Chương 398: 393. Village Tour - I

A few days later, Kivamus was visiting the south of the village in the afternoon, with others coming with him. Hudan was walking on one side, with Duvas on the other side, while a few guards had made the usual box formation around them. Before long, he reached the southeastern gate, where the guards on duty gave a crisp salute and opened the gate immediately. The guard who had lost an arm was also sitting on duty here, although he was usually posted at the manor gates only.

Nesser, the man who had gotten half-burnt in Torhan's raid had also recovered by now—at least as much as he was going to—and was now working as a trainer for the new recruits. His heavily scarred appearance made him seem like an instructor from hell, which was exactly what Hudan wanted for the recruits to keep them motivated. He looked at the watchtower, which was located just beside the gates. One female guard was on duty at the time at the tower platform, accompanied by an older man.

The woman was keeping a sharp eye into the distance—where the farms were located—while the man was looking at their group curiously. Half of the tower had already been coated by clay, and a pair of workers were using a wooden bucket while standing on a ladder to apply it further. Reaching outside the village, he felt satisfied to see that only a narrow stretch of road was remaining there—the same width as the gates—while the trench was ready on both sides.

Sharpened branches and stakes had been placed into the trench at somewhat regular but randomized gaps, making it look like a proper moat. Once rainfall filled some water in it, any coming enemies likely wouldn't realize there were intruder-piercing stakes in that water, meant to kill any enemy who dared to attack Tiranat. Noticing him, the bald foreman Yeden jogged to him.

"Milord! You are here already!"

"Will everything be done by the evening?" Kivamus asked.

"The trench will be done, yes." The foreman gave a confident nod.

"That's why I even sent that runner to call you for you to inspect it." He pointed at the moat on the right, where a few laborers were working some distance away.

"That's the last stretch. Their digging is already completed, and they are just finishing up with the stakes. Should be done before sunset." He pointed at the palisade walls.

"We've already completed the clay coating of the walls on the west, north, and the east." Yeden pointed further away, nearly at the southwestern corner of the wall.

"This southern wall is still being done, as you can see. I think it'll take three or four days to finish this and the last 2 remaining watchtowers. It would have been done a few days earlier, but the captain pulled away the off-duty guards who'd been helping us in putting in the sharp stakes, so everything has to be done by my workers now."

"There are good reasons for that," Kivamus replied, "but I'm sure your workers can do it well enough." He glanced at the team of workers applying clay on the wall, while one of them brought water in a bucket from the new well which had been dug near the farms. Once everything was done, the palisade walls and the towers would at least become fire resistant, if not fireproof.

The other wells had also been completed, and by now there were five wells within the village as well as the last one near the farms, along with new wooden buckets. That would help a lot in taking care of any fire which still managed to take hold in an enemy attack.

"Everything looks good," he praised the foreman.

"Did you talk with the hunters who'd gone scouting for a better path to the dam?" Yeden nodded.

"I did, Milord. They told me that the path to the coal mines was the shortest it could be, but they did say that there was a small hill between the mines and the dam which looked like it could be cut through. They said if we make a path through that, the road going from the mines would become much straighter, and a little shorter too. I haven't taken a look at it myself though."

"You should go with those hunters when you have an hour free," Kivamus suggested.

"We are not sending out any more hunting groups right now, so they will be here to help you out until we send them west."

"I still have to stay here today to see the stakes are being placed properly, but I'll go tomorrow morning. Are the hunters only going west into the forest to hunt this time?" Yeden asked curiously. Kivamus glanced at Hudan for a moment. It wouldn't be a good idea to let any rumors spread through the village about it, in case a visiting merchant heard it, and blabbed about it in Cinran or Ulriga. Everything related to their counter raid on Torhan had to be a complete secret from those who weren't involved in it.

That was the only way for them to stay clear of any blame in case Torhan—a son of a baron—was killed, even if he was only a bastard. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Something like that…" he muttered.

"Anyway, take all these clay diggers to the hills from tomorrow so they can start widening and flattening the road like we talked about earlier. The canal will be a part of it like the plan says, but that will be for after you have cut a fall path for the road. You will remain that group's foreman."

"Leave it to me, milord." Yeden thumped his chest.

"I'll get it done. I can't give you a timeline of when it will be completed until we start it and see what we have to work with, but I'll let you know when I have it. Although it would help a lot if there were a few guards to defend the workers when we're working in the hills.

They've all been working here to dig a trench for nearly a month, and it's as safe as it can be here, right under the oversight of the watchtowers, but when we are working in the hills everyone will be worrying about if an adzee is lurking around. That will decrease morale, and will slow down the work." Hudan shook his head.

"Can't do it, Yeden. Not right now. The guards are occupied elsewhere at the moment. I'll send a few men when I have some spare strength, but you'll have to take care of it by yourself until then. You can still leave with the other coal miners in the morning and return with them in the evening. Such a large group won't be touched by an adzee anyway."

"I've already planned to do that," Yeden shrugged.

"But it's the rest of the time I'm afraid of."

"Don't worry," Hudan added, "the hunters haven't reported any adzee sighting near the village for the past few weeks. Most likely their packs are moving somewhere else these days. If it's something smaller like a boar, or a wolf, you should be able to take care of it with your numbers. Most of the workers in your group are former limestone cutters. They won't freeze in case of a threat."

"I don't think it will work…" Yeden muttered.

"They aren't trained guards..." Kivamus pondered about it. Until the Torhan counter raid was completed successfully and the guards returned in around 15 to 20 days, they would be too short on guards even to defend the village. It simply wasn't possible to send any of them out to escort any particular group of laborers. But the danger still remained of the workers being attacked by beasts during that time.

"Tell you what," he suggested.

"I will give your group some weapons to defend yourself." He looked at Hudan.

"Do we have some extra spears?"

"Sure," the captain nodded.

"We are a little short on good quality swords, but we have enough spears. Cedoron provides us a new spear basically every day. We also wouldn't be taking many spears for… that thing, since they won't work well in close quarters. I think we can spare some of them."

"Good." Kivamus looked back at the foreman.

"We will give you a few spears to defend yourself. In fact, I'll also allot a crossbow for your group's use." Duvas looked at him sharply.

"Are you sure about that, Milord? So far we haven't allowed anyone but the guards to use it. It's risky..." Kivamus nodded.

"There's no other way. The coal miner group has safety in numbers on the road, and they can just blockade the mineshafts in case someone sees an adzee or a bakkore nearby. But those who work at the sawmill and the cementation furnaces are still at risk, just like Yeden's men will be while they construct a road. Giving each group a crossbow is the least we should do for their protection."

"Well, I haven't used these crossbow things," Yeden commented, "but if you think it will help, then I accept."

"Good, then Hudan will hand over some spears and a crossbow to you along with enough bolts. Come to the manor once you get free in the evening, and one of the guards will show you how to use it. It will be your responsibility to keep the crossbow safe. And it's not something to show off to other workers. You will keep it by yourself, and will only use it in case there is a beast or a bandit in front of you."

"I agree with those conditions," Yeden shook his head.

"But I can't do it myself. I'll be too busy overseeing the workers. If I take my eyes from them for just a single moment, they start to slack off. I can't ride them to keep working hard if I am on the lookout for a threat all day. But I'll put one of the workers on lookout, and he'll do that task."

"Hmm…" Kivamus muttered.

"Let Duvas know who you will be handing over the crossbow to, so he can clear the person. In fact, bring him to the manor so the guards can train him in its use. That worker will also have to give the crossbow back to the manor every evening when the group returns, and he can take it again the next morning before leaving."

"That's fine," Yeden nodded.

"Although I don't think my men even know how to use spears…"

"You know what, bring all your workers to the manor in the evening. We will hand a spear to all of them, and we will select who will use it based on those who can follow the instructions properly. There is no point in giving a spear to someone who can't even plant it on the ground properly when needed." He looked at the captain.

"Hudan. Put Tesyb or Kerel on it. Nesser would be way too much for civilians." Duvas snorted.

"The workers will just run away when he starts yelling at them. He's as scary as an adzee even to our guards." Hudan chuckled.

"True enough. Don't worry, I'll take care of it,""Good." Kivamus looked back at the foreman.

"Well, carry on then. Good work with the trenches."

"Thank you, milord," Yeden smiled proudly. Then he gave a short bow, and jogged off to his workers.