Chapter 46: Orin
Fifteen minutes later, Octavia returned with the documents Arthur had requested. Since he’d been paying extra attention to Orin, he noticed the boy was staring at the papers with a mysterious gaze.
’He’s definitely noticed something,’ Arthur thought with a sarcastic tone. Yet at the same time, a sliver of concern crept into his mind. He wasn’t afraid of someone like Orin—he posed no real threat. Still, the idea of killing him did cross his mind. Arthur quickly dismissed it. He wasn’t a heartless killer who erased every nuisance. In fact, he was trying to leave killing as a last resort.
He took the document containing the census questions and another sheet with a simplified map of the Barony divided into twenty-five regions. He returned the rest of the papers to Octavia and instructed her to take them back to his room.
He said nothing further, waiting for Brock to return with more blank papers so he could replicate the forms for the literate individuals before him—or more precisely, the census officers.
Time passed quietly. After about half an hour, Brock returned with all the paper he could gather. Following Arthur’s instructions, he distributed them to the census officers and handed each one a small ink bottle for recording the information they would collect.
Without further effort, Arthur gave them the forms and ordered them to copy them. He then randomly assigned them to the twenty-five districts. But when it came time for the poor, ragged man, he sent him to the farthest region of the Barony. As for Orin, he placed him in the region closest to the castle.
In total, there were twenty-eight literate individuals, leaving three without districts to survey. But Arthur had other plans. He ordered them to conduct a census of the agricultural and semi-agricultural lands, so he could compare the data later. He also ordered Isolda and Leopold to assist them to speed up the process.
"Listen carefully. Begin the census tomorrow morning. I don’t want delays or laziness. In three days, I want everything organized—or you’ll be punished."
Once everything was arranged, he dismissed them. "Leave now."