"If you are twenty-five years old or younger come to my table over here to your right-hand side and form a line, then state your name and age before moving over to the right of the dirt path towards the wall!" Aimee yelled which prompted the five people assigned to her to do the same, parroting her words with efficiency.
"Fall in and make a line..." "Twenty-five and younger? Table to the right!" "Name and Age, that is all we ask for before entry."
"And for those of you who are twenty-six years old or older, make your way towards the table on your left-hand side before stating your name and age as well. These are orders from the Lord himself." Lana said while gesturing toward my general area between the two tables.
I saw many people turn their heads towards me as scanned the crowd of people who had begun to bunch up with relatives closest to their age before moving onto either of the two tables in front of them, but I was more focused on finding Sasha and my two cousins, Zoe and Kai, who followed her earlier. This was easier said than done though since a majority of the people in the crowd were at least a head taller than me, but this would be remedied once my body reaches its full potential in a few years or so. Luckily my search didn't need to go on for long since the group of three in question made their way in between the lines which were starting to form before walking towards where I stood along with five more unfamiliar people in tow.
I assumed that these people belong to one of the three professions that I asked Sasha to hire from outside the walls of the town, however, it wasn't clear which person did what since there were no obvious signs informing of this, such as the clothing they wore or anything like that.
Either way, I waved at the group once they spotted the location I was standing before waiting on them to reach the spot where I stood.
"Welcome back, I assume everything went well considering that y'all made it here, but tell me how it went anyways." I said once Sasha, Zoe, and Kai reached my location before gesturing for the entire group to follow me toward the right-hand side of the dirt path where the younger folk were beginning to gather, which they did without question.
"Honestly it didn't compare to the village because of the condition most of the buildings were in, but the people were friendly though so it was fine in that regard.." Kai started off before Zoe jumped in as well to speak her piece.
"Yeah they were friendly but that was because of the large sack of gold that was present at all times... If we didn't have that then I guarantee that they would have been as dismissive as the guards." She stated it as if it were a matter of fact instead of her opinion. I chuckled at their little disagreement which seemed to have been the main source of conversation between the people in this specific group since Sasha and the others only looked back and forth between my two cousins without saying much.
One of the individuals who arrived with this group seemed to have had enough of the back and forth though as he took it upon himself to break this loop by asking my opinion on the matter as if were the end all be all.
"Well, what do you think, Lord Rallo?" Asked one of three unknown males with a tone that screamed 'please end this silly debate' which cause me to crack up once again since I did agree with the sentiment. But that was all I could give the man since he was a stranger after all since it would probably leave a bad taste in my cousins' metaphorical mouths if I sided with someone who I just met literally seconds ago over them.
"Well, I don't really have an opinion on the matter, to be honest with you. But I do hold my cousins' opinions in high regard so you can say that their opinions are my opinions, well unless they aren't but we will cross that bridge when we get there. What I will say is that both of their opinions probably hold truths within them, meaning that yeah the folk out there were friendly, which was likely because of the bag of gold, but there are also just genuinely good people out there... So make of that what you will, errr.. What's your name again?" I said while staring directly at the man who spoke out.
The man in question seemed to be going over what I said in his head before he realized that I asked him a question, which caused the man to straighten up his posture immediately before stating his name while bowing at his waist, something Sasha must have informed them of before their arrival here.
"My name is Zach, Lord Rallo, and I am... well I was an instructor at one of the three major universities within what was the capital of our confederacy, where I specialized in the field known as alchemy before the chaos that ensued. Luckily, I was able to leave with my life, but unfortunately, I also had to leave behind most of my credentials which could have confirmed my position. However, I do have this..." Zach said as he reached into the bag he was carrying before bringing out a leather-bound codex that was about as thick as one of those bricks that we used to build that oven earlier.
He showed off the cover of the book to me, which was titled 'Mysteries of the Mother: A Collection of Alchemical Processes' by the looks of it, but once I reached out to grab the book from the man, he flinched away from me in an effort to prevent me from touching the thing. I was confused by his actions which caused my brow to raise in a questioning manner before speaking to the man once again.
"Well, what was the point of pulling out the book if they don't want me to read the thing? You won't be needing it anyways once you learn the truth about the elements around you... Hell, we could probably write our own treatise on the matter if we find the time to do so, however, we first have to match up our ways of thinking. I am willing to share what I know with you on the subject matter but are you willing to do the same, Zach?" I asked while placing my hand on the man's shoulder in an effort to level with the guy.
He responded by pulling away from my hand before speaking to me with a tone that screamed 'what could I learn from a child?'
"Excuse my insolence Lord Rallo, but what could you possibly teach me, an instructor from one of the most prestigious universities of our confederacy? You are but a child..." Zach was just getting started with his rant but I cut him off since I didn't want the man to lose his life over something as trivial as a book.
Honestly, I needed him since he had basic experience in chemistry although he considers it 'alchemy' at the moment, and this was simply because I couldn't be at all places at once and therefore needed people with at least a baseline level of knowledge in certain subjects so that I wouldn't get bogged down in the details of everything I want to introduce to this world. After thinking about this, I responded to Zach once again.
"Woah now Zach... I think we got off on the wrong foot here. You are right, I'm a child in terms of age but look around you... All of these people surrounding you are here for a reason, and it's not because of my age. I have already proven to them that I have the ability to change their lives for the better by removing the shackles placed onto them by the previous and giving them a chance to prove their worth regardless of status. I will do the same with everyone you see here, including yourself if you allow me the chance... I guarantee that I can prove my worth to your studies regardless of my age if you can prove your loyalty to my cause, to free all of those who find themselves shackled down by their status... Loyalty in exchange for freedom is what I offer." I said before looking away from the man toward the other four individuals who came to the castle alongside Zach, Sasha, and my cousins.
"And that offer is extended to your four as well. Your future can be brighter than the sun itself if you accept my leadership on this day... No one on this planet will be able to shake the position you will hold and future generations will remember you as part of the group that founded the modern society. This is my--" Just as I was about to finish, I was interrupted by one of the women who were part of the group of people that came with my cousins and the others.
"This planet? So not only does the lord partake in the alchemical arts, but he also enjoys the studies of the stars?" The woman asked with her brow angled up before she realized her 'mistake' of cutting me off, which caused her to sweat profusely.
I wasn't the least bit upset at her actions since I was simply 'chatting' anyways while hoping I could hit home somewhere with the five individuals. So I gestured for the woman to calm down before speaking to her.
"Calm down, Ms.Lady. I'm not the kind of lord to get upset about that kinda stuff. And yeah, one can say that I 'enjoy the studies of the stars', though I will simply call it astronomy from now. Is that your field of study?" I asked the woman before looking over at the large group of younger people that had begun to form along the wall to my left since I was facing the gate still, but only for a brief second before returning my attention back to the woman.
"No lord, it is not but I have helped many of my colleagues do some of the calculations for their studies on the matter. I am a tutor who specializes in the subject of mathematics, and my name is Rose, Lord." She said while bowing at her waist for some reason. I really don't get the fixation with bowing after everything you say but I also wasn't the one doing the action so I guess it's beyond me.
"That is even better, Ms.Rose. Your talents will definitely be of use in the near future... But I have to warn you that I'm kinda slow when it comes to this particular subject so you must have patience with me..." I said while rubbing my forehead while trying to grasp the clip-like memories of the various levels of math that I was educated in school back on Earth. But just like back on Earth, I couldn't really grasp much more than basic trigonometry. Anything beyond that was simply too complex for little ole me.
"That is no problem, Lord. We can work at a pace that best suits you." Rose said in a tone that reminded me of the many teachers that I had back on Earth, but she seemed to be under impression that she would be teaching me for some reason.
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"Well you won't be teaching me any maths Ms.Rose, your job will be to teach those along the wall over there. So it should be me saying that we can work at a pace that best suits you." I said while pointing my thumb towards the group of younger people who I just took a glance at not too long ago.
"Oh. Oh!! This... This is achievable, Lord." Rose said while staring at the group of younger people that was growing larger and larger by the second.
"Good. Don't worry about the numbers as you won't be teaching all of them or even the majority of them at the same time. It will be more like a university, except the campus is also my castle among other things, also your 'students' won't be full-time students but you will learn more about this later on... But before we go there I want to talk to our other teachers." I said before looking at the other three teachers who watched the interaction with great intensity.
All three of them bowed once they noticed my gaze had shifted to them, which irked me but I didn't let the expression surface. Instead, I address the three individuals starting with one of the males since he was farthest to the left.
"Alright. Alright, no need for the bowing folks. How about y'all introduce yourselves instead? Starting with my guy on the left over here." I said while gesturing to the man in question.
"Excuse my lack of decorum, Lord Rallo. I am Dan and I am a scholar specializing in the art known as calligraphy, but I have had previous employment as a bookkeeper in a few merchant bands." The man said before looking as if he was about to bow once again, which caused me to lunge forward to place my hand on the man's shoulder. I then grabbed his right hand with my own before shaking it a couple of times before letting go and stepping backward away from the man.
"Nice to meet you, Dan. Glad to have you aboard... Next up is the lady in the middle." I stated after ignoring the shocked looked that Dan was giving me currently.
"My name is Mary, Lord, and I am a physician. I arrived in this town only a few days ago and I am honored to be offered a chance to join the lord's service. I will do my best." She said while grasping her hands together which was much more than a bow in my opinion, so I nodded my head at the women before moving on to the final person who had yet to introduce themselves.
"And I am Jimison, Lord, but people usually just call me Jim, and I was an administrative steward for House Larson which resides with the city of Aranor but I did the duties of a domestic steward as well. I served in this position for around ten years before I was replaced because of a petty argument that was blown out of proportion by my previous employer. Either way, I am honored to be given a chance to work in such a position once again, therefore I extend my thanks to you, Lord Rallo." Jim said while extending his right hand toward me, so I returned his handshake before speaking out once again.
"Great to have you here Jim, and you as well Mary. With the addition of you two, I can see things much smoother for us in the near future. All five of you will see that y'all made the right decision in coming here today... But for now, I will have Sasha escort you to the great hall inside the castle so that you can rest your legs. We will be having a meeting later with all of the leaders of the castle which y'all will attend so go and rest and prepare yourselves. We will be discussing the future of this town after all..." I said while nodding at Sasha and placing my arms over the shoulders of my cousin's shoulders, who were about to walk off with Sasha and the others.
"I need you two for something else though so stay here a while." I stated stopping both Kai and Zoe mid-stride.
"Oh, and what's that? Hopefully not being a glorified guard once again..." Zoe said while pushing my arm away. I chuckled at her response since I should have guessed that she would see through my actions but I guess I was still subconsciously belittling the woman. I definitely needed to break that habit though since she is about to become my eyes and ears within the castle and eventually the town at large.
"I'm sorry about that Zoe, but you know I can only trust you, Kai, Luca, Ash, and Bell with something as important as gold. Plus, you did get to experience the town a bit which is more than I have currently experienced, so quit your whining..." I responded after removing my hand from Kai's shoulder.
"Yeah, Zoe quit whining. At least you weren't stuck on dirt duty like poor Luca over there." Kai added to what I said while pointing over to where Luca stood along with the few people that were in his branch who stayed back when everyone else left earlier.
"Well that 'dirt duty' is what will allow us to conquer this town eventually, so I would call it 'dirt service'. You will see its value in maybe a day or so..." I answered back to Kai which made him wonder aloud about the uses of 'that dirt mound thing?', a direct quote from my lovely cousin here...
*sigh* He should consider himself lucky that with still have battles to fight...
"But onto other things... I have two positions tailored made for both of you and your relative skillsets. And both will equally important to conquering and securing every square inch of ground that we own. Right now that only includes this castle, but it is always good to start small in order to build experience for the 'real thing', which of course will be this town as a whole and everything beyond that eventually... As you know already, I have set up three departments already, namely the industrial department, the construction department, and the homemaking department, but there is also a fourth department that I didn't mention at the time simply because I didn't want to risk leaks. This department is called the military department and as the name states, its main focus will be the military but also our general security as a whole..." I said before pausing to allow my words to sink in and then continuing shortly after.
"Now... Neither one of you will be 'general' in the traditional sense since you both will operate outside the normal military structure I plan on revealing at the meeting later on today, however, both of you will be commanding your own branch within the military department so you will still have the rank of general to compliment that... The general won't even know that your branch exists Kai, and only vague rumors will be known about yours Zoe, but this is by design. And I need you to remember that as it will answer a lot of questions for you down the line... I will start with Zoe's branch since it already has members working on the very task that will define your branch." I stated while gesturing toward the group of people taking names and ages at the tables near the gate.
"Your branch will be known as Internal Security, and you'll be responsible for keeping the peace with the castle and eventually this town and beyond by defending against internal security threats such as organized crime, and corruption in both the citizen domain as well as the military one. You will do this by collecting, analyzing, and then exploiting information in support of our goals whether they are military or otherwise. Currently, you have two officers under your command and five security agents, or just agents for short assigned to both of them to get you started, but your numbers will be bolstered once we get everybody settled and registered." I said before looking at Zoe to see if she had any questions.
"Agents huh? You know, I kinda like the sound of that... Fine, you have saved yourself this time, but don't ever do anything like that again. That old wench acted like you said we were her servants for the ancestor's sake..." She answered while letting her words trail off.
I chuckled at her antics for a bit before moving on to Kai who was laughing alongside me.
"Now... Onto your branch Kai, which will be simply known as the Flame. Your branch will be extraordinary in terms of the responsibility that y'all will take on since your group will be acting on information gathered by Zoe's group if the information is concerning enough, but your primary job will concern things that will be out of reach of our military department, such as disruption, manhunting operations, and even hostage rescue if there ever comes a need for it. In essence, your branch will be the flame that reaches out and scorches those who dare stand before our rule but it will also protect those who wish to bask in the light... Simple enough right?" I asked Kai while patting him on the shoulder. He nodded along with my words for a second before stopping to ask a question of his own I assumed given his expression currently.
"Yeah I got all of that, but I didn't hear you say anything about the people who were assigned to me. So what's the deal there?" He asked while ignoring the mocking that was coming from Zoe's direction.
"Oh, that's simply because I am not sure of anybody fit enough to qualify for the group besides you. The people who will join your branch will not only need to be completely loyal like the people of Zoe's, but they must also be in peak physical condition in order to fulfill the grueling tasks that will be set before them. Not only that though, but they must also be mentally capable enough to successfully achieve the responsibilities of your branch without alarming anyone to their presence... The individuals who meet these requirements must then be trained extensively and so on, so no you don't have any members in your branch yet.. But once we start training the youths you see near the wall over there to our left, candidates will start to pop out here and there, so be on the lookout. However, I will be assigning two officers to you as well though but that will be later at the meeting..." I said while looking at Kai who simply nodded his head as if he didn't just ask me the question. I then looked toward Zoe to see if she had anything to add but that didn't seem to be the case as her attention was placed on the group of agents writing down the names and ages of the incoming citizens.
I cleared my throat to get both of pull their focus back to me before continuing.
"Now that we have settled that, you two are free to join Sasha and the others in the great hall, but if you want to participate in the official proclamation of the military department then I would advise that you stay with me... The choice is yours though." I said before waiting until they made a decision for themselves.
Kai looked toward where Luca stood conversating boisterously alongside the people within his branch of the construction department before turning back to me and stating that he follow me to witness the proclamation to which I nodded before turning to wait for Zoe's answer. She simply stared off into space for a while before saying that she would join Sasha and the others since I should probably have eyes and ears near them at all times...
I was a bit shocked by the response but I really shouldn't have been considering she has literally been collecting information for me since we arrived at this castle. I guess I wasn't wrong in saying that internal security was tailored-made for her.
I gave her a thumbs up before something jogged my memory concerning Ash and Bell, which caused me to blurt out one more thing as Zoe was walking away.
"Oh, Ash and Bell are taking their pick at Joann's clothes up in the late lord's quarters. I told them to leave you things but you had better go now if you want the good stuff." I said which caused Zoe to pause her steps for a moment to look back at me.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT FROM THE BEGINNING!!" She screamed before taking off in a full sprint towards the castle, kicking up loads of dust along the way and leaving Kai and me shocked at her acceleration.
"I think she could probably beat you in a race... NO! I know she can beat you in a race." Kai said as he patted my shoulder while I just smiled wryly at his words, trying my best not to show the fact that I felt the same way in my heart.
Unfortunately, this only led to my oldest cousin rubbing more dirt on the already dirty wound, making a mockery of me for maybe five more minutes until he saw the two officers, who were previously sitting down, stand and begin making their way toward where we stood with their papers in tow.
I sighed in relief since I finally got a reprieve from the jeering I was subjected too before taking a moment to prepare myself for this journey that I was embarking on.