MayoJou chapter 108

The work of the lord of the castle


 

Sir Elmer Ruk Sandall will be living here for the foreseeable future.

According to the “royal law”, should a knight ask for shelter, the lord must provide it.

In addition, the knight must offer his sword at the lord’s request.

A “law” established a millennium ago, when Shrendall dominated most of the continent.

A right of the royal family and ruling castes, it’s an obligation of their subjects, a notion of “morals” and a “general consensus” ingrained as “This is how human society works” into the people.

Most countries have Shrendall as the predominant source of their culture, thus this law is universally recognized in Cedia.

In other words, I cannot ignore this “royal law”.

[In that case, there’s no way to refuse sir Sandall’s request, right?]

A day after the banquet.

It’s time for the audience.

We are discussing how to deal with the “Pilgrim Knight” sir Elmer Ruk Sandall.

By the way, I wanted to call this the morning or liaison meeting, but it was rejected.

Leiha was respectfully refuting Irudo’s remarks.

[It seems that one of that man’s attendants is contacting with the outside]

[................]

Leiha’s report was a bit unsettling.

According to her most recent investigation, Sir Sandall’s assistant seems to be sending letters to the outside.

Unlike modern day Japan, these letters aren’t distributed to the whole country after being deposited into a postbox. He hands the letter to one of the workers at the castle, then he acts as an intermediary to deliver it all the way to the territory of the father of the earl.

Leiha also said he’s just a low rank worker but, he still has skills as a spy. There’s no doubt he’s the one bringing over the letter from “Father” to the Earl Frand.

Earl Lansey Segun Frand.

Head of the council of lords of Shrendall, whose territory expands all the way to the Luce Union.

The people on his territory were well-off under his benevolent rule.... or that’s what Claura recalled.

[Regarding the letter, it was written the current state of the castle as well the fact that sir Sandall was invited to the banquet]

[...... Just how do you know the contents of the letter?]

[I pickpocketed it, read it and then put it back]

Diane, who hadn’t know of her skills until now, was staring in amazement.

Speaking of which, the rate of success for the skill “Pickpocket” in “D&B” was quite high, it was common for a high level thief to play this perverted game were he stole the underwear from the NPC girl in front of him.

[It seems Sandall quite trust this servant. So there’s the possibility the servant is influencing his actions]

[Oh I see, so he really intends to be a pilgrim knight but, the earl has him on a tight leash, right?]

[And to some extend, we have already taken into consideration the control the earl is extorting over him]

Sedam and Claura were of the opinion that earl Frand was using sir Sandall to gather information about us.

Still, for the earl to use this kind of approach, it doesn’t seems like it is just a simple gathering of intelligence.

[Elmer is a prominent knight and a general. Do you think they’ll discard him for such a foolish mission?]

[.......That’s certainly strange, Reed. Now that you mention it]

[That old man, do you know him?]

[I suppose, yes......]

After being half forcibly brought into this meeting, Reed spoke for the first time.

According to him, a few years back on Shrendall, he was fighting alongside sir Sandall againsts the dark beast.

He rarely praised another person (more like he rarely speaks), but he attested of sir Sandall’s true strength.

[Reed, what do you mean by foolish mission?]

[.......]

Reed ignored Leiha’s question as he turned away.

Both of them (above level 20) became really threatening, I wish they could stop making the mood worse. Luckily, they noted I was rubbing my temples,  so they didn’t say anything further.

[I think, earl Frands intends to observe how Margils deals with sir Sandall]

[....... It seems so]

I have the same opinion as Claura.

[I get it, even if the old man inadvertently makes my lord angry the earl will excuse himself with something like “I severed my ties with that man”, and once they get along he’ll approach the old man saying “truth is, he has always been my loyal retainer”]

Such a cunning man this earl.

I’m been a bit too careful but, I’m still a completely unknown existence in Cedia.

After the successful alliance with Luce, information have been spreading but still seems appropriate to get in contact with the man who can “destroy a legion of dark beasts by dropping meteors on them”.

Sir Sandall was just unfortunate to get caught in all this.

Well, whatever the case, our options since the beginning were limited.

If earl Frand were to become our ally, our relationship with Shrendall will also become better.

[Then, for the meantime we will accept sir Sandall staying in our castle]

[Yes, understood]

I was Irudo who replied, in representation of all currently present.

Neither everyone else objected the idea.

[Finally, we have many capable personnel coming from so far away. We must make an effort to sincerely receive them so they become our comrades]

He reassured us saying he already have, more or less, planned how to deal with the matter at hand.

[Then, unto our next issue. We a request from the chief of the “Abyss Village”. There’s an increase in the people coming and going from the trade route, he’s asking permission to build an inn.....]

...... Mornings sure are busy for the lord of the castle.

After finishing the audience, I’m find myself waiting for my next work.

[Oh, sir Margis, today as well let’s make our work easier!]

[Of course, you are full of determination as always chief]

It was chief Valdo, as he lifted his head with a smile on his face, the one responsible for the expansion of the castle and the construction of the trade route.

As for the work on the castle, the outer wall and the castle gate are mostly complete, currently they are working on the barracks, the inn, housings and the warehouse. In the future the people of Schultz will be living here and be working along with the dwarves and the workers, problem is, the schedule for the construction keeps getting shorter.

Regarding the trade route from the castle to Battleaxe town, the construction is mostly finished.

Presently the work is being done on the foundation of the trade route between Battleaxe town and Fillsand. My job there consists of summoning “Dig Dug Worms” and make them excavate tunnels.

In order to help transport the lumber, I create some “Forest Giants” and then cede control to one of the foremen from Downlon.

The emissaries from last night banquet became very excited at the sight of the giants.

Then I summon a “Phantom Horse” and fly to Battleaxe town along with chief Valdo.

There I create more “Dig Dug Worms” and “Forest Giants” leave them with chief Valdo, after that I return to the castle.

It takes awhile to get there, thankfully we receive some warm hospitality from the dwarves because we end up finishing the work in the morning.

I cast “Create Monster” and extend its duration with “Infinity” so it last the whole day, we can’t afford to cut corners on this work.

[Welcome my lord]

[...... What’s happening over there?]

I got down from my “Phantom Horse” in the castle courtyard, naturally Leiha was there to recieve me.

Just now I’m asking what’s going on with the soldiers, from the sky it looked like a big fuss.

[Well you see......]

[I have told you already! It’s the basics! Thou are to keep repeating these until complete memorization!]

[No, listen geeze.... no milord knight. There’s stuff to teach them before going into basics]

[Our duty demands we prioritize vanquishing dark beast and scoundrels! We can postpone marching training!]

That looks troublesome, amidst the unhappy looking soldiers were their instructor, Gilg and the rumored pilgrim knight.

At a glance you could see the worn out looking full body armor sir Sandall was wearing along with his halberd.

If I were to guess, sir Sandall is voicing his opinion on the training methods for the soldiers.

[Excuse me, make way please]

[A-ah! Ma-Margils-sama!]

The soldiers stood aside, and then kneeled.

Naturally the two at the center noticed, they both approached after I called them.

[...... Margil-sama]

[Oh! My lord!]

[What is going on sir Sandall?]

Gilg was in an unusually bad mood but, I’ll ask our guest first.

[The morale these youngster have is splendid I say! However inexperienced they might be. Since I was granted permission to stay, I decided to take their training upon myself!]

[...................]

Gilg was slightly shrugging his shoulders in protest to sir Sandall’s suggestion.

He should be aware of this morning training plan. Thinking bout this, he should looking for way to solve things on his own.

For practical purposes, Gilg himself said he could not train a large number soldiers.

Frankly speaking, it would be strange to leave the troops to a visitor but, sir Sandall is a military man recognized by Reed, furthermore a commanding officer. I’m certain he’s doing this out of his good will.

I remembered, long ago the young leaders and the veterans got into disputes, so I got a bit impatient.

I see, Earl Frand must be watching how do I react to all this.

I begin look around, on the other side of the soldiers I noticed someone looking at me, it’s the servant of the knight.

I wonder what kind of actions would be well received by the earl?

I take a glance at Gilg, the soldiers and sir Sandall.

During that time I decided how to proceed in this situation.

Anyway.

This right here, is my castle.

Notes:

Regarding the my confusion at one of the dwarves calling the worm used to dig tunnels a snake. The spells margils uses have to readings, one in kanji and one in furigana with an english equivalent. I've been using the furigana to name the spells, however one of the spells have two differen meanings, the spell Margils uses to summon a worm to dig tunnels. The original name is:『巨大長虫（ディグダグワーム）』the kanjis mean, according a dictionary, giant snake, but the katakana reads as Dig Dug Worm. 

P.S.: As always, if you spot any mistake it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know.

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