53 Chapter 53 Leaving On A...Caravan (1/2)
It was the morning of their departure, and Joseph was sitting in a chair in his room, looking at the two advisors from the treasury squirm. They were acting just like he had some kind of power, like a king.
”We do apologize, but the king has made up his mind. He does not foresee any reason for us to accompany you on your travels north.” David really did look unhappy.
”It's only annoying because we put off our departure specifically because you two needed to tie up your loose ends to be free to leave.” He wore a frown that made Timothy squirm all the more.
”We are aware of that, and have tried to make it up by trying to think of something that we could do in return for this inconvenience.”
”Why don't you ensure that my supplies don't run late?” asked Joseph, sitting up and eyeing them both. They all knew how important that was.
”n.o.bleman Horton is rather difficult to deal with, but we will certainly try our best.”
They both looked like they had bobble heads as they left the room.
”I regret to inform you that I will also not be accompanying you,” said Peter.
Joseph turned to look at him, and nodded. He had a.s.sumed as such. Because it had become so obvious to everyone the duke was using him, he had not been being used at all. The duke had all but dropped him. He would remain here at the castle for the rest of his days, comfortable for as long as the king remained in power.
He turned to look at Daniel and Walter. They both quickly a.s.sured him that they had no intentions of leaving his side. In fact, Walter was going specifically so he could be the go between with his family to the north.
Joseph had gotten up extra early to finish the last 2 hours he had needed for FIRE. It was amazing! He had felt a deeper connection to Selena when he finished comprehending it. He was looking forward to the mage notes.
They were sitting at the table in his room, discussing last minute arrangements over breakfast. Everything was ready to go, but as old men often did, they had to discuss it all one last time to make sure nothing was forgotten. Joseph was greatly enjoying listening to them talk. If he pretended hard enough, he could almost pretend they were his grandpa's talking about a trip.
Stella had told him the night before that the Duke and his niece were still being dealt with. Joseph had made enough of a fuss that the king shouldn't lose any face, and would certainly take their punishment seriously. It was obvious that they were trying to frame him, and it backfired spectacularly.
When his father's slaves had arrived, they had numbered over 2500. He had an exact count done to ensure that none went missing, and the total came to 2784, counting the two hundred that were already in the castle. One of the towns his dad ran, had been completely emptied for this and several select individuals from several others had joined up as well.
They had enough supplies lined up to follow them, that they would hopefully finish a new town before winter hit. It was Joseph's hope that they could have a town the people could live in, finished, so they would want to protect it even more from the barbarians.
Joseph had looked over his father's plans, and knew that he intended to send at least two more towns worth of slaves, plus he was going to slave mark another couple thousand older people. He had a fine line to walk when they reached the north. He wasn't sure that there was anything started on the wall that was supposed to be being built. And if they didn't get enough preparations completed before the barbarians attacked, they would be overrun. He had to just hope that he could get enough done in the next five years to be ready when it was handed over to him.
All the previous recorded raids, the barbarians had waited until after harvest to loot and plunder, when the store houses were full and there was a lot that could be taken. Joseph hoped they stuck with that scenario, but the fact that so many were being seen at the borders so early in the year, had him worried that something else was going on.
By this winter, the main town would need to hold 5,000 – 6,000 people and 2 smaller nearby towns would hold 2,000 – 3,000 each. Joseph was itching to get up north and start looking for suitable sites. There were enough hands they could always modify things as required. By noon, Joseph was finally able to switch over to the notes left by the mages, given as he predicted, as he was getting into the carriage.
”What is this shavist?” shouted Joseph beside himself in shock.
Stella jumped and immediately started looking around to make sure that they weren't under attack, then noticed that he was reading the notes and rolled her eyes in frustration, as she went back to reading her book. Joseph was too preoccupied to notice.
”System, are they deliberately lying to me about this? This is just… Start immediately learning the first spell to determine if the person has mage potential. They can't be serious. Trying to learn a modified without understanding the base rune first is insane or asinine!”
(THE NOTES WERE NOT WRITTEN FALSELY. THEY HONESTLY BELIEVE WHAT THEY WROTE.)
Joseph couldn't believe it. This just floored him.
”With modified runes only counting as 10% of the base rune, that would mean you would have to practice 10 different modified runes before you even became proficient in the basic rune comprehension!
”There aren't any notes about externalizing mana as a practice at all. It goes straight to inscribing runes and even describes it as a high art. Students are normally dependent on their mentors for years as they develop a feel for inscribing mana from powering the papers. It's almost as ridiculous as using a light switch until you figure out how to make a generator!”