Chương 210: 207. A Winter Walk

It was early morning of the next day, and Kivamus was standing near the gates of the manor along with Duvas and Hudan in the continuously falling snow. There was just enough light to see clearly, but the sun had yet to rise above the Arakin mountains in the east. He rubbed his hands together in a futile attempt to warm them, but it barely did anything.

The weather was bitterly cold in the open, and even the fur coat he was wearing as well as the continuously burning brazier kept next to the gates where he was standing didn't do much to stave off the cold. He couldn't wait until he returned inside the manor hall again with its brightly burning fireplace. The small caravan of two wagons was ready for the new journey, where Feroy and three guards - each wearing a fur coat - were making the final checks on everything.

The wagons had been fully loaded with coal yesterday, so the guards only had to check on their provisions for the journey in the morning, which is why they were ready to leave so early. Each of the wagons had been hitched to a pair of horses, their breaths puffing out in small frosty clouds. The two guards on duty at the manor gates seemed to be watching curiously as well. One of them was Savomi - one of the two twin sisters who were the first women to be hired as guards in Tiranat.

Hudan had agreed with his suggestion to employ women guards at the gates of the manor, and that was the only reason Feroy had three other guards to accompany him on his journey west towards Kirnos. Soon, the ex-mercenary walked towards him while blowing on his hands.

"We are ready to leave, milord." Then he gestured outside the gates where the snow had already covered the huts on the other side of the empty area outside the gates under a thick white layer.

"This snow is going to make it difficult to see too far or to spot an ambush, but it's unlikely in this weather anyway." Kivamus nodded.

"I certainly hope you are successful on this trip, but the village's situation is not as desperate as it was when you had gone with Pydaso's caravan to Cinran. Being able to buy smoked fish from Kirnos would certainly help us a lot, but we aren't at risk of anyone starving in the winter anymore. That's why I want you to protect yourself and the guards even more than the cargo in case of an ambush - especially if it looks like you won't be able to kill any bandits who attack you.

We can always mine more coal, but we can't replace your lives." He added, "I wouldn't be saying this if we were able to provide enough guards to protect the caravan, but for now we have too many tasks to employ them at, and not nearly enough guards to do it."

"Nothing to worry about, milord," Feroy gave a confident grin.

"That's why we have chosen our best fighters for this trip." He tilted his head towards the burly young guard who was climbing on his seat in the front wagon.

"Tesyb will be worth two men by himself if it comes to a battle, you know?"

"I don't doubt it," Hudan snorted.

"He was already a good fighter even before the bandit raid, but that near escape from death in that fight with Nokozal has made him train harder than anyone else here in the past month. He's more than capable of holding his own now. I also wanted to send Yufim with you, but for now his skills are better used as a hunter." Duvas, who had been quiet until now, interrupted with worry, "You do have that... stuff kept safely, right?"

Feroy gave a barely noticeable tap with a finger on the side of his fur coat, and nodded quietly in response. Yesterday, they had decided to give a small amount of gold to the ex-mercenary, just in case he needed to grease some palms while doing this trade in Kirnos. The plan still remained to sell as much coal as they could, but the Baron of Kirnos might ask for gold as border taxes instead of coal, and in that case the small satchel Feroy had kept tied to his chest under his fur coat would be very helpful.

Duvas gazed towards the sky, with his hands interlaced together.

"May the goddess bless you all." Kivamus looked at the ex-mercenary.

"Alright then, you should leave before it gets late. I hope this journey is safe and successful, since a lot depends on it. Good luck!" Feroy gave a curt nod.

"I'll do my best. You can trust me on that." With that, he turned around and climbed on his seat next to the guard sitting on the seat of the second wagon. With a quick whip to the horses, the wagons lurched into motion, and Tiranat's first trading mission to Kirnos was underway. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Once both of the wagons had turned left outside the gates and disappeared from their views, Kivamus looked at the guard captain and the majordomo.

"Come on, let's return inside now. It's too damn cold here!"

An hour or so later Kivamus was sitting in the manor hall after breakfast, while Hudan was out training the guards. Duvas had just returned back after allotting the workers for the day - which included noting down who was working where so he could keep a track of everything. Gorsazo had gone to tutor Syryne in one of the empty inner rooms of the manor house after everyone had taken their morning meal.

Other than the time spent to help her mother in cooking, as well as her daily morning classes Syryne was getting from Gorsazo, she was spending most of her time in her makeshift laboratory these days because of her newfound interest in botany. Despite being the same age as her in his newfound body at twenty-one years old, Kivamus couldn't help but be proud of her enthusiasm in learning and he had already promised to do his best in guiding her using his modern knowledge.

Soon, the outer door of the manor opened and a servant walked inside.

"Milord, the carpenter Darora wanted me to tell you that he would like you to visit where he was building that uh... wood machine in the South." Kivamus was excited to hear the news.

"It's the wood press machine," he corrected the servant.

"Is it already built? I thought it would take a few more hours." The young servant nodded.

"I had gone to the South to refill the braziers with coal and seeing a small crowd gathered together, I went to take a look. That's when the carpenter told me about it. I even saw a few kids running around while holding some baskets." Then he added with a shrug, "Not sure what that was about." After allowing the servant to return to his tasks, Kivamus stood up and looked at the others while putting his fur coat on.

"I am going to visit this new machine. Either of you want to come with me?" Duvas, who was sitting as close to the fireplace as was feasible without risking a burn, shivered in response.

"Not now, my lord. I just came from the outside. My old bones can't take any more visits in the snow for now. I'll visit it sometime later in the day." Kivamus chuckled at the old majordomo.

"That's okay, you can keep yourself warm here."

"I'll accompany you," Gorsazo said as he put his own fur coat around himself.

"I'm free for now."

"Great, let's go then. We'll find Hudan and take him with us too." They exited the manor hall into the snow which was still falling continuously. Rubbing his hands together, Kivamus was thinking about where the guard captain would be at the moment, since he usually went to the empty area outside of the manor in the east to train the guards, but thankfully he saw Hudan talking with a few guys near the servant hall. Giving a holler to him, Kivamus gestured to him to come over.

Soon, the guard captain came jogging towards them, his own fur coat - which was already sprinkled with snow - making his huge frame look downright gigantic.

"You already done with today's training?" Hudan shrugged.

"These days we just don't have enough free guards for me to train, with many of them out hunting apart from the three who went with Feroy. So it doesn't take too long for me to correct their stances and have a training fight with them after the warmups." Gesturing the captain to follow him, Kivamus started walking towards the manor gates.

"I am visiting the new wood press machine outside the village walls. Call up a few off duty guards and join us." Hudan nodded, and it didn't take long for him to find a few guards who were resting in the servants' hall nearby. Soon, Kivamus, his former teacher, and his protection detail exited the manor gates and began walking to the South under the falling snow.

They kept following the narrow alley next to the walls of the manor, and walked through the middle of the village, which seemed more or less deserted at the moment.

With most of the able bodied men and even women out of the village walls to work as labourers, and their children or elderly family members who weren't able to work staying in one of the two long house blocks, it only left the few unlucky souls who hadn't been able to find a place in the new buildings, and still had to stay in their shacks for the winter.

That meant apart from a few dogs who were huddling inside the now-empty houses, there was nearly nobody visible on these alleys, especially in this freezing weather.