Chapter 483
Tom P.O.V.
Ajax should be coming back any day now, and with him there will be a whole procession of people we will need to house. It’s a good thing he sent a ssage ahead so we can at least prepare but a week is hardly enough ti for all of this.
“How are we doing for space?” I ask mom as she has been overseeing the construction and acting as the go between with Judy for
as she handled the finances.
“We’re ahead of schedule, it might be a bit cramped and so people will need to share so of the larger houses but we should be able to fit everyone in.” Mom says with a smile. “We did however go over budget, we made good ti but that is only by having the high end craftsn join to speed up the process.”
That wasn’t ideal but it also wasn’t an issue. With the infusion of gold Ajax made to our coffers we were in a great position to spend upfront to better secure our infrastructure. Having journeyman crafters from the capital work on such basics like temporary housing and renovations was overkill but since they arrived early from the capital in response to our large manpower drive to find teachers we were willing to pay and have them work.
“Why are we having all our crafters here?” Judy asked. “I thought the whole point was to teach everyone in the duchy.”
We all knew that such a plan wouldn’t be feasible right from the start, there were just too many small villages where we would end up sending as many craftsn as there were children just to teach them. Ajax was hoping the entry examination would draw people in at the thought of exclusivity but I had my doubts.
“It’s to set and agree on what they would be teaching.” I explain, Ajax said sothing about a standard curriculum and that made sense to . It was a lot like setting up a teaching foundation the sa way the guards had for new recruits that was all but exactly the sa in every city. “That way everyone learns about the sa things at the sa age regardless of where they are.”
“That doesn’t seem like the best way to do things.” Judy said as she tilted her head while thinking. “Different people are better at different things, having them focus on what they do best might work better.”
“That’s true if you are looking at training up a single person.” Mom said with a nod. “But when you are looking to train everybody and then send people who are good at sothing to specialise in that later it's better to make sure everyone has the sa base knowledge to work with.”
“Don’t forget that the base level is going to be aid at five and six year olds.” I reminded Judy. “Every rchant would start their training in the sa way teaching them how the basics of the trade work, we’re just making sure everyone is going to teach the sa basics that way so things can be assud as learnt when they move to the next step as a direct apprentice.”
There was no point in ntioning that Ajax was planning to have all of this split up even further down the line. A school from five to eight for everyone and then different slightly specialized schools from eight to ten before going into apprenticeships, that would take a while and we still needed to see if this whole idea worked at all.
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“I guess we’ll see.” Judy said.
“If nothing else it will get us a lot of good will from the people.” Mom pointed out. “We’re basically offering to take care of young children for a few hours a day for free, more than that they might even learn so skills doing it.”
That was a good point but I also planned to keep a close eye on how the children interacted. According to Lexi nobles in the capital do sothing similar and when grouped like that certain unwanted behaviours can occur. By having everyone in such close proximity it can all but force interactions. I’m very glad Ajax proposed and that Lexi will also be returning with him from the capital.
“How’s the quarry village setting up?” I ask looking towards Elija, it’s still hard for
to think of him as my grandfather, I know he is and I do consider him family but I’ve never interacted with him when I was young, it’s more like he's a close friend of the family.
“It’s a mixed bag, the locals love it.” Elija said with a sigh. “Every traveling rchant that cos by complains to no end.”
The thing valuable about the village was its proximity to the quarry and the mountains. The problem was that by being so close to high priced goods a lot of money would end up flowing through what was now a small village until it would turn into a town, depending on what was found in the mines that would surely open up in the mountains around the quarry, maybe even a city. ????????????s
“Anna’s idea was still great.” Alana said.
“It wasn’t sothing any of us would have even considered.” Aurora nodded in agreent.
Anna ntioned the idea to us last ti she stopped by as a throw away simple solution to the potential problems we might have had with the economic situation. That was to simply keep the village as an outpost of our House. Sell none of the land, build all the buildings there ourselves and enforce that everything mined in the village be sold only in Lessis.
“It’s not unheard of for nobles to keep such a tight hold on precious resources.” Elija said . “Doing it while also hiring commoners to do the labor instead of their own retainers is a little odd.”
“We’ll also need to make sure the people working there don’t all co back at once and then leave to work there again.” Alana said. “If we don’t the entire economy of Lessis will have an ebb and weave as a lot of money floods in as they return and then drains away when they leave.”
It was all a big headache, one we didn’t want to deal with if we were honest but it was worth the cost to ensure that almost all the money made from the quarry stayed in the local economy for the first few years. More than that it would also let us ensure that no monopolies ford in the village, since we would need to ensure the quarry remained open we would essentially be subsidising any monopoly that ford there when they decided to jack up the prices.
“While the rchants might not be content, the populace as a whole are very happy with the idea of a new quarry.” Mom said. “With every passing day more and more people are coming to the city looking for work.”
One of the things Ajax hadn’t taken into consideration is how the current population of our duchy was currently doing when he decided to make plans and tackle the increase that was expected from the extra Vitality. Specifically, the last eighty years of peace ant that there was now a large increase in people since nobody was dying in the war. The quarry and subsequent mines were a big draw for families who were looking for a consistent job, especially those who had little land but a few children who were around fifteen years of age and were now adults but didn’t take to hunting.
Following that discussion I found Fluffy, climbed on and headed for Lessis faster than any horse we had could take . We had moved out from the house we had in the city and while there were plans for a bedroom to be added on to my office it wasn’t a priority right now. Making the trip hardly took any ti at all when accounting for Fluffy’s speed.
“Remain calm.”
“Everything is alright.”
“That’s our mayor.”
I could barely make out the guards' voices over the noise of the crowd gathered at the gate trying to enter the city but I didn’t pay them any mind. Instead I tightened the grip in my legs and focused on my Rare skill [Shadow Riding].
Instead of entering Lessis through the gate Fluffy and I had found a much faster option. Ever since I gained [Shadow Riding] we had practiced to see what it was that made the skill be considered Rare, it turned out that I could now join my bond through the realm of shadows. Our high speed run towards the wall caused so panic in the people gathered at the gate but it was nothing compared to the confusion that followed as we dove into the wall’s shadow and disappeared.
The people didn’t see our appearance on top of the wall. Fluffy skillfully maneuvered us back down to the street before we slowed down significantly now that we were inside the city and headed towards the central guard barracks. I had a eting with our Warden.
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