I immediately became wary as we entered the forest east of Bicman village. This was the part in all the books I read where arrows rained down from trees, and we all died. However, it didn't happen; the birds continued chirping, and the morning sun shone through the trees, painting the ground with patterns. The captain and I rode in the carriage, and five of his men rode in the cart to carry all the bronze or iron we could get. Maybe even a grindstone if the stone mason had a spare.

I wonder how long it would take to make one?

So much to do and not enough time to do it.

It was only a three-hour trip to the hills where Melnon sat. The village here actually looked a little nicer than Bicman. It was laid out more orderly, with most of the houses made of stone. I would have to see what they used for mortar. Hopefully, it was lime. I had been worried about what Draves had told me. I wasn't sure that another baron wouldn't try to take the barony from me. What if the kingdom collapsed and it became every man for himself? I never wanted this job, but would I let them just kick me out? Would I fight back if the king decided I needed to go? I know it wouldn't mean much to most people around here, but now I had to worry about Aaron.

As we rode through the village, I could see that the streets were clean and lacked the foul odor I had expected in all villages before sewers were invented. When we arrived at the headman's house, he was there to greet us. He bowed low. "My lord, what brings you to our humble village." He had an edge of nervousness in his voice.

"My good man Richard, it is a pleasure to see you in good health. As the new lord of this barony, I have decided to come and tour my villages as time permits. I understand this was a surprise, and I was wondering if you could lend me some time to tour this lovely village and its operations. If you are too busy, would you assist us in locating someone who could? That would be much appreciated."

"Of course, I can set aside time to guide you through our village. It is an honor to serve you. Where would you like to start?"

"Let us take a stroll through the village, and I will acquaint myself with my people." I had been thinking about what to say here on my way up. I wanted to avoid using such terms as peasants or serfs and establish in their minds that I saw them as people first. I also said 'my people,' not 'the people' of this village, to show that they were essential to me, and I wanted a unified barony. I had no idea if it would work, but I needed them to believe that. We had a lot of work to do, and making people feel like they mattered was a big deal to me. It might take a long time to drill it into them for them to accept it, but it was a foundation on which I wanted to build my rule.

As we walked once again, I saw mostly women and children in the village. I tried to stop and talk with some, but most had trouble looking at me, let alone talking to me. I thanked each one of them, and some even smiled in return. The children were more curious and didn't understand who I was. They probably had never seen me before. I would try to lower myself and compliment the boys on how strong they looked and the girls on how pretty they were. Squats were not easy for me, even if it was one every once in a while.

I really wish I had candy to hand out. I would become a dentist's nightmare. Sugar cane grew in tropical climates, and sugar beets in temperate. I would have to figure out where we were. Not that I was a candy expert. I used to love taffy and even tried making some a few times. It turned out as hard as a rock every time, so I gave up. I didn't remember the recipe anyway.

As we reached the edge of the village, I turned to the headman and asked, "So what resources do you mine here?"

"We provide the copper for the barony." He said proudly.

"Excellent. How about coal or limestone?"

"We use limestone in our masonry, but coal has little value as trees are easier to harvest."

"I assume you have a kiln here then," I said.

"Of course, my lord."

"Perfect. Have you tried crushing coal and putting it in the oven used for limestone?"

"It doesn't burn as well as wood and leaves a hard-to-remove substance."

"Sorry, I didn't mean using it as fuel. I meant crushing it and cooking it like limestone is cooked for the mortar. Other than the tar, what is left behind is coke, which burns much hotter than charcoal, wood, or coal. It is so hot that we could build a furnace using indirect heat that melts the iron into a liquid. Adding lime creates a slag that we can drain off the top, leaving us with pure iron. We won't have to bloom it at all."

The last long video I did was for a grad student who wanted a video presentation to accompany his History of Iron report. I got to make videos of several different processes, including a puddling furnace and a blast furnace. If we could make large quantities of steel as an export, that would be amazing. Again, because we were in the backwater out here, I had no idea if puddling was already being done. China had blast furnaces almost 2000 years before Europe, and historians still can't confirm whether the idea came from China or if the Europeans invented it separately. Information is critical, and we lack it here.

"If necessary, build a separate kiln and find a way to separate the coke from the tar. I will design a puddling furnace, and we can produce a lot of iron. We will also need lime to help pull the slag from the iron."

So why didn't I make blast furnaces and large quantities of steel? Wrought iron was a more straightforward process. I wish I had access to manganese. That did something to the steel to make it more usable. Where do I find that? I don't think the old Amos had ever seen or heard about it, so I didn't have a word for it. We were going to need a lot of experimentation. I knew what went into it and what should happen, but I was not sure I could get the correct temperature or the right mix for steel. Heck, I didn't even know what the correct temperature was.

These guys knew their job better than me. I would try to point them in the right direction, as I did with Emily. I also felt like I should do things in order. Not that I exactly knew the correct order, but I didn't even know the order. All I knew was that I had to advance my barony without getting squished by the bigger guys. Make myself indispensable to the kingdom or the dukedom. If all else fails, we could try bat droppings, sulfur, and charcoal, but I would like to keep a tight lid on that experiment.

I wanted to visit the mine, but about a quarter way up, I was so winded I had to sit down. I hated this body. Rather than call for the carriage, I waited until I had mostly recovered and pushed myself to walk back down. It was a little easier, but my thighs and glutes were hurting by the time we got back to the village. We went to the headman's house, which had three rooms. That was the first three-room house I had seen. I sat in a rather uncomfortable chair while he called for the stone mason.

When the stone mason came, I stood, trying not to groan. I probably didn't have to stand, but I was still pushing my PR campaign and thought standing would be polite. I was so out of my depth in all this that I had no idea if this would just make me look like a crazy person instead.

"My good man, Carl," I said politely.

"My lord," He said with a bow. "How may I help you today."

"I need a grindstone." With hand gestures, I showed him the approximate size.

He looked confused, "Is the one at the manor broken?"

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I turned and asked Draves, "Do we have a grindstone at the manor?"

"Yes, your father ordered one for us so we could grind swords ourselves instead of going down to the blacksmith. But it takes skill, and Jorb does a better job, so we take the swords to him."

I sighed and shook my head. I can't believe I didn't ask earlier. I just assumed that the blacksmith would own the only grindstone, and I wasn't about to ask him for anything I didn't have to. "Well, this is actually a good thing. We can check that off my list. By the way, how do you make your mortar?"

"Lime powder and sand."

"Richard, when burning coal, collect the ash that sticks to the ceiling and from the bottom. When you have a barrel, I want you to try it in the mortar, also adding clay."

Volcanic ash works better, but modern blast furnaces collect fly ash and bottom ash and use it in stuff. The only thing I remember it for is cement and concrete. Part 6 of the video series I did had to do with what the by-products or waste material has been used for in steel making. I want to say maybe fertilizer, but maybe that's just because I have been trying to think about how to restore our fields. Does lime work as fertilizer? Does chalk work as mortar?

I need like one hundred more peasants and about fifty more fields to run experiments. Fields would need to come first, though, and then I can feed all the extra nonfarmers. And if I can't get the fields to produce more, then we still won't have much extra. If I screwed this up, people were going to die. And that's enough pessimistic thoughts for the day. When I got in this type of funk back on Earth, I used to slap my face. That wouldn't be a good idea right now.

"It isn't a primary focus, but I would like that second kiln built to convert coal into coke headman. Send me word when it is done."

"Yes, my lord." He bowed. "We don't have ready access to clay here, but I believe there is clay west of here near the riverside. It is about an hour.

"Now for what we really need. I need as much iron or bronze as you can give me. At least enough to make two plows out of iron." I said two plows because my better plow would take more iron than the standard plow.

"We have enough iron, but iron plows would be very heavy." He said

"True, but we will be adding wheels to it."

"Interesting. I look forward to the success of your new plow. Are you sure you don't want our blacksmith here to make it?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I already promised the work to Jorb. It would be wrong of me to renege on that deal. Is there anything you need from me while I am here?"

"I am humbled by your offer, my lord, but I believe we have what we need. As long as the flour shipments keep coming from the mill."

"In that case, keep up the good work and pass my best wishes and thanks to the people of Melnon," I nodded. Then I turned to Draves, "Captain, we will leave the cart here with a few of your men to bring back the iron. We will leave in the carriage, and two of your men can ride up with the carriage driver on ours."

"As you wish, my lord."

After hauling myself into the carriage, we took off down the road. I finally decided to approach a subject I had been mulling over for quite a while: "Captain, Emily was very excited when I said I would teach her how to read and write. This got me thinking. What if I offered to pay for schooling for Mathew, the blacksmith's son? Could he get a job as a scribe or something that wouldn't require physical labor? Would that entice him to stay?"

"Hmm, I don't know if it would be possible for him to attend any sort of academy as that would be outside our barony. Depending on the academy, we would have to get permission from the count or possibly the duke. It might work if you bribed the count to give a recommendation. Mathew would get paid well for a job somewhere in the dukedom. The other option is the Church. If you are willing to educate him yourself and request the Preist take him on afterward, he could make his way up. He wouldn't make as much, but I don't know if your coffers are big enough for the bribe and the schooling. Pardon my frankness. Also, there would be no benefit to your barony except if he stayed as a local priest. Which I doubt he would."

"I'm not looking for personal benefit. This is for a family that I have harmed. Yes, it would be nice if the family forgave me and they all stayed here."

"I understand, my lord, but please don't take upon yourself all the damage that the old Baron Amos did. You will find yourself stretched too thin."

"Understood. So, do you know how I might approach Jorb about this? I don't even know if he would accept help from me."

"With Jorb, you are best just asking. I doubt he will accept, but there is no harm in trying."

"Then we will head straight to his place when we return. I will apologize and see if this is acceptable." I spent the rest of the trip thinking about what to say to Jorb.

When we arrived at Jorb's home, I had the Captain exit and ask him to meet with me. I had decided I had no right to enter his home or shop without permission. I also didn't want to run into Mathew, as it would give him an anxiety attack. I sat nervously, hoping this would work.

The captain exited the shop and nodded to me. I shuffled out of the carriage and saw a woman washing something in a bucket near his house. "Jorb, would it be ok if your wife joined us for a moment?"

He did not look happy but called her over anyway. When they both were standing in front of me, I said, "I came to apologize for the wrong I have done to your family, especially Mathew. I do not ask for your forgiveness. There is nothing I can do to fix the damage that I have done, but I seek to, in some small part, give restitution for my crime. As such, I want to offer to pay for your son's education and make sure he is set up as a scribe or an apprentice within the dukedom in an occupation of his choosing. In order to send him to an academy, I will need permission from the count.

"Also, it would be best to start his education here first in case he is denied permission from the count. I suggest he be fully educated here and then either join the priesthood or I will provide him 50 acres of good land and enough serfs to work the land. He would receive that upon his 18th birthday. So, my options for him are to be a scholar, priest, or educated landowner."

Then I paused. I gave one final option he would not take. Well, he might take it anyway. I felt if I offered it, he would see it as a kindness rather than him spiteing me.

"If none of these options are acceptable to you and you feel it is best for your family to leave. I will free you of your current obligations to the barony and provide you with the funds to set up elsewhere. I cannot force you to stay, so I want to help you if you feel that leaving is best. I don't want you to struggle to establish yourself elsewhere just because you cannot stand to work for me. You don't have to answer now if you want to think about it. I wish I could do more. I would trade my foot for his if I could, but this is all I can offer you for the crime I have committed. I swear all of this to you in my honor as a baron in front of Captain Draves."

I stopped and waited for a response. It seemed like an eternity as Jorb stared at me with hard eyes. As I spoke, Jorb's wife's eyes grew larger. By the end, she was staring at me with an open mouth.

"If you are truly sorry, do I have permission to speak freely?"

I nodded.

"I have disliked you since you hurt my son. I have always disliked your family. If you are serious about your desire to make restitution, then I will take your money and leave."

I sighed, "As you wish. I will provide you with thirty silver tomorrow and a hand cart. You may leave whenever you are ready. May the Endless One bless you and your family and keep you safe in your travels."

With that, I turned and entered the carriage.

I could see now that he had already made up his mind. He would have left even if I had promised him the moon. I had failed.

Janice

After the carriage left, I recovered my wits. The devil had apologized and offered my son an education. As realization dawned on me, I turned to my husband and glared. "You fool! You absolute idiot, how in the world did I get saddled with such an ox? He offered our son an education. He offered him land and people to tend it. And you threw it away."

"It is better this way. We don't have to live here anymore in the presence of that monster." He snapped back.

"Better for who, you or Mathew? Think with your head instead of your hate. Do you think moving will help Mathew? Will he suddenly have a better opportunity in a different barony? What happens when you die? He will die a starved beggar. This nightmare has plagued me for the last three years. Now, there is a solution, and because you hate the man giving it, you throw it away. I hate that man too, but not enough to sacrifice my son's future."

"You honestly think someone like that is telling the truth? I might not know what game he is playing with us, but there is no way that man would give us the thirty silver. At most, he has given us a way to leave by his consent. As far as the rest of his promises, he could just as easily change his mind by the time Mathew turns eighteen. In the meantime, he will have worked me to the bone."

"That man was sincere. I can tell."

"That man is a liar, and you will see tomorrow."

"No, you will see," I said as we both glared at each other.