The moment they stepped out of the manor gates, the impatient Reed began reporting on his work over the past ten-odd days to Nord.
"Lord Nord, over the past ten days, I planted more than a hundred mu of yams west of the village. There's now a huge stretch of mountain land covered in our yam fields."
Seeing Reed's expression practically begging for praise, Nord was genuinely surprised. He had not assigned Reed many people to begin with; nearly all the village's labor had already been allocated. The adult men had either joined the guard or were working at the construction site building the manor, while the women went into the nearby mountains every day to dig for yams. Especially after Nord began purchasing yams at two Copper Be per pound, the village women rose before dawn and returned after dark, digging yams in the mountains. Reed had barely anyone under him.
Nord had originally only intended for Reed to do some preliminary work: buy yams gathered by the villagers, then water them to make them sprout. As for actually planting them, Nord had not held much hope, given Reed's shortage of manpower. He had planned to have the villagers plant them after the manor was finished. He had never expected Reed, who usually seemed so carefree and unreliable, to do such an outstanding job.
"How did you pull this off, kid? I really underestimated you."
"Hehe, Lord Nord, it was nothing much. A while ago, so many yams sprouted, and I couldn't get in touch with you. I was so anxious I nearly jumped onto the roof. What was I supposed to do without anyone to help me? I begged Father, but he wouldn't help either. He said it was my own matter, and I had to figure out a solution myself."
"On my way back, I happened to see the village's half-grown children running wild along the road, so I came up with a great idea. Guess what it was?"
"You recruited the village children?"
Nord frowned. Influenced by his previous life, he had never regarded minors in the village as laborers. But this place was different from his previous world. Children were not the flowers of the nation; children in their teens already had to help their mothers with housework and farm labor. Not just here—even in the poor mountain regions of his previous world, underage children had lived this way. Poor children grew up early.
"In the name of the herald, I promised them that when they grew up, they could become soldiers under my command. I also offered them a loaf of bread every day, and that coaxed them over. Lord Nord, you have no idea how badly these children want to join your guard. Every day, they play games pretending to be guards and run all over the village."
Nord sighed. There was no helping it. He had originally planned to have Steward Abel recruit some children in their teens once this busy period was over, teach them literacy, and slowly cultivate talent from a young age.
Basically, Colin's family was the only literate family in the village. That was thanks to Colin's early life as a mercenary. The Mercenary Group leader, who had been born a noble, had taught Colin some letters. Colin treasured that knowledge and passed it on to Ryman and Reed.
"Since you gathered these village children, they'll be under your command from now on. Recruit every child over ten. After some time, I'll have Steward Abel teach them. As for planting yams, leave that to the villagers who have free time."
"Yes, Lord Nord. Leave those children to me. Then can I go exploring in the mountains with you next?"
"Didn't I just say you were responsible for recruiting those children? The yam planting is under your charge too. As for going into the mountains... forget it. You'll be very busy from now on. I want to take you with me too, since you're my herald, but you don't have the time."
"Ah? I still have to do all that? I did such a good job—can't you reward me by letting me enter the mountains just once?"
"You do deserve a reward, but I really can't take you into the mountains. Uh... let me think. The children you recruit should have an official name. Then... they'll be called the Youth Vanguard. Reed, I now appoint you captain of the Youth Vanguard. You must become a mature, steady captain like your brother Ryman."
Reed looked aggrieved when he heard he could not enter the mountains, but once Nord appointed him captain of the Youth Vanguard, his face brightened again. Though he could not go into the mountains, at least he had been promoted. Captain of the Youth Vanguard—just hearing the name sounded imposing. Reed loved the position.
"Yes! Lord Nord, I guarantee I'll complete the task!"
At last, he had managed to placate Reed. There were simply too few people he could use, so he could only leave Reed behind to keep things under control. After arranging the village matters, Nord took Reed back to Colin's small courtyard, where they happened to run into Molly coming out of the wooden house.
"Lord Nord, you're back. Would you like to see the wild boars? The piglets have grown quite a bit these past few days."
Molly's reminder made Nord remember. The wild boars they had caught earlier were still kept in Colin's backyard, entrusted to Molly's care. He did not know how they were doing now, and since they concerned his future pig-raising plans, he needed to take a look. Led by Molly, Nord went to the backyard.
The pigpen was made with fairly thick fencing to prevent the sows from escaping. To Nord's surprise, Art and his sister were standing in front of it, muttering to themselves.
"Big wild boar, come over here! I'm not afraid of you."
As he spoke, Art threw the yam in his hand at the sow. The sow barely reacted after being hit. Whether it thought the two children posed no threat or was simply lazy by nature, it nudged the yam with its snout, ate it, and closed its eyes again.
Hearing movement behind them, Art and his sister saw Nord, whom they had not seen in a long time, had returned. Caught bullying his wild boar, they immediately hid behind Molly in fright.
Nord was speechless. Was he really that scary? By all rights, he looked fairly delicate: black hair, black eyes, and gentle facial features. Why did Art act as though he had seen a ghost every time he saw him? Nord gave a bitter smile and stopped dwelling on it.
At the pigpen, he saw it was divided into three compartments, each holding one sow and eight or nine piglets. Nord mainly examined the piglets. They clustered around their mothers and had grown a full size larger than when Nord had caught them. They had also adapted well to their penned lives. Seeing the piglets thrive so robustly, Nord was relieved.
Turning to Molly beside him, he said:
"You've raised these wild boars well. You've worked hard. Later, I'll have Steward Abel give you some wages. You can also get yams for the pigs from Reed; you won't need to dig them in the mountains anymore."
"Thank you, Lord Nord. It wasn't hard at all. I already feel honored just to be able to help you."
After briefly telling Molly about Ryman's situation, Nord returned upstairs to rest. For the past half month, he had barely slept well each day. Since he had returned today, he would stay here and get a proper night's rest before heading to the Wild Boar Cave outpost tomorrow to prepare for their next departure.
I've listened to quite a few readers' suggestions lately, so while writing, I've been trying some new things. If there are any problems, I hope everyone can point them out, and I'll correct them. Please bear with me and give me more support. Thank you so much!
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