CHAPTER 238: SET A SCHEDULE

The Merchant’s Guild member was laughing as he gave the girl a ride back to the family compound.

"Oh, Master Khalil, fancy meeting you here. When did you arrive?" He asked.

"Just yesterday. I hadn’t been informed that the Guild was coming to the Duke’s estate, or that there even was one here when we left." Ravi replied.

The merchant laughed. "I was made aware two days ago, when I was already on the road with the convoy. They hired a Guild Member, and that was enough for the Guild to know where they were going."

"In that case, I look forward to continuing to do business with you. I will need an entirely new stock for the Mercantile. Does the Guild still have my inventory on file?" Ravi asked.

"We should. If you have a list, I will bring it back to verify."

Ravi sorted through his storage item for a moment, then brought out a binder.

"Ah, there we are. The floor plan for the old store. This is everything that I will need. Enough to fill the shelves. I have enough coinage left. Though, some will be in monster cores."

The Merchant nodded. "That’s not an issue. I can trade them in Cygnia. I will have this sent with the next convoy."

{You found a good family. Ten years, no missed payments.} The merchant signed to Dominic, who nodded in understanding.

Clearly, Ravi didn’t notice the hand gestures, or understand them. But that wasn’t surprising, they were not intended to be known by everyone.

Not wasting time, the Merchant bowed and departed, while Ravi shook his head in dismay.

"Abrupt as always, but he always comes through with the goods." He sighed.

"I think that he’s trying to get to an inhabited village before dark because he’s riding without guards now." Dominic explained.

"Oh, good point. What happened to the convoy?"

Dominic gestured behind him. "I bought it all, and hired all the travellers to work in town. Give it a day or two, and we will have some proper shops already."

Ravi nodded. "Understandable. I think that the bakery will do good business. Everyone likes fresh bread, and I see that a lot of the shops are being cleaned and arranged by just one man, not a whole family.

They’re not likely to want to bake their own in the mornings, or know how to make sweets. We brought plenty of supplies, and I think that I can work a deal with the farmers to get us some grain out of those wild fields.

Is there a miller in town yet?"

Dominic shook his head. "The mill is still standing, though. It’s in the compound of the Manor House, and magitech powered. If you can get grain and need flour, just ask one of my staff and they will get it ground for you. I have a miller on the list of staff for the Guild to hire for us."

Ravi chuckled, and stepped a bit closer to Dominic.

"Are you sure that the King will not be upset that you’ve got the Wavemates Resistance doing not only the hiring, but the supplying, and most of the shop operations in your territory?" He asked quietly.

Dominic patted him on the shoulder. "Now that I’m back, I don’t see it being an issue."

Well, he did see it being an issue, but not one that he couldn’t handle. The whole point of the resistance fight was to get rid of Dagos Nobles and restore the Wavemates lineage back into power.

As long as he kept any of them from getting ideas about declaring him a sovereign King of the region, everything should go smoothly.

If they could find more Wavemates blooded Nobles to work as representatives, it would be even better. But Dominic was hoping that he would get a number of the Officers from the Natural Sons’ Regiment as Barons.

That would be the very best outcome, even though they weren’t local.

The residents might resist them at first, but they were loyal to Dominic and the Princess. Once the locals knew that, they should stop giving them a hard time.

Hopefully.

Plus, if they got members of the Regiment, they would come armed, and they would be able to train guards to protect their estates using the magitech weapons Dominic could provide.

It would be an entirely different sort of defence force if all of the village guards had a sword and a pistol.

That sort of military force would be enough to virtually end banditry in a territory, and they would be able to easily deal with most forms of wild monsters as well.

The Baronies were spread out, and there had always been a lot of wilderness in this part of Stansia Province, with less than a quarter of the land being suitable for farming, and the forests growing unnaturally quickly.

Dominic and the other locals viewed that as a blessing of life upon the forest, but when anyone tried to cut them down, they would find out that simply removing the trees didn’t stop the forest from regrowing the first chance that it was given.

It was easier to only work the portions of the country that were grassland.

"I will leave you to set up your shops. I need to go speak to one of our new residents before I return to the manor." Dominic explained.

"Of course, Your Grace. You said that the tractors belong to the Duchy now. Is it possible to borrow them to open more land? We’ve got plenty of hands, and the other farms could use the assistance." Ravi asked.

"Of course. Send two men over and have them start assisting the other farms, either to harvest or to plow. There should be tools for both on most farms, just find the best one that you can and return it at the end of the day.

I’m sure your men know what to do." Dominic agreed.

Then he headed for one of the shops that the Techno Wizards had moved into. There were a few more spell effects that he needed.