Twelve large tents had been set up in a row, and inside them lay eighty-nine wounded
Lorist's pharmacology expertise from
Lorist refused to let these soldiers who had bled and sweated for his family perish due to poor or negligent treatment. And so he ignored the pleas of his subordinates and worked tirelessly for over ten hours. By the time everything was finally done, the sky had already begun to brighten with the first hints of dawn.
Lorist straightened up, but the prolonged focus on brewing left him dizzy and lightheaded. He leaned weakly against
Lorist's face was pale, but he still managed a pleased smile. "It's fine, don't worry. A good sleep is all I need. The potions are all done — I've marked each one with a number corresponding to the wounded soldier's identification. As long as these potions are administered to the patients, there's no need to worry about any complications. Now help me to bed. Oh, and Sedekamp, you only slept three or four hours last night — don't push yourself. If you're tired, go get some rest…"
Lorist slept for just over two hours before being woken again by a messenger Josk had sent. Although the rest had been short, most of the exhaustion from the previous day's battle and the night spent tending to the wounded had dissipated. He splashed water on his face to refresh himself, then called the messenger in.
Glancing at the hourglass on the table beside him, less than fourteen hours had passed since Josk and Pat had set out. Granted, riding from here to Viscount Kenmaise's Red River Valley estate would only take five or six hours, but such a quick turnaround still seemed remarkably fast — especially considering they had brought along more than a dozen horse-drawn carts.
The messenger who had come to relay the news was in high spirits. He brought glad tidings: both the Red River Valley estate castle and the immigrant town had already been taken. He said that Lord Josk had Lord Pat lead the cart convoy to follow behind, while he himself took only forty-some cavalry and galloped full speed, reaching the Red River Valley estate castle in under six hours. After killing seven defenders, they seized the main castle of the Kenmaise Family, and without pausing, proceeded to sweep through the immigrant town as well. They killed several garrison leaders appointed by the Kenmaise Family, and the garrison force of nearly a hundred men laid down their arms and surrendered without a fight. Lord Josk then ordered him and two companions to ride through the night to bring back the report.
The messenger reported that the Red River Valley estate castle was piled high with supplies — rows upon rows of warehouses everywhere. Lord Josk had ordered a rough inventory taken, and the largest stockpiles were grain and something called rubber vine sap. Oh, and just after seizing the estate castle, some Grand Steward from the Kenmaise Family had tried to sneak away and set fire to the place, but Lord Josk spotted him and killed him with a single arrow. The messenger had been sent to ask for Lord Lorist's decision regarding those supplies and the more than two thousand immigrants in the immigrant town.
Lorist ordered the guards outside the tent to summon Miss Tressie, Steward Hansk,
Before long, everyone who had been summoned arrived at the tent serving as the temporary headquarters. After seeing everyone seated, Lorist announced the news that the Red River Valley estate castle and the immigrant town had both been taken. The happiest of all was Steward Boris, for this meant he no longer had to worry about his family still at the Red River Valley estate castle.
Lorist decided to mobilize every vehicle in the camp to haul supplies from the Red River Valley estate castle, along with the Kenmaise Family supply convoy that had just arrived the day before — which now belonged to the Norton Family, of course. Steward Hansk reported that there were nearly eight hundred carts in total, and that the carts and draft horses were all fine; the only problem was a shortage of reliable drivers. Even counting the members of the three newly formed guard squads, they could muster at most just over five hundred carts to transport the supplies — but that would leave the camp with no guards at all.
It always came back to a shortage of manpower. Lorist chuckled. Why not use the slave drivers from the original convoy, then? They could pick out anyone among the slave laborers who knew how to drive a cart, pair one slave laborer as an assistant to each wagon, and the problem would be solved. As for whether these slave laborers and drivers might run away, there was no need to worry so much. First, this was the Northland — vast and sparsely populated. Where would they go if they fled? What would they eat on the road? They might even end up captured and enslaved all over again in some other lord's territory. The Kenmaise Family had branded the family's slave mark behind the left ear of every slave laborer, so if caught, they would likely be punished as escaped slaves — possibly even with their lives.
If they were freed, he would even prepare a special scar-removing healing potion to help those slave laborers erase the slave brand seared behind their ears, granting them true freedom. Originally, Lorist had planned to grant these slave laborers their personal freedom only after three years, once the castle and another mountain fortress here had been completed. But with the Family so desperately short of manpower — especially these able-bodied laborers — he had no choice but to restore their freedom ahead of schedule. With the promise of liberty as motivation, these slave laborers would have to be chased away to leave.
One last matter: Lorist ordered Reddy to take a squad of the newly formed guards and accompany the convoy to the Red River Valley estate castle. Upon arrival, Pat was to lead the expedition troops to escort the convoy back. When the next convoy headed out again, Lorist would send another guard squad to rotate Reddy's people back.
Joining the convoy to the Red River Valley estate castle this time were also Steward Boris and Cedecamp. Boris was going for two reasons: first, to bring his family back; second, to work alongside Cedecamp in inspecting the Red River Valley estate castle once more, checking for any overlooked warehouses or hidden chambers so that nothing would be missed.
Cedecamp's role was to oversee the transport sequence for all supplies, deciding which items would be moved first and which less important ones would be hauled last. Lorist gave Cedecamp only two instructions. First, bring back the two thousand-plus immigrants as the very first batch — the Family's most critical shortage right now was population, population, population. Without a sufficient population, the territory's construction could not be completed; without enough people, the territory could not be developed. Securing that group of immigrants was the top priority.
The second instruction was that once Cedecamp had finished moving all the supplies, he was to set fire to — or by whatever means necessary reduce — the immigrant town and the Red River Valley estate castle to ashes. He had to make absolutely certain that when the Kenmaise Family's reinforcements arrived, they would find nothing left to use. It was time to teach the Kenmaise Family a lesson and give them a taste of real trouble.
Lorist explained that destroying the Feiyu mercenary band and seizing the Red River Valley estate castle and immigrant town meant the Kenmaise Family had become rootless in the Northland. They would never again find usable manpower there — unless they could persuade Grand Duke Lugins, the Duke of the Northland, to deploy the Grand Duke's personal army. Only then might they retake the Red River Valley estate castle in the shortest possible time. But according to the confessions of those surrendered Feiyu mercenaries, Grand Duke Lugins had already grown suspicious of the Kenmaise Family. The proof was clear: the Kenmaise Family's two-thousand-strong armed force had been stalled for ages, unable to obtain Grand Duke Lugins's approval to enter the Northland.
The Kenmaise Family would need at least three days to receive word from the fleeing Feiyu mercenaries. Within those three days, the Kenmaise Viscount — stationed in Gildusk City in the Grand Duchy — would have to send someone to investigate, discover that his viscounty had been occupied, and return to report. That round trip alone would eat up seven or eight days. After that, the Viscount would need another three or four days to relay the news to his father, the Kenmaise Family head, who would then make a decision and go petition the Grand Duke to dispatch troops. Grand Duke Lugins would certainly not agree to send troops immediately — he might even be privately delighted by the Kenmaise Family's misfortune. Presumably, negotiating the terms for military assistance would burn through another two or three days. And even if Grand Duke Lugins ultimately agreed to the Kenmaise Family's request and sent troops to help them reclaim their territory, preparing the army — provisions, baggage trains, and all the logistics of a military expedition — was no simple matter. It was not as though they could march out at a moment's notice. Running the numbers, Lorist estimated that the first wave of Kenmaise Family reinforcements would not arrive at the viscounty for a month and a half.
In other words, this period of fifty-odd days — a month and a half — was safe. He could use this window to carry out transfers at full capacity, moving as much of the supplies stockpiled in the Red River Valley estate castle as possible to the castle construction site here. Lorist had Cedecamp relay a message to Josk: once the two-thousand-plus immigrants had been transported, manpower would be freed up to patrol the surrounding areas. It would be ideal to capture or prevent any scouts the Kenmaise Family sent from gathering intelligence — any time bought was time gained. If, after a month or more, Kenmaise Family reinforcements were spotted, and they truly turned out to be troops dispatched by Grand Duke Lugins of the Northland, then they were to avoid conflict immediately, pull back, and set fire to all remaining supplies and the estate castle that had not yet been fully evacuated.
"My Lord, what if it's not the Grand Duke's troops, but armies sent by the surrounding territorial lords?" Cedecamp asked.
"Surrounding lords' armies?" Lorist scoffed. "Tell Josk to wipe them out on the spot. A few stray cats and scattered mice — a couple of Family Knights leading a few hundred peasants who can't even equip proper weapons. I believe Josk will handle that with ease." Sometimes Lorist found it genuinely baffling: if the Kenmaise Family hadn't fixated on his own family, they could have quite easily crushed the surrounding territorial lords and carved out a vast domain. Why on earth did they insist on butting heads with the Norton Family? He thought about it with impatient irritation.
In truth, Lorist had forgotten that before his arrival, the Norton Family had indeed been the weakest among the ring of neighboring territorial lords — and they held the largest territory, which was exactly the kind of room for expansion the Kenmaise Family coveted. Who else would they target if not the Norton Family? Squeeze the softest persimmon — the Kenmaise Family understood that logic perfectly well. After Lorist arrived, he had dealt the Kenmaise Family a devastating blow, but they still hadn't realized it. His complaints, in fairness, were rather unreasonable.
"Miss Tristy, I am truly sorry, but it appears I must disrupt your construction schedule once again," Lorist said, after he had finished arranging the details for the supply convoy's departure, turning to Miss Tristy, who was seated below him.
The girl sighed. "My Lord, I understand. It can't be helped. But if those slave laborers are sent to haul supplies, what happens to the city wall ahead? If the Kenmaise Family's reinforcements arrive to attack in a month and a half and the wall isn't finished, that will be far from a small problem."
"I've already thought about that. Even after deducting those serving as cart drivers and supply haulers, there should still be seven or eight hundred slave laborers remaining. I intend to mobilize every able hand — have the women come up to help with the wall's construction. Even the elderly and children can cook, prepare soup, and gather firewood. Overseer Kodan, Old Father
"As you command, My Lord," Overseer Kodan replied.
"Don't worry, My Lord, I'll make sure the wall is built to the highest quality and in full," Old Father Balek declared, thumping his chest.
"Steward Hansk, you need to prepare as well. Once the supplies are hauled back, you're in charge of registering them and arranging proper storage."
"Yes, My Lord," Steward Hansk nodded in acknowledgement.
"Right. Paul Binns — Ovikis is recovering from his injuries, and Reddy has to escort the convoy out. That leaves me with the two newly formed guard squads, and I'm putting them under your command. You'll not only lead them in defending both walls, but also train them. Do you have the confidence?" Lorist turned to look at the newly recruited mercenary.
The young mercenary leaped to his feet, his face flushing red. "My Lord, please rest assured — I will not let you down..."