Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Lollister walked out of the house and looked down from the city walls.
This was actually a valley. The two walls were about three hundred meters apart. At this point, a gap suddenly appeared in the mountain range, and a large road passed through this gap. The gap wasn't big, and the walls were only about seventy to eighty meters long. Inside the walls, the valley between the mountain ranges was seven to eight hundred meters wide. The mountain range closed in, leaving a gap that was more than two hundred meters long. Now that the walls were built, the valley was sealed off.
This was indeed a good place to build a city. The valley and the hills were connected by a gentle slope, making it suitable for building a castle. Although there was only a lone hill on the other side, it was steep and long, reaching deep into the Black Forest in the distance. It formed a natural defensive barrier that cut off traffic.
In the valley, the slaves gathered in their camp in groups of three to five to bask in the sun. They chatted and fought from time to time. The days when they didn't have to work were also extremely rare days of rest for them. A dozen guards patrolled the camp in a formation, occasionally receiving respectful and envious looks from the slaves.
On the other side of the valley were rows of simple wooden houses. A row of unpeeled logs formed a fence, enclosing the wooden houses inside. This was the warehouse Butler Boris had mentioned. There were almost seven thousand barrels of gum vine juice, food, and some construction materials.
Not far from the warehouse was a carriage camp. That was where Lollister's caravan had set up. Some of the family members of the guards used a carriage to transport a few barrels of water from a pool under a rock wall in the distance. They washed and hung clothes beside the carriage camp.
A girl was catching insects in the bushes beside the carriage camp, a horsetail whip swinging behind her.
Isn't that Miss Tracy's maid, little Winnie? Lollister thought of Miss Tracy when he saw little Winnie. He slapped his forehead. He had a candidate to build the city.
"Invite Miss Tracy here. Tell her I have something to discuss with her," Lollister ordered a guard beside him.
Miss Tracy brought little Winnie and her steward to the city wall. Lollister welcomed them into the house with a large sand table.
Laurist explained his plan to build a city and sincerely invited Miss Tracy to be the person in charge of building the city.
Miss Tracy asked Lollister curiously, "Why did you invite me to be the person in charge?"
Lollister shrugged and said that he had no choice as he didn't have any subordinates. Fortunately, the blueprints for the city had been completed, and even the castle model was half-built. was Apart from some minor changes during the construction, there was no need to redesign the blueprints.
As for Miss Tracy, as the daughter and student of the famous ruin research female scholar, Sir Nicole Arbess, she inherited her mother's knowledge and mantle in the study of ruins and was also a female scholar. Laurist said that since she could even understand the twisting and turning tunnels in the ruins, it wouldn't be a problem for her to understand the blueprints. Who else could Miss Tracy be the person in charge of the city?
Miss Tracy was still a little hesitant. Laurist said that as the person in charge of the construction of the city, he would arrange subordinates for her. Even if he wasn't around, Josk and Big Bearded Overkiss would be in charge of defense. Miss Tracy only needed to focus on building the city. Lollister would arrange for Redi and Boris to listen to Miss Tracy's orders. She would also arrange for the thousand slaves to work.
The situation in the North was unstable, and Lollister had no time to spare. If Miss Trish was willing to help, the sooner Lollister stabilized his internal situation, the sooner Lollister could bring her to the Black Clay Swamp in the North to have a look. Besides, after the city was built, Miss Trish could choose one of the villas on the hillside as her permanent residence and estate. Furthermore, Laurist would also provide her with a generous sum of funds for her to continue her research on the ruins.
It was unknown which condition moved Miss Tracy's heart, but she finally agreed to be the person in charge of building the city.
Lollister heaved a sigh of relief. He ordered his men to bring Boris and Redi over, instructing them to assist Miss Tracy in building the city. He then gave the five large houses in the middle of the city walls to Miss Tracy as the command center.
Early the next morning, Loriste discovered nearly a thousand slave laborers leaving the city in an orderly manner. Redi and Triss's Iron-ranked butler brought over 40 guards to escort them. Judging from the direction they were heading, it seemed like they were heading to gather construction materials.
Lollister went to the city construction command center and saw Miss Tracy giving instructions to Butler Boris, who nodded repeatedly.
Seeing Lollister, Tracy asked him what was the matter.
Lollister said that there were a few areas he wanted to change. He took out the castle model and told Tracy and Boris about the areas he wanted to change.
The Kenneth Family's plan was to turn this place into a military camp. Other than the Kenneth Family members, the garrison troops and their relatives would be living here. This was also what Lollister was most dissatisfied with.
Lollister pointed at the model and said, "Look, we are planning to build a large castle in the middle of the valley. The main road will pass through the tunnel in the middle of the castle to control the road traffic. In fact, with these two walls, we can get rid of the castle in the middle of the valley. The castle next to the mountain will be the center of the city. Without the castle in the middle, the remaining area near the castle will be used to build a plaza. The area near the road will naturally be incorporated into the residential and commercial areas. "
Miss Tracy felt that Lollister's change was correct. She hated the original design. They built a large castle in the middle of the valley, and the extended walls divided the entire valley into pieces. Now, Lollister wanted to get rid of the castle in the middle. Not only would it reduce the difficulty of building the city, it would also reduce the amount of work needed.
The second area Lollister wanted to change was the four meter tall stone wall in front of them. The Kenneth Family spent three months using slave labor to build the wall facing the Norton Family's territory. The wall facing the Viscount's territory was casually built with stones.
Now that Lollister had taken back the castle in the Norton Family's territory, the crude stone wall became the first defensive barrier facing the Viscount's territory. Before Lollister entered, Miss Tracy and Butler Boris discussed how to modify and strengthen the wall.
Lollister's idea was not to build a wall like the one they were standing on. He took a blank piece of animal skin and drew a convex shape on it, requesting for the wall to be built like this. If it was more than two hundred meters long like the wall they were standing on, the amount of work needed would be huge. Fortunately, the wall in front was only seventy to eighty meters long. According to Lollister's request, it could be completed in a month.
Seeing that Miss Tracy had noted down his request, Lollister took his leave.
In the evening. Josk, Sadkamp, and Pat returned from the copper mine in victory. They brought more than ten mercenaries and rescued more than seventy Norton Family members who used to work in the mines.
Sadkamp and Pat brought an old man in his sixties with white sideburns to Lollister. "Sir, this is Old Man Barlek, the steward in charge of the copper mine."
Old Man Barlek bowed to Lollister, his eyes red. "Sir, thank you for remembering us and rescuing us …"
Lollister hurriedly helped Old Man Barlek up and comforted him gently. There was no need to be polite to people of the family. Now that the family's most difficult time was over, the family still needed to develop. He needed Old Man Barlek and the others to continue working hard for the family. However, Old Man Barlek and the others had just been rescued from the mines, so they needed to take good care of their bodies. They could rest here for a while.
Old Man Barlek was very emotional. He said that he knew that the family had been down on their luck for the past two years, especially after the death of the eldest and third young masters. This time, when Viscount Gomez sent his troops to take over the copper mine and throw them into the mines, Old Man Barlek didn't expect anyone from the family to rescue them. He thought that they would have to mine for the rest of their lives. He didn't expect Lollister to send people to rescue them when he heard the news. He didn't even have time to return to the family's manor to inherit the title and territory.
Old Man Barlek was very grateful. He patted his chest and said that he was in good health. He insisted that Lollister arrange something for him to do and that he didn't want to eat for free. Hence, Laurist gathered everyone for a meeting and arranged everything accordingly. He also arranged for Old Man Barlek to be placed in Miss Tresti's City Building Command Center.
On the 34th of February, Lollister bid farewell to everyone with Sadkamp and Pat. The three of them drove a four-wheeled carriage to the Norton Family's manor and castle.
In Locke's memory, Lollister found an impression of the Norton Family's manor and castle. There were many maple trees there. Every autumn, the maple trees would turn red like fire and the scenery was very beautiful. Between the maple trees, there was a huge white hill. The Norton Family's manor and castle was located on the white hill.
Locke still remembered that the castle was very big. There were vineyards, chicken and pig farms and a small crescent moon-shaped lake. The children in the manor and castle loved to play in the water in the summer. Opposite the small lake was the family's stable. The handsome horses were Locke's favorite and he was always fascinated by them. When his mother was still around, she always called him a little horse fanatic.
Seven hours later, Sadkamp stopped the carriage. Pat knocked on the carriage door and said, "Sir, we're here."
Lollister got out of the carriage and found himself standing in front of a grey castle. The drawbridge had not been lowered yet.
"What's going on? Pat, why haven't the people inside lowered the drawbridge and opened the gate? "Lollister asked.
Pat said, "Sir, there's no one on guard at all. The people inside don't know that we're here yet."
Sadkamp got into the carriage and found a bull's horn. He put it to his mouth and blew on it.
"Who's down there?" Finally, two people appeared on top of the castle and looked down.
"It's me, Sadkamp! And Pat! We've brought the second young master back! "Sadkamp jumped up and yelled.
"What? The second young master is back? Wait, we'll report to the old butler and Miss Bertha … … "The human heads on the castle disappeared. After a while, Laurist heard a short horn sound from within the castle, and the drawbridge was lowered slowly with creaking sounds. The gates opened, and a female knight with long, crimson hair and an iron chain armor walked out with large strides, holding a horsewhip in her hand.
"Sadkamp, you're still willing to come back? I thought you'd die in some unknown corner." The female knight gave Sadkamp, who was standing respectfully by the side, a whip and scolded him with a smile.
Sadkamp bowed his head and said, "Thanks to Miss Bertha, we've found the second young master and brought him back. We didn't fail our mission."
The female knight said, "Count yourself lucky …"
She then turned to Pat and said, "Heh, you've changed so much that I can't recognise you anymore. How rare."
Pat didn't reply and only nodded at the female knight.
The female knight didn't mind. She walked past Pat and stared at Lollister. "Second young master?"
In his memory, the red-haired girl was the scariest and most annoying person apart from his father. She stole his older brother from him and followed him around every day. He only pulled her red braid out of curiosity and got a good beating from her.
Now, the little red-haired girl of the past had also grown up into a tall and valiant female knight.
Lollister grinned. "Bai … Sister Bertha …"
The red-haired female knight was satisfied that Lollister still remembered how he addressed her when he was young. "Not bad. Little Locke has grown up. You're so tall now. It's good that you're back. You must have suffered a lot along the way. Go in, Old Steward Clancy is waiting for you. "
Old Steward Clancy was really old. Lollister remembered that he was already sixty-three when Locke left. Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the old steward had aged even more. His old injuries were acting up again, and he couldn't even walk. However, his impetus foundation was still there. Although he wasn't as energetic as before, his eyes were still sharp.
Clancy grabbed Lollister's hand and didn't let go. He was happy and regretful at the same time. "Child, I don't know if I should be happy that you're back or regret letting you come back. The Norton family is a broken ship that's about to fall apart. It's about to sink into the water, but the people on the ship are still arguing about who should take the helm. It must have been hard on you to bring you on board and make you the captain of this broken ship. "
Lollister smiled. "Grandpa Clancy, the family is in trouble. As a descendant of the Norton family, it's my duty and responsibility to come back and share the family's troubles. The Norton family has gone through more than two hundred years of hardships in the north. I won't let them continue to sink. The Norton family will become a name that resounds throughout the entire continent. "
Old Steward Clancy smiled in relief. "Child, it's good to be ambitious, but everything has to be done slowly. Go eat and rest. I'll arrange for the inheritance ceremony for you tomorrow. The family has been arguing for so long that it's getting out of hand. With you as the head of the family, I believe that everything will get better. "
Lollister stood up from the old steward's bedside and bowed to him before following Söderkamp and Padt to the dining hall.
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