Act 101: Tonigel and the Young Lord (Part 1)

The search for contact with the Southern Legion of Eruin was clueless, and the mercenaries sent in the direction of the Grahar Mountains were either gone or brought back useless news.

Brando knew that the mercenaries sent out weren't necessarily reliable.

Not everyone of the mercenaries who fit into this group will be single-minded: Fern, Clensia, and Juta all have their own plans, and many more have a passable mentality.

Some of the people who were sent out just ran away, not unaware of the fact that Brando was not unaware, but he did not intend to resort to coercion - and it was useless.

Only those who sincerely stay with him through thick and thin are reliable people.

Of course, Brando did not sit idly by, and in the days when the shadow of the war from the direction of Pallas was getting cloudier and darker over Tonigel, he arranged for his trusted men to continue through the mountains through Shavlund to search for traces of the southern army of Eruin.

On the one hand, the construction of the territory is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

The renovation of the walls was finally completed at the end of the month of Frostfall, nearly a week later than expected - and far more supplies than expected, the only benefit of which was probably the workers who had been recruited to repair the walls.

In fact, it was not as smooth as it was thought at first.

Because no one was willing to work for this 'unjustifiable' young new lord, Grudin's prestige remained, not to mention that the prestige of Count Denel was even heavier in the hearts of these low-level lords.

The agreed policy of tenderness ran into trouble almost immediately, and the inducement of material conditions did not allow them to overcome their fear of the power of the old aristocracy, or of the reprisals that might ensue.

Antitina soon realized that if it weren't even for the mercenaries who cordoned off the surroundings of Fir City, or if the low-level lords shared the same fear of Brando, the mass exodus would have begun.

Knowing this, the nobleman's daughter finally realized what she had done, and she had no choice but to use coercion to make up for it - and in order to ensure the deadline, Antitina even acted as a 'nobleman's dog'.

The maiden herself led the men to the outer city, drove out the inhabitants of the huts and huts, gathered them in the square in a trembling manner, ordered the soldiers to give them tools, and let the mercenaries supervise their work.

Of course, although Miss Noble has minimized the violence in this as much as possible, violence in supervision is still unavoidable, and the title of 'Miss Demon' soon spreads in private.

The whole day passed through the coping of the workers and the resistance of the overseers.

But this change of attitude came from the end of the first day's work, and to everyone's surprise, the 'Demon Lady' arranged a sumptuous dinner for them.

Dinner was served not only with rare white bread, but also with stewed broth.

Of course, the broth is so clear that it is almost water and no meat, and at first glance it looks like a waterhole in the mountains - it is crystal clear. So much so that the nobles' daughters couldn't help frowning when they saw the pots with meat boiling, but this was not because the mercenaries were harsh, the meat was brought by the mercenaries from the forest, although there were a lot, but it was not enough for so many people.

She was a little worried that the workers would complain, but it turned out that things were completely different from what she expected.

These refugees, who live in the slums all year round, can barely walk when they smell the rich aroma of the broth, and their eyes become brighter than those of the hungriest wolves in the forest - white bread is already a rare delicacy in their eyes, and it is only possible to get a little of it during festivals or on important days.

As for the meat, it was only at the end of the year to see if the lord was in a good mood enough to reward them with some scraps.

As for whether it is clear or not, it is completely unnecessary.

In fact, seeing the workers gobbling up, Antitina realized that she had made another mistake. She remembers that when she was in Pragues, she could only nibble on a little black bread every day, let alone eat meat.

And with the power of this dinner, the aristocratic daughter finally stabilized people's hearts. She said that as long as they stay on the construction site, everyone can eat this food every day.

The promise almost caused a stir among the crowd, and although the workers were skeptical, most of them were willing to stay and see what was going on - not to mention that even if they didn't want to, the vicious mercenaries would help them make a choice.

Their doubts were quickly dispelled, and the 'Demon Lady' fulfilled her promise to have a white bread and a small plate of stewed 'thick' soup every night.

As a direct consequence of this, there was a rapid decline in the stock of meat in the warehouses - because there were not many in the first place - and the meat reserves in the warehouses came from a small number of domesticated domestic animals in the territory, mostly mutton or pork, some of which had been cured for a considerable period of time.

In the past, this meat was provided to Grudin and his men, but now it is used to feed hundreds of people every day, and naturally the supply exceeds the demand.

For this reason, Flo complained to Antitina more than once, saying that if she continued to consume it like this, it was estimated that when Brando returned, their lord would not be able to eat a meal of meat.

This statement once struck Antitina, who had the young lord whom she most admired in her heart, and the workers from among the refugees, and the noble lady would choose the former without much thought.

But after much consideration, she finally insisted on her own approach. She asked the mercenaries to hunt in the forest as much as possible - even putting aside their daily training to replenish their meat consumption.

But this had unintended benefits, and the workers gradually learned that the 'Demon Lady' had arranged for them to hunt in the forest outside the city in order to secure their dinner, which had been hunted in the private hunting grounds of the lord in the past

This practice once moved everyone, and some people even quietly asked a mercenary to sue her, so that she didn't have to spend so much, in fact, it was already good to have white bread every day.

The workers began to fear that the young lord would punish the kind and benevolent noble lady for this.

But what they did only strengthened Antitina's confidence, and not only that, but she then told the workers that it was not her, but the lord who had arranged the qiē, so they had nothing to worry about.

Antitina used this small explanation to put all the credit on Brando, and coupled with the young lord's previous tax reduction measures, he gained a high reputation among these lower-class lords for a while.

Of course, Brando didn't know anything about this at the time, because the young man was dealing with the affairs of the mines in Shavrund at the time, and he was unaware of what happened in the territory.

In fact, Antitina didn't realize that she would succeed at first - she had no experience in governing the territory, and only had a few brief discussions with Brando during the trip.

But it didn't take long for her to realize that she had done nothing wrong.

Less than a week after the corresponding countermeasures were introduced, she was asked by the mercenaries if the lord needed more manpower.

This is clearly a sign that her construction site can attract more workers. But that's not all, it shows that between the remnants of the old aristocracy and the prestige of the young new lord, someone is beginning to waver.

This is undoubtedly a good sign.

The only thing to Antitina's regret was that the good omen did not lead to the delay in the end - on the one hand, there was too much time to delay at first, and on the other hand, none of them were really proficient in architecture and engineering.

The addition of Master Berlu may have more or less reversed some of their mistakes in arranging manpower, but the kingdom smith was not a true professional either - he may have had a unique insight into how to create a piece of magical armor.

But it's definitely not about repairing a section of the wall—

This dilemma was finally changed by the addition of the old dwarf Oldum from the Schavrund mines, who, no matter how unreliable the old dwarf, had at least learned a little from his fellow mountain dwarves.

After correcting a few previous misconceptions, the repair process was quickly accelerated, and it was finally completed by the end of the month.

On the morning of completion, Antitina summoned Brando, Metisa, Charles, and all of the young man's henchmen. Standing in the early morning fog with Akane and Roman, she quietly looked at the city wall that loomed behind the fog in early winter, and finally couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But then she frowned slightly, looked back at Brando, who was also looking in that direction, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, lord, for wasting so much time—"

Brando glanced at his staff, his eyes full of appreciation.

He remembered feeling lucky when he was in Pragues, because he was able to dig up a man who could make a magic channel, which was undoubtedly a happier thing than finding gold on the side of the road.

But it wasn't until today that he realized that he had picked up more than just a treasure – it was a priceless treasure.

Antitina was a very quiet girl, but she also had her own persistence—Brando could see the girl's insistence on her ideals and beliefs—and he felt that he could make such a wonderful girl serve him wholeheartedly.

After returning to the realm, he had learned all about the work of the nobleman's daughter. He had feared that Antitina, who had no experience in governing territory, would run into trouble—and he even expected the walls to be next month.

That is, the repair can only be completed in the middle of the sleeping month, although it is not a ** annoyance, but it may be more or less inconvenient to drag it out after the first snow.

But Antitina gave him a great surprise, and the noblewoman's daughter accomplished the task with her usual seriousness and meticulousness beyond his expectations.

Not only that, but he was also satisfied with the appearance of Berroux and Oldham—except that the old dwarf was a little timid.

He looked at Antitina, smiled approvingly, and nodded.