Chapter 273: Bad Vibes
They didn’t bother with the horse, and simply jogged out of town, stretching out their muscles for the morning. With the magical physical enhancents that both had, even a few kilotres was just a light warm-up.
Nate had his badge hung from his vest, making it imdiately obvious that he was a lawman, while Dominic was in a red and gold coat that was impossible to mistake for anything but a Nobleman.
The fact that both had rifles slung over their shoulders was the part that made the convoy co to an imdiate stop, though.
Looking at the refugees, it was obvious why the farrs had been suspicious of them.
They looked more like a bandit group than actual refugees. So had rags on, and they all looked a bit too skinny, but so were wearing expensive jewellery that didn’t match their clothing, and the visible gang tattoos said that most of them weren’t upstanding citizens to begin with.
"Ladies and Gentlen, welco to the Wistover Duchy. What brings you all this way on such a fine morning." Nate greeted them with his hand casually on his pistol holster.
The closest of the refugees raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Sheriff, we an no harm, we’re just looking for a safe spot to settle down. We ca from Castle City when the food started to get low. The rchant’s Guild showed up with relief supplies from up river, and you’re the first inhabited spot we’ve found that isn’t in a worse spot than Castle City." The man replied.
Nate frowned. "Are you willing to work for your keep? We don’t accept layabouts, beggars or thieves."
A few of the refugees looked amused at the thought. One sheriff wasn’t nearly enough to keep a town free of unsavoury sorts.
Dominic smiled. "The King has given
free rein to deal with criminals as I see fit. So far, we haven’t had many issues, but I have no issue reminding the world why they call
the Butcher of Wistover."
Most of the refugees went pale in the face at that announcent.
They had lived near this border all their lives. Half the population lived in fear that whatever cursed being lived on the other side of the border would co looking for them if they were out after dark.
Nate gave Dominic a strange look. Was that the sort of thing that you told people with your full chest? The Butcher of Wistover was a horror story you whispered by candlelight, with the windows shut tight.
Not soone who faced you with a smile and promises of violence in the morning light.
But Dominic kept speaking. "We do have a number of farms empty at the mont, for those willing to work the land. Housing in town is limited, but we are building more. If you would like to permanently settle in Wistover, you are welco.
If not, we can help you along your way, though I can’t promise that there will be anywhere worth stopping. The cities in Stansia Province have the sa issue that Castle City does, and the relief food shipnt ca from the Duchy."
The refugee group’s leader waved the others closer.
"So, you’re saying that all that food, three whole carts, ca from here?"
Dominic nodded. "The King purchased a whole harvest to provide relief supplies for Castle City."
"That ans the wild crops we found aren’t just luck? The other fields are still producing well?" He asked.
Dominic nodded. "Indeed."
The man paused, and soone behind him spoke up. "And no pretentious Nobles telling us how to live our lives?"
That made both Dominic and Nate laugh.
"What?"
"Did you miss the part where I am Dominic Wavemates, the Duke of Wistover? My rules might be less pretentious compared to so others, but there is very little rcy for those who break them." Dominic explained.
There was a lot of discussion among the refugees, and the group slowly started to separate into two factions.
Dominic pretended that he couldn’t hear the whispered slurs about demihumans pretending to be Noble, or about an upstart Duke who thought that the peasantry was sothing that he could control just by setting rules.
Alexis insisted that his innate bias toward the people of Wavemates clouded his thought processes when determining who was trustworthy, but this sort of casual disrespect was sothing that human nobles didn’t ever have to deal with.
After a few minutes, the argunts started to get heated enough that Nate was considering whether he should step in, but the refugee group sorted it out by themselves.
"Fine, if you want to stay here with so demihuman playing at being a Duke, you can. But we’re going to look for a respectable Noble Estate who can take us in. There was no shortage of casualties during the war, there has to be empty land." One of the n insisted.
Nate cleared his throat. "In that case, follow the river to the highway, then head west. There are entire abandoned villages there, which will soon have established Cygnia Nobles taking over their managent.
You will have a place to stay, and an old blood family in charge of your territory."
He omitted the part where many of the people who were currently here in Wistover had co from the Causter area, a hundred and so kilotres west of the river, down the highway.
The situation there wasn’t great, but there were plenty of empty villages and tilled fields, ready to be taken over by new residents.
Assuming they didn’t starve to death before they could get a harvest in.
After the refugee group’s leaders separated the ones willing to stay and work from the ones who were either grifters or simply didn’t want to stay here, there were only ten remaining.
The others simply kept moving along, bypassing the village entirely, while the local farrs watched them suspiciously.
As they passed out of sight, the man who had first greeted them turned to Dominic.
"How did you know, Your Grace?"
Dominic shrugged. "That they were trouble? I didn’t, not really. I just went with the feeling that they were giving the locals.
The vibe that a group of refugees gives is actually pretty reliable. If they were looking for work, they would have been paying more attention to the land, looking for good places to settle.
But other than looking to fill their bags with wild vegetables, the group wasn’t interested."
The leader of the small group that stayed chuckled. "Well, it’s not like any of us know the first damned thing about farming. We’re all city folk from the outskirts of Castle City. Our hos were destroyed during the attacks, but frankly, we’re tired of living in an overcrowded slum.
The others, they all ca from sowhere else, thinking they’d make it big with their skills. But there’s no work anywhere, and no empty shops to set up in, even if they had money for inventory."
Nate sighed. "So, now we get to find a spot for the lot of you. I don’t suppose any of you are family mbers?"
Four of the ten raised their hands, and the Sheriff smiled. "Well, that’s a start. That ans we’ve got six singles, and no rooming house."
Dominic shrugged. "There are still a few empty houses until we get one built. Sharing a house with others is better than sleeping in the mud. Let’s get you all settled, and you can introduce yourself around looking for work.
There isn’t much here either, but there are plenty of new shops who might need soone who knows how to prove themselves."
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