From Londoner To Lord

Chapter 373 - 367. Cinran - IV

Tesyb shrugged. "I never thought to ask exactly how much he was willing to pay you, but I'll tell him what you earn here and ask about it next time. But I can still tell you what people earn back home. The rates are obviously lower than those in a big town like Cinran, but our expenses are also lower. Anyway, unskilled laborers and coal miners get eight to ten coppers a day. There's enough work for everyone in Tiranat these days, so that's the bare minimum any new arrival can earn. New manor guards like me start at 12 coppers a day, while the more experienced guards can even reach 16 to 18. Father told me that foremen like him will earn 20 coppers a day, once the payments start in coins again."

He watched her face, trying to guess what she was thinking. "What's probably more relevant for you is what the skilled craftsmen earn. I've heard that the blacksmith and the two main carpenters earn more than 20 a day. Maybe even 25. That's secondhand information though, so don't hold me to it. But one of their apprentices, who's a friend, told me that once they pass a test, they are supposed to earn 15 coppers a day. So even if Lord Kivamus thinks of you as an apprentice, you'll get at least 15, which is already higher than what you earn here. And if he decides your sewing knowledge is good enough, then you'll earn even more. Surely above 20 coppers, although it could be even higher. Syrene—a young woman who's skilled in creating, uh...something I can't talk about here—she's highly valued by the baron, and rumors say he might even pay her 25 coppers. Since the baron needs your help to advise him on his machine, he might probably pay you in the same range. But I can't swear on it until I confirm it from him."

Isuha stood quietly for a moment, the half-eaten bun loose in her hand. "I don't know, Tesyb... I want to believe you. I really do. But I've lived here for years. It's not the life I dreamed of, but at least it's something familiar. But I don't know anything about how life would be in Tiranat now. Even if the baron wants me just for sewing skills, it's hard to believe he'll pay me even a single copper when he hasn't paid you even once by now..."

Tesyb sighed. She wasn't wrong, and he couldn't argue it away. He thought of trying another tactic. "You have no idea how happy mother and father will be if you decide to move back..."

Isuha nodded, slowly. "I know. And maybe I'll consider it in the future. But I don't see how I can move right now. You said we don't even have a house now, right? I'd also end up in that huge building you told me about—sleeping in a bunk with a hundred other people nearby. I can't do that... Not when I'm used to at least having a room with a door that locks. From what you've told me, even if I earn good money in Tiranat, there isn't even any proper house in the village to rent at the moment, is it?" She looked a little embarrassed. "Sharing a house with a few other women to lower the rent would have been fine—as long as I got a separate room for myself. But living in a big hall piled together like that... it scares me..."

Tesyb nodded reluctantly, understanding her reason. A good looking young woman like her, staying in one of those longhouse blocks with so many other people, just didn't feel right... He hadn't heard of anything bad happening there, but then, none of the village girls looked like her.

"All right. I'll tell the baron about your answer. Maybe he can do something about it to help make up your mind. Anyway, I have to leave tomorrow afternoon for the village, although the merchant—Trevalo—will come back here to go to Ulriga. That trip should take around three weeks, and our guards won't accompany him that time, since he'll go by a sailboat. But after he returns, the baron has planned to start a weekly coal caravan from Tiranat to Cinran. He'll also send guards with it, since we'll have to travel through the forests. The guards will be rotated for that escort, but once it starts, I can visit you regularly. If not every week, then certainly every other week."

She smiled. "That sounds good. It gets too long to meet otherwise."

Tesyb nodded. "Yeah. This means you've got around a month to think about your decision until I come to meet with you again. And when I return next time, I'll tell you exactly how much he's willing to pay. We won't have any contact for another month, but after that, you can change your mind any time about moving there. Just hitch a ride with the caravan guards and they'll take you safely to the village. Trust me—you can rely on them for your life. Or you can wait another week, since I'll likely be here in the next rotation anyway."

He glanced at the sun. It had sunk behind the rooftops in the west, leaving a dull amber glow along the street. "I should get back now. Trevalo wants to take the guards to a tavern for food before it closes. I can't miss that chance."

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Isuha laughed. "Of course. You need a lot of food for those muscles." She glanced toward the alley which led to her workshop. "I need to return too, or the owner will start to nag."

They walked together until they reached the shop's doorway, and with another hug, Tesyb left the place. As he watched her enter the shop, he noticed a man staring at her from across the street. Tesyb didn't say a word. He just walked to the man with his fists clenched—his bulk easily towering above the bastard—and glared back, hard and long enough for the man's expression to crack. The man vanished almost instantly down an alley, thankfully not needing him to use his fists.

Tesyb exhaled and made his way toward the baker's shop to return the wrapping cloth and get a copper back. He kept seeing Isuha's face in his mind—the thinness in her cheeks, the way men in town looked at her. She didn't realize her own beauty, but the other men he had caught staring at her today certainly did. And he hated the thought of leaving her alone in this place. She was his sister, so it was his responsibility to protect her—at least until she got married.

But he could do nothing for her if she stayed in a whole different town. However, if she moved to Tiranat, she'd be safe from such bastards. He'd make sure of it. People would also know that she is a guard's sister, and nobody would dare to leer at her. She'd have steady food too, which'd surely be better than what she was getting to eat here. And if Lord Kivamus's new contraption worked out well, she could even build a real future there, working directly for the baron as a respected employee—just like Syrene—with a job that paid excellently.

What else could anyone ask for, in these difficult times everywhere...

***

~ Kivamus ~

Finally, the day was here. Kivamus was walking toward the manor gates with the others, the cool morning air brushing against his neck. A wagon was waiting near the gates, hitched to a pair of horses stamping at the dirt. Duvas, Hudan, and a few other guards were already gathered near the wagon.

The old carpenter Taniok had met the majordomo the previous evening to report that the sawmill was finally ready. It was too late to visit the dam then, so today had become the long-awaited trip to the sawmill. It would help them tremendously in scaling up the construction projects, and would allow them to build housing for the new refugees who were arriving every week—although feeding the ever-growing population was a different matter.

A hunting group had returned late last night with a good haul of meat from the western forest, rolling it back on a pair of wheelbarrows, but with only three hunting groups out these days, they weren't getting as much meat as they needed to start smoking it for the winter months when all trade would stop. On the other hand, the farming foreman Pinoto had told Duvas that the last stretch of farmland was nearly planted. Another day or two and the sowing would finally be completed. The foreman had suggested that they could stop clearing the forest now, since they didn't need any more farming land.

However, Kivamus had disagreed, and had ordered the loggers to keep cutting trees ahead of the farmlands. Wheat sowing was nearly finished for the season, but he didn't want the village depending on a single crop. They had already ordered a bigger shipment of liwabeans for that purpose from the portly merchant Pydaso, but they could only be planted in late autumn. So he wanted to buy some other crops which they could plant after wheat. It would help them in increasing their food supply further, as well as diversifying it and making it a healthier diet. Potato beds were already being planted near the new vegetable patches in the southern part of the village, although the total area covered by it was a small one. So he was thinking of buying more potatoes in the future and planting them in the newly cleared strips of land beyond the wheat fields.

The villagers had also been told to go and pick any ripe fruits and nuts from the forest in their free time. So they were making groups of around a dozen people once every week and going into the forest with baskets in their hands, with a few strong men taking machetes for defense purposes. Because of all the activity around the village, most of the dangerous predators had left the area near the village anyway. Or at least they stayed away in the daytime, which was good enough for now.

Adzee howls were still heard occasionally in the nights, but so far none of them had attacked the village. Hopefully, it would stay like that, although they couldn't count on it. For that purpose, they needed to continue hiring more guards. Thankfully, seven new recruits had already passed the basic test given by the captain and had been inducted into the guard force, while three more would be recruited within a day or two, and then their proper training would be started by the captain.

He realized that it was only possible to hire more guards because new refugees were coming to the village continuously in a slow but steady flow. It meant more mouths to feed, but also more hands to work. It was a catch-22 situation, but that was the only way for the village to continue growing.