Under the shining of the early sun, on the snow-covered mud path north of the Opalhausen logging camp, a group of heavily armed soldiers escorted several carts of logs, led by a man wearing full body mail and the coat of arms of the Dorsten family. Led by the young men in robes, they marched towards the endless black forest in the north.
"You lazy guys, hurry up, hurry up, don't dawdle," Miller shouted to the soldiers, then wiped the sweat on his head and turned to look at Simon who was riding a horse next to him. , "Sir, how long will it take for our return journey?"
"If it's quick and there are no unexpected incidents, we should be able to return to Verde Village in the evening." Simon said thoughtfully, looking away from the lawn full of tree stumps.
"That's really great. I don't want to camp overnight in the wild and be targeted by the damn bandits!" Miller breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry on his face lightened a lot.
"Actually, we don't have to worry too much about bandits. They won't be stupid enough to steal a batch of logs that are difficult for them to get rid of as stolen goods, or horses and carriages that obviously belong to the lumber camp. What's more, all of this is done by Escorted by a team of elite soldiers." Simon said, glancing at the log carriage driven by the horse breeder of the Opalhausen logging camp.
Since Miller's trip to Dresden, he has become extremely cautious, even suspicious, whenever he embarks on a journey again.
It was difficult for him to get out of the state of constant mental stress in a short period of time.
Even when sleeping in the safe attic of his father's mill, he refused to take off his sturdy chain mail and kept a dagger within easy reach.
Any slightest movement can wake him up instantly from his half-asleep state.
Since returning to Verde Village, Miller has discovered to his dismay that the skill that once saved his life has quickly become his biggest worry. What wakes him up every time in the middle of the night is always the sound of his brother quietly getting up to go to the toilet. The noise made by parents when they are unabashedly happy.
That's why Simon analyzed it with Miller and tried to alleviate his worries.
"Master, what you said makes sense." Miller nodded in agreement.
Simon didn't speak anymore, just rode silently and followed the convoy, his thoughts returning to yesterday.
Just yesterday afternoon, Simon arrived at the lumber camp. Under the guidance of the foreman, he found Lange hunting in a nearby forest that had not been cut down.
Lange did not end his hunting early because of this. Instead, he asked his servant to give Simon a hunting bow and a pot of hunting arrows, and invited Simon to compete with him to see who could catch more pheasants.
Although the previous owner of Simon's body was a guy who went into the woods to hunt whenever he had time, it should be easy to beat Lange in hunting, but Simon knew that his brother was very small-minded. And the old baron will die one day, and Simon doesn't want to offend him first in a dispensable little game.
So, when he returned to Lange's small hunting camp in the forest in the evening, Simon only carried one pheasant in his hand, while Lange's two servants each carried two pheasants in their hands.
The expression on Lange's face remained unchanged, but Simon could feel that he was very proud and happy.
Simon thought to himself that this would be good, it would make him happy, and he would see if he could lower the price a bit when discussing the log business later, so as to at least avoid stumbling upon himself.
In order to prevent Lange from finding an excuse, Simon put the gold ring awarded to him by Prince Otto in the bedroom storage box in the castle tower before traveling, and put on a ring from the Norman pirates last time. A damaged chainmail was seized from him.
But Simon obviously underestimated the stinginess of his brother.
When the harmonious dinner time passed, Simon made a request to purchase a batch of logs, and vaguely mentioned his current financial situation.
But Lange was unmoved. He said that he saw with his own eyes how wealthy Simon's territory was after defeating the Norman pirates.
In addition, he also confided in Simon his difficulties, saying that the business of the logging farm was difficult after winter, orders dropped significantly, workers were paid more in winter, and operating costs increased significantly. .
In the end, after many fruitless negotiations, Simon had to purchase a batch of logs from Lange at the original price.
After the conversation, Lange continued to stay in the camp, while Simon followed one of Lange's servants to the lumberyard to find the foreman to get the goods.
When he returned to the logging camp, Simon found that there were many horse-drawn carriages coming to pick up goods in the open space.
While Lange's servant was talking to the foreman, Simon pulled over a worker who was moving goods and asked about his salary and recent business in the lumberyard. The answer he got was different from what Lange said.
Workers' wages have not changed a penny since winter, and the business of the lumberyard has not been much depressed.
Before winter, many merchants came to place orders. After winter, more lords from other places in the earldom sent people to buy wood.
Simon guessed that the increase in orders from the lords should be related to the war that Earl Berg planned to launch against Earl Loon after the beginning of spring.
"This guy Lange is really a stingy bastard. When he is happy and proud, he is not even willing to give his own brother even a penny cheaper. Is this what he learned from Count Berg?" Simon complained in his heart. , shook his head and brought his thoughts back to reality.
……………
Finally, Simon returned safely to the territory and handed the wood to Ryan for him to arrange for use.
In the next few days, the projects in the territory continued, but the days in the territory were still ordinary, except for a blind serf who dared to secretly hunt in the woods. He was caught by hunter Bill, and the stolen goods were stolen. He was captured, and then was twisted and brought to Simon by two militiamen holding him like a dead dog.
Simon was a little angry. Legally speaking, all properties in Verde Village and the surrounding land belong to Simon. The behavior of this serf is tantamount to directly stealing Simon's own property.
Simon passed through many places during his trip to Dresden, and he knew in his heart that he was good enough to his subjects.
Simon ensured that they had enough to eat, had warm clothes in winter, and that the work they did was not oppressive and heavy work. Even so, what Simon couldn't understand was why such a thing would happen?
"Master, you can't just rely on kindness to govern the territory." The fat man reminded Simon.
"Yes, if we don't act ruthlessly this time, there will soon be a second, third, and fourth poacher popping up like mushrooms after a rain, endless. Because they know that even if they violate the law, The kind-hearted Master Simon will not punish them severely." Simon frowned and thought, and had a general idea in his mind.
On this day, in front of a torture rack that had not been used for a long time at the edge of the village, several militiamen with spears brushed off the snow, dust and cobwebs on it, wondering how to use it.
Simon led Father James and a militiaman escorting the prisoners to the execution rack. Under the eyes of the villagers who came to watch the excitement, Simon slowly walked onto the execution rack.
"It seems that some people regard my generosity as concession and my kindness as weakness, and they become more and more rampant until they are contemptuous of the laws and regulations in the territory, until they ignore the authority of his lord!"
Simon's darker expression and louder voice made the villagers present tremble. They couldn't help but look at the somewhat "strange" lord again in a daze.
"I have always been gentle and kind to my own people, and ruthless to my enemies. I bet that no one among you would want to be my enemy, except for this guy now."
As soon as Simon finished speaking, the militiaman in front of the execution rack kicked the prisoner to the ground.
"This old bastard deserves it!"
"You really deserve it!"
The villagers were talking quietly.
It seems that they don't like this poacher very much. He must be notorious in the village and has done a lot of sneaky things.
"Bert, the serf, committed the crime of poaching. In addition, when he was escorted back, he talked nonsense and tried to frame others. The crime was increased. With the approval of the lord, all his personal property was confiscated and sentenced to one week in prison. . During this week, everyone can laugh at him and humiliate him as much as he wants in front of the rack." Father James said loudly to the villagers.
After saying that, the two militiamen took off the Viking warm clothes that Simon gave him to the prisoner Bert with great effort.
"He's dead. Ha, I never thought that Scoundrel Bert would be here today. I bet you that he won't survive more than two days!"
Seeing Bert, who was only wearing a thin layer of linen clothes, being handcuffed to the torture rack, some villagers gloated.
"Let this damn poacher calm down in the ice and snow and think about what stupid thing he did."
………………
Several heavy snowfalls are like stumbling blocks, hindering the progress of the project, but Simon would rather provide more firewood, food and warm clothing to the construction workers during these difficult days than to delay the progress of the project.
Sometimes when the militia team is not training, they will go to the construction site to help.
The construction of the tavern has been temporarily put on hold. Now Simon just wants to focus on building the powerful trebuchet turret. Only in this way can he fill the growing uneasiness in his heart.
"I really don't know what kind of situation we will face when spring begins." Simon would often say to himself while standing on the wall of the wooden castle, looking at the white open space near the village and the unfinished turret on the west side of the village wall.
The serf named Bert was found frozen to death on the torture rack as early as the morning of the third day of punishment. However, no one cared about his life or death, and his final end was just to be hastily buried in the wild fields outside the village.
Simon didn't care. Being able to re-establish his authority with the life of a serf who was not so obedient and was not popular with everyone was a very cost-effective deal no matter how you looked at it.
In this way, half of winter has passed without realizing it.
On a sunny afternoon with the snow slowly melting, the village welcomed an unusual caravan.
