Ch. 24
Chapter 24. The First Council Meeting
The Council Hall of the lord’s manor.
A rough, heavy long table of raw timber occupied most of the center of the chamber, with more than a dozen wooden chairs arranged around it.
The walls were bare stone and logs, and the floor was packed earth.
The only decorations were a huge map of the Western Frontier hanging on the wall and a banner painted with the raven crest suspended behind Eli’s seat.
It was rather... well, to put it politely... rustic.
At that moment, Eli sat in the seat of honor, rolling a letter between his fingers.
“...Sir Eli Black is loyal and valiant, mindful of the safety of the Western Frontier, and the rebel intelligence he has provided has been duly received.
Should you retake Lucerne City and purge the traitors, then in the name of La Roche and by the authority of the Guardian of the Western Frontier, I shall grant you the rank of Baron and bestow upon you the two villages surrounding Lucerne City as your fief...”
“Heh.” What a grand promise.
He tossed the letter onto the table and fell into thought.
Only after seeing this letter did he suddenly realize that something was off.
Why Lucerne City?
After studying the map carefully, Eli realized that it had originally been nothing more than the fief of a count in the Western Frontier.
It was neither wealthy nor rich in rare mineral resources.
In this barren southwestern corner where Eli was, it could be called unmatched, but in the occupied Western Frontier as a whole, it could rank at most as a two-and-a-half-rate place.
He had clearly had better choices, such as Emerald City with its turquoise deposits, Kael City, the border transport hub... or even Storm City, that great border stronghold.
Why had Baron Grumm not chosen those cities? There was only one reason:
He had no choice. He was only a petty baron from a small city-state.
And what of those greater federal nobles, the ones with more strength and greater ambition?
Would they really be content to retreat east with the main allied force and spit out the fat meat already at their lips?
When they attacked the Western Frontier, they had boasted an army of three hundred thousand. Even if half that number had been inflated, that still left one hundred and fifty thousand.
Among those ambitious and greedy souls who had remained behind, there might well be twenty or thirty thousand.
Eli would wager that Storm City and those wealthy cities were absolutely occupied by vultures far stronger and far more cunning than Baron Grumm.
He could only be grateful that he had not chosen those cities. Their Black Territory was remote and its land barren. For the time being, it was still beneath those people’s notice.
But that did not mean they could sleep in peace.
Small bands of marauders, greedy prowlers, even routed rebel stragglers beaten out of other territories could descend on them like starving wolves at any moment.
At that moment, Eli also began to understand the move behind the Prime Minister’s Frontier Edict. The information at his disposal could only be more complete than theirs.
With a single sheet of paper, he could wear down the strength of the nobles beyond the Western Frontier and the western federal armies alike.
One seemingly idle move on the board had changed the fate of countless people.
Some people had not even been given the chance to become pieces on the board. The moment they chose their territory, they had already become discarded pieces.
But... I will not let you move me as you please.
Once Eli had thought it through, he rose abruptly.
The sudden movement made Ella think of something, and her face flushed red.
Then, hesitantly, she opened her arms. (Come here, you rogue.)
Eli looked at her in confusion, then chuckled softly and drew her gently into his embrace, quietly savoring the reality of holding her.
“Ella, go find Brandon and have him bring every steward in the territory here.”
Eli’s voice brushed softly against Ella’s ear, and her earlobes instantly turned crimson.
Then she shoved him away hard and fled the Council Hall in flustered steps.
......
Eli swept his gaze across the core leadership seated formally on both sides of the long table.
Head Butler Brandon, the three slave overseers, the three freefolk representatives, Building Officer Old John, Agricultural Officer Hadi, Mining Officer Leon, Affairs Officer Estor, Knight Captain Bol, Soldier Captain Aika, and Hunting Captain Wolfgang.
And in the corner, Clark, who was trying very hard to look serious but kept glancing around in spite of himself.
“Everyone present here is a pillar of my Obsidian Territory.”
As soon as Eli spoke, the atmosphere in the chamber abruptly relaxed.
“This is all thanks to the guidance of our benevolent lord, Lord Eli!” old Hadi hurriedly declared from the side.
Brandon, sitting opposite him, instantly widened his eyes. So even you old coot with that honest face are one of them.
He hurriedly added, “It is all thanks to our wise lord!”
The other stewards finally realized what was going on and hurried to follow suit.
“That’s enough!”
The corner of Eli’s mouth twitched a little.
Then he rose, planting both hands on the rough wooden table.
“My lords, I will keep this brief. At present, the safety of Obsidian Territory is the first sword hanging over our heads. We must become stronger! Tougher!”
“Bol, Aika!” Eli’s gaze fell first upon the two commanders.
“The intensity of the soldiers’ training must be increased at once. The foundation Captain Buck left behind must be reinforced, and we must push further toward real combat. But the problem is this—”
“Right now, our soldiers spend half their time training, and the other half scattered throughout the camp.”
“They patrol various places, maintain order, guard the warehouses and the mine. Their energy is badly divided, and the results are greatly reduced.”
Bol nodded at once, wearing a bitter expression.
“My lord is right! The brothers have said the same to me. After finishing their duties, they have no strength left for training at all!”
“So,” Eli said decisively.
“That must change! Starting today, from among the current slaves and the best-performing freefolk, select fifty strong-bodied and loyal men at once to form a security patrol unit!”
“They will have only one task: to handle the camp’s daily patrols, sentry-post duty, warehouse security, outer-mine perimeter watch, and the maintenance of internal order.”
“Our combat soldiers must be freed from all those miscellaneous duties and turned into full-time soldiers.”
“They too will have only one task: training! Fighting!”
Clark silently counted on his fingers and muttered that that sounded like two tasks.
“Full-time soldiers?”
Old John, Hadi, and the others, hearing the term for the first time, showed surprise and contemplation on their faces.
That meant the territory would have to support a hundred people who were not directly engaged in production. It was no small burden.
But when they thought about the security that improved combat strength would bring, the expense suddenly seemed worthwhile.
“Yes, my lord!” Bol and Aika, however, both lit up at once and responded in unison.
“Very good.” Eli sat back down and turned his gaze toward Brandon and Old John.
“If the soldiers are to focus on blades, then our shields must harden as well.
The camp’s current wooden palisade can keep out beasts well enough, but against an organized enemy, I fear it would crumble in a single blow.
I believe that from this moment on, we should begin planning the camp’s defensive fortifications, with priority given to building a solid city wall.”
“A city wall?!” Old John waved his hands frantically in alarm.
“My lord! That will not do! Building a city wall now? It is too early—far too unrealistic!”
“First, the scale of the work is too great! We may have more hands now, but spring plowing has only just ended. Mining, house-building, logging, fishing... which of those does not need manpower? Which of them can be stopped?
Second, stone! The source, quarrying, and transport of large amounts of good stone would all be tremendous problems!
Third, time! My lord, without several months—or even half a year to a full year—we simply cannot build a wall that would actually serve its purpose. Before then, I fear the wall itself would drag us down!”
Brandon also rose and added in a deep voice, “Old John is right. My lord, our immediate priority is to stabilize our foundations and accumulate strength.
Building walls on such a large scale may also draw unwanted attention.”
Eli pondered this, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the tabletop.
He had to admit that Brandon and Old John had struck at the heart of the problem. He had still been too hasty. No one could grow fat from a single bite.
“Then what do you suggest?”
Old John let out a breath. Thank heavens their lord was a benevolent one.
“My lord, a city wall is impossible for now, but we can first build several sturdy wooden watchtowers on the key high ground around the camp!
They must be tall, with a clear field of view! We can station lookouts on them and equip them with signal horns, so that the moment enemy movement is spotted, an alarm can be raised at once.
At the same time, we can station a small number of archers and crossbowmen there as well. The investment would be small, and the results would come quickly.”
“Watchtowers...”
Eli fell silent for a moment, his finger tracing several points around the camp on the map. At last, he nodded.
“That will work. Old John, Brandon, the two of you will handle this matter.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Old John and Brandon both let out sighs of relief as they accepted the order.
With the most urgent military matter settled, the atmosphere in the Council Hall eased somewhat.
Eli’s gaze swept over Hadi, Leon, Estor, and the others.
“Hadi, spring plowing is finished, but you must keep a close eye on the daily management of the fields and the maintenance of the irrigation works.
Leon, mining must not stop. Iron ingots are one of our most important bargaining chips for obtaining supplies, but safety comes first.
Estor, how goes the site selection for the temporary riverside dock and fishery?”
“Young Master, the location has been chosen! It is downriver, where the current is gentle and the river bend forms a natural eddy.
Those six fishermen said that once the wooden rafts are fixed in place and the fishing nets are woven, they can begin casting them very soon!”
“Good! Get the fishery built as quickly as possible to supplement our supply of meat. Also—”
“Ella, report the current total population of the territory.”
Ella immediately opened the papyrus ledger in her hands and delivered a crisp report.
“My lord, not counting the soldiers, the territory currently has one hundred and three freefolk and nine hundred and forty-seven slaves, for a total of one thousand and fifty people. Of them, roughly seventy percent are able-bodied laborers.”
More than a thousand people packed into a rapidly expanding camp with crude infrastructure... Eli could already imagine all the friction and chaos that would come with it.
“With the population growing, we must continue building more houses. Old John, once the watchtowers are complete, you will take charge of that matter.”
“And with more people, friction and disputes will inevitably increase.”
“The old rules remain. Disputes among the slaves are to be mediated by each squad leader and overseer. If they cannot resolve them, report them to Brandon.
Disputes among freefolk, or between freefolk and slaves, may be petitioned directly to me! But remember this well—false accusers will be severely punished!”
He paused, then added, “Bol, once the security patrol unit is established, maintaining internal order will also be one of its duties.”
“Yes!” everyone responded in acknowledgment.
“Ahem, lastly...” Eli’s expression became a little strange.
“My lords, do you not feel that the smell in certain corners of the camp has been growing... stronger?”
The moment he said that, quite a few people at the table showed bitter smiles of heartfelt agreement.
As the population surged, the problem of people relieving themselves wherever they pleased had become increasingly serious. Not only was the smell impossible to ignore, it also posed a massive sanitation hazard.
“For the sake of everyone’s noses, and to make sure a plague does not destroy our foundations—”
Eli made a decision that no one in the room had expected.
“In the eastern, western, southern, and northern sections of the camp, select sites immediately and build four public latrines.
Requirements: deep pits, regular cleaning and burial, and basic cleanliness maintained! Hadi, you will take the lead on this, with Estor assisting.”
“Public... latrines?” Hadi froze for a moment, then his old face reddened. “Yes, my lord! This matter... truly is important!”
Clark, who had been trying his best all this time to keep from speaking, could finally hold it in no longer.
“Hahahaha! Eli! You call this being a lord? You even have to管 where people take a shit? Hahahaha!”
Eli shot him an irritated glare. “Shut up, Clark, or next time I’ll put you in charge of cleaning the latrines!”