The next morning started with my regular morning routine but then quickly turned into a mad race to get everything done. First, I sent out messengers to find people with various professions: herbalists, bone setters, fullers, carpenters, wheelwrights, and a few other types of merchants. I was going to be spending money like water. Most nobles, heck, almost anyone, would probably consider me insane.

Spend money helping to ensure that every single one of these commoners made it to my barony alive. Why not save the money and just get more? These people hadn't done anything for me yet, and despite my spending money on them, they may still die. But these were people. What is the worth of a life?

I first had the herbalist and bone setters come in. I discussed with them various types of injuries or illnesses that are common right now and what might happen on the road. I asked them how they would treat each condition. I found out that ash paste was a much cheaper alternative to honey and that I should purchase plenty of cloth and apply the paste to wounds. Other remedies for coughs and flu were discussed. I asked for remedies to be prepared for the road and even hired one herbalist to travel along with the caravan to see to any major problems. It wasn't going to be enough, but I didn't have infinite money to spend. Most had already been invested in the caravan.

I asked if there were launderers in the city. And got a disgusted look from Benjamin.

“You have something against clean clothes?” I asked, in confusion.

That confused Benjamin for a moment before he said. “My lord, it appears living in a small barony has sheltered you from the full extent of what fullers do. They not only clean the clothes but prepare new wool and bleach cloth. The process is quite awful.”

“Oh so they work with chemicals like the tanners do.”

“Specifically with urine, my lord. The smell tends to cling to them.”

“Well someone has to do the dirty work. I hope they get paid well.”

I convinced Benjamin to find some fullers to speak with. Well I actually convinced him to convince someone else to find some fullers. I needed soap and a lot of it. I wanted all my peasants' and serfs' clothing washed before they left, and I needed enough for them to wash their clothes at least twice on the road. The harsh lye soap that was used on clothes was not suitable for the skin, and there was no way I would spend money on softer soaps.

One of the fullers, who looked to be around thirty and had short-cut, dark brown hair, approached me after the rest had departed.

“Excuse me, my lord, would you happen to have a need of a fuller in Bicman?” The young man said.

I didn’t answer him immediately. Most of our lye was produced by all the women in town gathering their ash. I wasn’t going to pay for the production, but I was working towards a wealthier Bicman. Maybe this next year would bring enough prosperity that people would want to hand over their money so they didn’t have to produce their own soap.

“I am assuming you are inquiring for your own sake,” I said.

“Yes, my lord, my father is the best soap maker in the County of Nartor. However, he refused to move to a larger city where the quality of his work might be recognized. He taught me all he knew, but I told him that I would travel to a city where I could make more money." He sighed. "I should have listened to my father. Establishing a business where there are already so many fullers ended up being extremely difficult. I thought that more people meant there would be more sales. What it really meant was more competition. I cannot face my father after everything I said to him before I left."

I was such a softy for sad stories, and I hated damaged relationships, so I didn't immediately reject him.

"Why Bicman? We are a poor barony. Do you honestly think my people will be able to afford your services?" I asked.

"Call it a hunch. I am looking at all the supplies you are asking for around town. I also see how much you are spending on people who are not even at your barony. I see a man who is investing a lot of money in growing his barony. Even if I have to sell for less initially, you are trying to make your people prosper."

One thing I have learned is to take everything I hear from people in this world with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to commoners. It's not that they were trying to lie all the time. They just had the habit of always trying to put me in the best possible light. I wonder if commoners went through some educational program in the art of suck-upery. It was definitely taught to stewards. They were masters at sucking up to their lords.

I looked at him for a moment and then said, "I think that is mostly flattery, and in actuality, I am your last hope before you have to return home in shame."

He steeled himself, preparing to be rejected.

"This is what we are going to do. I will allow you to journey North with my group on the condition that you write a letter or dictate it to my steward. In it, you will apologize to your father."

He hung his head at this.

"A fight takes two people, so I am sure there are some things he said or did that were also wrong. Trust me, I have been there. But, I also want you to write that you have accepted a position as a fuller for the Baron of Bicman. Fix the relationship with your father before it is too late. Trust me. I waited, and now my father is dead. Something I regret but will never get the chance to fix."

Actually, I didn't care at all about Amos's dad, but I do wish I had reached out to my own dad. He was a loser for leaving us, and he may have even hated me for killing Nathan. But now I wondered if I could have fixed it.

"It is a deal, my lord. My pride would not allow me to make amends with my father. You have provided me the opportunity."

"No, I am afraid what I am doing is not the best thing for you. Your pride is the problem. Pride can help you push past your limits while trying to succeed, but it can also stop you from doing what needs to be done. It would have been better if you had just apologized without needing me to give you a job first."

"As you say, my lord," he said with a bow.

I don't know if I would ever get used to giving advice to people twice my age and having them actually listen.

"Now for your responsibilities. Every fifth day will be a rest day on the trip north. You will be responsible for making sure people are as clean as they possibly can be. You may hire others to help, and all of you will be compensated. You will be given a silver a week and your laborers a copper. Hire as many as are needed, but not more. You are not to charge anyone for your service. Think of this as promoting the business you will be building when you get to Bicman. My peoples' cleanliness is essential to their health."

"My lord, forgive me. I fear I may fail at your task. It will be difficult to ensure there is a good water source on each fifth day, " he said hesitantly.

"The rest day does not necessarily have to be every fifth day. It could be the sixth or seventh. Even if you are halfway through the day and find a source, stop for a day and a half. What I care about is that as many people make it to my barony as healthy as possible."

"I will do all I can, my lord."

"Good. Benjamin, did you get all that?" I said as I turned to my steward. He was holding a notepad and, as he was getting used to doing, wrote down my orders.

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"The orders are here, my lord. Give me a moment to make the duplicate."

"Before you do that, I need you to write something else down. The thought keeps popping up, but I never write it down, so I forget about it. I want to have Emily make a paper that allows the ink to pass through, much like our first attempts, but it needs to be stronger. Maybe a thin, strong sheet."

"What for, Lord Amos?" Benjamin asked in confusion.

"If the ink passed through onto a regular sheet, you would not have to write duplicates. The thin sheet could be given to whomever we want the orders to go, and the thick ones we would keep like we do now. We may have to work on the ink mixture, though."

"An interesting idea. However, I am afraid Emily will not appreciate the extra work."

"Don't be ridiculous. She loves working with paper. She will be ecstatic for the new challenge."

"If you think so, then it will be as you say. You know your subjects well," he said straight-faced.

I knew he was just saying that because the fuller… Dang, I didn't even know this fuller's name. Well, whatever it is, he is the reason Benjamin agreed with me. Benjamin was good at not arguing at inappropriate times. And he was right. Emily was going to groan at the news, but I really did think she would enjoy it in the end.

I turned to the fuller. "Now you see what Benjamin just did. That was a masterfully done job of suck-upery. Actually I really like that word. As soon as we get a patent office up and running I am going to trademark that term."

By the look of confusion on the fuller's face and the look of disappointment on Benjamin's, I knew I had slipped again. Dang, I have been doing so well lately, not saying stupid things in public. Oh well, no one is perfect.

"Excuse me, but I never got your name," I said to the fuller.

He turned a little pale. "Forgive me, my lord. Meeting such a great baron such as yourself made me forget my manners. I am Roger Fuller."

"Suck up," I muttered under my breath. "Well, Roger, I hope we can work well together. I must get going, however. Benjamin, Are you done?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Excellent. Roger, hand this sheet to the caravan master. He will help you organize things. Benjamin, we have much to do and not a lot of time to do it if we want to get out of here by tomorrow. Let's go check on how the search for people is going."

We approached a small table with a few of my guards near it. Chuck had a stack of paper, and people formed a line in front of the table. Each sheet was titled with an occupation or skill.

In a very bored, monotone voice, he said, "Please state your name and occupation. If you have skills other than your current occupation, please let us know. Please do not lie if you have no occupation or skills. You will still be going to Bicman. If there are skills that you want to learn but currently don't have, let us know, and we will see if you can apprentice to someone."

That was the best government-employee service desk worker voice I have heard in all my time in Marth. It had just the right amount of "I hate my job, and I hate you" in it to make people want to get through this line as soon as possible. That guy is awesome.

I whispered to Benjamin, "We need to give Chuck a raise. That guy really knows how to do his job."

Benjamin raised one eyebrow questioningly, but I just smiled.

Kirt was sitting at a table next to him, sounding cheerful as he spoke with people.

Poor guy, I don't think he has got the aptitude for this type of work. His line is going to get backed up. I thought, chuckling at my own joke.

Turning to another soldier, Vern, I said, "So, have we got some good prospects?"

"Yes, if we get the supplies, we can build our own wagons to cut costs. But mules will be expensive."

"Did you find any blacksmiths?"

"We found a few apprentices, none of whom had ever owned their own shop. And yes, we sent them to your friend to have them trained on shoeing horses."

I had asked Herbert, the horse merchant I had met on my last visit if there was anyone who could train some of my newly acquired people to work on horseshoes. Since I was the one to introduce horseshoes to him and the fact that I had purchased a heck of a lot of horses and mules this time, he was happy to help.

"Oh, we also found some horse handlers and grooms among the people," Vern said.

"Excellent news."

"We have stone masons, miners, bakers, one cobbler, and two leather workers. But before you get your hopes up, almost everyone just worked their fields.

"We have enough food here to get these people to the next harvest. With all these extra hands, we will be clearing a lot of land and plowing a lot of fields. It will be a lot of work, but if we all work together, we will prosper.” I said.

I looked out at the field of people. It was a lot. I was a little overwhelmed. The people were exhausted. Hopefully, the five days of only having to do menial labor would help them recuperate. I also hoped this didn't backlash and they all go stir crazy.

I started counting the hand carts among the people, and I realized that there weren't many. People either had nothing or carried as much as they could on their backs. An idea struck me. We were going to have four hundred goats. Could the goats be hitched to the carts to help pull? How many goats per cart would we need?

If we managed to get all the tools and supplies to build three wagons, we would have enough mules to haul them and even rotate them out. But what if the goats could be used as well?

"Vern, I have another task for you. Find the goat herders and ask them about hooking goats to hand carts to help pull things. We need to know if it can be done and if it is worth the effort. It might even be a good way to transport some children so the parents don't have to carry them the whole time. Well, that is as long as goats don't bolt. We don't need a runaway buggy with a bunch of kids on it."

"I will get on it. Although you may not be here by the time we have a suitable answer."

"That is fine. You will make the call. You and Kirt will be going with the caravan to ensure that my laws are followed."

"So we are the lucky ones who get to try and make sure the mercenaries are in line, " he said disappointedly.

"I wish I could send more men with you, but Benjamin says that the road south has seen quite a bit of bandit activity. It shouldn't be a problem for me as long as I keep my flags on either side of my carriage, but there is always the risk of the men being desperate." I said apologetically

"I understand my lord. I wish that I could be there to protect you on your way down, but I recognize the trust you have put in me, and I will fulfill my duty with the utmost care."

"I have no doubt you will, Vern."

"My lord, a concern has arisen as we have been speaking with these people. There have been reports of theft, fights, rape and other crimes. I don't think anything at all would have been reported if Shawn hadn't caught a man in the act of beating and robbing someone. He stopped it and then told them that they are now under the rule of Lord Bicman and that they do not tolerate that type of behavior." Vern chuckled and then said, "Shawn then went further and recited the laws of Bicman concerning criminal actions and justice. Chuck said it was the words verbatim from your law book."

"Impressive."

"So now, at the end of recording things, we ask them if they have any crimes to report. The mercenary group has been abusing their authority."

"I will be sending Shawn with you as well. I am entrusting you with the lives of almost four hundred people. I will make copies of the important parts of my law regarding what you will come across on your way north. I want you to read the laws of Bicman every night and ensure that cases are brought before you." I sighed. "It looks like I have a lot more work to do. I will be handing everything else off to Benjamin and the others."

"What is it that you need to do?"

"One of my least favorite things. I am going to judge these people. You will be standing next to me so that people will see you as an authority figure. I want you to gather as many of the mercenaries as are available. Use the excuse that we want men there in case things get rowdy. But in actuality, I want to show them what I deem unacceptable behavior."

Not that it would make much difference when I was out of sight.

"As you wish, my lord."

And then began the afternoon of doing my least favorite thing as a baron: passing judgment. It wasn't so bad in Bicman anymore. People knew what I expected and knew the consequences if they got caught. Not that crime was non-existent, but for the most part, it could be handled locally, and nobody pushed too far.

Once the first judgment was passed and people saw that a man accused of rape was actually punished for his crime, a crowd started to gather. Sixteen verified accounts of rape, four murders, and a lot of theft. Most of the theft could not be verified. One of the murders had no suspects, and about half of the rape victims could not identify their attackers. I fear that some of the reasons that suspects weren't identified were because the mercenaries did it, and no one wanted to accuse people who were supposed to protect them on the way north.

By the time the sun was setting in the west, I was emotionally drained. I should not have spent so long doing that. The stress caused by hearing crimes and dispensing justice is immense. Normally, I would have spread the work over a couple of weeks, focusing on the worst cases first. I heard more cases in an afternoon than I had heard in almost a month in Bicman.

I wondered how most nobles did it. Oh, wait, I know, they didn't.