern hills, we had gotten lost, and didn''t know which direction we had to go under some heavy snowfall that day since our compass needle had stopped working by that time."

    He added, pointing towards the east, "There were many tall hills in that area, and we had been travelling in the valleys between them trying to find a way out, when one of us suggested that we should climb to the top of one of those hills to get our orientation. That way we could also try to magnetise the compass needle again after looking at where the Arakin mountains are located, which would still be in our east."

    Kivamus nodded. "Alright, carry on."

    Yufim continued, "After we climbed on one of those hills, I noticed that there were vines around most of the trees there. Although there weren''t many leaves left on most of the vines since it seemed like these vines started shedding their leaves when snowfall started, a few of them which had been growing under some really large trees still had some leaves remaining. That''s when I noticed that they looked similar to the losuvil leaves that Miss Syryne had given to the injured guard to use after the bandit raid. So I plucked a few of them and brought them with me, so somebody could confirm if it really is the same plant."

    "Oh! That''s interesting," Kivamus remarked, and looked at Syryne who seemed to have been listening to them while the kids seemed busy trying to build a small wooden toy house again.

    She got up from where she was sitting next to the kids, and walked closer to them. "Show it to me," she told the guard.

    "Right. Uh..." Yufim reached into one of his side pockets and brought out a small bunch of long serrated leaves and passed it to Syryne. "I only brought a few of them, since I didn''t want to carry too much of it in case it turned out to be useless."

    Immediately, Syryne gave a grin. "Yes, these are all losuvil leaves! You said there were many such vines there?" she asked excitedly. "Can you tell me how many?"

    "Uh... a lot," Yufim replied immediately. "When climbing down from that hill, I was keeping a close eye on my surroundings once I thought those could be losuvil leaves, and I saw that basically every single tree there had such vines climbing on it. There had to be hundreds of such vines there on that particular hill, and probably thousands if we count those on the nearby hills."

    Kivamus'' mind stopped working for a moment. Thousands of losuvil vines... That was more than they could ever use here.

    "There are that many vines out there?" Duvas asked before sighing. "If only the previous baron had allowed me to send a few guards in that direction earlier, we could have helped the villagers so much when one of them got sick."

    "Well, I''d rather not say anything about the previous baron," Kivamus commented, "but at least we know about it now."

    Syryne looked at him enthusiastically. "Milord, we need to get all such available leaves from there as soon as possible! Otherwise the few leaves which are still remaining will also be shed by the plants in the coming days, since it has already started snowing heavily there."

    Kivamus nodded. "That''s true. Yufim, how far away are those hills from here?"

    The archer hesitated. "Uh... I''m not really sure, milord. But if I had to give an estimate... I''d say those hills are around a full day journey from here."

    Kivamus sighed. "That''s too far away, isn''t it? Even if you brought all of them, they won''t be of any use by the time you reach here." He looked at Duvas. "That means it wouldn''t really have helped you in the past either."

    Syryne stared at him. "Not at all, milord. That''s why I asked you to let the hunters bring those leaves in the first place."

    Kivamus was confused now. "But I was told that the leaves lose their effect within a day or so after plucking them from their vines..."

 Chapter 174 - 171. A Good Haul

    "In warmer weather, certainly," Syryne explained. "And if it''s the middle of summer, those leaves won''t be of any use after only a few hours of plucking them. But it''s winter right now and it''s snowing heavily near those hills, and that cold weather will preserve those leaves for much longer. We can easily use them for four or five days if we keep them packed with snow, and maybe even for a whole week."

    "That makes sense..." Kivamus realized that refrigeration would certainly slow down the degradation of those leaves, just like it did for stored meat or vegetables. The reason losuvil leaves couldn''t be stored for long in the summer was simply because there was no artificial refrigeration available in this world without any access to electricity. That meant transporting these vines would make them lose their effects, unless they were located within a couple of hours journey from a town, at most. But in the freezing weather they had these days, it meant that they would still have viable losuvil leaves for a week.

    He looked at the young hunter. "Alright. You have just arrived today, so you can rest for the night, but tomorrow morning you and your group will have to leave again to those hills, since you all are the only one who can find those hills again. But this time it will be a short trip, since your target is not to hunt but to gather as many losuvil leaves as you can in bags. Of course, if you luckily see some animals you can easily hunt on the way, that''s just fine, but otherwise you have to hurry to return with those leaves as soon as possible."

    Yufim gave a confident nod while sneaking another glance at Syryne. "Leave it to me, milord! Your compass would help us find those hills easily and I''ll make sure to bring all of them." He added enthusiastically, "No leaf shall escape my grasp!"

    Kivamus just shook his head at the archer, while Feroy gave a snort.

    "You should put some snow in the packs in which you''ll store those leaves on the journey back," Syryne suggested. "That would keep them cold enough to preserve their effect for longer."

    "Of course!" Yufim nodded readily. "I won''t forget to do it, Miss Syryne!"

    "Alright then, go and take some rest now," Kivamus ordered. "You should also tell others in your group about this so you all can leave early tomorrow morning."

    "I will, milord." And after a quick bow, Yufim exited through the outer doors.

    Kivamus thought of something and looked at Syryne. "Is it possible to replant those vines here, if we ask the hunters to bring a few of them?"

    Syryne shook her head. "Not really, milord. Those vines are very delicate, and ma had already tried doing it a few times when she attempted to replant those vines from the nearby forests to our inn''s garden patch. But it never works. Uprooting them and trying to replant them kills the plants every single time."

    "It''s okay I guess," Kivamus muttered. "Even without replanting them, it''s really good to know that we will have a steady source of losuvil just a day away from us." Then he thought more about it. "But it still won''t be helpful to us after the winter, will it?"

    Syryne nodded reluctantly. "That''s why those leaves are so costly. Apart from a few herbalists in towns who have somehow cultivated it in their own gardens to sell it to anyone who needs it there, it is really difficult to get access to those leaves, since their leaves lose their effect within a few hours in the summer. And for those living far away from bigger towns, unless a losuvil vine is located within a few hours of where they live, it is pointless to find them in the wild, since they can neither bring their leaves home to store for later use, nor they can replant that vine."

    Kivamus gave an understanding nod. Gorsazo had lost his wife to fever in the past because he couldn''t bring those leaves to home on time. "Duvas told me earlier that it cost nearly a week''s wages for a labourer to buy them just for a single use. That means it would be very difficult for those in need to be able to afford it."

    The majordomo nodded. He remarked after a moment of thought, "If I remember correctly, a freshly grinded paste of losuvil leaves goes for around six silver pieces in Cinran for each use."

    "That''s indeed very costly..." Kivamus muttered.

    Duvas sighed. "It''s such a waste that we have such a big source of losuvil leaves nearby, but we can''t do anything about it. If only we could sell it to the bigger cities," he added wistfully, "it would become a good source of income for us, while helping others in need at the same time."

    Kivamus knew that if he were a trained botanist he might have been able to do something about it, but despite all the time he had spent on the internet reading about things, biology or botany had never interested him much. He looked at Syryne to whom he had given that task. "Keep trying to find a way to preserve it somehow. We are going to get a lot of those leaves in a couple of days but like you said, they are only going to last for a week. That''s how long we have to find a way to preserve them otherwise they would all just go to waste."

    "I have thought of some other methods to try this time," Syryne told him. "We didn''t have any spare losuvil leaves here for me to experiment with until now, but I''ll try my best in the coming week."

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    Thinking about helping in at least some way, Kivamus suggested, "This time, separate the leaves into a dozen or so different batches, and give a number to each. We should certainly have enough spare clay pots in the kitchen, so you can use them as well. Try to think of a different way to preserve them with each batch, but do the whole process on the same day so you can compare the results easily. And make sure to write the exact method you had used for each batch in a piece of parchment. This way if we get lucky and any of them are still usable after the coming week, you will know what you did right with them, so you can improve on it further."

    Syryne seemed to be thinking about it. "That''s a nice way, milord. I didn''t consider doing it like that. I was thinking of picking a few leaves at a time and trying to do something with them, but keeping them in separate batches and trying the preservation on the same day would certainly make it easier in so many ways."

    Kivamus smiled. What he was suggesting was something which would sound simple enough to any person on modern earth, but without any access to good education, and without a history of a few centuries of scientific experiments, this world''s people still had to discover such ways. He was glad that he could help at least this much, since he couldn''t give more help for any experiments with plants. It would take two days for the hunters to return with the leaves, so he would still try to think if there was any unique way he could suggest to preserve those leaves.

    *******

    It had been two days since they had sent the hunters to get the leaves, and they were expected to be back by evening. However, there was still no news about Hudan, and they were three or four days late from when they had been expected to return.

    By now, even Feroy seemed to be frowning all the time, and since yesterday, he was constantly taking a few hours to patrol around the village after he had told Kivamus that one possible reason for Hudan being late was that they had encountered another bandit group, which meant they had to be fully alert until the group was back. Without the eight guards who had gone to the quarry, it had meant that the remaining guards were even pulling double shifts in some cases to make sure that each gate of the manor had at least four men ready to fight, while they had also increased the number of men on patrols in the village, especially in the nights.

    Duvas had also prayed to the goddess many times since yesterday, hoping for the safe return of the guards, while Kivamus had tried to make himself busy in drawing more blueprints, apart from participating in some light training with the guards.

    He knew that they needed to start dewatering the coal mines soon, so he was also trying to think if he could design something which could be constructed from the available resources in the village to help them do it faster. But he still needed to visit the mines first to get a better idea of what would be required, and that had to wait until they had all the guards back.

    At this time, the sun was already close to setting, although it was only a guess with how cloudy it had been since yesterday. Apart from that, the short respite from snowfall in the previous few days had ended, and it had been snowing continuously since the morning, making it a daunting task to go out in the snow.

    Right now Kivamus and others were sitting inside the manor hall once again. A servant entered, and told them that the hunters who had gone to the east had arrived. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus told him to allow one of them to come inside, and soon Yufim entered the hall.

    The young hunter seemed to be shivering a little, and there was snow gathered on his hair and shoulders above his leather armor. Of course, the few spare fur coats they had, had already been given to the guards who had gone to the quarry, so the hunting groups still had to brave the snow without proper gear.

    "Milord, we have brought all the losuvil leaves we could find there," Yufim reported while rubbing his hands together for warmth. "I didn''t know where to keep them so I have put the sack outside the door for now."

    "Oh, you brought a whole sack of it!" Syryne exclaimed from nearby. "And that''s a good idea. The cold would help to preserve the leaves."

    "Well done, Yufim!" Kivamus praised the young guard, who beamed in response. "Now go and warm yourself up," Kivamus ordered, "you look like you''re freezing. Make sure to get something to eat soon."

    The archer nodded, "Of course, milord. I heard that Madam Nerida has prepared a meat stew for us in the servants hall, from a deer which the other hunting group had brought yesterday." And then with a quick bow, Yufim exited the hall.

    Kivamus looked at Syryne. "You know what to do with the leaves. You can use the help of as many servants as you need to lift that sack and divide the leaves."

    "If I may suggest something," Duvas interrupted, "that''s a big haul of losuvil leaves we have gotten, and most of it would likely go to waste in a week anyway. So I''d suggest taking a small part of it - just a few handfuls would be enough - and to send it with a servant to give to anyone who needs it in the village. There are many labourers - especially those who are climbing the trees or cutting them - who get some small nicks and cuts every day, and without any access to losuvil leaves in the village, they have to make do without it."

    Kivamus didn''t have to think long about it. "That''s an excellent idea! It would be a good chance to help them and gain some goodwill, especially after we couldn''t prevent the bandits from entering the village in that raid." He added, "Syryne, instead of just giving them the leaves, use some of it to make a paste from it, and give it to the servants to distribute to whoever needs it in the village."

    "I''ll do it immediately," Syryne replied and exited the hall.

    *******

    After a few hours, it had gotten fully dark, while the snowfall had continued unabated. Kivamus was now alone with Gorsazo and the majordomo, and he couldn''t help but worry about Hudan and the other guards.

    "They will be alright, won''t they?" he asked no one in particular.

    "Let''s hope so, my lord," Gorsazo replied, while Duvas seem to be looking upwards, probably praying to the goddess again.

 Chapter 175 - 172. Journey

    ~ Maisy ~

    ~ Going back to her new family! ~

    It was fully dark now, but Maisy had nearly reached her home. Yes, her home! She was returning from the school - which was a new word for her, before papa told her that it was a place where nobles sent their kids to get educated. Immediately, Timmy had asked whether it meant that they were nobles now, but sadly papa had told them that the Lord baron of the village just wanted everyone in the village to get educated - and by his very own teacher!

    But Maisy didn''t care that she wasn''t a noble, because her mom had told her that becoming educated would make it easier for them to become maids in the manor, and it would open other doors for them in the future. She had been confused about how it would open any door without someone pulling it open, but later she had laughed a lot along with Elsie when she found out the meaning.

    Her best friend was walking next to her right now, while their younger brothers were chattering about something walking ahead of them, with Leif walking behind them while talking to a friend of his. Their new teacher - Gorsazo - was teaching all the villagers together after they returned from work, so when the class had ended, every villager had started returning to their home at the same time - well, at least those who didn''t live in that huge new building.

    During the class, their teacher was telling them about how to make some squiggly shapes on a small wooden board. Maisy had tried to copy it perfectly, while her younger brother just doodled on it, like he often did on the ground.

    She grinned as she remembered the snowball fight which Elsie and her had started after they exited that huge building - which was called a very long house - and their younger brothers had joined them immediately. That had delayed them a little, until Leif had scolded all of them to hurry back home. But this time she had won the fight, no matter what her best friend claimed about winning it herself! And right now, there were still some other people walking in the dark alleys while going to their own homes, so she didn''t feel scared in the dark.

    As they passed the market square and turned into the alley leading to their home, she felt a little chilly in the falling snow, but she knew that her home wasn''t far away now. And her new mom had promised that they would have some meat for dinner tonight! When Timmy had asked papa about where he got it from, because even he knew that most of the shops had been closed in the market square for months, papa had told them that the new baron was now sending his own hunters deep into the forest to kill dangerous beasts. Now they were bringing a lot of meat which they had started selling to the butcher in the market square, so he had used some of his savings to buy it for them as a late celebration for them becoming a new family.

    Soon, they all reached in front of their home, but then she heard someone shouting from nearby, making their parents come out of the house. Leif held all of them close to him protectively, but soon they saw a manor guard walking in that alley along with a manor servant who was holding a small clay pot in his hands. Their neighbours had also come out of their houses to see what was happening, and seeing the small crowd the guard began to speak.

    "Listen up, everyone! Lord Kivamus has generously sent us to see if any villager needs losuvil paste for any injury," the guard announced. "Is there anyone like that here?"

    Maisy didn''t know what that... losuvil was, so she looked at Leif who looked very surprised.

    "But that''s... very costly!" one of the neighbours exclaimed. "None of us can afford to buy it from you right now."

    The guard grinned. "Don''t worry about the cost. For today, this paste is being distributed for free to whoever needs it. If any of you are injured, just let us know."

    "What? Is that really for free?" papa asked with wonder.

    "Where did he get that many losuvil leaves anyway?" another neighbour asked. "I know there aren''t any more of them left near the village."

    "I can''t tell you that," the guard replied, "even if I did know about it. The baron has clearly told me and the other guard who is distributing the paste that we aren''t allowed to tell you anything about that. But if you need it, you can still take some of it from us. This paste will last much longer in this freezing weather, so it should be helpful to you in the next few days too."

    While the older people still seemed too surprised to say anything, Leif took a step forward. "Please give me some of it then. I got a small cut in my arm when chopping down a branch in the north today."

    The guard nodded and gestured to the servant to give some of it. And immediately everyone started asking for it! But Maisy didn''t think all of them were hurt. Were they?

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    Then Elsie whispered in her ear, "Maybe they all want to sell it to others who haven''t gotten it."

    "Oh..." Maisy muttered. Should she ask for some of it too? Then she shook her head. Where would she even keep it anyway? Leif and papa were already taking some of that paste - whatever it was. That should be enough for them.

    When everyone had gotten some of it, the guard began walking away, but Leif shouted, "Please thank the baron for us!"

    Maisy still wasn''t sure about all of it, but she followed her new big brother''s lead, and shouted her thanks as well, even though she hadn''t even taken any paste. Elsie and their younger brothers also copied her, making all of them giggle.

    "Come on, you all," ma scolded them. "It''s very cold outside. You don''t want to let the meat stew get cold, do you?"

    "Noo..." the younger boys immediately wailed and went running inside the house, while followed by others at a slower pace.

    Maisy just watched them all walk for a moment, before she smiled and started walking too. She was feeling so happy today. She had joined a school like a noble''s daughter, she had found a new family and a new home, and there was freshly cooked meat waiting for them inside! sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    She grinned. Life was good!

    *******

    ~ Hyola ~

    Hyola was feeling so tired right now. And she was hungry. And it was so damned cold with the snow falling continuously. Calubo had told her that it should be less than a week''s journey to reach the village, but they had already been travelling for ten days now. Or was it eleven days? She wasn''t sure. Just when would they reach Tiranat?

    She sighed. There was no point in getting agitated. She already knew that they had kept losing track of their location again and again in the forests, and sometimes even when they knew where to go, there was no good path between the trees for their two wagons, which meant they had to backtrack many times, making the journey even longer. At least the wagons were sturdy enough and built to travel through the forests while carrying heavy limestone blocks, which meant they hadn''t broken down on the way. Although many times they all had to climb down from the wagon and push it from behind to move it when one of them got stuck on something. The guards and some of the slaves also had to clear the path many times with some axes.

    As her stomach growled again she wondered when she would get to eat a full meal again. But then she snorted. Had she already been spoiled by getting a good meal twice a day since the time the guards had arrived to rescue them?

    She fondly remembered the first few days after leaving the quarry. It had been wonderful, with the guards preparing enough porridge for all of them every evening, coupled with some dried meat and even some hardtack biscuits. To all the slaves it had felt like they were having a feast every day after being on the brink of starvation before that.

    However, the guards had only brought a limited amount of food for their journey - which was expected to last only a little more than a week - so their rations had started getting low a few days ago, making the guard captain announce that everyone would only get half meals from then. For some reason, they hadn''t found any animals to hunt either, which had made their problems worse. But she had seen that the guards were also eating only half rations, so it wasn''t like they were having a feast themselves while barely giving anything to the slaves - quite unlike when the stonecutters lived under the rule of bandits at the quarry.

    Hyola had also been giving some of her own meal to the older slaves, since they needed it even more to survive in this freezing weather, which had made her feel even more hungry these days. At least the guards lit a fire every evening when they stopped for the night, otherwise she didn''t know if any of them could have survived this cold. But during the day, when they had to sit on the wagons, all of them had to stay huddled together for warmth.

    After travelling south for many days through the forests, when they had finally exited the woods to find a dirt road going west to east, she had hoped that at least it would be easy going from now on, since they wouldn''t get lost now. But snowfall had started the very same day and it hadn''t stopped since then, burying the dirt road under snow, and making all of them cold, hungry and miserable.

    Some of the older stonecutters were already worried if they would even survive this journey, while a few of them had even started blaming her, saying that at the quarry, at least they knew what to expect, and they were familiar with the place. She didn''t know if there was anything she could reply to them, other than to hope for the best, so she had remained quiet against their grumblings.

    But in the past few days, even she had started to get some doubts about whether she had made the right decision. Hopefully, the goddess would take care of all of them, otherwise she wouldn''t be able to forgive herself for making the older slaves leave the only home they had known, as bad as the situation had been there.

    *******

    Out of the four guards who had been riding on their horses, the guard captain had made sure that one of them was always ahead of them to scout the road, while another one was trailing back behind them since the time they had turned to the east on this road.

    As it started to get dark, Hyola saw the leading scout returning back towards them on his horse under the constant snowfall, and she dreaded another bad news, since that''s all they had been getting recently. Usually it was about the path ahead being too narrow for the wagons to cross when they were still in the forests, while other times it was about the scouts having seen some dangerous beast ahead - including an adzee one dreary afternoon - which made turning around to find another path the only good option.

    As the guard reached closer to them, Hyola noticed that he seemed to be grinning. Once he reached closer to the guard captain - who was riding on his own horse - the scout jerked his thumb behind him and announced, "Captain! Tiranat is just ahead of the next bend in the road!"

 Chapter 176 - 173. Arrival

    Immediately, there was a loud cheer from everyone. Some of the stonecutters even began to whoop and clap, being enthusiastic about reaching the place for which they had been travelling for so long now.

    The guard captain ordered the wagons to start moving faster, saying that he wanted to reach before nightfall if possible, although the sun must already have set by now - but it was difficult to tell in the constant snowfall. Then he rode ahead with another rider to report about their arrival to the baron, leaving the other guards to lead them to the village.

    The sky was still overcast, just like the past few days, and it seemed like it had been snowing for a while here, since there was a thin layer of snow already gathered on the ground. By this time, all of the slaves had turned to face the front, hoping to catch a glimpse of their new home, and they didn''t have to wait too long.

    As they turned around a small bend in the road, she found that they had finally arrived at Tiranat. The first thing she noticed under the falling snow was a towering palisade wall in front of them, although it seemed like there was a gap in the wall in front of the road. Maybe it wasn''t completed yet? It certainly wasn''t a stone wall like some of the bigger towns had, but it was far better than the quarry which just had a makeshift barricade to stop any wild beasts from coming inside. But she still hadn''t expected such a remote village to have any kind of wall at all.

    Before long, their small caravan of two wagons and the two remaining riders passed the gap between the wall, and Hyola saw that there was still around a hundred yards of empty space in front of the wall before the first houses of the village. But why? Wouldn''t it have been better to make the walls closer?

    As they reached closer, she saw a few villagers coming out of their houses or peeking from their windows at the new arrivals. However, as their wagons entered the village proper, she realized that the majority of the houses in the village were just huts - just like the ones they were living in at the quarry!

    They would barely protect anyone from the freezing winds or the constantly falling snow. How was this going to be any better for the slaves than how they were living at the quarry? Even the rare wooden houses she saw in the village had more than a few holes in them and looked patched over many times. It seemed like the village was just as poor as the quarry! Would they even have enough extra grain to feed all the new arrivals?

    Now she was starting to doubt herself again. Had she really made the right decision to come here? But Calubo, who had been riding a horse on the side of the wagon, noticed her expression and told her not to worry and to trust the baron. She just gave a nod to him, hoping he hadn''t lied to them.

    They kept travelling through the narrow alleys and she felt that many of the huts were completely empty at this time. But why would their occupants be outside their homes in the night, especially in this freezing weather? Or maybe the huts were just standing there, and nobody lived there anyway? That was weird. Where did all those villagers go then? Suddenly she felt a pang of dread in her heart. They weren''t executed by the baron for some stupid reason, were they? Or did they just leave the village, because they didn''t have enough food here? Hyola wasn''t sure what to think, but she couldn''t get rid of the doubts in her mind now.

    Soon, they reached a big empty area, ahead of which she noticed another palisade wall, this one only around half the height of the earlier one. Was this where the mighty baron lived? Hah! Even his own grand abode wasn''t immune to the falling snow, seeing how a thin layer of snow was gathered even inside the manor.

    As their wagons stopped for a moment in front of the gates, she looked inside the busy manor grounds with envy, as a few guards including Calubo left the caravan and entered the gates with their horse and the two nodors. Now there was only a single guard driving each wagon, apart from a fat new guard who had come out from the manor.

    So the guards in the manor did get to eat a lot, even if the rest of the village lived in huts? Was the baron of this village really a benevolent person like the guards had claimed? Hyola wasn''t too sure about it now. Then the fat guard pointed forward to the left of the manor and told the wagon drivers to start moving the horses again after he climbed on the seat of her own wagon.

    For a moment Hyola thought this was a very modest welcome for the slaves, after all the pompous talk of the guards about the baron being so benevolent and caring and so on... but then she scoffed. What was she expecting here? To be welcomed like a noble? Hah! She would be glad if they just got a roof over their head and something to eat. Although she wasn''t sure if that was even possible after seeing the poor condition of the huts in the village. She just prayed to the goddess that today wouldn''t turn out to be the worst decision she had made in her life.

    As their small caravan of two wagons and twenty-six slaves, accompanied by the three guards lurched forward again, they traveled on that alley parallel to the walls of the manor. She guessed they were going towards the north - although it was hard to tell, since it had gotten fully dark by now.

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    All of the slaves had started whispering and murmuring about what kind of treatment they would get here. Would they really become free like the guard captain had outrageously claimed, or was it just a ruse to get more slaves for free to the new baron? It wouldn''t be long before they found out the truth anyway.

    By now it was snowing heavily, and it was getting difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of them. Before long, Hyola watched as they reached the last houses of the village, with only the falling snow visible further in the north. Of course, it made sense. The new baron would want to keep them at the edge of the village, so they would stay away from his own villagers. But it meant that they would at least be getting some huts to live. Could have been worse, she supposed.

    But the wagons kept moving even after they crossed the last houses. Wait... Shouldn''t the wagons have stopped here to disembark the slaves? She frowned as both of the wagons kept moving further north under the guidance of the guards who were huddling in their fur coats, and slowly the last houses of the village disappeared behind them in the heavy snowfall.

    She was trying to think furiously about where they could be taking the slaves. And why were they going out of the village? What was happening now? At the same time she also noticed the slaves getting more and more worried just like her, with some of the younger slaves even standing on the wagon beds in panic to look around them.

    "Where are you taking us?" an older slave asked the guards with worry.

    "I''m not sure," the wagon driver replied. "I am only following orders." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "You tell us then!" the slave demanded the other guard who had joined them from the manor.

    The fat guard just waved his hand to the front, and spoke lazily, "Don''t worry man, it''s just a little further ahead."

    This worried Hyola even more, her concern mirrored in the face of others around her. She squinted and tried to look further, but it was fully dark now, and it was no use trying to see more than a few feet ahead in the heavy snowfall.

    Her heart was beating fast now, and she wished Calubo was driving the wagon to reassure them. But he was nowhere to be found, and these guards were only giving vague answers... What was happening? They weren''t being taken outside of the village to be executed, were they?

    She didn''t know their destination, and panic was already threatening to overwhelm her mind. Was all this really just an elaborate lie by the guards to get the wagons, the nodors as well as all the tools from the quarry to the baron for free? Were they planning to kill all of the slaves so they wouldn''t have to feed them? She had heard stories of nobles executing commoners for much less than that...

    Her eyes became wet as she remembered motivating the other stonecutters to join the guards and leave the quarry along with her. What had she done? And where in the world was Calubo? Had he left her alone now that his task of bringing the wagons to the baron was completed? Or was it just because he couldn''t bear to see them all killed in front of him?

    Anger made her see red, as Hyola thought about what she would do to that bastard if she ever saw him again. It was good that he had run away! At least he had the shame to not kill them by his own hands!

    Hyola tried to look all around the wagons but she couldn''t see much. Time passed slowly as the wagons kept moving.

    How long had they been travelling in the village? It felt like hours to her, but it probably had been much less. Where were they going? What would happen to them? Were they really going to die tonight?

    Tears started flowing freely from her eyes and she began praying to the Goddess to save them, with many other slaves also looking upwards for salvation. Prayers were their only hope now that even Calubo seemed to have betrayed them...

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    A short while ago, he had just finished with today''s work of drawing blueprints, when a guard had arrived in the manor hall to report that Hudan had sent a rider to the village, and that the stonecutters were only around half an hour away from the village now. That hadn''t given them enough time to prepare a proper welcome for the refugees, but he still wanted them to greet them in person at the longhouse block. They had to be quite hungry and cold by now, especially since the trip had lasted longer than they had expected. He just hoped they hadn''t encountered too many difficulties on the way.

    Then Feroy had suggested they ride on horses to the block even though it wasn''t far away, so that Kivamus wouldn''t have to trudge through the snow on the ground. For a moment, Kivamus had become nervous about how to explain that he never got to learn how to ride horses in London, but then he remembered from the memories of the original Kivamus that he did know how to ride horses! Unlike his older brothers who regularly went to hunt in the forests near the Ulriga palace and were excellent riders, the original Kivamus had spent most of his time inside the palace, but he had still been taught how to ride a horse as a son of the Duke.

    When the guards brought one of the best horses they had in the stable to him, he didn''t know how to even mount the horse, but on urging from Duvas to hurry up, he let his muscle memories take over, and found that it was surprisingly easy to do it, no matter how huge those beasts seemed to him just a few moments ago. Others had climbed on separate horses and they had started their short journey to the north through the following snow.

    Once he had arrived at the longhouse block along with Duvas, Helga and a few guards, they had kept their horses outside the gates with a guard to watch over them, and entered inside. Only then he found out that the residents of the block had already eaten by now, which meant it wouldn''t be possible to share their meal with the stonecutters.

 Chapter 177 - 174. Dread

    After he found it out, Kivamus had immediately told Helga to talk with the supervisor of the block so they could prepare a warm meal for around two dozen people, since the guards would be eating in the manor anyway. Once she had become busy arranging that, he decided to take Duvas, Feroy and another guard with him to see the conditions inside the longhouse since he was here anyway and they had some free time.

    Once he entered the inner doors from the courtyard, the villagers who had been resting there after finishing today''s work as well as the daily classes from Gorsazo, immediately stood up and greeted him, making him happy to see the smile on their faces.

    As he walked from the right section of the block to the middle one, he realized that conditions were quite cramped inside, with all the bunks already occupied by the villagers and their meager belongings, while most of the empty space on the wooden floor was also occupied by those people who had wanted to stay here instead of in their damaged huts.

    Once he reached the left section, he found that as he had ordered, the bunks at the end of the section were completely empty. Duvas told him that a few of the villagers had been complaining about them being forced to sleep on the floor while there were still empty bunks there, but a single glare from Feroy was enough to shut them up. Even so, Kivamus took a minute to reassure them that there was a good reason for that.

    Once he was satisfied that the stonecutters would have enough places to sleep, he entered the courtyard again and moved towards the outer gates. Reaching there, he noticed that it looked way too dark and unwelcoming.

    "This just won''t do." The stonecutters would already be feeling anxious about leaving everything they had known behind them, so he wanted to welcome them personally to reassure them that they would be taken care of. Not to mention, he was already starting to feel cold here after having trudged here from his manor in the continuously falling snow, even though he was wearing a fur coat unlike most other people. If nothing else, it should be a little brighter here, at least for tonight.

    He looked at a guard who was standing nearby and called him over. "Go and bring a couple of braziers here, and put them next to the gates. There should be enough of them inside the building."

    "At once, milord!" the guard immediately ran inside to fulfil the task.

    Then he sent another guard to bring some firewood from outside the block, since he wanted some brightly burning flames to welcome the new arrivals, instead of presenting them with the dull glow of burning coal.

    Before long, two burning braziers had been kept just inside the gates, with lively yellow flames flickering above them. Kivamus nodded. This did look better.

    Soon, Helga came and reported that the kitchens had been started again with the help of a few volunteers and there would be a warm meal waiting for the stonecutters when they arrived here, before she returned to the kitchen to supervise the process.

    He walked closer to one of the braziers along with Duvas and Feroy, with the remaining guards moving closer to the other one. Now they just had to wait. It shouldn''t be long before the stonecutters arrived here. But the snow hadn''t stopped falling at all, so as he put his hands close to the fire, he still hoped that they wouldn''t have to wait here for too long.

    *******

    ~ Hyola ~

    She had kept praying to the goddess to save their lives, but she had also been looking around to get any idea of where they were being taken. The snow was still falling continuously, and she felt like she was already losing any feeling in her hands by now, even though all the slaves were huddled together on the wagon for some shared warmth. Were they going to freeze to death before they even reached wherever they were going? sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    But soon, despite the falling snow, she saw some kind of light a short distance ahead of them. She tried to squint to see clearly and as the wagon moved further, she realised that the light was coming from the front of a wooden building - which was huge! It was easily bigger than any other building she had seen in her life. Once the wagons reached closer, she saw that it was only a single storey building, but she still couldn''t see the left or right ends of the building in the falling snow in this darkness.

    What was this place? Was it some kind of a jail? That was the only thing that she could think of which needed to be this big from the stories she had heard from the older slaves. But why had they all been brought here? Oh... Goddess save them! The baron really wanted them as slaves, then! Was that why he was bringing them to this jail so they couldn''t escape?

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    The other slaves had also started muttering about it by now, while some of them were whispering that this was the last chance they had to escape, before they were sentenced to another life of slavery at best, or execution at worst.

    Immediately, she stood up on the wagon bed, and was thinking about jumping over the side to escape, along with some others who had also stood up probably thinking the same thing, but she hesitated as she saw some kind of a long ditch which the wagon was crossing at the time. Why was there a ditch here? Was it to bury their dead bodies after the guards had killed them? Then was it not a jail but an execution place for them?

    She was so scared now that she didn''t know what to do. At the same time, the wagon drivers kept telling them to sit down or they would fall over, but none of the slaves were listening, while some of the older slaves had even started weeping in fear.

    She was still trying to build her courage to jump outside the wagon, but then the wagons turned to the right, and she saw the entrance of the huge building right in front of them. This was the place which she had seen lit up from afar - the reason being the roaring fires burning in a couple of braziers kept just inside the gates. For a moment she thought which idiot had decided to waste firewood like that and was burning these braziers out in the open?

    Looking at those burning flames made her shiver once again, but then she remembered that she wasn''t at the quarry anymore where everyone had to make sure to preserve everything to make it last as long as possible. This was a whole village where hundreds of people must be living. What was a small amount of firewood for these people, especially since the village seemed to be already surrounded by forest?

    There were also a few horses tied nearby - like they didn''t even value the horses, if they had left them standing here in the snow. But Tiranat certainly didn''t seem like a rich village to her based on the conditions of the huts she had seen earlier. Nothing made sense to her anymore.

    Once the wagons slowed down in front of the gates, she noticed that there were many guards standing there, probably to make sure none of them could escape from this jail. One of them raised his hands and spoke towards the wagon drivers, "Alright, stop the wagon right there!"

    With a small jerk, the wagon finally slowed to a stop, marking an end to their long journey from the quarry. But by now, Hyola was already expecting the worst, and she could only hope that it wouldn''t be an end to their journey on this world as well.

    Soon, the guards started telling the stonecutters to climb down from the wagons, and she realized that she had missed her chance to escape earlier due to her hesitation. If she tried to run now, those huge guards looked like that would capture her in a moment, especially with the horses nearby ready to chase them down.

    She sighed. She really should have jumped earlier. She didn''t know how long she would have survived inside the forests in this cold, but it probably would still be longer than the life she and the other slaves had remaining here, right?

    Why had she even supported Calubo and the other guards when they were trying to gather free slaves for the bastard who ruled over this village! How could Calubo do this to her and the others?

    As she climbed down along with the other stonecutters who were looking around fearfully, she noticed an impeccably dressed young man with short length silver hair exiting the gates. He was wearing a fur coat while being accompanied by a much older balding man with a short white beard as well as a middle aged older woman.

    She realized that the younger man must be the baron of this village. Did that mean he was the bastard who had brought them here? But why would he be standing outside here in the cold? Nobles like him should be sitting in their warm mansions in this weather while drinking their expensive wines. Why was he here then?

    Maybe he was here to see if he had obtained any good slaves amongst them? Or perhaps this bastard was going to demand her and the two other younger women amongst them to accompany him back to his manor, like most nobles were supposed to do? For them to become his newest playthings?

    No! She would never agree to it! She pledged to herself that she wouldn''t let something like that happen to her or the other women. It was her fault that they had fallen into the honeyed words of the guard captain, so it was her duty to protect the honor of the women here. She had never taken the life of a person before, but she believed the goddess would only help someone who knew how to help themselves.

    She gently moved her hand to the side of her right leg, where she had hidden a sharp shiv of iron under her leggings, after she had found it broken away from one of the picks at the quarry a few months ago. It had always been her last resort in case a bandit got too drunk and tried to get handsy with her, but it hadn''t been needed at the quarry since she and the other women knew not to go too far away from the other slaves for their own safety. But it seemed like tonight would be the night when she finally got to use it.

    Finally, she felt the reassuring coldness of the shiv under her fingers and tensed her muscles while glaring at the young silver-haired bastard who was called The Baron of Tiranat.

 Chapter 178 - 175. Mistrust

    If that bastard even tried to ask something like that from her or the other women, or even if his eyes strayed where they shouldn''t, she would directly go for his throat.

    She looked at the young baron with steely eyes, judging how long it would take her to cross that distance between them if it came to that. He was standing maybe six or seven feet away from her. Would she be able to get there before the guards got to her? She wasn''t sure, but she would certainly try if she needed to.

    Could she still escape with her life if she did that? Probably not, but that was still much better than becoming a play thing for a lying, backstabbing young noble.

    Then the young baron walked closer to all of them in the light of the two braziers burning nearby, and gazed at all of them.

    This was it then. The moment of truth.

    However, as much as Hyola tried to gauge his intentions, she didn''t see the same arrogance and entitlement that was common in highborns. She hardly had much experience of meeting with nobles, but she had heard enough stories about them from the other slaves to know how they behaved with commoners.

    She frowned as she looked at his face. If anything, he seemed to have kind eyes, and his demeanor looked warm and gentle. But why? Hadn''t he told the guards to lie to the slaves so he could steal their wagons, tools and the nodors? Hadn''t he brought them here to this jail to keep them as his own slaves without even paying for them?

    Then why was she thinking that he had kind eyes? Maybe she was getting delusional because of hunger and cold. Yeah, that had to be it. She had barely eaten anything in the past few days after all. Yeah, she had to be on her toes, ready for anything.

    Finally, it looked like the young bastard was ready to speak.

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    He heard the sound of wagons arriving outside the gates and started walking towards there along with others who had come with him. It was dark outside, but in the light of the braziers burning nearby, he saw the sorry state of the stonecutters who had arrived here. He knew the journey had lasted longer than their estimates, so they must surely have had a shortage of food towards the end. He sighed. There was nothing he could do about the past, but he would do his best to take care of everyone under him from now on.

    Looking closely at them, he realised that Calubo wasn''t lying at all when he said that these people barely got anything to eat there. None of them had brought any belongings with them, with the worn out clothes on their backs probably being the only things they owned in this world. Most of them looked like they were malnourished, and their downcast eyes and the scared looks they kept throwing around made him realize how badly the bandits had treated them - likely more like disposable work animals instead of humans.

    He walked a few steps ahead of others to speak to the stonecutters and noticed a tall and relatively well built young woman with red hair showing a multitude of emotions on her face. At first she looked scared, probably fearing the worst here. He was a noble, after all, and nobles had never given any reason for commoners to trust them at all. But then she seemed resolute to meet everything head on. He nodded at her perseverance. These people had everything taken from them and had been banished to a miserable life of servitude, but they still had some fight left in them. They hadn''t given up. That was good. That was very good.

    As he was going to speak, he noticed that Feroy took a step closer to him, with his hands on the hilt of his sword. He thought of telling him to give him some space to speak to the stonecutters, but then he thought better of it. He didn''t see any danger to his life here, but Feroy must know what he was doing.

    Finally, he looked at the people in front of him and began, "I know you all must be scared and confused. I have a pretty good idea of how badly Nokozal treated his slaves, and then you all had to go through a difficult journey to travel from the limestone quarry to Tiranat. But I promise you that your difficult times are in the past now. From now on you all will be taken care of, just like every other person in this village."

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    All of the stonecutters seem to be hanging on his every word, but he didn''t want to take too long here. "I know it won''t be easy for you to adjust to life here, but I can promise you that you will get enough opportunities to live a better life in Tiranat than you have until now. But it''s freezing here, so there is no point in standing outside in the snow."

    He pointed to the guards, as well as the middle aged supervisor of the block who was standing nearby. "Follow them inside, and you will find a hot meal and a warm sleeping place waiting for you. Just by chance we also have a good stock of Losuvil leaves in the village right now. So anyone who is sick or has an injury - or even a small cut - can talk with the supervisor of the block and he will provide you with the required amount of paste, free of charge."

    As he was going to turn around, he heard the voice of a stonecutter.

    "But why?" the older man asked with distrust in his eyes. "Why are you doing this for us? You don''t even know us!"

    "Why?" Kivamus repeated with a frown. "Because you are human beings and not possessions of a greedy bandit. Because you deserve to get an opportunity to live like humans."

    He continued, looking directly into the older man''s eyes, "One of my guards should have already told you, but I''ll repeat it anyway. From the moment you stepped a foot inside Tiranat, you stopped being a slave of Nokozal. That goes for all of you. From this moment on, you will have the same freedom as everyone else in Tiranat, which means you will get the same rights and opportunities as any other villager in this place. That includes getting a reasonable wage for your work."

    The older man looked like he had tears in his eyes, along with some others. A few of them seemed to be looking upwards, probably praying to the goddess, but many others still looked suspicious of his promises.

    Kivamus exhaled. He could see that they weren''t going to trust his words that easily. It would take some time for them to start believing that he wasn''t lying, but trying to make it more appealing for them, he added, "We only got the news about your arrival just half an hour ago, so there wasn''t much that we could prepare, but I''ve been told that you will be getting some warm meat stew, along with some freshly baked bread." He pointed towards the gates once again, "Now Madam Helga will show you inside. Eat up to your heart''s content and take some rest. You deserve it."

    "Come on now," Helga said to the stonecutters, and with some hesitation, one by one they started to move towards the gates. A few of them stopped for a moment to heat up their hands in front of the braziers, but it seemed like they were willing to listen for now. A warm meal on a hungry stomach on a cold winter night had to be quite tempting, after all.

    Kivamus watched the slowly moving crowd as a couple of guards as well as the supervisor of the block also helped to show the way to the stonecutters. Once they were all inside the gates, he looked at Feroy. "You looked ready to cut someone in half earlier. What was that about?"

    Feroy was still looking towards the gates. "You noticed that tall redhead at the front of the crowd earlier?"

    Kivamus nodded. "Yeah, what about her?"

    "That gal holds a fight in her, and I''m pretty sure she was hiding a shiv somewhere," Feroy explained. "At that moment, she looked ready to kill, with you being the only probable target here."

    Kivamus frowned, castigating himself that he hadn''t even noticed a threat on his life from so close. "But why would she do that? She couldn''t possibly be an assassin sent by another noble, and none of the stonecutters could have known anything about me before today, certainly not enough to want to kill me."

    Feroy snorted. "Despite your words about freeing them from slavery, they aren''t going to believe it that easily. Anyway, that redhead didn''t need to know any more than that you are a male noble. Being a young woman going to the domain of a noble, it would have felt to her that you had come to personally inspect the new slaves - likely to choose the best ones for yourself - especially the female slaves. I''m sure you can imagine the rest." Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus just shook his head in exasperation. He could understand it alright, having personally experienced the schemes of greedy, unscrupulous nobles of this world. But he just wanted to make them feel welcome here, dammit! And all he had managed to do was to make the stonecutters suspicious of his intentions...

    He gave a sigh. No good deed goes unpunished, after all.

    Regardless, what''s done was done. He could only hope that in the coming days they would see that they would be treated just like any other villager here, and hopefully that would take care of some of their misgivings about him as a noble.

    Suddenly, he heard the sound of horse hooves from nearby. Turning towards the sound, he saw riders coming towards them from the south.

 Chapter 179 - 176. A Place Just For Herself

    Feroy and the other guard immediately stepped closer to him, but it didn''t take long for them to realise that it was Hudan and a few other guards.

    Climbing down from his horse, the guard captain - who looked nearly as tired and exhausted as the stonecutters - walked closer to him. "Milord, so this is where you are. I thought you would be at the manor so I went to report there, but someone told me that you had gone to the north."

    Shivering a little, Kivamus rubbed his hands together, and told a couple of guards to take the braziers inside now. Then he looked at hudan. "Let''s return to the manor first. We can talk inside the manor hall. It''s way too cold here, and you must also be hungry. Not to mention Duvas has been giving me looks about dragging his old bones out in the cold here."

    The majordomo gave a chuckle. "I won''t confirm or deny your accusations, but I wouldn''t mind sitting in front of a roaring fireplace now."

    Kivamus nodded, and gestured to a few guards to bring their horses. "Let''s go then."

    As they climbed on their horses, he saw that Calubo walked closer to Hudan. "I''d like to stay here for a while if that''s okay. It will be helpful for the stonecutters to have someone familiar with them here, and having a guard here for some time would feel reassuring for the other villagers as well."

    Hudan looked at Kivamus for permission, but Feroy gave the answer. "Sure, why not. Earlier today, I decided to regularly assign two guards to stay here in shifts at all times, at least until we can be sure that these stonecutters aren''t going to start stealing or something like that. We just can''t be sure of their loyalties yet, you know?" He added, "You must be hungry too, but you can stay here for a while if you want. You can return along with Madam Helga and the other guards later."

    Calubo nodded. "Thank you for this! I''ll just eat some of what the stonecutters are having."

    *******

    ~ Hyola ~

    Hyola followed the middle-aged woman inside the gates of the huge building - which she had found out to be called a longhouse block - but she kept looking behind her, just in case the silver haired noble had second thoughts about not choosing a few slaves for himself. She still couldn''t believe his words when he said there would be warm beds and enough food to fill their bellies waiting for them inside. It had to be a lie so he could make the slaves willingly enter the jail without them making any trouble, right?

    However, she had listened to his words carefully, and they matched with what the guard captain had claimed. So was the baron really lying? Were they really even slaves now? He did say that they all were free to choose their destinies from now on. But could he even do that? She shook her head which had started to hurt from all that thinking on an empty stomach. She would find out soon enough anyway.

    She kept walking behind that woman, leading the small crowd of tired, hungry and scared people, and soon she entered the courtyard of the building. There wasn''t much light to see here, but before long, she saw a couple of guards carrying the braziers inside, and they kept it near one of the doors on the right. In the flickering yellow light, she saw that there was a huge tree in the middle of the courtyard, although it didn''t have any leaves in the winter. Then she noticed something thin hanging from one of its branches. What was that?

    The light was faint, so she had to squint a little, before she realized that those were two strong ropes hanging from the tree. Why were there ropes here? They couldn''t be tied there to hang those people who disobeyed the baron, could they? No, it couldn''t be, or at least she hoped so... But then the flames became a little brighter for a moment, and she noticed a small plank connected to those ropes at the bottom. Huh. It was just a swing? Like the one she used to live at when she was a child? But who would have made a swing here?

    Putting that question to the back of her mind, she noticed a door opening on the other side of the courtyard on the right, and a few people peeked their heads outside despite the falling snow, probably after hearing the murmur of the newcomers. Soon, another door opened in the front, and some more people along with a few children stood there watching them curiously. Immediately, she saw that taking advantage of the opportunity, two of those children ran quickly to the swings and sat on it, with both of them pushing the other away, while claiming that it was their turn first. Immediately, a few adults - probably their parents - went after them, scolding them that it was too cold to play outside.

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    Hyola kept watching the ordinary scene with a numbed detachment. Everything looked so... normal. Could this really be a jail? She wasn''t too sure about it now. A place where children were smiling and laughing like that couldn''t be a bad place at all.

    It was only now that she realised that there was a very nice smell coming from somewhere. She couldn''t stop salivating when she realised that it smelled like meat being cooked. But she noticed that she had fallen behind the others, so she quickly jogged to catch up to the slaves, who had started entering the door on the left side of the courtyard.

    Immediately after she put a step inside the door, she was confused for a moment at the weird design of the longhouse block from the inside. Those seemed like... wooden bunks for sleeping? Yeah, they had to be, when she walked a few steps further and saw a few people sleeping on the upper bunks, while some others were sitting on the lower ones gazing at the slaves. Many of them seemed to have spread some straw above the bunks, while others had even covered them with some ragged clothes as a kind of mattress.

    Hyola blinked. She hadn''t seen a more comfortable sleeping place in... forever.

    She moved further towards the left and saw that there were a few braziers burning in the middle at some fixed places, which had kept the inside of the longhouse quite warm compared to the freezing weather outside, despite the small ventilation holes on the sides of the roof. There weren''t any flames on them, which meant they had to be burning coal! That had to be costing the baron a small fortune! But she guessed that the baron must be deducting that amount from these people''s wages, if he really did pay them.

    She kept looking around with curiosity while walking and saw that the walls were made from debarked logs - which had been fixed in a staggered way to reduce any gaps between them, while there were also a few mud patches in some places between those logs, probably to seal it better from the freezing wind outside. However, all of those bunks were made from wooden planks. Those couldn''t be cheap at all!

    She realized that the floor felt quite smooth to her feet compared to the courtyard outside, and she Noticed with a start that even the floor had wooden planks! From what she had heard in stories, only the nobles'' mansions had them, especially outside bigger cities. Were they really going to stay in a place with wooden flooring from now on, just like nobles? She couldn''t hide her grin thinking about it.

    Then she followed the crowd further to the left, and began listening as the older woman, who had been called Madam Helga by the baron, started to speak.

    The older woman pointed to the bunks. "There are twenty-six empty bunks here, and this is where you all will sleep from tonight." She added, "There wasn''t much we could do about the bedding, but the baron had donated some straw from the manor for this, so at least you all wouldn''t have to sleep directly on the wooden planks."

    Hyola was utterly surprised. Earlier she was thinking that the baron would just allow the slaves some empty space on the floor to sleep. Even that would be much better than what she had been expecting - this building had a wooden flooring after all. With the braziers burning nearby, and the wooden floor insulating them from the freezing ground below, sleeping inside this longhouse block would be a lot more warmer and comfortable compared to how they had been living back at the quarry. But had the baron really left enough empty bunks for all of the slaves? That meant everyone would have their own place to sleep! S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hyola barely realized that she had a goofy smile on her face now. She couldn''t even remember when was the last time she had a separate place just for herself... She had some faint memories of the time she had lived with her family when she was very young, before she had been sold as a slave by them, but even then her whole family had to share the limited space inside their shabby hut. Since leaving her home, this was the first time that she was going to have a place for herself...

    She didn''t even remember how many times she had dreamt of such a thing. It didn''t matter that it was only a wooden bunk with straw bedding instead of a whole hut. It was still much, much better than anything she could have imagined just an hour ago.

    Madam Helga continued, while pointing around, "There are two braziers for this section of the block, and you all don''t have to worry about saving coal for heating. The baron has already promised the longhouse block an unlimited supply of coal for heating inside - for the whole winter. This is a coal mining village after all, so there is no shortage of coal here."

    "But we can''t possibly afford to pay for that coal..." one of the slaves muttered from nearby.

 Chapter 180 - 177. Not A Dream

    Madam Helga smiled. "You don''t have to pay anything for that. At least for this winter, the supply of coal for heating will be free of cost."

    What? Could that really be true? Hyola couldn''t believe those words. There would be enough coal here for them to use around the clock? That meant nobody would freeze to death this winter! While at the quarry, she had been worried about which of the slaves wouldn''t survive the coming winter, but here, that wouldn''t be a concern at all. She wouldn''t have to worry about waking up next to a cold corpse, like in many of the past winters at the quarry. If anything, a warm place to return back every evening after work would make their lives comfortable.

    Hyola frowned. Huh... Comfortable... Like the lives of nobles? From what she had overheard in the stories from some bandits at the quarry, she was pretty sure that even the commoners living in Cinran had to brave some of the milder winter nights without coal to save it for when it got really cold. But here they would be able to burn coal every single night? And they didn''t even have to pay for it? Just who was this baron? He could have made a good amount by selling that much coal. Or did he not need that coin at all?

    Madam Helga''s next words interrupted Hyola''s thoughts. "You all have been through a long journey, so you should rest here now. But I need a few of you to come with me to the kitchens so I can show you the place and so you can bring food and water for the rest of you all. I also need one of you to tell me how many of you are sick or injured so I can talk with the supervisor about providing enough Losuvil paste for you."

    Immediately, Hyola raised her hand for it, and following her lead, a few other young slaves volunteered as well. How could it be that the baron could afford to provide losuvil paste for all of them? She had certainly heard about it in the past, but as a slave she never had any income to be able to buy it, not that it was even possible to buy it at the quarry. However, some of the slaves including Darora - the guy who was a good friend of hers at the quarry - had lived in Cinran in the past, but buying any losuvil paste had always been too costly for most of them, even when they weren''t slaves. But now they were all going to get losuvil paste if they were sick? And for free?

    Hyola shook her head in disbelief. The surprises never stopped coming in this village, did they? At least they were good surprises for the first time in her life...

    They followed Madam Helga back outside the door, and walked towards the door on the right side of the outer gates, where a couple of guards were talking next to those burning braziers which had been kept under an overhang of the roof. The guards being here made sense. The baron wouldn''t want the slaves to run away with that coal, after all.

    They followed Madam Helga through the snow, and entered that room - which turned out to be the kitchen - and immediately Hyola''s nose was filled with the delicious smells she had found earlier. Inside the door, she saw that in the light of a few other braziers, there were a few people working next to a huge cauldron which had something bubbling inside it. It seemed like the food preparation had already been done earlier, and those cooks were just keeping an eye on the food now.

    On the far side of the kitchen, there was a mud oven, where a few other people seemed to be busy with something. Could they be baking fresh bread for them? Hyola salivated at the thought. It had been months since she had tasted any bread. She really hoped there would be some bread for them tonight.

    Noticing them, an older man who was sitting on one side, stood up. "Madam Helga! The food is ''bout ready now." Then he looked at the slaves who had volunteered to bring the food to others. "Oh, are these the stonecutters?"

    Madam Helga nodded. "Yeah, let''s give them some food now. They must be starving." S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "But most of us don''t have any bowls to take the food in..." one of the slaves protested. "Although we could still share the bowls like we did at the quarry."

    Madam Helga smiled again. "No need to worry about that." Then she pointed to a corner, where there were many tall stacks of wooden bowls kept next to each other, and explained, "When Lord Kivamus had sent Hudan and the other guards to rescue you all, he had anticipated that you wouldn''t have much with you. He regrets that he couldn''t provide you and others with better clothing yet, but he had still ordered the carpenter''s apprentice to make more than enough bowls for anyone who needed it. You all can keep them with yourself if you want to."

    Madam Helga pointed to another side of the kitchen, where there were a few barrels of water kept next to each other. "You all can take as much water as you need from here anytime. The barrels are kept inside the kitchen which usually has a fire burning most of the time - with someone keeping an eye on it, of course - so the water never freezes here. Lord Kivamus does have plans to dig a new well nearby - and well water never freezes in Tiranat - but that''s for the future. For now, these barrels have to be refilled by someone from the well at the market square, but it''ll do the task for now."

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    Hyola was feeling completely overwhelmed by now, but she tried not to think too much about so many unexpected but good things happening to her and the others.

    Then she saw the older woman point to her and the other slaves - no, not slaves, she pointed to the stonecutters - and told them to fill a few bowls with water and take them to the others inside the longhouse while the cooks started distributing the food. Hyola gave a nod, and walked along with others back to the other stonecutters to provide them with water, and by the time she returned, she saw that the cooks had already started pouring the stew in bowls.

    Hyola was at the front, so she got the first bowl from the cooks, along with a generous portion of bread. She had been trying to control her emotions for a while, but as soon as the savory smell of the meat stew and the sweet smell of the freshly baked bread hit her nose, she finally broke down into sobs.

    Was she imagining everything? Was all this just a dream? Was she still lying hungry and cold inside one of the huts at the quarry close to starvation, which had led to her start dreaming of such wonderful food? She didn''t know. So she took a bite of the bread to test whether it was really a dream, and her sobs only got louder when she realised that it was real. Food couldn''t possibly taste this good in a dream!

    She leaned towards the wall for support, and nearly lost her balance since she couldn''t see clearly between the tears, but Madam Helga immediately held her in a hug and prevented her from falling down, while someone else took the bowl from her hands for now otherwise it would spill all over the floor.

    "Don''t worry, dear," she heard the voice of the older woman reassuring her while patting her back gently, "this is not a dream."

    Had she really been speaking out loud? It didn''t matter... This wasn''t a dream...

    "But I thought..." she mumbled between sobs. "I thought this was a huge jail... and that the baron was going to kill us for our wagons..."

    "It''s nothing like that, dear," Madam Helga muttered in a soothing voice. "You are far away from the bandits now. You don''t have to fear for your life anymore. You are safe here."

    Hyola only clutched her tightly in response, while sobbing. She really was inside a warm building, with fresh food waiting for her. It was real...

    *******

    After a while, Hyola and the other volunteers had distributed the food to the other stonecutters along with a general supply of losuvil paste for anyone who needed it - which was basically all of them. Madam Helga had also stayed nearby in case they needed any help while they all finished their food. Most of the stonecutters seem to have tears in their eyes as they ate the warm food with a generous amount of meat in it, along with the bread. And not just that, there was more than enough of it for anyone who wanted seconds, which was a completely new experience for them.

    Once they were done, the stonecutters didn''t hesitate in asking Madam Helga to thank the baron for them. The older woman just nodded with sadness in her eyes, and then exited the door, probably to return to wherever she lived.

    Hyola immediately got up and followed her outside, but she found that Calubo was still waiting for her there. Earlier, when she had seen him there when bringing food from the kitchen to the others, she had wanted to hit him for not making it clear that they were just going to a newly built building outside the village, instead of a jail or to be executed. But she couldn''t really say anything, since it wasn''t really his fault for her mind running to such conclusions. However, she just couldn''t bring it in her mind to forgive him completely at the time, so she hadn''t talked to him then.

    "Why were you crying earlier?" Calubo asked with a frown.

    Ignoring him, she accused, "You said that Tiranat was only a small village. I haven''t been to many places outside the quarry, but I don''t think any other village has walls that high, even if they are only made of logs and not stone."

    Calubo just shrugged. "I''ve lived here for more than a decade under the previous baron, but there were no walls here before Nokozal had kidnapped me a few months ago. But Lord Kivamus doesn''t want to let bandits enter the village ever again, and having strong walls is a basic requirement for that. I don''t know much about him but he is certainly very different from the previous baron, or from any other noble I have heard about, and he seems to have some big plans for the village, not that I know any more than that." He continued, "Although I thought I did tell you at the quarry that there was a lot of construction work going on in my village..."

    "Yeah, that you did," Hyola muttered. She looked around the square shaped courtyard, "Why do they call it a long house anyway. It should better be called a giant house or maybe a square house."

    Calubo laughed. "Yeah, I was confused about that as well. But someone told me that it really was supposed to be a single long building in the beginning, but then the plan was changed by the baron, and three longhouses were built in a square shaped design to be self-sufficient and more defensible. But it was called a longhouse in the beginning, and the name just stuck."

    "Calubo, we gotta go," one of the guards called out from near the outer gates, where Madam Helga was also standing.

    Calubo gave her a parting hug, and jogged towards them.

    But before they left, Hyola ran towards them as well, and looked at the older woman. "Madam Helga, will the baron come back to the longhouse block again? I want to thank him for everything he has done for all the stonecutters."

 Chapter 181 - 178. Skills

    Madam Helga shook her head. "I''m not sure, but he is very busy managing a lot of things in the village, so I don''t think Lord Kivamus will be visiting the block unless there is an emergency."

    Hyola thought quickly. "In that case, can I come with you all as well? I was blaming the baron for wanting to keep us in jail or to execute us earlier, so I really want to apologise for that!"

    Madam Helga seemed to be thinking about it for a moment. "Sure, I guess. But we won''t be returning back here tonight, so you''ll have to share your sleeping space with our maids for the night."

    Hyola nodded eagerly. This meant she would even get to visit inside the manor of the baron! "That would be just fine, madam. I won''t even take up too much space. Thank you so much!"

    *******

    ~ Kivamus ~

    Kivamus and the others had finally reached inside the manor house, with the warmth inside the hall more than welcome to everyone. Duvas had taken the chair closest to the fireplace, while Hudan had also taken a seat inside along with Feroy. Gorsazo was already sitting there as well.

    When he had entered the manor, he had passed near the cattle shed, and saw the two nodors there for the first time. Hudan must have brought them with him from the quarry.

    While shaped similarly to oxen, those beasts weren''t that tall, but still looked like they had more than enough muscle to do most of the work done by oxen. But what separated them from the bigger beasts was the deep-red colour of their skin, with some small black patches on them. That kind of color should have given them a more violent look, but it seemed like they had been domesticated well enough that they looked quite tame and safe to keep near people. Either way, he was glad that he would have at least two of them for help in plowing the fields after the winter.

    Hudan''s words made him come back to the present. "Milord, I wanted to report that from this rescue mission we got four fur coats, three leather armors, as well as four swords and a couple of daggers from the bandits." He continued, "Of course, you have already seen the two wagons we brought from the quarry, along with the axles for an extra wagon. There were also a couple of healthy nodors there, so we brought them with us and I''ve kept them along with the cattle."

    Kivamus gave a nod, "I already saw the nodors, and I''m glad that we were able to bring all the stonecutters here safely. Getting twenty-six trained laborers to work for us from now on would speed up all the construction in the village."

    Hudan continued, "After repairing everything we got this time, we can properly arm and equip all our twenty-four guards now - no, twenty-five guards including Calubo. The armor or even the weapons we have gotten from the bandits are hardly top notch quality, but it''s better than arming our guards with a stick."

    Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. "That would certainly be helpful after we have trained our newer guards better and they are ready to take the place of our veterans wherever needed."

    Gorsazo suggested, "Those fur coats will also be helpful for us to give them to the hunting groups, especially those who are going towards the east." S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Certainly," Kivamus commented. "With Hudan back along with all the eight guards, it means we can send more hunting groups out as well."

    Duvas added with a rare grin, "That makes it sounds like this was a worthwhile trip, after all, despite my objections earlier." He looked at the guard captain. "You wouldn''t happen to have found some coin there as well, did you? I would have thought Nokozal had some gold stashed there."

    Hudan''s huge frame shook as he chuckled. "I''d already have reported it if I had, Sir Duvas. We did check any possible hiding places at the quarry, with the help of the stonecutters. It seems Nokozal really was short on coin these days, and if he still had anything left, he must have been carrying it on his own person wherever he went. It''s not like someone like him would trust anyone else with the coin anyway."

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    The guard captain continued with a grin, "Before we left from the quarry, we also gave him a parting gift by setting all the huts on fire. When he reaches there now, he will find that his underlings are already dead, all his slaves have vanished along with his wagons and nodors, and he has no place to shelter in the snow."

    Feroy smirked, "Now this is the kind of payback I like to hear about!"

    Before Kivamus replied anything, the outer door of the manor hall opened and Madam Helga walked inside, followed by someone he hadn''t expected to see here. Walking behind her was the tall red haired woman he had seen at the front of the crowd earlier.

    Madam Helga explained before taking a seat, "This is Hyola. She wanted to thank you in person, so I brought her here."

    Kivamus looked curiously at the young woman who looked quite nervous at the moment.

    Hyola began with a bow, "Please forgive me, milord!"

    Kivamus raised his eyebrows. "For what? I don''t think you have done anything to ask forgiveness for, have you?"

    "Please understand, milord," Hyola continued, "the life of the stone cutters hasn''t been easy at all. When I saw that we were being taken to the outside of the village, most of us feared that you were taking us to a jail, or maybe you even wanted to kill us so you wouldn''t have to feed us..."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide astonishment at that accusation from showing on his face. After he had gone through all the trouble to bring them here from the quarry, they still thought he would execute them? He gave a sigh. Just how cruel was this world to the common people.

    Hyola added without waiting for a reply, "When you were giving a speech to us earlier, I even thought that..." But she shook her head and trailed off instead of finishing the sentence.

    Feroy had a knowing glint in his eyes, but he kept silent as well.

    Hyola continued with fear in her eyes, "Please forgive me for doubting your intentions after everything you have done for us."

    Kivamus didn''t know what to say for a moment. "There is nothing to forgive. Just do your jobs well in the future to help yourself and the village. That''s all I ask for."

    Hyola nodded vigorously, but then doubt crept on her face. "But can we really stay here? As free people instead of slaves?"

    Kivamus smiled. "Of course. You all are free to stay in Tiranat for as long as you want. And if you want to leave this village at any time to find a different place to live in another village or town, then you are free to go. Although you''ll have to wait until after the winter, since the road to Cinran would not open before that anyway - but I won''t stop you."

    He continued, "However, you will have to keep in mind that while you all will remain free people in Tiranat - since I refuse to allow slavery in my domain - I can''t promise you the same if you decide to leave. I only have control over the barony of Tiranat, after all. How other nobles treat their own people is out of my hands."

    "If we can really find work here..." Hyola replied pensively, "and if we aren''t going to be slaves of anyone in Tiranat, then I don''t think any of us would ever want to leave this place..."

    "I know it might be hard to believe for now," Kivamus replied, "but you''ll find out more about the village in the coming days and you''ll realize that it''s all true." He added, "Also, being free means it''s up to you to choose which jobs you want to work in, but it will take a few months before more types of jobs become available in the village, including farming and coal mining. Still, that freedom to choose is yours from now on, same as all other villagers who live here. For now though, working as a laborer is the most likely work you will find these days."

    "That being said," Gorsazo remarked, "these people are mainly trained in cutting rocks, and we don''t do any of that here. How useful will they be here?"

    "No, no!" Hyola interrupted anxiously. "While all of us know about cutting limestone, some of us have different skills as well, otherwise we wouldn''t have survived for long while living in the middle of nowhere." She explained, "Two of us are decent with hunting and trapping, since they often went with the bandits to catch animals there for food. Another one used to work as a carpenter in a different town, before he was sold into slavery when he couldn''t pay back his debt. He was the one who repaired the wagon and tools at the quarry when they got broken, and he also made the bows for the bandits, as well as the buckets for removing water from the quarry when it got flooded."

    Kivamus glanced at others for a moment, feeling giddy inside. Another well-trained carpenter would solve a lot of their issues.

    Hyola barely paused to take a breath before she continued. "One man is also trained as a fletcher, and he provided the arrows to the bandits, and I am a good shot with throwing things."

    Kivamus couldn''t hide his grin. This just got better and better. He saw that his excitement was reflected in others'' faces as well. He looked back at the young woman. She was tall and well built, even if she looked malnourished right now. She might be a good addition to their budding guard force. "We are looking for new guards these days, especially women. Would you be interested in joining up as a guard here?"

 Chapter 182 - 179. Darora

    Hyola looked so surprised that it took a while for her to respond. "I can do that? I can really become a guard just like Calubo?" She quickly asked with a confused face, "You are really recruiting women as guards?" Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Hudan gave the reply, "We certainly are. We already have five women who are working as guards here. They will be getting the same wages as the male guards, as well as free food and lodging here, like all our workers in the manor. There is a catch though - we are going to start paying the wages again only after the winter when the northern road opens again, but you can trust Lord Kivamus that we will surely pay them."

    Hyola shook her head as if to rid her brain of cobwebs. "That''s... that''s just fine with me! By now I know that you will stay true to your words. But... but I know nothing about fighting with a sword!" Then she pointed hesitatingly towards the guard captain. "Can those other female guards really fight one on one with someone like him?"

    Kivamus looked at the gigantic build of Hudan for a moment, and guffawed loudly. "Of course not! Even our male guards can''t fight one on one against him! But I have plans to change that in the future by building something called crossbows, which will allow even women to be as effective as men in killing someone, from a good distance anyway."

    Seeing the doubtful face of the young woman, he continued, "Of course, there is no hurry for you to join up. You can talk with the other female guards before you decide on that. For now, you should go and get a good rest. You all have been through a lot, and it will take a while for you all to adjust to life here."

    Hyola nodded slowly. "Of course, milord. Thank you for that opportunity, and for everything you have done for us!"

    "Oh, before you leave," Kivamus interrupted, "tell me the name of the carpenter."

    Hyola nodded eagerly. "His name is Darora and he should be in his mid-thirties, I think."

    "Alright then," Kivamus said. "You can leave now."

    Madam Helga stood up. "I''ll show her to the servants hall where she can sleep with the other maids tonight." She looked at Hyola. "That''s where our female guards sleep as well, so you might get an opportunity to talk to them tonight." And with that, both the women exited the manor hall.

    Kivamus looked at others and grinned. "I can''t believe we got so lucky! Two hunters, a fletcher and well-trained carpenter! And possibly even another woman as guard."

    Feroy agreed, "We had bought quite a few arrows from Cinran on our last trip, but I still had to tell the hunters to use them only when they were sure of their shots killing an animal, since it would be a while until we could buy more of them, you know? But having a fletcher here in the village would allow them to be free about spending arrows to shoot animals. As for those two stonecutters with experience in hunting, we could start sending them in a new hunting group."

    "Certainly," Kivamus nodded. "Hudan and you can decide who to send in the new hunting groups. I think including our guards, the two former stonecutters as well as the hunters from the village, we should be able to send three or maybe even four hunting groups of four men out at the same time. That should still leave enough men here to protect the village and the manor."

    "That sounds about right, milord," Hudan replied. "I''ll decide whom to send by tomorrow, and then we can start sending them the day after, once everyone has rested for another day."

    Kivamus gave a nod. "I would also like to meet with this new carpenter, Darora. If he is really skilled enough to make a new warbow from scratch for the bandits, he might just have the talent to build crossbows for us from my designs!"

    He paused for a moment. "That being said, if he is really that talented, then why would he have gone into debt in the first place? Rather, even if he had to take a loan to buy something, he should easily be able to pay them off with the income he would get from selling warbows. Those can''t be cheap, right?"

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    Duvas replied, "They certainly aren''t, which is why we were trying to make do with the two warbows we had in the manor. We did have a couple more of them in the past but those were lost in the ambush on the previous baron along with our two archers. However, these days there isn''t that much of a demand for weapons of war. You already know that iron is being sold for quite cheap in Cinran, because people are tightening their belts and skipping any unnecessary expenses like new tools so they can keep buying food for their families despite the sky high prices."

    The majordomo explained, "While nobles certainly aren''t going to be short on food any time soon, everyone in southern Reslinor is trying to minimize their expenses because of the recent bad crops. That means even the nobles aren''t buying new swords to re-equip their guards and knights, or new warbows for their archers and hunters. Because of that even a talented carpenter like Darora - although he might better be called a bowyer if he can really make bows - might have taken debts to buy quality wood and iron to make warbows, but he simply wouldn''t have been able to sell many of them in the past few years."

    Duvas continued, "In that case, the well-armed debt collectors would have sold him into slavery to recover their money, likely to Baron Zoricus who wouldn''t be short on funds to buy new slaves because of his vast land holdings. I think he might have given the carpenter to Nokozal so the bandits wouldn''t have to spend coin on anything which Darora could make himself at the quarry, thus increasing his own profits further."

    Kivamus nodded slowly. "It does make sense. That greedy bastard would certainly do anything and everything to earn more coins." Then he grinned. "Well, I guess we could say we relieved Zoricus of one of his better assets by bringing Darora here."

    He continued, "It will certainly take a while for him to be able to build the crossbow parts, since those are going to be quite a bit more intricate than making any other thing he knows, but until then he can also make new warbows for us, of which we can never have enough, especially since we are sending a lot more hunters out now."

    "That''s true enough, milord," Feroy said. "If we can make and keep spare warbows here, it would allow us to train the other recruits in that as well."

    Duvas suggested, "We might even be able to sell it to any visiting merchants in the future if we want to."

    "I''m not too sure about arming our neighbours better, which basically means making our nearby nobles stronger," Kivamus muttered. "We''ll see how to proceed once I''ve talked to Darora."

    "I''ll make sure to bring him here some time tomorrow morning," Duvas replied. He grinned as he added, "You really were right to send Hudan to rescue these people, my lord. I couldn''t have imagined that we would get so much from the bandits and these stonecutters!"

    Kivamus laughed. "I didn''t do it with the expectation of getting anything in return. All I wanted was to prevent these people from dying of starvation or cold in the winter, but I can''t deny that I am more than happy with the results."

    Kivamus gazed towards the windows, although they were closed right now. The harsh winter of Tiranat had begun, and they had barely survived against a bandit raid, but they had also gotten a few much needed craftsmen in return. He was certainly glad that they had completed the first longhouse not too long after the start of the snowfall. And now the other projects like the second longhouse block, the outer village wall, as well as the clearing of the forests to start farming after the winter were already in full swing.

    When he had arrived in this world a couple of months ago, he didn''t know if he would even survive more than a week here. His brothers'' didn''t seem to have left any stone unturned to make sure he wasn''t a threat to their ambitions, and nearby nobles including that greedy bastard Zoricus had already tried to assassinate him for the coal mines of Tiranat. But he had still survived despite everything, and the future looked promising.

    He looked at the people sitting around him in the manor hall, and thought about those who weren''t here at the moment. He had been more than lucky to have found such good advisors around him in Gorsazo and Duvas, who corrected him when his ideas were not workable in this world, and told him how to deal with this world and its inhabitants better.

    Hudan and Feroy had already saved his life on multiple occasions, and he knew that he could trust them with anything. Madam Helga''s contribution couldn''t be understated either. Who knew if they would still be eating bland porridge every day if it wasn''t for her vast experience in cooking at an inn.

    Syryne already seemed like she would become a promising new botanist in the future, having already absorbed the teachings of the scientific method from him. Lucem and Clarisa were still too young to work, but he was glad that he was able to start providing education to them and the other villagers as well.

    He knew that it would take some time before his other modern ideas and the sketches of machines in the daily growing list of blueprints would come to life in this world, but he believed that with the support of everyone around him, some day they would certainly get there.

    He gave a satisfied exhale. There was still a lot to do in Tiranat, but this was a good start nonetheless.

 Chapter 183 - 180. Midwinter

    ~ Kivamus ~

    Kivamus tightened his fur coat around him. Again. Damn, it was so cold today! He should never have left the warmth of the manor hall!

    He was standing near the edge on the roof of the manor house with his hands on the wooden guardrails while looking around his domain. Consistent snowfall over the last month had made this place look like a winter wonderland, even though the snow gathered on the ground wasn''t any more than five or six centimeters thick inside the manor. All the trampling of the ground by so many people working all the day meant it was the same inside the village as well, but he had visited further ahead of the northern village wall a few days ago - which was ready except for the gates - where there must easily be fifteen centimeters of snow gathered in the places where people didn''t walk over it.

    It was afternoon right now, and while it was still as cloudy as every day, there was no wind today, so he had decided to go to the roof to get outside the manor hall where he had been spending most of his time for the past month, making him feel confined inside. He had no way to measure what temperature it was, but he certainly hadn''t felt this cold in London, ever. It must easily be between minus five to minus ten degrees Celcius here, if not even lower, although he could only make a wild guess about it without any instrument to measure it accurately.

    He gazed at the inhabitants of the manor from the roof, who were working as diligently as possible even in this cold. He saw a servant using a new wooden wheelbarrow to transport some coal to a brazier burning near the stables. Those stables used to be open from one side, but he was glad that he had made the stables as well as the cattle shed closed from all sides using some planks.

    A maid was drawing up some water from the well near the gates before she put that bucket on another waiting wheelbarrow, which already had another two full buckets, and then a waiting servant started pushing it to replenish the bigger barrels kept in the kitchens and the manor house. He was certainly glad that at least the previous baron had the wells dug deep enough that they didn''t freeze in the winters, especially since they were kept covered when they weren''t in use.

    Towards the south-eastern area, he saw a group of guards practising mock battles with wooden swords. Nearby, the tall redhead Hyola and the other women guards were learning the basics under the tutelage of Kerel. Closer to the manor walls, Yufim - who was easily their best shot with an arrow - was instructing a few guards on how to hold the warbow in a better way. Kivamus gave a satisfied smile looking at that. When they had started sending four hunting groups out of the village a few weeks ago, they didn''t even have enough warbows to equip all of them.

    But Darora, the former stonecutter, had been just as good as he had expected, if not better. With the help of a couple of apprentices he had taken, he had already provided half a dozen new warbows for them, making it much easier to train other guards in their use. Fedarus wood - which was strong enough to even make seaworthy ships in the shipyards of the capital Dorastiz - had thankfully turned out to be just as useful in making heavy warbows. With their new fletcher having already set up a workshop near the market square, there was no shortage of arrows either.

    However, he still wanted to equip his guards with crossbows, which would allow even women to be effective. So after giving the designs of the iron parts of the crossbow to the blacksmith Cedoron, he had provided the crossbow designs to Darora a couple of weeks ago, and he could hardly wait until the new carpenter was back with the results.

    Looking outside of the walls of the manor, it was easy to see that the tall fedarus trees which had loomed right over it when he had arrived here, were quite far back from the walls now, with the area between them and the walls already clear of any trees. It wasn''t like he could easily measure the cleared area, but Pinoto - the foreman of the south - had given him an estimate that they had cleared nearly half the required area in the south for farming with the help of the log movers, which had made it much faster to remove the cut trees from the area.

    That cleared area still didn''t include the extra land needed to feed the stonecutters they had brought to the village, but at least they were on the right path to start farming in spring.

    The smaller branches were already being used as firewood wherever needed, but that also meant there were many growing piles of thick logs kept criss-crossed in various places at the edges of the village, to be used wherever needed. One of those piles was easily visible from here ahead of the eastern wall of the manor. Hopefully, it wouldn''t be long before they could start making a dedicated training area there.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    With all the logs they were getting these days, they easily had a lot more logs kept ready now than they needed. While Fedarus wood didn''t really need too much seasoning, keeping them in the open should dry them enough in only a few months that they could even make permanent structures from them, which would easily last decades, unlike the first longhouse they had built.

    As he gazed into the distance, he wondered how it was going in Ulriga. His brothers in this world had succeeded in sending him away from the city, but his sister Astela should have returned back to the palace by now after visiting her sick friend. Would his brothers do the same to her and send her away once again? Or would they be doing their best to get her married to another noble for their own political gains, no matter what her wishes were?

    Apart from Gorsazo, she was the only one who had cared for the original Kivamus as family, despite being nearly two years younger than him. He just hoped she would be okay in that pit of vipers called the Ulriga Palace which had been his home in this world before he was sent to Tiranat. He sighed. But what could even do about that from here? It wasn''t like he had a phone to call her in this medieval world.

    While he was lost in thoughts, he heard the creaking sound of the door of the stairwell opening behind him.

    Gorsazo walked outside, rubbing his hands together while blowing on them. "So this is where you are! I was searching for you all inside the manor house. There is something that needs your attention." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Kivamus nodded. "Yeah, let''s go back then. It''s so damn cold that I was already thinking of returning."

    With that, they entered the stairwell and it didn''t take long for them to reach the manor hall on the ground floor, where a fire was burning brightly in the fireplace. Before anything he walked close to the fire and after taking off his gloves, he put his hands as close to them as he dared, giving a sigh as he felt the warmth.

    Once he had taken a seat near the fire, with Gorsazo doing the same, he looked around and saw that Leah - the village blacksmith''s girlfriend - was standing nearby, with a furious looking madam Nerida also there arguing with the majordomo. It was a rare sight to see either woman inside the manor hall, so he curiously looked at Duvas.

    The majordomo hesitated. "Uh... I think it''s better if you listen to it directly from her," he said while gesturing to the young maid.

    "What is it, Leah?" Kivamus asked her.

    Leah looked warily at madam Nerida for a moment, who was staring back at the maid indignantly, then the young maid turned towards him. "Milord, I''m really sorry for taking your busy time, but it is too much! I just can''t take it anymore!" Then she looked uncertainly towards the majordomo and Gorsazo, before frowning at Nerida again.

    Kivamus realized that it must be a sensitive matter, but other than the two women, only Duvas and Gorsazo were inside the hall, and he trusted them implicitly, so he didn''t see any reason to send any of them out. "Madam Nerida, would you mind stepping outside for a moment? I''ll talk with you soon after I''ve heard her side."

    Nerida huffed, and exited the outer door, still looking angry.

    Kivamus looked back at the maid. "You can speak freely here, Leah."

    The young maid took a deep breath, building her courage, and then started talking. "It started soon after you allowed me to live outside the manor. You might know that my tasks mainly include sewing and repairing clothes, and you had told me that it was fine for me to live outside as long as I did all the work I was asked for during the day. And I have! But... but my workload has kept increasing, because Madam Nerida was giving me more and more clothes to repair."

    "Alright," Kivamus said with a frown. "Go on."

    Leah continued with a nod, "At first I thought there were just a lot of damaged clothes to repair. Everyone has been working hard these days, so I thought that all the clothing must be getting torn or frayed sooner than usual, but it just never ends! For the last few weeks, it''s become so much that even after working for all the daylight hours, I''ve to stay back and keep sewing clothes and sheets even in the light of a brazier, but it still never ends!"

    She raised her hands in frustration as she continued, "I didn''t know what to think about it, but yesterday I saw that I had been given the same cloth to mend which I had sewn just a day ago! It''s like someone was tearing those clothes again and again just to give more work to me!" She glanced at the outer door for a moment. "It''s like Madam Nerida wants to punish me for leaving the manor! I know she was never supportive of that decision, but this is too much, milord!"

    Kivamus gave a sigh. "Alright, Leah, I think I understand what you are saying. But I need to hear her opinion as well. Why don''t you tell Madam Nerida to come inside, so I can talk with her as well."

    Leah nodded, and soon she was back with her supervisor.

    Nerida looked angrily at the maid before gazing at Kivamus. "Has she already filled your head with lies, milord?"

 Chapter 184 - 181. Vendetta

    Kivamus frowned. "I don''t know who is lying and who''s not, so why don''t you tell me your side too? Are you purposely giving her more tasks, perhaps because she used to be a slave in the past? And if you are damaging our limited supply of clothing just for a vendetta, I won''t be pleased. It''s not like we have a hoard of coins to buy new clothing whenever we want."

    Madam Nerida shook her head furiously, her short graying hair moving behind her. "No, milord, I''d never do that! I always do my best to support all the maids. When you had arrived here and freed the slaves, I didn''t go against your decision - even if I don''t think it''s right to free someone who had been sold as a slave without them working enough to pay their slave-debt. But I''d seen how the previous baron treated the slaves, and I didn''t want any of them to be whipped anymore. So I still supported your decision!"

    She glared at the young maid. "I just don''t know how she could accuse me of this! The other maids have been told to gather any clothes which need mending in a pile on our floor in the servants hall. It''s them who gather the damaged clothes from around the manor - I don''t even do that myself! I have a lot of other things to take care of instead of ripping up mended clothing again!"

    Kivamus took a minute to think about it. Both parties believed they were telling the truth, but Leah was still getting more work than she should have.

    But before he said anything, Nerida looked into the distance for a moment and said, "But I can tell you that some of the other maids - especially those who have never been slaves - have been complaining that they have to work even in the nights, whether it''s to cook food or to clean up, but they only get the same wages as Leah does, even though she only works during the daytime."

    Leah immediately protested. "But I still complete all the tasks given to me by working harder during the daytime! I don''t even get any free time to take breaks these days because of that!"

    That made Kivamus think of another possible reason for the higher workload of Leah. "Could it be... that some of the other maids are jealous and are tearing up the repaired clothing and sheets again so Leah has to work more?"

    "That..." Nerida paused. "That''s possible..."

    Duvas immediately reprimanded, "If it''s really true, then that''s completely unacceptable to me! These days we barely have any coin to spare even on essentials like food! If anyone is damaging our already limited inventory of clothes, then they have to be penalised for this."

    Nerida added with a determined voice, "I will try to ask around with others to see if it is really happening. One of the maids will surely tell the truth in return for an extra day off from her duties." Then she looked at Leah. "I''m sorry, dear. I never thought it could be the work of other maids. But you accused me directly and that made me so mad that I didn''t even stop to think about it. You know I hate it if anyone goes against my authority!"

    Leah just shook her head in resignation. "I... I never thought that they could do it either but that''s the only way it makes sense." She looked at her supervisor. "You had opposed me living outside the manor, so I blamed you without even thinking about it."

    "I only did it because I was worried for your safety when living outside our walls..." Nerida muttered. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Leah looked down for a moment, but then she glared towards the direction of the servants hall. "The other maids have been my friends for years, for Goddess'' sake! How could they do this to me?"

    Kivamus didn''t think that it was a big privilege to live outside the manor when most of the people in the village would have given up a lot to be allowed to live inside it, but it was possible that the other maids might have considered it unfair, and tried to make life harder for Leah.

    Nerida looked at Kivamus again while bowing her head. "I''m sorry milord, I know you have a lot of things to do, and I''ve wasted your time with such a petty thing. I should have taken care of it myself instead of getting angry at Leah."

    Kivamus waved off the apology, feeling glad that the situation seemed to have resolved by itself. "I''m just glad that you have a better idea of the motive now."

    Duvas remarked, "When you have found who did this, bring those maids to me so I can note down their names. The cost of the damaged clothing will be deducted from their wages along with a fine. That should give them a lesson that nobody is to harm the manor''s property."

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Nerida nodded, while Leah just looked relieved and thanked them again. And with that both of the women exited the manor hall.

    Kivamus gave a sigh. These were the kind of things for which he was glad that he had a capable majordomo to take care of things by himself.

    He looked at Gorsazo, trying to change the topic. "How are your classes these days?"

    "It''s slow going, my lord," Gorsazo replied. "As I had expected, the children have taken to learning the alphabet faster than the adults, with some of the young ones showing signs of having a really good mind for this. It''s going to take some time before they are ready to join advanced classes with Syryne. But I have to say, I didn''t expect her to have such a sharp brain."

    Kivamus agreed with a nod. Syryne had taken to the ways of scientific thinking he had taught her like a duck to water, and she had already been doing comprehensive experiments to preserve losuvil leaves after they had gotten that big haul of it from the eastern hills. Not knowing too much about biology, he had given her full freedom for that with only a few ideas here and there, and he couldn''t wait to hear the results.

    "What about the two kids here?" he asked his former teacher.

    "Lucem is probably going to be a lost cause," Gorsazo responded with a laugh. "Believe me, I am trying, and he''ll still learn enough to write his own name and read numbers in due time, but his interest simply doesn''t lie in education, it seems. Not for now anyway." He added, "That being said, Clarisa - our young maid, as well as Maisy - one of the orphans who had been adopted by a village merchant seem to be doing quite well. I have big hopes for them in the future."

    Kivamus nodded with satisfaction. These were only green shoots at the moment, but he knew the future of Tiranat would be better because of this. It was certainly a good idea to educate everyone in the village, even if there were going to be no returns on that investment for a long time.

    He looked at the majordomo. "How is the progress with the second longhouse?"

    "It will be ready any day now," Duvas replied. "Taniok is working hard as always, and by now the construction workers have a much better idea of how to work with wood and logs, so the carpenter doesn''t have to supervise every single thing himself. His apprentice has also been working eagerly, and we already have five wooden wheelbarrows completed - and are getting a new one nearly every week - bringing the total to eight by now including the iron ones."

    He added, "That has allowed us to provide them to most of the places where there is work going, and the workers are more than thankful for them. Apart from that, you already know that he has also been providing new sledges and stretchers to our hunters as needed, once he had replaced the shafts for the spears with better quality wood. I''ve been told that those spears have been very helpful in hunting."

    "That''s good to hear," Kivamus agreed.

    The majordomo continued, "But we have a decision to make about where to put the carpenter to work after the second longhouse is completed. The mushrooms we had started growing in a temporary shed in the south are doing well under the care of madam Helga, but there are only a small number of them there. A single bad spell of frost can kill all of them, not to mention we simply aren''t getting enough mushrooms from that shed to feed even a single person."

    Duvas explained, "While our food stores are holding for now, we already know that we will be short on wheat to use as seeds in the spring, by which time the prices would be astronomical. So it would be a good idea to make a barn for mushroom farming in the south soon if we want to start getting a regular supply of them in a few weeks. That will allow us to conserve more wheat to use as seeds later. That''s one project where we can put Taniok, but on the other hand, while the new village walls are nearly ready now, they still have gaps where we plan to make the gates." He added, "Taniok is the only one who can work with the construction of the buildings or the gates, so we have to decide which of these projects he is going to work on."

    Gorsazo nodded. "That''s true. Darora is also an expert in working with wood, but he has only worked to make warbows and other small and intricate stuff in the past and has no experience in construction of buildings. The makeshift huts he had made at the quarry hardly count for this, so we just can''t trust him to make any big structures safely."

    Kivamus already knew the risk of not completing the village walls, but he didn''t want to hear Feroy''s rebuke for being so careless with the safety of the village again. "Before anything else, we have to ensure that the village is safe from any other bandit raids in the future. We all know that Nokozal''s group wasn''t the only one living in these forests, and we have been lucky that Tiranat has only gotten two raids in the past few months. But as the winter proceeds further, the shortage of food will be felt everywhere, making them even more desperate to attack us to steal food."

    He continued, "So once the second longhouse is built, tell Taniok to immediately start working on the gates. We had planned to make three gates, so it will take a few weeks for him to finish all of them. But that has to be our first priority. Once he''s done with that, he can start working on the new barn in the south of the village for the mushrooms. Even if we might be short on seeds later, at least we have enough food now to feed everyone in the winter, so preventing any deaths from a raid is a higher concern at the moment."

    "That''s what I was thinking too," Duvas replied, "so I''ll let him know about it." He added after a moment, "But there is another thing we need to address soon. We are likely going to have a problem of coal shortage in the near future."