It was already two o 'clock in the afternoon when the carriage drove into the family's manor. It was already past the time for lunch.
Laurist personally carried Belluniac to another guest room on the same floor as Sudekamp and Pat. After settling Belluniac down, he went upstairs.
The little maid, Elina, was sewing a white dress with a needle and thread. When she saw Laurist coming upstairs, she was so scared that her whole body trembled like a little quail in the rain …
Laurist sighed and tried to make his voice sound gentle and amiable so that he wouldn't scare his timid maid. "Elina, come downstairs with me. I need your help."
Taking Elina to Beruk's room on the second floor, Laurist said, "Elina, I'll leave Big Brother Baker in your care. In a bit, go find Head Steward Kleis and have him find a maid to take care of Big Brother Baker. Also, make a small kitchen downstairs. From now on, Brother Baker will eat according to the recipes I give you. Otherwise, we'll eat in the small kitchen as well. If you don't have enough people, find a cook and maid. Remember, you must find loyal ones that have nothing to do with Beiye Town. Also, every time Brother Baker eats, let the maid taste it first to make sure there's no problem. Do you understand? "
Elina peeked at Lollister carefully and then nodded.
Laurist said, "Make a list of the things you need and give it to Spear. Ask her to prepare it for you. Also, let her be responsible for the small kitchen downstairs …"
Sudekamp came in and said, "Sir, Steward Kleis sent someone to find you. He seems to be in a hurry."
"Okay, Elina, then I'll leave everything here to you. Let me know if there are any problems tonight, okay?"
Elina gritted her teeth and nodded.
"Okay, Sudekamp, go find Pat and ask him to send a few guards here. Also, listen to Elina's arrangements. Brother Baker, rest for a while. I'll go see Steward Kleis first, "Laurist said.
…
There were two main reasons why Clancy was so angry. The first was that Laurist had gone to Northern Field Town without any guards, and the old steward had been nagging that if anything were to happen to him, the Norton family would once again be thrown into chaos. The old butler said that he was getting on in years and could not afford to be so fearful. He requested Laurist to consider his own safety before doing anything in the future.
Laurist was well aware of the old butler's concern for him. He pushed the old butler's wooden wheelchair as he recounted his experiences in Northern Field City. The old butler was filled with resentment towards Belunick's misfortune. He had actually been poisoned and had been bedridden for two years. If Loriste had not studied pharmaceutics, who knew how long he would have been deceived.
However, the old seneschal objected to Laurist's decision to expand the garrison. He strongly opposed the expansion and believed that the garrison could not be allowed to grow. Laurist shook his head. Perhaps this was the stubbornness of an old man. He had been on guard and vigilant against the garrison for so many years, but he could not change his mind at once. Laurist found it difficult to make the old seneschal understand the meaning of 'if you want to take something, you must first let it go', so he could only remain silent.
At this moment, Laurist was pushing the old seneschal towards the family's forbidden grounds. This was another reason why the old seneschal was so angry. Last night, the old seneschal had repeatedly reminded him that as the new head of the Norton family, he had to go to the forbidden grounds on the first day to pay his respects to the heroic spirits of the family's ancestors. However, Laurist went to Northern Field Town and came back so late. He really did not take this matter to heart, which disappointed the old seneschal.
Laurist pushed the wooden wheelchair and listened to the old seneschal's nagging as he walked towards the back of the castle. His mind was filled with thoughts. What was the family's forbidden grounds like? He could not find any impression from Locke's memories. Last night was the first time the old seneschal had mentioned it. What was inside? Was it like in the novels in his previous life, where there was endless wealth, powerful martial arts manuals, divine weapons, or a ghostly old grandpa?
Laurist was a little disappointed. Under Seneschal's guidance, they arrived at a cliff in the back of the castle. This place was not only remote, but also a little gloomy. Laurist looked around. In the novels, the forbidden grounds were guarded by the family's experts, but he did not even see a shadow. Did this mean that the Norton family's forbidden grounds were actually unguarded?
The old seneschal rummaged around in his wheelchair for a long time before taking out a thick bronze key that was about a foot long. He handed it to Laurist and gestured for him to insert it into a small hole in the cliff. Laurist inserted the bronze key and twisted it twice under the seneschal's guidance. Then, he heard a click coming from inside the cliff.
"Push that big rock to the left …" said the old seneschal.
The big rock was pushed away, revealing a hole in the cliff. A faint rotting stench assaulted Laurist's nostrils, causing him to sneeze a few times.
The old seneschal did not seem to smell the stench. He just turned the wheels of his wooden wheelchair and walked toward the pitch-black hole. Laurist hurriedly went to help from behind.
The old seneschal instructed Laurist to light up all the torches on the walls of the cave.
After Laurist went in and lit up a few torches, he finally had time to look around.
Damn, is this the forbidden grounds of the family? More accurately, this is a morgue. There were platforms made of stones everywhere in the cave, and corpses were placed on the platforms.
The stench grew stronger, and Laurist discovered three rotting corpses on the platforms near the cave entrance.
Laurist was so disgusted that he wanted to vomit. He really could not take it anymore. The scene in front of him reminded him of a movie he had seen in his previous life. It seemed like the male lead was looking for a treasure hidden by the Nazis in Italy, and accidentally entered an underground public cemetery. That place was just like this cave, with corpses and bones everywhere, as well as hordes of rats …
Fortunately, there are no rats in this cave, Laurist thought.
Old Seneschal Kleis waved his hand and beckoned Laurist over. There was a large rusty iron box on the platform in front of him. He opened the box and took out a large book bound in thick animal skin. The old seneschal solemnly handed the book to Laurist.
"Little Locke, this book records the heroic deeds of the 327 ancestors of the Norton Family in the past 248 years. They are all currently lying in eternal rest in this cave. Their serial numbers are written on it, corresponding to the corpses in the cave. Now, I will pass this book that records the glorious history of the Norton Family to you. I hope that with the blessings of the ancestors, you will not tarnish the reputation of the Norton Family. You will become an outstanding lord and lead the family on a path of prosperity and development. "
Laurist received the thick animal skin book with a serious expression. He thought that he had completed the mission of exploring the family's forbidden grounds and could finally leave this cave filled with corpses. Who knew that Old Seneschal Kleis would be interested in the book? He had Laurist push him around the cave and casually recounted the glorious deeds of the corpses when they were alive.
At this moment, Laurist suspected that Old Seneschal Kleis had been wandering around this cave in the past. How familiar must he be to be able to casually tell the stories of these corpses when they were alive? After enduring for more than an hour, the old seneschal said that he was tired. He ordered Laurist to push him out of the cave, pushed the large rock back and locked it before walking back.
"Grandpa Kleis, why are the corpses of the ancestors of the Norton Family all placed in this cave, and not buried like the others?" Laurist asked.
"Yes, this should be more than two hundred years ago. Our family's first baron was bestowed this title and chose to build a manor and castle here. Just as the manor and castle were about to be completed, they were attacked by the Mountain Barbarians. The first baron and his two sons died in battle. His eldest son inherited the title and territory, and led the family's armed forces to fight against the Mountain Barbarians. It was winter at that time, and the ground was as hard as steel. Firstly, it was difficult to bury the corpses, and secondly, they were afraid that the arrival of magical beasts would destroy the tombs and corpses. Coincidentally, there was a cave in the mountain behind the manor and castle, so the corpses were placed in it. Originally, they planned to arrange another burial when the flowers bloomed in the spring, but they realized that it was better this way, so they used this cave as the family's burial chamber. Every direct descendant of the Norton Family will be placed in this cave after they die, just like their ancestors. In the future, you will be no exception, little Locke, "Old Seneschal Kleis said.
Alright, Laurist imagined his own body being placed in the cave to slowly rot after he died. He suddenly felt that it was a very disgusting and scary thing. I don't want that, Laurist thought. I have to take this matter to heart and think of a way to change this tradition when I have the chance. This so-called family forbidden ground really made me lose my appetite, and I couldn't lift my spirits at all.
When he returned to the main building, Laurist found that Padt had sent eight awakened warriors over. Although most of them were Bronze-rank, they were rare elite soldiers in the family at the current stage.
When he went upstairs, he saw that Berunik was sleeping soundly, and Elina was nowhere to be seen. Laurist went downstairs and called two guards over. He told them to inform Sederkamp, Padt, Spear, and Hansk to come here for a meeting that night.
Soon, Laurist saw Sederkamp, Elina, and three other girls dragging a big cart over. While giggling, they were moving things down from the cart with some guards. It turned out that Sederkamp had allocated four of the eight rooms downstairs as dormitories for the new guards, and the remaining one was turned into a small kitchen, one into a small dining room, one into the living quarters of the two new maids, and the last room was turned into a small kitchen storeroom. The taller of the three girls was Berunik's new maid.
Laurist nodded. He was satisfied that Sederkamp was more thoughtful than he was.
In the evening, Padt reported to Laurist that there were 2,245 people in the family's manor and castle. Excluding the women, children, and old people, there were only about 400 young men who could become family soldiers. With the assistance of Manager Hansk, he had already selected two hundred and forty-eight people. After sending eight guards here, the rest were formed into two squads of guards. However, among the 240 people, less than 20 had awakened warrior energy. To be honest, these two teams were like peasant soldiers. In Padt's eyes, they didn't have any combat ability. In addition, the two new guard teams didn't have armor or weapons. They couldn't even carry a spear, so each of them was given a wooden stick.
Laurist said that the meeting tonight was mainly about Beiye Town. Tomorrow, Sederkamp would take some people to Beiye Town with Steward Kordan to do the population registration. There were two main points. The first was the family soldiers and the residents who lost their land. This part of the population was going to be moved to the castle construction site in the Morgen Hills. The second part was the guards who had been ostracized by the four families. They weren't reliable, so they had to be registered separately. Leurist was prepared to let these people build the other town that he had mentioned in Beiye Town to appease the hearts of the four great families of An Beiye Town.
Steward Hansk had two things to do in the manor and castle tomorrow. First, the guards of the manor and castle were the former family soldiers who were in their forties. There were about 40 of them. Laurist did not plan to dismiss them. He asked Manager Hansk to pick ten or so of them to be the instructors of the two newly formed guard squads. They would first teach the rookies basic military rules and formation training. As for warrior energy, Laurist was going to do it himself. He wanted to experience the thrill of being a combat awakening instructor again.
Hansk's second task was the same as Sederkamp's. He counted the survivors of the family's soldiers in the castle and the surplus labor force. Lollister was prepared to send them to the castle's construction site in the Morgen Hills.
Laurist ordered Padt to find Knight Joss the next day and tell him to deliver the sixty or so mercenaries that surrendered, the extra armor, weapons, and carriages to the manor castle before the fourth of March.
Finally, Laurist gave Steward Spear a piece of paper and asked her to provide the new guard team with food according to the recipe on the paper. Also, Laurist asked Steward Spear to take care of Elina's needs since Elina was responsible for Berhunick's recovery.
Laurist clapped his hands. Alright, it's getting late. Everyone, rest early. There are still many things to do tomorrow.
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