The former guard nodded. "There were twenty-six stonecutters in total, not including me or any bandits."

Kivamus looked at Duvas. "Will two wagons be enough to carry that many people?"

"They should be," the majordomo replied after thinking about it. "Pydaso's wagons carried ten sacks of grain in each wagon, apart from the weight of the driver and a guard. And those sacks weigh nearly double that of an average man here, so two horses pulling a single wagon might be able to carry up to twenty-two average weighing men or women in each."

He added, "While there certainly wouldn't be enough space in a single wagon bed for that many people, they should easily be able to seat around half of the stonecutters, that is, thirteen men or women in each wagon bed, apart from the guards who can sit in the driver's seat. And keeping just around thirteen or fourteen men in each wagon instead of up to its full capacity would be helpful for the horses to pull those wagons even through uneven terrain."

"Okay, that's good to hear." Kivamus looked at Hudan. "We will need those wagons to move as fast as possible, and there wouldn't be enough time to rest the horses in the middle of the journey. So you should take spare horses with you as well." After a moment of thought, he added, "While four horses should be enough to pull those two wagons, you should take eight horses with you. That will still leave us with seven horses here including those we got from the bandit, which will be enough for us until you return."

He continued, "To take those eight horses, you will need eight guards as well, and that should be more than enough to take on the bandits easily, even if there are a few more of them there than what we expect. And on the return journey, four guards can ride on four of the horses at a time, which will allow you to hitch the remaining four horses to those wagons. That will give the beasts at least some rest if you alternate between them when you hitch them to the wagons every morning after a night of rest."

Hudan thought about it and nodded. "I agree, milord. Eight men will be more than enough, and having spare horses will also give us something to fall back on in case any of them get injured on the way."

He looked at Feroy. "I'll have to go with the guards as well, since there is a possibility, no matter how small, of Nokozal having reached there before us. And I don't think anyone else can go one on one against that huge bastard. So it'll have to be me. That means you will be in charge of the guards and the security of the village until I return."

Feroy nodded. "Leave it to me."

Hudan looked back at Kivamus, and continued, "This time we will have surprise on our side when we reach the quarry, so even the new guards should be able to hold their own. So I'll take four experienced guards including me and Calubo - and while we should be able to take on those four bandits by ourselves - the four new recruits in the squad will also be there to support us. This will give them some real experience as well."

Gorsazo asked, "But the merchant told us that snowfall has already started on the northern road, so how will these wagons even travel in that snow?"

Hudan gave the answer. "That's because the snowfall always starts from the east here, since that's where the Arakin mountains are. So we certainly can't go through the northern road this time, since there is a risk of getting stuck there even with the small amount of snow that would have gathered on that road by now. but we should be fine if we go northwest - directly through the forest - since it will take a while for snowfall to start there. And just a week without snowfall there - which is still reasonable - would be enough for us to return."

He explained further, "What I am planning to do is this. Since we are not taking any wagons with us from here, our horses can easily travel through the forest, so we will go along with calubo to the quarry. It still won't be easy to find a path there, but since we are only on horses we should still be able to reach there on time. And once we have taken care of those bandits, we will load up the stonecutters on the wagons they have, and then we'll travel directly towards the south with them - through whichever wide path we find - since it would be impossible to look for a direct path to Tiranat from there, especially with those wagons which will need enough space between the trees of the forest to move."

The guard captain added, "Our target will be to reach the road connecting Kirnos to Tiranat, and once we've found it, we'll only need to travel east on that road to return back, and that part of the journey will be much faster compared to traveling through the forests. Although, I'm not sure how long it will take us for the whole journey."

Calubo said, "I think that's a good plan, and I can give an estimate of the time we'll need. It had taken around two days for me and the other bandits to reach the location of the ambush on the northern road from that quarry on foot, and that place is around a two days wagon journey from our village. But we'll only be riding on horses which aren't be pulling any wagons on the first part of the journey, so that should make it faster for us to reach the quarry, especially since we'll be going straight through the forests instead of going a long way through the northern road and then turning towards the west. But on the other hand, traveling through the forest is much slower than riding on a road, so I think we'll need at least three or four days to reach there."

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Hudan nodded. "Then we'll also need a day to scout the location and kill the bandits. That day as well as the night should give some rest to the horses too."

Calubo gazed into the distance to think about it before speaking, "After that, I'd say another three or four days to reach the southern road from there - since we'll know in advance which direction we have to travel instead of looking for our destination. And finally, it'll only be around a day of journey from there to Tiranat, since Kirnos is less than two days of a wagon journey from here, and we will be joining that road somewhere in the middle of that road."

Duvas gave a nod. "That means you will need at least a week to return back." He added, "Although you will certainly see snowfall on the journey, the snow won't get that deep within the forest by that time. So most likely you wouldn't get stuck in the snow, although you'll still be cutting it quite close.

"However," the majordomo asked, "I'm worried about how you will even find that quarry in those huge forests?"

Calubo shrugged. "It won't be easy but I've lived there for more than two months, so I'll be able to recognize the terrain around that area. I already have a general idea of its location, and that huge quarry isn't something we are going to miss even in the middle of those forests."

He stood up and looked at Kivamus. "Milord, I can never thank you enough for this. Please make sure to have enough warm beds and food available for everyone when we return. Those people there... they'll really need that food after what they've been through in the past few months."

"Don't worry, I will tell Madam Nerida about this," Kivamus replied, "and she will make sure to prepare a warm meal for them. By that time the first longhouse will also be completed, and I will leave sufficient bunks for the stonecutters when I start shifting the villagers there."

Calubo gave a grateful nod.

"However," Kivamus added, "you will also need some food for the journey. I think around ten days' rations for eight guards, and around a week's rations for twenty six stonecutters should be sufficient." He thought about it for a moment then looked at Duvas. "Send a servant to tell Madam Nerida to prepare enough bread for them, as well as to pack a sack of crushed wheat so they can easily cook porridge on the journey. Also, tell a maid to pack some butter, hardtack and dried meat as well. We can't let them starve on the way after we are going through this much trouble to bring them here."

"That should be more than enough, milord," Hudan said. "We will still try to hunt some small animals on the way to try to reduce our food consumption."

Duvas exited the hall to give the orders, while Hudan stood up as well and said, "It is already late afternoon by now so there is no point in leaving today, since we would hardly be able to travel much in the remaining sunlight. And there is no point in making a camp just a few hours away from the village and wasting a day's rations."

He continued, "But I'll go and select the guards who'll be leaving with me, so they can check their stuff today and get them ready. We will leave at daybreak tomorrow. This will also give another night of rest to our horses, since they have travelled a lot in the past month with the caravan."

As they began to leave, Kivamus remembered something and called them back.

He looked at Calubo. "You have been missing for months now, so I can't send you with Hudan like this. So before you leave, I formally reinstate you as a guard from today itself. You'll get the same wages and benefits as the others."

Calubo looked surprised for a moment, then gave a bow again, "Thank you for this, milord, and for all your help. I will do my best to protect you and the village."

Kivamus smiled. "I know you will."

Hudan and Calubo gave nods again, and exited the hall.

*******

It was evening now, and Kivamus was standing outside the gates of the manor where a crowd had gathered for their evening meals.

Earlier, the blacksmith had provided them the medals he had ordered to make, and when he was going to call the guards to give them the medals, Gorsazo suggested him to wait for the night so he could do it in front of the crowd waiting for their meal, since that would make the guards feel proud of doing their duty.

It had also taken a long discussion with Duvas to decide on the amount of coin they needed to provide the guards as a reward, but finally they had settled on a month of pay for those who had gotten injured and were getting the Baron's Medal of Sacrifice, and three months pay for those who were getting the Baron's Medal of Courage for extraordinary bravery.

Soon, it was time to distribute the medals, so with a deep breath he started walking towards the makeshift stage in front of the crowd which the guards had hastily built with a few wooden benches.