Chapter 85 — Candidate for the City

The next morning at the crack of dawn, Jossk, Sedkemport, and Pat set out with fifty guard members and twenty four-wheeled carriages headed for the mine. Their goals were twofold: first, to rescue the Norton Family members who had been abandoned at the mine to dig ore, and second, to eliminate the thirty-odd mercenaries responsible for guarding the copper mine.

The bearded Ovigis and Reidi worked together to organize over a hundred coachmen into a garrison squad responsible for patrolling the two city walls. The remaining seventy guard members took charge of overseeing the nearly one thousand slave laborers and the forty-odd surrendered mercenaries.

All of this had been settled during last night's discussion. Lorist had originally wanted to go to the mine himself, but he was unanimously opposed. Jossk said that having the head of the household always charging to the forefront made him feel ashamed and useless as a Family Knight. Well, once those words were spoken, Lorist had no choice but to agree to let Jossk take Sedkemport and Pat on the trip while he stayed behind at the castle construction site to oversee things.

After seeing Jossk and his group off, Lorist completed a round of inspections and returned to the room atop the city wall. He stared at the large sand table, and the more he looked, the more his thoughts churned. The Kemmis Family had obtained their territory less than two years ago, yet they had already drafted such an ambitious development plan. Meanwhile, the Norton Family had been rooted in the Northland for over two hundred years, spanning seven generations of heads, yet they had not only failed to properly develop their territory but had become trapped in the Northland, their influence dwindling with each passing day, until now they could only cower like turtles within the family manor.

Lorist couldn't understand what had happened to the family that they would turn a blind eye to Viscount Kemmis's large-scale construction within Norton territory. Half a year ago, when Viscount Kemmis had sent troops to attack the Norton Family's manor castle, they had managed to hold the castle and face off against the viscount for over half a month, forcing him to withdraw. That surrendered mercenary captain had even claimed that the viscount's side lost several dozen men, which showed the Norton Family wasn't at any disadvantage. By all logic, after Viscount Kemmis retreated, the Norton Family should have sent scouts to monitor his withdrawal. Yet the family hadn't dispatched a single spy. What was going on?

Perhaps the family had already sent scouts, but they weren't focused on Viscount Kemmis. Lorist recalled what the mercenary captain had said — Norton Family members had in fact been spotted near the copper mine, a fleeting glimpse. Upon discovering the mine had been occupied, they had immediately retreated. Sigh. At a time like this, and they were still thinking about the copper mine's revenue. Furthermore, since they had discovered the mine was occupied, they should have at least shown some concern for the family members working there. It had been half a year, and they hadn't even sent an envoy to negotiate with Viscount Kemmis. That was simply too strange.

Although Lorist was only a day's ride from the Norton Family's manor castle — he could arrive within a single day if he pushed hard — he couldn't simply abandon everything here and rush back. How to settle the nearly one thousand slave laborers, how to deal with the forty-odd surrendered mercenaries, what to do now that he had seized this castle construction site — it was all a tangled mess. Lorist sorely missed Fatty Shi. If Fatty Shi were here, he wouldn't have to worry about any of this himself.

Thinking of Fatty Shi reminded him of Bodfeng, Ross, Al, Terman, and Yuri — those good friends and Family Knights. He wondered whether they had resumed their journey with the family caravan, and how long it would take the caravan to reach the Northland. When they finally arrived, would he have made all the necessary preparations for their reception and settlement?

The thought of the caravan's massive entourage gave Lorist a headache. With Fatty Shi's temperament, who knew how many people would be in the caravan when it reached the family territory — twenty thousand? Thirty thousand? Figuring out how to settle all those people would be quite a task.

Lorist stared at the large sand table, and suddenly his eyes lit up. Wasn't this an ideal settlement plan right in front of him? He could simply take the Kemmis Family's plan and implement it himself. If he continued building this castle, the nearly one thousand slave laborers would have work, and he wouldn't need to rack his brains about how to settle them. Once the castle was finished, they could move on to building the mountain city, and when that was done, he would grant them freedom and settle them locally as his own subjects.

As for the cost of building the castle, Lorist wasn't lacking in money. The only concerns were two things: first, finding someone in charge of the construction who understood architecture — even with blueprints, someone had to be able to read them. Second, he needed to purchase supplies from outside. The Kemmis Family was the largest guild that had once controlled the former empire's construction industry, so developing territory and building castles was extremely convenient for them — whether it was labor or building materials, everything could be easily arranged and prepared. Lorist didn't have that kind of capability. The Kemmis Family might even try to sabotage him if they discovered he was continuing their development plan, causing him no end of trouble.

"Someone, go bring that old man with the long beard — oh, the steward named Boris. Bring him here," Lorist said to the guard member standing outside the door.

Steward Boris was brought over promptly. Lorist flipped through the castle blueprints and asked him about various construction details, then inquired about some of the Kemmis Family's movements.

Steward Boris reported that Viscount Kemmis was not at the territory's Red River Valley manor castle but instead resided permanently in Gildusk, the most prosperous city in Grand Duke Lukings's territory, where he had purchased a large house to serve as his viscount's seat. Ever since one of Viscount Kemmis's cousins had become Grand Duke Lukings's mistress, the Kemmis Family had grown very close to the grand duke. During Grand Duke Lukings's preparations for establishing the Northland Corps, the Kemmis Family had contributed significantly.

"First, it was to oversee the construction of the territory's castle more conveniently from the city rather than from the remote manor. Second, it was to maintain a good relationship with Grand Duke Lukings. Third, it was to help the family's supply carriages pass through the checkpoint at Fresst Castle. After all, with the viscount personally escorting them, Grand Duke Lukings couldn't very well openly seize the Kemmis Family's supply convoys — a token seizure of one or two carriages would suffice."

Now the Red River Valley manor castle had become the Kemmis Family's supply relay station. According to the original plan, a large shipment of supplies would arrive at this construction site on the tenth of next month — an estimated three thousand barrels of gluevine sap, a set of construction tools, five hundred thousand jin of grain, and some clothing and fabric. They might also escort over a thousand slave laborers, accompanied by more than two hundred female slaves.

"Are those female slaves the families of the laborers?" Lorist asked offhandedly.

"No, my lord. Those slave laborers are all young and able-bodied. To prevent unrest, they need to be given some incentive. The female slaves serve as rewards. Laborers who perform well can spend a night with a female slave. It's an effective method the Kemmis Family has used for a long time to keep the slave laborers pacified," Steward Boris explained.

In other words, these female slaves were essentially camp prostitutes. Lorist shook his head, neither approving nor disapproving. "Is the Kemmis Family really that wealthy? From what you've said, they donated two hundred thousand gold Forde to the Second Prince just to obtain their territory. Over the past two years, they've spent more building the Red River Valley manor and the immigrant town, and they plan to invest three hundred thousand gold Forde over five years to develop Morgan Hills. Without at least a million gold Forde in liquid capital, they wouldn't have the nerve."

Lorist pointed at the large sand table on the desk.

Steward Boris said, "My lord, based on my forty-odd years with the Kemmis Family, I believe they are actually on the decline. I've always suspected that the old master's insistence on developing Morgan Hills, building this castle and that mountain city, was to leave the family an escape route. During the imperial civil war a few years ago, the Kemmis Family didn't earn much money at all. Since the Second Prince established the Iberia Kingdom, the Kemmis Family has remained one of the kingdom's upper-class families, but they've been living off their old capital. For instance, the development of Morgan Hills was said to involve a three hundred thousand gold Forde investment, but in reality, the budget for building this castle and that mountain city is only one hundred thousand. The remaining two hundred thousand is for settlement and supply stockpiling after construction is completed."

"One hundred thousand? That can't be right. I'd estimate that building this castle alone would cost seventy to eighty thousand. One hundred thousand gold Forde couldn't possibly cover both the castle and the mountain city," Lorist said.

"My lord, in reality, this castle's budget is only thirty thousand. The bulk of the cost is gluevine sap — an estimated twelve thousand barrels. The rest is grain and other consumable supplies. The labor consists of the guild's construction slave laborers, which costs nothing. Other building materials can all be gathered locally, it just takes time. This wall that's already been completed, for example, only consumed two thousand barrels of gluevine sap. The materials for the green adhesive mud were all collected on-site."

So according to Steward Boris, building this castle and the mountain city required gluevine sap but all other building materials could be gathered locally. That was good news.

"Then, Steward Boris, you should know what supplies are currently stored here and in what quantities?" Lorist asked.

They had seized this construction site only yesterday, and Sedkemport had departed with Jossk for the copper mine first thing in the morning. The supplies here hadn't been inventoried yet.

"My lord, over the past four months, three batches of supplies have been shipped here from the Red River Valley manor castle. Each batch was primarily gluevine sap and grain. Each shipment contained three thousand barrels of gluevine sap. Two thousand barrels have already been used to build this wall, so there are currently over seven thousand barrels in storage. If another three thousand barrels arrive on the tenth of next month, the twelve thousand barrels of gluevine sap needed for the castle will be complete, and future shipments will focus primarily on grain reserves. These are all pre-arranged plans that won't change without cause. Currently, grain in the warehouse is running low — roughly forty thousand jin or so. The original plan was for the next shipment on the tenth to replenish supplies perfectly. But now that you've taken control, my lord, the shipments may not come. You should stockpile more grain to feed those slave laborers."

Steward Boris glanced at Lorist and continued, "My lord, the slave laborers receive rationed food. Since they do heavy work, each person's daily ration is three jin — one jin in the morning, one and a half jin at noon, and half a jin in the evening. The nearly one thousand slave laborers consume about one hundred thousand jin of grain per month. If you intend to use these laborers, you need to prepare grain well in advance and not neglect this."

Lorist stood up, walked over to Steward Boris, and patted him on the shoulder. "Steward Boris, you've done well. Very well indeed. As long as you continue to work faithfully, our Norton Family will not mistreat you. You may go now."

"Yes, my lord." Steward Boris bowed and was about to leave when Lorist suddenly remembered something.

"Ah, wait. Steward Boris, where did the Kemmis Family get so many city defense crossbows?"

Steward Boris replied, "My lord, those city defense crossbows were manufactured on-site, not shipped in. Three years ago, when the Kemmis Family went to purchase slaves for construction labor, they bought a father and son — they were renowned crossbow makers from the Trinberg Kingdom who had been sold into slavery after offending someone powerful. Though the Kemmis Family had become territorial lords, they lacked heritage — no proper Family Knights and no regular garrison forces, so they had to rely on mercenaries. To strengthen this place's defenses, they sent this father and son here to build the city defense crossbows."

"You mean this father and son are here right now?"

"Yes, my lord. They're staying with the other slave laborers," Steward Boris said.

"Very well, Steward Boris. Please bring them out and settle them properly. They'll be very useful to me. You — accompany Steward Boris and assist him with the task," Lorist said to the guard member standing watch at the door.

"Yes, my lord."

...

Lorist paced slowly around the table with the sand table, deep in thought. The grain wasn't the immediate problem — the caravan he'd brought this time carried over a hundred thousand jin of grain, which would be sufficient for over a month. Once he returned to the family, he could arrange for another shipment of grain. Perhaps he could even make a play for the grain and supplies that the Kemmis Family was scheduled to deliver next month, but it was too early for that. No need to rush.

Today was already the thirty-second of February. Tomorrow Jossk and the others would return. The day after was the thirty-fourth of February, and regardless of anything, Lorist would have to set off for the family manor castle. But once Lorist left, who would manage the castle construction here? Jossk was out of the question — he was a lone wolf who hated nothing more than tedious administrative tasks. Lorist had once considered having him lead a squad of horse archers, but after a few days Jossk had found it boring and dumped the selected horse archers into Yuri's light cavalry scout squad, never to concern himself with them again.

Sedkemport and Pat needed to return with him to report their mission, and since Lorist had just arrived at the family manor, he would need their help and guidance for many things. Here, Jossk, Reidi, and Ovigis could hold down the fort, backed by a guard squad and a garrison squad — more than enough defensive strength. The question was how long Lorist would need to stay at the family manor. The castle construction here absolutely required someone in charge.

"Bring that master architect here," Lorist ordered.

The unfortunate man who had received fifty lashes the previous day was brought before Lorist. The proud architect's hair hung loose and disheveled, his clothes were torn, and the whip marks and bloodstains were still visible on his body as he staggered forward.

"Master Siroba? I was disrespectful yesterday. I am the local lord, Norton Lorist. I wish to continue constructing this castle, and I was wondering whether you'd be willing to serve me and oversee its construction? I'll provide generous compensation," Lorist said with genuine sincerity.

Master Siroba shot Lorist a venomous glare. Perhaps having learned his lesson from last night's whipping, he said nothing — only spat on the floor, then tilted his head up to look at the ceiling, showing his disdain for Lorist.

Lorist let out an amused laugh and turned to the guard member who had escorted Master Siroba. "He's made my room dirty. Shouldn't I make him get on his knees and lick up his own spit?"

"My lord, that's an excellent idea," the guard member replied with a straight face.

Master Siroba's whole body trembled...

"Never mind, I won't make it that hard on him. At his age, to still have no manners — spitting everywhere. Take him away," Lorist said.