LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 9
“It’s hot, I’m dying from the heat.”
“Just hold on a little longer. The sun will set soon.”
“What difference does it make when the sun sets! Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, I’ll still have to haul dirt until I drop!”
Wham!
Unable to hold it in any longer, the man threw the shovel he was holding to the ground.
“Hey, what if someone hears you?”
“Let them hear! The harvest is just around the corner, and we’ve been at this for months!”
The man’s name was Hans.
He was a farmer who had lived in the Blaire Duchy for three generations.
Despite his friend’s attempt to calm him down, Hans couldn’t contain his anger and vented his frustration.
“No matter what kind of compensation they offer… all the men in the household are working, but are our ancestors going to take care of our fields?”
“That’s true for everyone, isn’t it?”
The man, who had been looking around, patted Hans on the shoulder.
He too felt the same frustration.
The dam construction, which they thought was almost finished, had been delayed longer than expected, making everyone who was about to harvest even more anxious.
Of course, the Duke of Blaire wasn’t a bad ruler who failed to provide fair compensation or was a tyrant.
However, with livelihoods at stake, the serfs couldn’t hide their unease.
“It needs to be resolved quickly.”
Eventually, agreeing with Hans, the man slumped to the ground.
Living within the walls built by the nobility promised a life free from the fear of unjust raids.
At the same time, it meant that when the territory needed development, they had to offer their labor.
The Blaire Duchy had a low tax rate. As a result, the serfs had cooperated willingly whenever they were called upon for work.
However, after enduring endless work in the scorching summer heat, with no end in sight, even their enthusiasm was beginning to fade.
“I just want to eat the food my wife makes… I don’t even remember the last time I had a hot stew.”
“Aren’t you the one on cooking duty tomorrow? Ugh, looks like we’ll starve.”
“Haah…”
Hans sighed deeply and nodded his head.
Even the soldiers of the Duchy had joined the construction, so there were no extra hands to help.
Women and children, who were left behind by the men, had to manage both housework and the fields, so the men had to take care of meals on the construction site.
Though they provided the ingredients, there were very few people skilled in cooking, so the food quality was inevitably very low.
“Can’t anyone else show up?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about while everyone’s busy?”
“Yeah. Sigh, let’s just get back to work.”
Complaining only wasted time.
Hans and his friend picked up their shovels and slowly started walking.
But then…
Thud, thud, thud…
“Do you hear that sound?”
“What sound?”
“Sounds like running…”
It sounded like an army was moving.
The ground-shaking noise grew louder in their ears.
“Wait, is there a war?”
“Who in their right mind would start a war just before the harvest? Are they looking for divine punishment?”
Above all, there was no way anyone would dare to touch the Duke of Blale.
Hans, clutching his shovel, turned toward the source of the sound with a worried look on his face.
And then, he saw it.
“Isn’t that… people?”
It was definitely people, and a large number of them.
Kicking up dust, they were running toward them, wearing the same work clothes with arm bands that read “Black Eagle Mercenary Group.”
“Who… are they?!”
Just as the soldiers in charge of the site rushed forward to put on their armor, the Duke’s aide, Liam, arrived and stepped forward.
“Hoo… Hoo…!”
Liam’s heavy breathing showed just how urgent the situation was.
“These are the mercenaries from the Illamena Alliance, the Black Eagle Mercenary Group, who will be working on the dam construction from today. Hoo, you are to hand over the site to them and leave… Hoo, it’s the Duke’s orders!”
“Is that really true?”
“Are you serious?”
The serfs looked at Liam and the mercenaries in bewilderment.
Soon, the leader of the mercenaries shouted loudly.
“Black Eagle Mercenary Group, begin the work!”
“Begin!”
With a mighty cheer, the Black Eagle Mercenaries stormed into the construction site, and the serfs, finally snapping out of their surprise, followed to assist with the handover.
Even as Liam stamped the documents with the seal of Count Golbro, who owned the Black Eagle Mercenaries, the reality of the situation still felt surreal.
“Huh…”
As Liam stared at the Black Eagle Mercenaries, he soon turned his head toward the figure next to him.
It was April.
* * *
Hmm, fortunately, things are going well.
I don’t know what they expect me to have imagined, but ‘imagining things’ never leads to anything happening.
Today, I once again felt the value of my ant-like life, which somehow managed to survive, and turned to go back to the room that others call a prison, but feels like heaven to me.
“How did you manage to mobilize them? I know this isn’t how things usually get resolved.”
At Liam’s question, I had no choice but to stop in my tracks.
“Well… I guess I was just lucky…”
“You can’t just explain that it was luck, especially since there wasn’t even a separate negotiation process.”
Ugh, they just won’t let it go.
I sighed and dusted off the materials nearby before sitting down casually on top of them.
“I presented very specific conditions. Since the seal of the Duke was on it, it was trustworthy, which is why things moved faster.”
“If you could satisfy them enough to have them come this quickly, then it must have been quite unfavorable for us.”
Liam seemed worried that I might have offered an unreasonable compensation.
But, no matter how much it’s someone else’s money, I wasn’t so shameless as to spend extravagantly in my current position—living off others, or as some would call it, being abducted.
“They usually accept contracts under similar conditions, so fast negotiations are possible in those cases.”
“…?”
“They were originally supposed to be hired by the Salt Kingdom, but their contract got canceled unexpectedly. And I’ve participated in contract negotiations between Salt and the Illamena Alliance before.”
I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight, stretching out my hand and added, “…So, I was really just lucky.”
I was afraid Liam would ask another question, but fortunately, someone seemed to have a matter to discuss with him.
“Sir, Aide…”
“Hmm? What is it?”
A man in tattered clothes, looking thoroughly nervous, glanced at Liam.
“By any chance, do you know who we should hand over the cooking responsibilities to? I heard the mercenaries don’t have a cook.”
“A cook?”
Oh, right.
Liam had only reviewed the negotiation terms, so he wouldn’t know about this.
I felt the need to explain and answered in his place.
“The women in the territory who need to engage in economic activities can do the cooking.”
“So, you mean we should mobilize the remaining villagers…?”
“Yes.”
It’s better to have volunteers than forcefully mobilizing people.
I nodded without hesitation.
The documents related to the dam construction not only listed the villagers who were mobilized for the work but also briefly included information about those who weren’t.
What caught my attention was the specific group of women who had almost no economic activities and couldn’t even pay taxes.
These women included widows whose husbands had died, single mothers, or women who had given up on marriage to support their parents.
When I asked a maid who regularly brought food, she told me these women barely managed to make a living by doing odd jobs for others.
“Right now, the men are mobilized for the construction, so there’s enough work to keep them fed, but once the construction ends, things will go back to normal.”
“So, what will happen to those women…?”
“They’ll just barely scrape by. If they’re unlucky, they’ll go hungry.”
After figuring out the situation, I began to get a clearer idea of the next step.
‘The Black Eagle Squadron doesn’t have a cook.’
The Salt Kingdom had sent their own chefs, but now there was no time for that, and it would be difficult to send someone from the Duke’s estate.
Usually, chefs from noble families have a strong sense of duty, but they wouldn’t want to tend to the meals of lowly mercenaries.
So, I came up with the idea of finding a replacement labor force.
Thinking through the situation, I spoke again in a confident tone.
“You saw it too, Liam, but the contract includes providing breakfast and lunch to the Black Eagle Squadron. You knew that, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“So, if we want them to start work tomorrow morning, I think you’ll have to take care of it. I’ve prepared a list of potential workers for you to refer to.”
Liam, who had been looking stunned, quickly composed himself and nodded.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay.”
I nodded and then turned my gaze to the bright sky.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt the sun on me. Of course, it’s not bad.
‘Still, I…’
I already started missing the cool and dark room of mine, even without blackout curtains.