“It's hot, I'm dying from the heat.”
“Wait a minute. The sun will set soon.”
What a difference when the sun sets! Tomorrow, and the day after, I will carry the dirt until I fall!
Wham!
When the man could not hold on any longer, he threw the shovel he was carrying on the ground.
“Hey, what if someone hears you?”
"Listen! The harvest is coming, and we've been working on this for months!"
The man's name was Hans.
He was a farmer who had lived in the Duchy of Blair for three generations.
Although his friend tried to calm him down, Hans could not contain his anger and showed his frustration.
“No matter what kind of compensation they give...all the men at home work, but will our ancestors tend our fields?”
“That's true for everyone, isn't it?”
The man, who was looking around, patted Hans on the shoulder.
He too felt the same frustration.
The construction of the dam, which they thought was almost finished, had been delayed longer than expected, making everyone who was about to harvest even more anxious.
Of course, Duke Blair was not a bad ruler who failed to provide fair compensation or was a tyrant.
However, with their livelihoods at risk, the serfs could not hide their anxiety.
“It must be resolved quickly.”
In the end, the man agreed with Hans, and fell to the ground.
Living within the walls built by the nobles promised a life free from fear of unjust raids.
At the same time, this meant that when an area needed development, they had to offer their work.
The Duchy of Blair had a low tax rate. As a result, serfs willingly cooperated whenever they were asked to work.
However, after enduring endless work in the scorching summer heat, with no end in sight, even their enthusiasm began to fade.
“I just want to eat the food my wife makes... I don't even remember the last time I had hot soup.”
Aren't you the one who will be assigned to cook tomorrow? Ah, it looks like we're going to starve.
“Huh...”
Hans sighed deeply and nodded.
Even the duchy's soldiers joined the construction process, so there were no extra hands to help.
The women and children the men left behind had to do the housework and the fields, so the men had to take care of meals at the construction site.
Although they provided the ingredients, the number of people skilled in cooking was very few, so the quality of the food was inevitably very low.
“Can't anyone else show up?”
“What nonsense are you talking about while everyone is busy?”
"Yes. Ah, let's get back to work."
Complaining is just a waste of time.
Hans and his friend took their shovels and started walking slowly.
But then…
Bang, bang, bang...
Do you hear this sound?
“What is the sound?”
“It feels like running...”
It looked like an army on the move.
The sound of the ground shaking became louder in their ears.
“Wait, is there a war?”
Who in their right mind starts a war before the harvest? Are they waiting for divine punishment?
Above all, there was no one who would dare touch Duke Belial.
Holding his shovel, Hans turned towards the source of the sound with a worried look on his face.
And then he saw it.
“Isn’t that… people?”
It was certainly people, and a great many of them.
They raised dust, and were running towards them, wearing the same overalls with ribbons on their arms that said “Black Eagle Mercenary Group.”
“Who…they?!”
As the soldiers in charge of the site rushed forward to don their armor, the Duke's assistant, Liam, arrived and stepped forward.
“He…he…!”
Liam's heavy breathing showed the urgency of the situation.
These are the mercenaries of the Ilamina Alliance, the Black Eagle Mercenary Group, who will work on building the dam from today. He, you must hand over the location to them and leave... He, it is the Duke's orders!
“Is this really true?”
Are you serious?
The serfs looked at Liam and the mercenaries in confusion.
After a while, the mercenary leader shouted loudly.
“Black Eagle Mercenary Group, get to work!”
“It starts!”
With a great cheer, the Black Eagle mercenaries stormed into the construction site, and the serfs finally woke up from their astonishment and followed them to help with the delivery.
Even when Liam sealed the documents with the seal of Count Golbru, who owned the Black Eagle Mercenaries, the reality of the situation still seemed surreal.
“Huh...”
As Liam looked at the Black Eagle mercenaries, he quickly turned his head towards the person next to him.
It was April.
* * *
Well, fortunately, things are going well.
I don't know what they expect me to imagine, but “imagining things” never makes anything happen.
Today, I once again felt the value of my ant-like life, which had somehow managed to survive, and I turned to go back to the room that others call prison, but to me it seems like heaven.
How did you manage to mobilize them? I know this is not the usual way to solve things.
When Liam asked me, 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 just luck, especially since there wasn't even a separate negotiation process.”
Oh, they won't allow it.
I sighed and dusted off the nearby items before casually sitting on top of them.
I provided very precise terms. Because the duke's seal was on her, she was trustworthy, so things went faster.
“If I could satisfy them enough to make them come so quickly, it must have been a disadvantage for us.”
Liam seemed concerned that I might have offered unreasonable compensation.
But, no matter how much this money may have belonged to someone else, I was not so impudent as to spend it lavishly in my present situation—living at the expense of others, or, as some call it, kidnapping.
“They usually accept contracts under similar circumstances, so quick negotiations are possible in those cases.”
“…?”
They were originally supposed to be hired by the Salt Kingdom, but their contract was suddenly cancelled. I previously participated in contract negotiations between the Salt Kingdom and the Ilamina Alliance.
Shielding my eyes from the bright sunlight, I extended my hand and added, “…So, I was really lucky.”
I was afraid Liam would ask another question, but fortunately, it seemed like someone had something to discuss with him.
“Sir, Assistant...”
"Hmm? What's going on?"
A man wearing tattered clothes, looking very nervous, looked at Liam.
Do you know who we hand over cooking duties to? I heard that mercenaries don't have a cook.
"a cook?"
Oh, right.
Liam only reviewed the terms of the negotiation, so he wouldn't know this.
I felt the need to clarify and answered on his behalf.
“Women in the area who need to participate in economic activities can cook.”
“So you mean we should move the remaining villagers...?”
"Yes."
It is better to have volunteers than to mobilize people by force.
I nodded without hesitation.
Documents relating to the construction of the dam not only listed the names of villagers who were mobilized for work, but also included brief information on those who were not.
What caught my attention was that specific group of women who had almost no economic activities and could not even pay taxes.
These women include widows whose husbands have died, single mothers, or women who have given up the idea of marriage in order to support their parents.
When I asked a maid who regularly brought food, she told me that these women could barely earn a living by doing odd jobs for others.
“Right now, the men are mobilized for construction, so there is enough work to feed them, but once construction is over, things will go back to normal.”
“So what will happen to these women...?”
They will find it difficult to live. If they are unlucky, they will starve to death.
After I understood the situation, I started to get a clearer idea of the next step.
“The Black Eagle Squadron has no cook.”
The Salt Kingdom had sent its own chefs, but now there was no time for that, and it would be difficult to send someone from the Duke's estate.
Chefs from noble families usually had a strong sense of duty, but they didn't want to care about the meals of lowly mercenaries.
So, I came up with the idea of looking for an alternative workforce.
After thinking about the situation, she spoke again in a confident tone.
You saw that too, Liam, but the contract is to provide breakfast and lunch for the Black Eagle Squadron. You knew that, didn't you?
“Well, yes, but...”
So, if we want them to start work tomorrow morning, I think you should take care of that. I have prepared a list of potential workers for you to refer to.
Liam, who looked stunned, quickly calmed himself down and nodded.
“I will take care of it.”
“Okay.”
I nodded and then turned my gaze toward the bright sky.
It's been a long time since I've felt sunlight. Of course, it's not bad.
“Still...”
I'm already starting to miss my cold, dark room, even without the blackout curtains.